Pipestone County, Minnesota - Chapter 17: In the Reign of Gitche Iianitou, 1911

Chapter 17: In the Reign of Gitche Iianitou

OF ALL the politital divisions of .-^mithern Minnesota, Pipestone county is tlie youngest in point of white occupation; historically, it is the oldest in ilinnesota. I dare say there is no spot on the Xorth American continent which was better known or had o-reater fame among tlie jieoples who inhabited the country before the coming of the Caucasian race than the Great Red Indian Pipestone quarry, located not far from the center of Pipestone county. The spot was the Indian's Garden of Eden; all the legends point to the fact that here the red race had its origin. Legend, tradition, hieroglyphics, all proclaim the spot one of great antiquity, a spot where were signed the Magna Clhartas, where were fought the Indian battles of Bunker Hill and Waterloo, where were held the deliljerations of The Hague (Indian) tribunal, centuries before the white race came to take control of atfairs under a higher civilization. The mind wearies with the contemplation of what may have taken place in Pipestone county in the long ago.

Even the region itself is of earlier creation than the surrounding countrv. Geol- -ogists tell us that the rocks of the quarry are of the Huronian formation, antedating tlie Glacial jieriod. The knowledge is obtained from the marks the ice made on the rocks when the vast fields of snow and ice, miles in depth, dragged their weary way southward. The scratches arc easily discernible upon the upper surfaces of the cliffy. .Mementos of this visit are also found in the vicinity in the form of huge granite boulders, which were torn from their original resting places, long distances to the nortlieast, and deposited where we tind them today. The "Three Maidens" are notable examples of this agency; they have occupied their present location for at least 6000 years, and possibly for the last 100,000 years.

Without taking into consideration the Indian traditions, it can be stated on authority that the red pipestone, which is found in no other place on earth, has been quarried for several thousand years. In the mounds of the ancient peoples who have l:>een classed as Mound Builders, and who are supposed to have been a race preceding the Indian, have frequently been' found articles manufactured of the red pipestone. or catlinite. Specific instances are mounds exhumed in Ohio by Messrs. Squire and Davis and by others in Iowa. Tn each case the pipestone was associated with implements of copper and other objects characteristic of the so-called Mound Builders, but not of the later, or Indian race. Pipes of this material, however, are rarely found in the mounds, even in the vicinity of the quarry, although pipes of

Succeeding- the ^[ound Builders, or ilescending Ironi them (as soiiie authorities believe), the Xorth American Indians continued the (luarrvino; of the red pipestone and held the s])ol in great reverence and superstition. Here, for ages, generation after generation, the redman reconled the liisloi-v of his iribt- and his individual adventures, carved in the red (|uarl/,ile with rude instruments in tiie form of symbols or hieroglyphics. These rude inscriptions alone pi-oclaim the anti(|uity of the place. They were made on the glaciated surfaces of the red stone located near the "Three :Maideus,"' and were kept clear by the winds. .\]i|)arently they were made by pecking oul the rock with sharp-pointed instruments, or ])ossihly with other pieces of quartzite. The figures are of different sizes and dates, the latter being evinced by their manner of crossing and interfering and by the evident difference in the weight of the instruments used. They generally represent some animal, such as the liirtle, bear, wolf, buffalo, elk. dog, and the Indian himself. The crane's foot is the most common : next is the image of man: third the turtle; and lastly the octopus, or devil fish. It seems to have been the custom for a warrior or hunter who had been successful in battle or the chase to leave a tribute of his thanks to the (ireat Sjiirit in a rude representation of his victory or his prowess about the boulders: perhaps, in a similar wvay, lie invoked the gooil offices of the spirits of his tribe when about to enter upon some expedition. Occasionally several figures are joined by a line scratched in the rock, as though some adventure were luirrated. The |)ublication of the Minnesota (ieologi\ll but two or threo of tin- stones bearing these Indian ..i.^tographs l;"^-"'-^." «;{ ,f' into a coUe.-lii.n by Charles H. Bennett, nt Pipestone. Tliey were exhibiteil at the T.ouisiical Survey says of the hieroglyphics near the (juarry :

