Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-02-24
FAMOUS QUARRIES.
Those of Red Pipestone Sung of In
"Hiawatha."

Those of Red Pipestone Sung of In
"Hiawatha."
Less than a mile from the bustling
little city Of Pipestone, MINI, are three
freaks of nature that will well repay
visit from the lovers Of the curious and
the beautiful The first is a waterfall
OF cataract. which when the stream
that feeds it is swollen by the melting
SHOWS and spring rains, is miniature
Niagara. and in point of beauty rivals
many of the famed waterfalls Of the
east. The second is the famous Red
PipestOne quarry. the scene Of the open
ing of Longfellow's beautiful poem
"Hiawatha, and the third is a group
Of immense rocks-alsO spoken f in
"Hiawstha" as the Three NGiCens-
that have stood for ages as a landmark
TO guide the Indians 10 the only spot in
the known world where the sacred pipe
stone could be found
The waterfall, quarry and Three
Maidens are all located on the Indian
reservation, which is one mile square,
adjoining the corporation of Pipestone
on the north. The reservation belongs
10 the DakOtas, OF what is better known
by its French name as the Sioux Nation.
but it is claimed by the Yankton Sioux
Several years since a determined effort
was made by committee of citizens
Of Pipestone to purchase il, as they did
not want so large a tract Of land so
near this city lying idle, but the In
dams would not part with it for love
or money The next best thing to do
was TO see if something could not be
done with it, even if it remained in
the Indians possession. An application
was made to congress. an appropriation
OF $40. 900 was obtained. and a sub
stantial school building was built on
one corner Of the land. The school has
proved so successful that a second
building, the size of the first, is being
built to accommodate the ever increas-
ing number of pupils.
The poem Of "Hiawatha" begins:
On the mountains OF the prairie,
On the great Red Pipestone Quarries,
and any one unacquainted with the
neighbOrhOod would naturally suppose
that it was billy, to say the least On
the contrary, the country is quite level,
there not being even what in eastern
parlance would be called "small hill
In the neighborhood The quarry lies
in about the center Of the bed Of what
is apparently a prehistoric lake, and
when first discovered the stone cropped
out Of the surface but the continual
quarrying for ages has extended the
quarry about 60 rods toward the south,
and as the dip Of the vein is toward the
south it is now necessary to remove
from six 70 eight feet of shale and dirt
before the pure stone is reached.
No one but the Indians are allowed
to quarry it, and every summer they
come in squads from distant reserva-
tions to get supplies of the stone with
which to make pipes. knicknacks and
ornaments that they carve out Of it,
both for their own use and for the sale
and trade to the white man. They also
frequently sell the stone in the rough
10 the white men. who. with a turning
lathe. can work it up much better than
they can.
The stone Is known 10 the scientific
world as catlinite, being so called in
honor Of Catlin. the celebrated historian
Of the Indians, who was the first white
man TO set eyes on the quarry while
gathering material for his History Of
the Indians Of the Northwest. in 1886
-Pipestone (Minn. Letter in Chicago
Chronicle