Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-05-04
SIOUX PIPRSTONBS.


There Il No Other Deposit on Earth Like
It---Lesesdary Love Connected with the
Stese-.The Traditional Emblem Of Peace.
The Indian Department at Wash
ington is now treating with the Sioux
Indians for the cession of their title
to the famous red pipestone reserva-
ton. The reservation is only one mile
square, but 1t is known to the Indians
all over the United States, because
of the wonderful red pipeclay which
Is found here and for the legendary
lore connected with this stone. This
stone lies In the bed of Pipestone
Greek, in the southwestern corner Of
the State of Minnesota, one bank Of
which Is surmounted by granite cliff
some sixty feet high, while the oppo-
site bank Is formed by gradual slope
to the prairie. 1t was on this granite
cliff that In 1888 John G. Fremont and
Jean Nicolett, the French explorer,
carved their names on a slab of gran
lite that to-day stands out as pr0mi-
nent as when these men visited the sa-
cred grounds Of the red man. This
particular spot, at the instance Of the
Secretary Of the Interior, has been
surrounded by an iron fence as pro,
lection against the vandalism of relic
hunters.
To this spot the Indians have been
accustomed to make pilgrimages for
centuries in search of their traditional
emblem Of peace, the red pipeclay.
They have journeyed from the Rocky
Mountains of the West, from the
southern boundary of New Mexico
and from the shores of Lake Erie that
they might secure the beautiful red
clay, soft when taken from its watery
bed but soon becoming hardened with
exposure to the air.
Against the determination of the
Government to set aside this land as
a reservation, the Indians have filed
vigorous protest. They fear they are
to be robbed of their sacred spot,
when the reverse is the truth. 1t is
to preserve the quarry that the Indian
Department has taken these steps.
But the Indians do not believe this.
The value of the red pipestone in
creases among the different Indian
tribes as the distance from the quarry
increases. At Devils Lake, N. D., on
the British boundary, n pipe made
from this material will buy a pony.
In Mexico and Arizano 1t will buy n
wife, and among the remote tribes it
has a purchasing value almost equal
to its weight in gold, and Is far more
desirable as a commodity for barter
than anything else that the Indian
possesses.
There is legend among the Indians
of all tribes that when the world was
young all the red men of the earth
were gathered ut this place, that they
were about equally divided, one-half
being at war with the other. While a
deadly conflict was raging the floods
came, and a temporary truce was ar
ranged, as the Indians crowded around
these bluffs in an effort to escape the
waters. But the waters rose, and all
the warriors were drowned. Now 1t
is believed among the redskins that
the red stone is the blood of those tur
bulent warriors whom the Great
Spirit destroyed in fit of anger.
This red stone has always been re-
garded as a symbol of peace and an
omen Of good fortune. Warning tribes
for generations have recognized
truce while upon this sacred soil, and
all tribes have been permitted to
gather the blood Of their fathers I'M
molested by their enemies. though
they might engage in deadly conflict
after both parties had withdrawn
from the spot.
There is no other deposit on earth
like it, at least none has yet been dis
covered. Just across the Minnesota
boundary, north Of Rainy Lake, there
is a similar deposit of what is known
as the stone of the Chippewas, but
this Is jet black and slightly harder
than the red pipestone. The Chippe-
was make pipes of this black stone,
and for all practical purposes it is as
good for this purpose as the red stone.
But the black stone is not priced by
the Indians for the reason that there
is no legend attached to it, nor is it
supposed to possess that charm which
is claimed for the owners of red pipes.
Through the countless visitations in
search of the "blood of their fathers"
the Indians have reduced the lodges
of red stone until now there Is very
little of it exposed, and II is necessary
to dig beneath the creek bed to obtain
the rock. No one knows the extent of
the deposit.-New York Sun.