This is the "sacred ground" of the locality. Such markings can be seen at no other place, though there is abundance of bare, smooth rock. Tlie excavation of the surface of the rock is very slight, generally not exceeding a sixteenth of an inch, and sometimes only enough to leave a tracing of the designed form. The hardness of the rock was a barrier to a deep sculpturing with the imperfect instruments of the aborigines, but it has effectually preserved the rude forms that were made. The fine glacial scratches that are abundantly scattered over this ciuartzite indicate the tenacity with which it retains all such impressions, and will warrant the assignment of any date to these inscriptions that may be called tor within the human period. Yet it is probable that they date back to no great antiquity. They pertain at least to the dynasty of the present Indian tribes. The t9tems of the turtle and the bear, which are known to have been powerful among the clans of the native races of at the time of the earliest European knowledge of them and which exists to this day, are the most frequent objects presented. The "crane's foot," or "turkey foot," or "bird track," terms which refer perhaps to the same totem sign, the snipe, is not only common on these rocks but is seen among the rock inscriptions of Ohio, and was one of the totems of the Iroquois of New York.'

While there is no data from which to determine the date that the aborigines first began the digging of the red pipestone. it is known tliat the Indians of the northwest have resorted to the place ever since their acquaintance with Europeans, for the luirpose of getting material tor thenpipes. Over two centuries ago, in KiSU, Fattier llcnncpiu, a Franciscan priest, visited the wilds of what is now :\Iinuesota and found the pipes of red stone in possession of the natives. In his writings he describes the Indians and tlieir |)ipes minutely, stating that some of the jiipes were white, some black, and some red. but that the red were the most highly valued. Four years later, in 1(')S4. I^aron La-. Ibniton, a French officer and explorer, \isiteil llie Mississip|)i river country and in his report nientinnod the fact that the Indians used jiuai-c pipes. He said that tiiose ni" a red color were most esteemed and that their use aiuonjr the savajjes had (he same effect tliat the flap of friendsliip had anionu- tlie wliites. Neither Father Hennepin nor Baron Lallonton mentioned tlie locality from which the material of the red pipes came, hut there can he no (|uestion it was from the red pijiestone (piarry.

A liltle later we find definite nienlion of the (|uarry. In 1700 Pierre Charles LeSneur ascended tlic Minnesota river, and in the account of his explorations he states that he heard of a tribe of Indians called Hinahantons who were said to inhabit the region of the red pipcstone quarrv. and of a village of the Dakotas located at tlie qnarries. On the map of the expedition, made by William PeL'isle in lTO:i, (lie (piaiTv has no place. We receive further evidence of the revered spot in 176(). Jonathan Carver ascended the Minnesota river that year and spent seven montlis during the winter of ITfifi-HT at the mouth of the Waraju. or Cottonwood rivei', near the present city of New I'liii. In his writings Carver said: "Near the liranch which is termed the Marble river is a mountain, from which the Indians get a sort of red stone, out of which (bey hew the bowls of their pipes."

That Indians not only visited the quarries for the purpose of securing the stone for their pi|ies, but (hat in ages past they had their permanent homes there, seems to be an established fact, although when white men first visited the site in the first half of the last cendiry there was no village at the (|uai'ries. In (he wi'itings of (icorge Catlin, who is supposed to have been the first white man at the quarries and who visited the site in is;i7, is a reference (o "graven, mounds and amient fortifications that lie in sight." .Tose]ih N. Nicollet, wdio was at the quarry the following year, spoke (d' finding nearby, to the east, two large, circular enclosures or breastworks, about two thousand feet in circuml'ei'eiice, with walls then remaining largo enough to protect bodies on tlie inside from enemies on the outside. He stated tliat the main entrances to these enclosures were then still marked enough to show where the principal personages had their lodges or dwellings. After .settlers located in Pipestone county, in the spring of 1S7S, one of these works mentioned by Nicollet was found and examined by C. IT. Bennett ami I). F. Sweet, who also discovered many evidences in the vicinity which led tbem to' believe (hat the Indians formei-lv had their homes near the quarries. ]\rr. Bennett wrote in 1878:

AnionK other things which attracted my attention were hundreds upon hundreds ot places within a mile of here of circular form, surrounded by stones of from six inches to two feet in diameter, some of which were sunken in the ground so as to be scarcely visible, all indicating unmistakably that some time in the years or centuries gone by, they were the habitations of Indians, and that they constituted villages of considerable size.

