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2 – PIPESTONE COUNTY STAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012CELEBRATING75 YEARSThe cultural, natural and historicalsignificance of Pipestone NationalMonument will be celebrated on theoccasion of the Monument’s 75thAnniversary, Saturday, Aug. 25, withseveral events that will take place at theVisitor Center throughout the day.Pipestone National MonumentSuperintendent Glen Livermont hasinvited the community to join Monumentstaff in the celebration, which will includewalks, refreshments, photo displays, threeguest speakers, post office cancellation ofa special anniversary stamp, and guidedtours of the Monument maintenanceoperation on the Minnesota WestCommunity & Technical College.At 1 p.m. there will be a formalceremony at the Visitor Center withremarks and presentations by staff ofthe National Park Service, federal, stateand local officials, community leaders,and member of tribes affiliated with theMonument.In the following pages, you’ll readabout the Monument’s past and present,as well as what the future may hold for thePipestone landmark. These stories alsocover the geologic, spiritual and culturalformation of the land that, for the past75 years, the Monument has served topreserve, interpret and protect.Happy Anniversary, PipestoneNational Monument!-Debra FitzgeraldEditorTHE MONUMENT IS BORNThe above photo depicts the dedication of the new visitor center with a ribbon cutting ceremonyheld July 26, 1958 - 21 years after the founding of the Monument. Prior to the creation of the VisitorCenter, park amenities included a picnic area and shelter. The Visitor Center was expanded in1973. Source: Pipestone County MuseumBy Kyle KuphalPipestone National Monument wasfounded on Aug. 25, 1937 when PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt signed it intoexistence.While the Monument became a reality75 years ago, the concept for a park of somekind near the pipestone quarries emergednearly 50 years before that. Bringing thoseplans to fruition was no easy task.According to “Managing the sacred andthe secular: An administrative history ofPipestone National Monument,” publishedin 1992, the idea was first put forth in the1890s by residents of the young city ofPipestone, who thought a national park inthe area would create a “federally fundedanchor for the local economy.”At that time only a few national parksexisted, including Yellowstone, MackinacIsland, Yosemite, Sequoia and GeneralGrant national parks.According to the book, “A History ofPipestone National Monument,” publishedin 1965, local park advocates held anumber of meetings over a three-weekperiod in 1895, after which a draft bill wassent to Congressman J. T. McCleary, whointroduced it as H.R. 3741. The bill calledfor the Pipestone Indian Reservation tobe “set apart and designated ‘The IndianPipestone National Park.’” The bill died inthe Public Lands Committee of the House ofRepresentatives.An agreement signed by the Yanktons in1899 called for the land to be “maintainedas a national park or reservation,” butCongress never ratified the agreement.Other plans emerged in 1919 to use 22 acresof reservation land near Indian Lake for a citypark. In 1925, legislators H. J. Farmer and L. P.Johnson introduced a bill to establish a statepark at the site contingent upon the transferof the land from the federal government.Neither the local or state park plans evercame to fruition due to a title dispute. Thatdispute ended with the federal governmentholding the title to the reservation land in1928. With the title cleared, local groups,including the Daughters of the AmericanRevolution and the Pipestone National ParkAssociation, resumed the push for a park.The Pipestone National Park Association,which later became the Pipestone IndianShrine Association, was formed in 1932 bya group of about 35 people from variousHappy Birthdayto thePipestone National MonumentPipestone507-825-3316Congratson 75Years!PEPSI COLA BOTTLING COMPANY1801 FORMAN DRIVE, PIPESTONE, MN(507) 825-4207Pipestone County native Winifred Bartlettplayed an instrumental role in the local effortsto establish a park at the pipestone quarries.Source: nps.govcommunity organizations in Pipestone.The group selected an executive committeewith Winifred Bartlett as president; EdwardA. Trebon as vice president; Tad A. Bailey assecretary; Max Menzel as treasurer; and Rev.Joseph Mangan and Ruth Morgan.The Association approved a draft billto establish a park of 81.75 acres thatwould give quarrying rights to all NativeAmerican tribes and asked James W. Balmer,superintendent of the Pipestone IndianSchool, to find out what the Bureau of IndianAffairs thought of such a park. “A History ofPipestone National Monument” says someofficials at the bureau objected strongly tothe park, but some support was indicated.Sen. Henrik Shipstead of Minnesotaintroduced formal legislation to make thearea part of the National Park System in 1934and 1935, but one bill died in committeeand the House never took action on theother. Despite continued failures, local,state and federal efforts to create a NationalMonument continued.Monument bornContinued on page 3
