Pipestone,
MN. and Mobridge, S.D.
July 30-August 4,
2017
We arrived in
Pipestone, a small town of 4,000 people, in the middle of farmland. This was a stopping place, waiting for
Sturgis (motorcycle rally) to clear out near Mobridge so we could make our way
to South Dakota. I was enjoying staying
in the middle of prairieland and never experienced a prairie sky until
now. The hues in the sky with clouds of
pinks and blues and occasional sunrays glaring through, were beautiful. The RV site on grass (with no one around)
was a great place to stay enjoying prairie breezes, cicadas, an occasional fire
in the fire pit, not to mention the many trains passing by each day.
Our first night meal
was not pizza but Mexican food. We were
excited to finally enjoy chips, salsa and a margarita. There was exploring to be done in Pipestone
especially the National Monument, an
area known where Native Americans made
peace pipes for over 1,000 years. This
week we would explore the area, learn about the culture, go to the County Fair
and more importantly, get my hair done!
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| The Prairie |
Pipestone National Monument
The RV park was a
short distance from the National Monument so we didn't mind leaving the dogs
for a couple of hours as we toured this
place. Walking in, we were handed a trail guide and map
explaining different areas of this sacred ground.
The legend goes that over 1,000 years ago the
"Great Spirit" in the form of a large bird, appeared to the
Indians. It took red stone from this
area forming it into a large pipe, smoking it, telling the Indians "it was
their flesh, they must all smoke to him through it and it must be used only for
pipes". In the 1700's the Sioux
controlled the quarries made of pink to bright red rock and distributed the
stone through trade. The ceremonial
smoking was used for medicinal purposes, warfare, dancing and trading. This was their sacred ground and it became a
source of income for the Indians. It was
in the 1800's that the pipe (as we know it) became the T-shaped calumet which
became better known as the "peace pipe", used in treaty
ceremonies. In the early 1900's,
outsiders were digging through the rock but the government proclaimed this area
as part of the reservation. In 1937 the
government proclaimed this "Pipestone National Monument".
It was exciting to
visit this historical and sacred place where I could envision the Indians on
this vast plain. ( We were not far from Laura Ingalls Wilder childhood
home). On the trail, our map pointed out
various grass and plant species before leading us to the red rock (pipestone)
catlinite quarries. We climbed up the rocks to view the beautiful Winnewissa
Falls. One of the rocks at the falls
appear to be the face of an Indian (named the Oracle) and along the trail we
noticed small colored rags tied to trees.
The rags we learned were prayer rags place there by the Indians.
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| "The Oracle" the natural formation of the Indian Head |
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| The sacred place of Winnewissa Falls |
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| A weathered shovel left in the quarry |
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| An active pipestone dig site |
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| Red Rock Quarry |
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| One of the many prayer rags |
The quarries are
still worked today by Indians from the reservation between summer and
fall. Only hand tools are used and we
saw old, weathered shovels , picks and more prayer rags near the quarries. We were visiting Pipestone National Monument
at a time when there was active digging.
Intrigued by what we encountered,
we crossed a few yards past an area that was roped off to see if we
could see the Indians digging. There was
a hose feeding into a quarry and both of us could have sworn we heard the faint
sound of Indian chanting.
Perry wanted to find
himself a peace pipe! We hated to see this fascinating tour come to an end but
we had a lot more to learn about the Native American culture over the next
month.
Pipestone had a
County Fair while we were there and despite the cold and rain, we wanted to see
local farm animals (I have never seen such large dairy cows!). There was local entertainment as well and we
sat down and enjoyed and "older" men's quartet as they sang
"older" songs and patriotic tunes.
This was an old fashioned "Americana" fair that all the locals
attended and we were happy to be a part of it!
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| The delightful quartet |
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| "Big" dairy cows |
I found myself a
great hairdresser and now we could move onto our next destination of Mobridge,
S.D. knowing my hair looked trimmed and fairly decent!
Mobridge, S.D.
August 5-11, 2017
There isn't a lot to
do in Mobridge, but that doesn't stop us
from exploring! Our first day we
ventured off to Fort Yates about an hour drive into North Dakota. We crossed the Missouri River onto the Sioux
Indian Reservation of Standing Rock. We
were surrounded by miles of wide open prairie, sunflowers and farmland. In this area are dirt mounds created by
prairie dogs and it's open hunting on the pesty little creatures. They are not endangered and there is no
limit, an ideal law for the frustrated farmers.
Trying to learn and absorb the Sioux culture with so much to learn about
Sioux history, I've gathered they were given land back in the late 1800's by
the Federal government. For the Standing
Rock Reservation this is over 3,500 square miles of land with not many people
living on the reservation. Fort Yates
(on the reservation) was a quiet, simple town with poverty looking homes that
were small and alike throughout. We stopped in the local grocery store to buy
cold drinks and everyone in the store were Native Americans. One gentleman had
rich black hair down his back, with a rag tied around his head. Standing Rock has a nice school, Sitting
Bull college, a Church, a very run down operating hospital overrun by weeds
. This is the town that claims to be the
burial place of Sitting Bull. I couldn't
help but wonder how the Indians long ago survived in an area that freezes in
the winter and could envision tribes on horseback fighting for their land. This area was not only rich in farmland and
prairies, but culture as well. Missing
our turn to visit a paleontology museum, we drove down a residential street
with large hand painted signs that read "Taken Alive". Not sure what it meant as we drove a little
further, another sign said "Ira Taken Alive". Ira was running for chairman of a board and
Taken Alive was his last name.
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The bridge taking us to N. Dakota
and the Sioux Reservation
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| Chief Sitting Bull |
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| Miles of sunflowers |
The paleontology
museum in Fort Yates displayed fossils from different dinosaurs. We learned there are at least forty
excavation sites on the reservation but only one currently used due to lack of
funds. I felt a true sense of their
culture in this tiny town.
The next day we
drove up a long dirt road to visit the site of "Chief Sitting
Bull". Here, people left
sacrificial gifts at the statue including (hard for me to look at) the skin of
a coyote. Not far from here was the
memorial site of Sakakawea (real spelling of Sacagawea), the Indian woman
married to a fur tradesman, who accompanied and guided Lewis and Clark to the
Pacific. It is near this area that she
later settled with her husband and succumbed to an illness sometime around
1812. She is one of few Indian women
highly regarded in the Indian culture.
In Mobridge, we
managed to mingle with the locals, shop local grocery stores (prices were
high), go to a crowded church and walk along the Missouri River.
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| Memorial to "Sitting Bull" along with sacrificial gifts |
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| The nearby memorial to Sacajawea |
This
was another place we enjoyed feeling the peace and tranquility of the locals
but we couldn't wait to see (the first time visit) Mount Rushmore!
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