^tiicb is left to conjeclure concerning the eai'lv claims to the quarries. If the complete history of the Pijiestone quarry were known, what stories of W'onderful struggles for its possession might be written! Indian tradition is filled with accounts of battles and campaigns that took place (o secure it fm- (he ilifi'd-eiil nations, but so interwoven wilb legend are the lales as to lie wholly iiiireliahle. But there are evidences of these ciuifiicts that are reliable - (he battle fields. There are many places in Pipestone county indicating sites of Indian battles. Besides those mentioned as having been found at the quarry bv Catlin and Nicollet, there was a battle field (wii miles eastward of the pre-^ent site of Pi])estone,- ami sevi'ral in Oshornc township. On the northwest quarter ot section 34, Osborne, were found the outlines of old earthworks, semi-circular in shape, of a size sufficient to liold .-iOOo men. Nearby were piles of stone, indicating Indian graves, play grounds and trails. There may yet be found on the i>lace arrowheads and stone ham niers. Concerning some of the battle fields of Osborne township -Major I>. E. Hunals has written as follows :

The evidence still visible of pits, earthworks, arrowheads, stone hammers, etc., near the junction ot the Chanarambie and Rock creeks, at the head of the Rock river in Osborne township, indicates that it has been the scene of many fiercely fought battles between different tribes of aborigines.

On the southeast quarter of section 33, on a small plateau near the mouth of a ravine on the left bank of the river, is a series of pits, nearly connected, in the form of a circle; there has not been any perceptible change in them since the settlement of the county.

On the northwest quarter of section 34, on the highest plateau on the north side of a large ravine, can be seen a long, nearly obliterated, line of breastworks in a modified form, facing the northwest toward the valley. I had traveled over the ground many times, thinking it was an old trail of the buffalo, elk. deer and antelope passing over from the Chanarambie to the Rock valley, until one day in crossing it I noticed the pebbles were above the supposed trail, which struck me as being entirely out of the usual order of things, and at once began an investigation which resulted in the discovery of earthworks of a date so long ago that no reliable data can be given of their construction.

Signal mound, situated on the northeast quarter of section 24, is believed to be the third highest point of land in the state. It is easily reached from the south, but on the north it is precipitous to the Chanarambie and the valley below. When first settled by H. O. Gates there was conclusive evidence that it had been a great place of rendezvous for the Indians. Beds of ashes and bits of charred wood were to be seen all around about, as well as the decaying bones of the buffalo, deer, etc. Chippings of flint and partly-made arrowheads, with specimens of Pipestone, could be picked up on either hand. From this mound one can have a most magnificent view of the whole surrounding country and valleys below.

After many fierce struggles for the possession of the sacred Pipestone quarry, a truce seems to have been declared, and for a long period of time all the Indian nations held it in cniiimon. When the ])oet Longfellow let his imagination see Gitche Manitou. the niighty, standing on the red crags of the quari\v. calling the tril)es of men together, he was not entirely visionary. Hut in time the |i(iwerful Sioux ffibc di'ove out tl'c other nations and laid claim to the (|uarry, succcssfullv defending their claim. Whi'ii Hie first white men visited the spot they found the 8isseton branch (if the Sioux in ])ossession. Later, by what right is unknown, the Yankton Indians, whose lands were to the west of the Rig Sioux river, laid claim to the exclusive right to (|uarry the reil |iipestone, and their claims were lecognized by ti'eatv with the United States government in 18.-),S.

