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.