The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-05-08
RED PIPESTONE QUARRY.
On the the Sioux Reservation About
TO Be TAKEN From Them
from the Y. Y Sun


The Indian department is now treat
ing with the Sioux Indians for the ces-
sion of their title TO the famous red
pipestone reservation The reservation
is only one mile square, but it is known
TO the Indians all over the United
States. because of the wonderful red
pipecIay which is found here and for
the legendary lore connected with this
stone. This stone lies in the bed or
Pipestone Creek. in the southwestern
corner OF the state of Minnesota, one
bank of which is surmounted by gran
ite cliff some sixty feet high, While the
opposite bank is formed by gradual
slope to the prairie 1t was on this
granite cliff that in 1888 John c. Ere
mont and Jean Nicolett, the French ex-
plorer, carved their names on slab
of granite that today stands out as
prominent as when these men visited
the sacred grounds of the redman
of the secretary of the interior, has
been surrounded by an iron fence as a
protection 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; Tpey
have journeyed from the Rocky Noun
tafns to 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 be-
coming hardened with exposure to the
air.
Against the determination of the gov
eminent 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 10 pre-
serve the quarry that the Indian depart
ment has taken theeS 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, pipe made from
this material will buy a pony. In Mexico
and Arizona it will buy a wife, and
among the remote tribes it has a pur-
chasing value almost equal to its weight
in gold, and is far more desirable as
commodity for barter than anything
else that the Indian possesses
There is a legend among the Indians
of all tribes that when the world was
young all the red men of the earth
were gathered at this place, that they
were about equally divided. one-haf be-
ing at war with the other. While
deadly conflict was raging the floods
came, temporary truce was arranged,
as the Indians crowded around these
bluffs in an effort to escape the waters
But the waters rose, and all the war
among the redskins that the red stone
is the blood Of those turbulent warriors.
whom the Great Spirit destroyed in a
fit of anger.
garded as a symbol of peace and an
omen of good fortune Warning tribes
for generations have recognized a truce
while upon this sacred soil, fearing an
other outburst from the Great Spirit,
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 discovered
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 pipe
stone. The Chippewas 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
70 it. nor is it supposed to possess that
charm which is claimed for the owners
of red pipes
Through the countless vfsitatfons in
search of the blood of their fathers
the Indians have reduced the lodges of
red stone until now there is little of if
exposed and it is necessary to dig be-
meath the creek bed to obtain rock
No one knows the extent of the de-
posit.