I had long ago heard many curious descriptions of this spot given by the Indians, and had contracted the most impatient desire to visit it. It will be seen by some of the traditions inserted in this letter, from my notes taken on the upper Mississippi two miles east of town, was built about ninety t)r one huTidred years .ago b>' the Sissetons, who at tliat time wei-e at war with the Omahas, who then claimed the ^inarry. one of the causes of the wai- being a strife for the possession of the (luarry." - Pipestone County Star, .luly 2t. 1X70.

At The Pipestonk Quarry

four years since, that those tribes have visited this place freely in former times; and that it has once been held and owned in common, as neutral ground, amongst the different tribes, who met here to renew their pipes under some superstition which stayed the tomahawk of natural foes, always raised in deadly hate and vengeance in other places. It will be seen, also, that within a few years past (and that, probably by the instigation of the whites, who have told them that by keeping off other tribes and manufacturing the pipes themselves, and trading them to other adjoining nations, they can acquire much influence and wealth) the Sioux have laid entire claim to the quarry; and as it is in the center of their country, and they are more powerful than any other tribes, they are able to successfully prevent any access to it,

That this place should have been visited for centuries past by all the neighboring tribes, who have hidden the war-club as they approached it and stayed the cruelties of the scalping-knife, under the fear of the vengeance of the Great Spirit, who overlooks it, will not seem strange or unnatural when their religion and superstitions are known.

That such has been the custom, there is not a shadow of doubt; and that even so recently as to have been witnessed by hundreds and thousands of Indians of different tribes now living, and from many of whom I have personally drawn the information, some of which will be set forth in the following traditions; and as additional (and still more conclusive) evidence of the position, here are to be seen (and will continue to be seen for ages to come the totems and arms of the different tribes who have visited this place for ages past, deeply engraved on the quartz rocks, where they are to be recognized in a moment (and not to be denied) by the passing traveler who has been among these tribes and acquired even only a partial knowledge of them and their respective modes.

I am aware that this interesting fact may be opposed by subsequent travelers, who will find nobody but the Sioux upon the ground, who now claim exclusive right to it; and for the satisfaction of those who doubt. 1 refer them to the Lewis and Clark tour thirty-three years since, before the influence of traders had deranged the system and truth of things in these regions. 1 have often conversed with General Clark, of St.

'Regarding the creation of the world ami man the traditions are far from uniform. The following was current among the Sioux of the upper Missouri and was reported bv George Catlin:

"Before the creation of man. the Great Spirit fwhose tracks are yet to be seen on the stf>nes -it the quarry, in the form of traekH of a large bird) used to slay the buffalo and eat them 'in the ledge of the red rocks, on tbe top of the Coteau des Pi-airies. and. their Iiiood. running on to the rocks, turned them red. One day

Louis, on this subject, and he told me explicitly, and authorized me to say it to the world, that every tribe on the Missouri told him they had been to this place, and that tlie Great Spirit kept tlie peace amongst his red children on that ground where they smoked with tlieir enemies.

The thousands of inscriptions and paintings on the rocks at this place, as well as the ancient diggings for the pipestone, will afford amusement for the world who will visit it, without furnishing the least data, I should think, of the time at which these excavations commenced, or of a period at which the Sioux assumed the exclusive right to it.

'I'd imc who knows the Indian's custiiiiis. superstitions and heliel's, it does not ajjpear strange tliat the Pipet^tone quarry sliould he vested witli all manner nf legends. Here was one s])ot held in reverence h)- all the nations. The bloodred stone, the large granite boulders, every tree and shrub even, became an object of vencraf inn. Ilei'e lor centuries jiast tlie warlike tribes had gathered and smoked the calninet and dug the pipestone in ]ieaee, some of the excavations being so old tliat no one has an idea of their age. Here tlic prairies had been dotted with tliiuisands III' wigwams, and tens of thousands of savages had visited the site since first the flight of years began. Eelics of camps ale indicated l)y stones placed in circles, laid so long ago tliat the .slow accumulations of centuries bave almost buried them beneath the surface. This was the aborigine's religious, social and political center of the universe, and his legends concerning it are wonderful and numrniiis. Ilcre, in llie must remarkable manner, was born the Indian race. Here, toil, iiappened tbe mysterious hirth of the I'cd pipe.'' when a large snake had crawled into the nest of the bird to eat her eggs, one of the eggs hatched out in a elap of thunder, and the Great Spirit, catching hold of a piece of the pipestone to throw at the snake, moulded it into a man. This man's feet grew fast in the gi'ound. where he stood for man,y ages, like a great ti'ce, and therefore he grew very old: he was older than a hundred men at the present da\'; ami at last another tree grew up b.\' the side of him, when a large snake ate them both off at the roots, and they wandered oft

