Pipestone Minnesota

Whoa!  Batten the hatches and hold on to that steering wheel!  Minnesota was very windy, and apparently is most of the time.  1200 Wind turbines line the countryside and attest to that.  Minnesota is farm country, and settled by Scandinavian immigrants, who were called "sodbusters", as they cleared land to find the rich soil of the prairie.

We drove into black clouds that gave way to downpours of rain, and I was hoping it was at least cleaning my dirty car!  We arrived at our campsite and were guided into a spot that had standing water right where our door is!  Guess we may need to add boots to our list of supplies!  We re maneuvered, and got to a bit better ground, set up, and waited for the rain to subside.  The area is still this evening under a flood warning.

The goal today was Pipestone, near the South Dakota border, where  there is  an abundance of Sioux quartzite.    The pink/red  stone was used in buildings up and down the historic main street, and the town was added to the Register of National Historic places.  The Sioux cleared the prairie grass, and quarried the softer pipestone, beneath the  pink stones,  to make their peace pipes, and hence the name of the town.   Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha" tells of "the great Red Pipestone Quarry", and the area is still sacred ground of the Sioux and other Native Americans.  There is a pageant presented each year of the Song of Hiawatha on the spot where the quarry of an architect who built the Historic Moore Block, once existed.   The building that bears his name is covered with humorous faces, and on the National Register, as are many of the buildings.     Very interesting , now sleepy, little town.

Click on the photo to see more photos of the buildings.