The Washington bee., 1899-06-03
FAMOUS QUARRIFS
THOSE OF RED PIPss7oNr ,,
SUNG OF IN HlAwA-s, va

40 ohe But the Indians Are AlIov.s
"ork It-Dificulties EncouD,a-.,'u e
the Government Tried to Buy the p l''
/ Vation-HOw the Stone Was N,,,,., ''''"
Less than a mile frou tho h.,
little city of PipeStone Mn r"SOlns
thfee freaks of nature thar WIN ' are
repay visit from the Inr,r. "eu
curious and the beautiful .rl. ~ - 'le
waterfall, or cataract. which W. r,l is
the stream that feeds it is S,r.lr.,.-len "-en
melting snow and Sprit- r,f,, 0y
miniature Niagara. and IN r-.,- > q
beauty rivals many of rhr e "
waterfalls of the last. Th. s., -eI
the famous Red PipeStuu, o+,,r.,' o'..
scene OF the opening OF Longran,,rs.s -ss
7 beautiful poem "Iiiawatla." s,.I '.'g v,
third Is Il group Of immense r,'r '-5
also spoken of in "IIiavatha" "a,
Three Maidens that have S-,of ,Ie
ages as a LANDMARKS to guide IN. r.,I 'g'
ans to the only spot i'm rne nv '',,'.
world where the sacred n;r''.4
could be found. ''-s
The waterfall quarry and rl-
MaidenS are all LOCATED OH tas rrI ~
Reservation. which is ouJ. mile s',,.- '''4
adjoining the corporation of p;r...'
on the north. The Reservation,
to the DacotaS. or what is l..
known by it's French uamc 81, M.
OuX Nation. but it is claimed nv ~
Gdnkton Sioux. Several Years sin.
determined effort was mada bv O.
mittee of citizens of Pipr>rau. r.. rr.
chase it. as they did not war5 8, L,..
a tract of land So near thf> r.fv r.,.
idle. but the Indians would u,- r..,
with il for love or money Ta. ra,.
best thing to- do was tu Spp If som.
thing could not be done with # .,r-
if il remained in the Indians nas..s
sion An application was uiGJa r..r
greSs. an appropriation Of S3uun rq.
obtained, ana a substantial >.b.I
building was built ON one corner af
the land. The school has proved ~
successful that a second buib=ns n.
size of the first. is being buzz In 81.
cOmmodate the eYer-iucrcasiug nuuI..
OF pupils.
The poem of "IIiaw4tha' begins.
On the mountains of the prgtre
On the great Red PipeStonrrrgrrfas
and any one undcqU3inted with rba
neighborhOOd would naturally Supno,a
that it was billy. to say the least. On
the contrary. the country is quite level
there not being even what iu Eastern
parlance would be called a'smau MIm
in the neighborhOod. The QUARRY lies
in about the centre of the bed Of Whg.
is apparently a prehistoric lake. AMI
when first discovered the stone crop.
ped out of the surface but the contn,
ual quarrying for ages has extended
the quarry about sixty rods toward the
south. and il is now necessary To 70
move from six to eight feet of scale
an 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 reserya.
tionS to get supplies of the stone with
which to make pipes, knicknackS and
ornaments that they carve out of H.
hOthfo theirOwn use and for sale and
trade to the white man. They also
frequently sell the stone in the rough
to the white men, who. with turning
lathe. can work it up much better than
they can.
The stone is known to the scientific
world as catlinite. being so called in
honor of Catlin, the celebrated hiStori-
an of the Indians. who was the first
white man to set eyes on the quarry
while gathering material for his Hist
Dry of the Indians of the Northwest"
N 1886.