I was always fascinated by Laura’s sentimentality in naming her first–and ultimately only–child. She named her after the prairie roses that bloomed in June, and it struck me as a particularly whimsical and romantic thing to do, a sign of the honeymoon period she and Manly certainly enjoyed as they started their marriage.
But what do prairie roses look like?
I took this picture Sunday, during a trip to see the Pipestone quarries at Pipestone, Minn., now a national park. The quarries, which are accessible only to American Indians, yield the stone that many consider sacred to their religions. They use the stone to create pipes and other materials.
The quarries sit in the middle of the prairie, and a long trail takes one through the quarries, to surprising sites such as Winnewissa Falls and the initials of the Nicollet expedition engraved in rock. Along the route, different plants are identified by signs, and this plant was clearly identified.
Prairie Rose.
In its beauty, we can see the love Laura had for her daughter.
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