Indian tradition is not history, and not until the nineteenth century does the man's knowledtj^e o( the quarries and Pipestone county hegin."* We have learned that prior to that century a fe^v e.xpkirers and voyageurs liad visited the Minnesota river, but none had ventured so far from tlio broken path? as Pipestone county, so far as any records sliow. In 1823 a scientogether; from these have sprung all the people that now inhabit the earth."

The legend concerning the birth of the peacepipe is reported by Mr. Catlin as follows. That Longfellow utilized the legend reported by Catlin in his "Hiawatha" seems to be certain from the wording of this tradition:

"The Great Spirit at an ancient period here called the Indian nations together, and, standing on the precipice of the red pipestone rock, broke from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe bv turning it in his hand, which he smoked over them, and to the north, the south, the ea=;t. the west, told them that this stone was red - that it was their flesh - that it belonged to them all. and that the war-club and scalping-knife must not be raised on its ground. At the last whifT of his pipe his head went into a great cloud, and the whole surface of the rock for several miles was meUcd and glazed; two great ovens were opened beneath, and two women (guardian spirits of the place) entered them in a blaze of fire; and they are heard there vet (Tso-mec-cos-tee and Tso-me-cos-te-won-dee>. answering to the invocations of the high nriests or medicinf^-men. who consult them when they are visitors to this sacred place.

"Near this spot. also, on a high mound, is the Thunder's nest fmid-du-Tonnerel. where a very ."tmall bird sits upon her eggs during fair weather, and the skies are rent with the holts of thunder at the approach of a storm, whir-h is occasioned by the hatching of her hroodl This bird is eternal and incanible of rpnroducing her own species; shn lias often been seen tiy the medicine-men. and is nbout as Inrge as the end of the little finger. Tier mate is a serpent, whose fierv tnngue destroys the yomig one's as thov are hatrhed and the fiery noise darts through the skies."

Another version of this legend is nubb'sh<-d. in Mrs. Abbie Gardner-Sharp's "Histni-\- of the Spirit I>ake Massacre." When a girl Miss Gardner was taken prisoner by the Si'^ux and w-is with the Indians several months, during whir-h time they visited the Pipestone quarrv. She iiad an excellent opportunity to learn th*^ Intrends of the Indians, but her version, which f<tllows. is largelv in the language of Catlin. who ascribed the legend to the Sioux who resided in the vicinity of the quarry and on tlie upper Mississippi:

