8 The Conservative *
PIPESTONE.
lu tin article in THE CONSEUVATIVI ; of
February 21 , Mr. A. T. Riclmrdsou cnlls
your atteiition to a supposed error in
my article of February 7 , referring to a
fragment of pipestone found at the
Roca Indian village site.
In that article he leads his readers tea
a wrong conclusion , or else I have led
you to a wrong conclusion and in either
case the matter should bo cleared up.
"Pipestone" has been used as a com
mon term for "Catlauite" so long that
they have become , by common consent ,
synonymous , and I used the term in
that sense. In all my writings I try to
use terms that may be understood by
readers who are not specialists , without
the use of a dictionary ; in consequence ,
students of special lines may find objec
tion to my language , however , the
above explanation will doubtless set Mr.
Richardson right in the matter. A few
citations will substantiate the assertion
I made , that pipestoue ( catlanite ) is
found in no other place in the world , so
far as known , except in the field of
southwestern Minnesota , extending , of
course , into Dakota at Sioux Falls , and ,
in a modified form into northern Iowa ,
according to 0. A. White.
If wo consider all stones of which
pipes are made as "pipestouo" ( or pipe-
stone ) then Mr. Richardson's conclusion
is a true one , and "it is found in all
parts of the American continent. " But
if that meaning is to be given , the words
must not be compounded , as they then
form one word having a grammatical
function of its own. But this is a
technical point and of little importance
compared with the issue at stake.
Let me quote from the source cited by
Mr. Richardson in forming his con
clusion. In George Beldon's work this
statement occurs :
"The warrior's pipe of the present day
is made of red clay or soap-stone , which
is found in nearly every part of the
American continent. There are some
stones that are held in great esteem by
the Indians for making pipes. The
quarry , four miles below the falls of
Sioux river , between Dakota and the
state of Iowa , is held in high repute.
The soft red clay or soap-stone [ italics
mine ] on the Iowa shore of the Missouri ,
and found on the Yellow Stone Make ,
also makes beautiful pipes. "
This referes to red clay or soap-stone ,
not catlanite , as being found in all parts
of the American continent. Catlanite
to the "ar-
belongs geological group , -
gellgte , " which chemical analysis shows
to contain silica , alumina , magnesia ,
water and other elements in small pro
portion.
Now , with reference to Mackenzie's
statement that red pipe stone is found
at Rainy lake , northern Minnesota ; Sir
Alexander Mackenzie published his
work in about 1800. Catlanite was first
brought to the attention of geologists by
George Catlin in the year 1887 , more
than a quarter of a century after Mac
kenzie's statement referring to Rainy
lake , so pipe stone was used by him not
to designate a special geological forma
tion but in a general way as Mr. Rich
ardson uses it. Mackenzie was not a
specialist and can not be accepted as
authority on a technical , geological sxib-
jeot like this. He used the term to
designate the substance from wliich
pipes wore made.
Concluding that Minnesota specialists
would bo likely to know more of this
subject I wrote to Hon. J. V. Brewer , of
St. Paul , about the matter and I can not
refrain from quoting from his reply to
me , and also from his letter to Judge J.
T. Keagy , of Alma , Kan. , on the same
subject :
"Red Pipestone , or Catlauite , is a
marine deposit of great age , found only
in one place so far as yet known , i. e. in
southern Minnesota at the red pipestoue
quarry. No red pipestoue or catlanite
has ever been found any whore else in
the world. It is overspread with glacial
drift and was laid down about the same
as the Kansas chert , but the influences
of the marine action were far different
and of a nature difficult to understand
or explain. How the salt ocean or
brackish Mediterranean sea deposited
the red pipestone is a question that re
quires more study. It is a genuine
curiosity well worth careful study and
consideration. It is of marine origin
but of what material is unknown.
"The Rainy lake deposit , of which you
[ Judge Keagy ] have a specimen pipe
found near Pillager , is more apt to ap
pear greenish , or somewhat of a brown
color , as seen by numerous specimens
which I have here at St. Paul. Some
call it soapstone. One specimen taken
from the mound near the quarry is
in the rough and shows a brownish
natural color , while one which has been
polished shows a greenish cast , not im
possible to be described as reddish-green.
"North of Duluthin Minnesota is a
jet-black deposit susceptible to a high
state of polish. All three of the Min
nesota quarries are remarkably different
and far remote from each other. But
little attention has been extended to
these quarries and for that reason they
are not yet fully understood or accurate
ly described.
"I discovered a deposit of shale in Cen
tennial valley , Montana , where Bannock
Indians quarried a material for pipes.
It is a few miles north from Red Rock
lake. The color is reddish and I was
deceived into the belief that it was
catlanite , but it was not. Neither are
the Rainy hike or Missouri river deposits
mentioned anything whatever like
catlanite.
"I have pipes here at St. Paul from
each of the four quarries mentioned ;
they are dissimilar and by no means of
the same kind of material. "
Not satisfied until I brought the mat
ter nearer homo , I consulted Prof. Bar-
hour of our own State University , who
said ho never hoard of catlanite being
found anywhere except in the Minne
seta field. J. S. Todd in the State
Geological Survey of South Dakota says
in 1894 that pipestouo has been longest
known at the pipestono quarry in Min
nesota and quotes Mr. Upham as saying
that a deposit has been found at Pallas-
ade , S. D. and also at a place called
Bridgewater on Wolf creek , which
closely resembles pipestone in chemical
analysis.
China has a black substance similar ,
even western Kansas has a soft , cream-
colored rook something like it , but I can
find no authority of any kind that
catlanite is found in more than the one
place.
Soapstone or Steatite appears to the
casual observer very much the same but
is very different ; it is the basis of
"French chalk" and "Venice talc" ; it
is eaten by the natives of the Orinoco
and is found in all parts of the world ,
according to the International cycle
pedia.
Just one more word. Balboa reached
the Pacific ocean by land in 1518 , some
two hundred years before Mackenzie
was born , not to mention the hundreds
of Spaniards who crossed Mexico. So
Mackenzie could hardly have been first.
E. E. BLAOKMAN.
Roca , Neb.
ONE TO BE REMEMBERED.
With the 4th of March , 1901 , a num
ber of things and persons passed from
Washington life , the most of which ,
perhaps , will not be sorely missed. But
there was one , who stepped from , high po
sition with no loud public notice , yet
leaving a keen sense of loss in his de
parture , personal and national. On that
day expired the congressional term of
Donelson Caffery , the statesman of
Louisiana ; the senator with a conscience ,
a Gulf state upholder of honest currency
through harder opposition than may
have befallen any other individual , the
immovable opponent of all corruption
and misrule , the single-minded right-
seeker in everything. Some who talked
with him on the eve of his retirement ,
found him brighter than he had ever
seemed before , freer of spirit , and glad
as a boy at vacation to be turning home
again. A noble mansion on the banks
of the Tech , a cane plantation which
had felt the effects of his absence , a
family who surrounded him with the
love and honor he deserved , were calling
to him as with siren voices ; a legal busi
ness , as large it would seem as he
chose to make it , grown up among those
who knew his ability and integrity ,
opened all the further prospect of ad
vancement he seemed to care for.
He was sent to the senate , not by
arduous hustle and intrigue , not by
gangs of purchased delegates , not by
lobbying interests , but at once from the
body of the people , for beneficent public
virtue ho had shown in the overthrow
of just such interests ; and faithfully