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012 PIPESTONE COUNTY STAR – 3AFTER THE FOUNDINGBy Kyle KuphalAfter Pipestone National Monument wasfounded in 1937, its development was a longslow process, due mostly to lack of funding.For the first two years there were no staffat the Monument. The first custodian —J.W. Balmer, who was superintendent of theIndian School — was appointed two yearslater in 1939. Balmer volunteered to serve ascustodian and was not compensated.It was Balmer who proposed a permittingprocess for quarrying that required thequarriers to use only hand methods toremove the stone. The National Park Service(NPS) implemented such a rule in 1946,limiting quarrying to Native Americans usinghand tools, requiring them to secure a freepermit, and prohibiting accommodationslike trailers or mobile homes on theMonument grounds.The goal, according to “Managing thesacred and the secular: An administrativehistory of Pipestone National Monument,”published in 1992, was to present thequarrying as an interpretive activity andlimit the amount of the resource removed.Those rules remain in effect today.“The way things are quarried is still thesame - sledge hammers and wedges,” saidTravis Erickson, a fourth generation quarrierand pipe carver.There are 56 pipestone quarries at theMonument. Of those, 52 are permitted on anannual basis, four on a monthly basis. Thereis no waiting list for the monthly permittedquarries, but a waiting list of about 10 yearsfor the annual permits, said Glen Livermont,Monument superintendent.Erickson, who has quarried his pit forover 30 years and extracts close to a ton ofpipestone each year, said the activity levelat the Monument has changed over the lastthree decades. When he started quarrying,there were many pits that weren’t spokenfor, but the people who quarried did so ona regular basis. Today, there is a waiting listto quarry, but Erickson said there’s not asmuch activity as there used to be.Funding for further development of thegrounds came in 1948 when the Monumentswitched to year-round operation. Thefirst full time employee, Lyle K. Linch, washired (he later became the Monument’s firstsuperintendent), roads and parking lotswere graveled, trails were improved, a trailguide was introduced, interpretive signswere erected and the exhibit pit was openedMonument bornContinued from page 2around that time.A few years later in 1950, the three-quartermile Circle Trail was opened, guiding visitorspast the Monument’s natural and historicfeatures.When the Indian School closed in theearly 1950s, the Bureau of Indian Affairsdecided to turn over to the Monumentsome of the school’s land. The transfer ofadditional acres was made official on Feb.16, 1957, increasing the Monument’s sizefrom 115 to 282 acres. Today, the Monumenthas 301 acres.Around 1955 the Pipestone NationalPark Association that had helped bringthe Monument into existence reemergedwith a new purpose and a new name — thePipestone Indian Shrine Association.“The main purpose was to provide a shopor a venue, if you will, where the NativeAmerican craftspeople could sell their stuffand it could be sold for them, and they couldsell it year round,” said Pat Beyers, a longtime Pipestone Indian Shrine Associationmember. “And also to do some marketingfor those crafts.”Construction of the Visitor’s Center beganin 1957 and was completed in 1958. A littlemore than a decade later, between 1971-72,the Upper Midwest Indian Cultural Center,THANKYOU FOR75 YEARSOF SERVICE!which includes the craft areas and themuseum, was added to the Visitor’s Center.A six-unit apartment building was also builtat that time, according to “Pipestone CountyHistory” published in 1984, to house theNative Americans who quarried the stone.That building has since been torn down.More recently in 2006, the Friendsof the Pipestone National Monumentwas formed with the encouragement ofthen-superintendent M. James LaRock.The Friends of the Pipestone NationalMonument is a non-profit organization thatpromotes the preservation, developmentand public understanding of the Monument.The group supports the Monument throughstewardship, visitor service programs,volunteerism and fundraising.Their efforts have included providinglunch for the volunteers during the annualseed day, holding a yearly photo contest toAbove, l-to-r: 1. Joe Taylor, who quarriedhis Monument pit for many years and soldpipestone crafts in the area, is shown withan unnamed man in this 1920s photo. 2. Thispit today is named Indian Joe Pit after JoeTaylor. 3. The three-quarter mile circle trail atthe Monument being developed in 1950. 4. Aportion of the three-quarter mile circle trailtoday. Sources: Pipestone County HistoricalSociety and Pipestone Publishing/Kyle Kuphalpromote interest in the Monument, a run tobenefit park activities and volunteer work.They’ll also be serving snacks and beveragesto visitors during the Monument’s 75thanniversary celebration.We Congratulate thePipestone NationalMonument for your75 Years of Service!In 1937 those efforts succeeded whenboth senators from Minnesota introducedyet another bill to create the Monument.The Senate passed the bill on Aug. 6, theHouse passed it on Aug. 21 and on Aug. 25,1937, FDR signed it into law and PipestoneNational Monument was born.The Monument was unique in that it wasone of the first national monuments createdby legislative action rather than presidentialproclamation. It was also unique becausethe historic activities that made the areasignificant — the quarrying of the stone —were still occurring.A&SDrug101 W. Main St.,Pipestone, MN, 507-825-3100Pipestone, MNProviding Health Care To Our Customers For Over 75 Years!
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