"Manv years ago the Great Spirit, whose tracks in the form of those of a Inrge I>ird are yet to he seen upon the rocks, descending from the hea\'ens. stood unrni the rliff at thp Red Pipestone. A stream issued frfmi beneath his feet, which, falling down the cHff. passed away in the plain below, while near him. on an elevation, was the Thimder's nest, in wli-'-h a small bird stiU sits upon her eggs, the hatching of every one of which causes a clap of thunder. He broke a piece from the ledgt^ and formed it into a huge pine and smoked it. the smoke rising in a vast cloud so hiirh th-if it could be seen throughout the earth and became the signal to all the tribes of men to assemble at the spot from whenee it issued and listen to the words of the Groat Spirit. They came in vast numbers and filled the pUiin below him. He blew the smoke over them all and told them that the stone was human flesh, the flesh of their ancestors, who were created tific expedition under the command of Major Stephen II. Long, of tlie United States army, passed u|t the ]\Iinne.sota river, but its investigations did not extend io tlie quarrv or to Pipestone county. A vakiable re^iort of the expedition, written cliiefly by the party's geologist, Pi'of. William H. Keating, was published in 1825. It contained the earliest definite descripupon this spot; that the pipe he had made from it was the symbol of peace; that although they should be at war, they must ever after meet upon this ground in peace and as friends, for it belonged to them all; they must make their calumets from the soft stone and smoke them in their councils and whenever they wished to appease him or obtain his favor. Having said this, he disappeared in the cloud which the last whiff of the pipe had caused, when a great fire rushed over the surface and meUed the rocks, and at the same time two squaws passed through the fire to their places beneath the two medicine rocks, where they remain to this day as guardian spirits of the place and must be propitiated by any one wishing to obtain the pipestone hefore it can be taken away."

Another very interesting legend in which the Pipestone quarry figures was told George Catlin in 1R3S bv a distinguished Knisteneaux on the upper Missouri. The Indian told of having visited the quarry and described the place. He said:

"In the time of a great freshet, which took place many eenturies ago and destroyed all the nations of tlie earth, all the tribes of the red men assembled on the Coteau des Prairies to get out of the way of the waters. After thev had all gathered here from all parts, the waters continued to rise until at length it covered them all in a mass, and their flesh was converted into red ni pest one. Therefore, it has alwavs been considered neutral ground - it be. longed to all tribes alike, and nil were allowed to get it and smoke it together. While they were all drowning in a mas^. a vou"tr woman. K-wap-tah-w fa virgin V eansrht hold of the foot of a verv large bird that wa« flvin.'- over and was eairied to the ton of a high eijff. not far off. that was above the water. Here she had twins, and their father was the w^r eagle, and her children have since neonled the earth. The pipestone. which is the flesh of their ancestors, is smoked bv them as the svmbol of neaep. and the eagle's quil! decorates the head of the brave."

The "Three Maidens." the great granite boulders whii'h lie elose to the quarry and whifh are 1') this day worshipped by the Indian^, havp been made the scene of ati interesting storv hv the Indians. According to them, manv rentiH'ies ago all the Indian tribes of the earth assembled in the vallev of the pipestone and engaged in deadiv conflict to avenge the supnosed wrongs in their resper-tive tribes. The battle lasted many days, and the blood flowine oier (he valley gave its color to the rocks. Finajlv there wei-e onlv two sur\'ivoi-s. each a leading Chieftain, of all who composed the Indian race. These brained each other with their tomah'iwks and the race woidd have been extinct had not three Indian maidens htd beneath three hup"e Tocks of the valley and lived to perpetuate their race.

*An interview obtained in 1879 bv Charles H. Bennett from Strike-the-Rce. the head chief of the Yanktons. and Fat Mandan. a suh-cbief. furnishes a little information of conditions at the quarry in the early years of the ninc-teent^' century. Slrike-tbe-R^c. who was then an old man. .said that one of this first recollections as a ciiild was of having been brought to the Pipe- tion of tlic Coteau rles Prairies, the great elevated praiiie country extending; from Lalve Traverse in a southwesterly direction into Iowa and embracing Pipestone county.'' .\nother explorer and author was in the region in 183.3, but did not extend Ids explorations to Pipestone county. This was George W. Featherstonhaugli, an Engiisli geologist, temporarily employed by the T'nitcil States bureau of topogra|)liical engineers. He traveled by canoe lip the Jlinnesota river and ascended the northern ])ai't of the Coteau. The geological report of the expedition was iniblished by order of the senate in 1S.'?6, and in l!~147 Featherstoidiaugh issued in London n itiipular narrative of the journey, entitled "A Canoe Yovage up the ilinnav Sotor."

