Today we visited Pipestone National Monument in MN. Pipestone is a red rock similar in makeup to that of soapstone. As such the Native Americans would quarry for it to make pipes.
During our visit we watched a 20 minute documentary about the pipestone (or Catlinite as others call it) and how and why it was/is quarried. We then were able to watch two interpreters work with the stone as well as see wonderful examples of different pieces of stone; pipes, jewelry, buffalo effigies, bowls, etc.
After spending some time in the air conditioned information building, we headed out for a short walk through some of the quarries and prairie land in the area. The grounds were delightful, although very hot and parched because of the severe drought the region has been experiencing. There were some interesting overlooks and views along the paths.
One of the things I found most interesting was the size of the quarries. I was expecting large holes in the ground where trucks and bucketloaders might have once worked. The pipestone quarries rather small. They are all dug by hand. Only members of nationally recognized tribes can apply for permits to dig and there are only a limited number of quarries. The interpreter we spoke with said his quarry was about 15' long and currently 17' deep. Because the vein of pipestone continues to the East, his quarry hole can go as far east as he wishes to dig. However, the vein is on a downward slope of 5 to 10 degrees, so he'll have to dig out even more quartzite before he gets to pipestone.
We took lots of photographs which we are sharing with you here.
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| Pipestone pipe - man in wolf costume |
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| Horsehead - pipestone |
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| Travis, shaping pipestone - the dark red piece on the table in front of his leg is the man in wolf costume |
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| Pipestone pipe - man on horse pursuing buffalo |
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| Blue Vervain |
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| Pipestone Creek |
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| Old Face |
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| A couple of tourist |
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| Winnewissa Falls |
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| Oracle through looking hole |
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| Pipestone |
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