Pipestone Monument

A wall of Sioux Quartzite runs almost the entire length of the Monument … quartzite is the stone that overlies the pipestone. The trail booklet told us that eons ago this region was a sea shore and that the pipestone was a deposit of muddy clay which was eventually covered with a deep layer of sand. Pressure, heat, and chemical action slowly turned the sand into quartzite ... and the clay into pipestone.

Pipestone quarry pits appear as gashes in the ground surrounded by discarded quartzite rubble. Only Native Americans are given permits to quarry in the Monument. They are allowed to use no more than hand tools. We could barely imagine the laborious task of using a hand pick to uncover the vein of pipestone running below dozens of feet of hard Sioux quartzite.

Near the entrance of the Pipestone National Monument is Lake Hiawatha. The teepees are part of the set used for the Hiawatha Pageant, a renowned production that has been held each August since 1949. The huge boulders next to the teepees are erratics known as the Three Maidens.

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To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.

— Charles Horton Cooley —