Pipestone National Monument
One thread of the conference looks at the relationship of the “Little House” Books and Native Americans. If you want to make it a thread of your trip too, there are several Native American sites you can plan a detour for.
There are two major historic sites in southwestern Minnesota area that I have visited with a focus on Native Americans. Pipestone National Monument outside of Pipestone, Minnesota preserves a sacred mining site. The unique catlinite (pipestone) found there is considered sacred to many tribes and only Native Americans are allowed to mine it. There is a walk that takes you through the quarry site with the now often grown over old quarry workings and the current spots where they dig. It’s a beautiful walk. The visitor center includes native artisans carving the pipestone and you can purchase their work. My mother keeps a keychain of pipestone in her car when she lost the first one, I had to learn about their very user friendly mail order service.
A second type of stone, Sioux quartzite, is common in the area and most of the downtown is built from this distinctive rock which is totally different from pipestone. This area has long been a tourist area. In fact, I’d swear that I read somewhere once that Almanzo and Royal visited, but I haven’t ever been able to find the reference again. If anybody else comes across it, let me know and I’ll report back if I ever find it. Until very recently they did an annual pageant very similar to the Laura pageants about the life of Hiawatha. The pipestone quarry is described in the very famous Longfellow poem Hiawatha. However, as I said there have been tourists coming here for a longtime and tourist traps abound, so be aware.
Pipestone Keychain
Learn a lot more about it and the area here.
The second site is the Jeffers Petroglyphs. It is located just a little ways east of Highway 71 between Walnut Grove, Minnesota and Interstate 90. Two warnings about this site. First, the signage to get you there from Highway 71 is not clear. The first time I stopped I ended up circling on a gravel road and if I hadn’t had a GPS system, I don’t think I ever would have found them. The second circle around I did find it, don’t be in a hurry to turn, as the signs aren’t placed well to let you know exactly when to turn (there is a hill that blocks your view right before you get to the final turn), but it isn’t far off the main road and if you keep a sharp eye out and maintain a healthy skeptical attitude towards the signs you should find it with no problem. The second warning is that it’s set up with the expectation that you’ll walk the entire circuit of the path they have set up which will take at least an hour. They do have a nice visitor center with very nice bathrooms. Be sure to watch the informational video about it on their website. They describe the site and its meaning better than I could.
I hope to get another post done all about New Ulm, but in case I don’t, still on my want-to-see list is the Brown County Museum in New Ulm, Minnesota, which features what is supposed to be an excellent display on the Sioux Uprising (its sanctioned name keeps changing, I think that’s the most current – it’s called the Minnesota Massacre by Mrs. Scott in Little House on the Prairie).
Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube.
If you want to know more about the Petroglyphs, this site also has TONS of information. http://jefferspetroglyphs.com/ Our family has volunteered there for years and we host homeschool programs there several times a year. It’s a wonderful site with carvings that go back to the time of the pyramids, plus lots of hands-on stuff related to nature, science, prairie life, the Dakota, etc.
Also, I’m not sure why you thought you were expected to walk the whole path. It’s about a quarter mile up to the carvings and the staff usually tells people that they can continue the whole trail if they wish, but not too many people do. It’s a lovely walk, especially with lots of wildflowers in bloom right now, but all you have to do is walk up to the carvings and back if you don’t want to go all around the prairie. If you don’t do the loop, I would still suggest taking the path to the Buffalo Rub anyway, though. The staff can point the way and it’s a very short walk. It’s a huge rock that was rubbed glassy purple over thousands of years by the buffalo and it’s pretty neat to see and touch.
And do see if someone can teach you to throw the atlatl! That’s an ancient spear throwing tool and there’s a huge fake buffalo target set up at the atlatl range so visitors can give it a shot. Even kids can try and it’s a pretty neat thing to try. There’s often a staff member at the atlatl range to teach visitors, but if there isn’t, ask if someone can go out there with you and show you. My husband helped develop their atlatl program it’s really fascinating and just plain fun.
Lastly, I blogged a ton of pictures of the Wilder Pageant from the dress rehearsal in Walnut Grove today (my husband and daughters are in it). If you’d like to peek at the play it’s here: http://magicalchildhood.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/opening-night/
~Alicia
It’s now the Dakota Conflict … We have an LP panel that will discuss that era, too.