to download the Pipestone National Monument 75th Edition.

6 – PIPESTONE COUNTY STAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2012MONUMENT LAND FORMATION: THESPIRITUAL AND THE GEOLOGICBy Kyle KuphalBefore and for many years after Europeanscame to southwest Minnesota, the area was avast prairie. Artist and ethnographer GeorgeCatlin recorded his thoughts on what waslater named the Coteau des Prairies andwhat is now known as the Buffalo Ridgeas he stood atop the ridge in the 1830s,according to his notes later published in thebook “North American Indians:”“This wonderful feature, which is severalhundred miles in length, and varying fromfifty to a hundred in width, is, perhaps, thenoblest mound of its kind in the world; itgradually and gracefully rises on each side,by swell after swell, without tree, or bush orrock (save what are to be seen in the vicinityof the Pipe Stone Quarry), and everywherecovered with green grass, affording thetraveler, from its highest elevations, the mostunbounded and sublime views of — nothingat all — save the blue and boundless ocean ofprairies that lie beneath and all around him,vanishing into azure in the distance withouta speck or spot to break their softness.”Nearly the entire prairie is gone now, butthe native prairie grasses can still be seenon the 301 acres of the Pipestone NationalMonument. The native prairie that has beenrestored at the Monument makes the landunique, but it is the red stone within thatprairie land that made the area sacred.The spiritualThe pipestone quarries play a central rolein many creation stories passed down byNative Americans, including the following:ThenSome Native Americans believe these boulder fragments — called the Three Maidens — harborthe spirits of three young women who watch over the quarries. Some leave offerings at therocks before they begin quarrying. Geologists say the boulders were carried here from Canadaby a glacier during the last ice age and left behind when it receded. Pipestone Publishing/KyleKuphal“An old man came down to earth andconvened the medicine-men and chiefs oftwo rival tribes. Despite his exhortationsto live in peace and the earth’s bounty, thetribes fought one another. The blood of theslain flowed down a river and formed “thered pipestone.” The old man made a pipe forthe Indians; where he stepped was formed abluff.”— Philip Deloria, Dakota“In the time of a great freshet, which tookplace many centuries ago, and destroyed allthe nations of the earth, all the tribes of thered men assembled on the Coteau du Prarie,to get out of the way of the waters. After theyhad all gathered here from all parts, thewater continued to rise, until at great lengthit covered them all in a mass, and their fleshwas converted into red pipe stone. Thereforeit has always been considered neutral ground— it belonged to all tribes alike, and all wereallowed to get it and smoke it together.While they were all drowning in a mass,a young woman, K-wao-tah-w (a virgin),caught hold of the foot of a very large birdthat was flying over, and was carried to thetop of a high cliff, not far off, that was abovethe water. Here she had twins, and theirfather was the war-eagle, and her childrenhave since peopled the earth.”Land formationContinued on page 6THANKYOUFORBRAVOfor 75 years!Thanks for75 Years ofService!75Years ofService!PIPESTONE NATIONALMONUMENTHwy 30 @ 8th Avenue SW Construction LLCLicensed & Bonded ~ License #BC-2031642507-347-3167 507-347-3292Cell 507-820-1980 Cell 507-820-0128 www.chsmarshall.comThe HistoricCALUMETINN104 West Main StreetPipestone, MN 56164507-825-5871 or 800-535-7610Visit us on the web at www.calumetinn.com