We now iipiiroarli the time when the first white man visited the famous Pipestone (|iiai'iy anil lirst set foot on tlir soil of Pipestone county. ITp to the year ls:!7 there is no record of any white man having had the courage to venture upon the sacred sjjot. The country was overrun with the savage Sioux, who guarded zealously the place where they believed their race originated. The Sioux at this time stone nuarry by his father, who then lived with the Yanlttons on the upper Jim river, in Daltota. A few years later tlie trihe moved to near the month of Jim river where it empties into the Missonvi river. .Ahont the year lSi\\ five hundred lodges or families of the Yanl<tons visited the <iuarry and spent three months dissinn Pipestone, wliieh was a tedious job witli only the stone implements they had. The oM ehief said that dnrlns this visit he wa.s m.ari-ied to the first of his foin- wives with mucli i)omi> and ceremon\'. Fat Mandan was a boy five years old. but stated that he remembei''-f] the vi.sit distinetly. He said that his grandfather frequently spent the winters at the tiuarry and that there was a large grove theie and thai th" edge of the cliff was much more regidar and sharp and seemeil higher than at the time of the interview.

'-This elevated streteh of eoiuitry. forming the watershed between the Minnesota and Missouri river systems, was the wonder of all the early explorers. It was referred to by the very earliest white men to Minnesota, being discernible for great distances, and was named by the French voyageurs and fur traders of the preced-, ing century. The Pinestone quarries are situated on the highest point of the divide. The Coteau was sometimes called a mountain, and I^ongfellow's "On the mountains of the prairie" was derive*! fi'om the de.scriptions of the explorers.

maintained the exclusive right to the quarry and received handsome revenues from traffic in the sacred stone with the other Indian tribes; they regarded with enmity any of the explorers who even hinted at a visit, and all tlie early travelers gave the spot a wide lierth. The first white man of I'ccord to enter Pipestone county was (ieorge Catlin."

George Catlin was tlic greatest Indian delineator of the country. Prior to his \isit to the Pipestone quarry he had been among almost every tribe of aborigines in America. In almost every country he had found the red pipes and heard descriptions and legends of the country from which the red material came. He formed an irresistible detennination to visit the spot from which it came. When at Fort Snelling in 183.5 on one of his tours to the northwest, he laid plans for a trip to the quarry, but hearing of the govcinnicnt cxpi'dition under ^fr. Fcathcrstonbaiigb to explore the Coteau des Prairies, he abandoned the project. Learning subsequently that that gentleman did not visit the ipiarry, in 1837 he made the trip from Xew York city, "a distance of 2-100 miles, for which purpose I devoted eight

"Concerning the possibility that white rnen might h.ave been at the quarry before Catlin. ITon. Warren Upham. secretary of the Minnesota Historical society, in a paper on the early explorations at the Pipestone <iuarry. said: ". During the next himdred years rif exteii- .sion of the fur trade by the French throughout the northwest, previous to the cession of New France to Fngland in 1763. doubtless some rif the adventuro\is traders, crossing the great prairie region witli roving bands of Indians, saw their q\iarrying of the pipestone; but I am unable to cite any record of white explorers coming to this place until a considerably more recent time, about seventy years ago."

General H. H. S'blev. in a letter to the Minnesota territorial legislature, written in September. 1S40, objected to the name catlinite for the red pipestone. because it was apparently given in honor of George Catlin on the assumption that he was the first man who h-id visited the region. .An extract from Mr. Sibley's letter is as follows: ". . . whereas it is notorious that many whites had been there and examined the ouarrv lone hefo>-e he came to the eountrv. This designation, therefore, is clearly improper and uniust. The Riouv term for the stone is E-van-shah. bv which T coceive it should be known and classified." Mr. Sibley did not name an earlier visitor to the quarrv. .and I have never heard one named.

iiKintli,--. ti'Mveliiif;- ;it cDiisidiTalilo oxpcrise. across the cuntiin'iit. Iln' jnurni'v beiiij; ataiid I'or part of the way with much fa- tended not only "witli niucli fatij^uc ami tigue and exhaustion.'' Of the thousands who have visited the sacred land of the Indians, tlie first was so much interested