An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 57

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Minnesota > Rock County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 57
USA > Minnesota > Pipestone County > An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota > Part 57

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Close to the beautiful and romantic spot where the pipestone is quarried and a few rods from the base of the cliff lies a group of six stupendous boulders of gneiss, leaning against each other. These are composed chiefly of feldspar and mica of an exceedingly coarse grain, the feld-

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HISTORY OF PIPESTONE COUNTY.

spar often occurring in crystals of an inel in diameter. The three larger boulders are called the Three Maidens, from au Indian legend concerning them." Each of the three largest stones is about twenty feet long and twelve feet high. Another piece is about twenty feet long and eight feet high. Two other pieces, nine and twelve feet long, respectively, are four or five feet high. There is also a seventh fragment, about five feet in length.

These large stones evidently at one time constituted one immense boulder and have been separated from a falling apart, under the influence of frost, of the granite along its natural seams or joints. Geologists as- sert that the original boulder must have constituted the largest ice-transported block in Minnesota, making a mass from fifty to sixty feet in diameter. The pieces are all alike, and no other boulders of any kind are seen in the vicinity."

The red quartzite is an excellent build- ing stone and is quarried extensively where it onterops at JJasper and Pipestone. The quarries at Pipestone are located just north of the city. All of the public buildings and most of the business blocks of the county seat city are built of the red stone secured there. In addition to supplying the home market, thousands of car loads have been shipped to St. Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth, Sioux City, C'edar Rapids, Kansas City, Omaha and other cities of the west.

"George Catlin thus described these boulders and told of the veneration in which they were held by the Indians: "That these immense blocks. of precisely the same character, and differing materially from all other specimens of boulders which I have seen in the great valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri, should have been hurl- od some hundreds of miles from their native hed and lodged in so singular a group on this elevated ridge, is truly matter of surprise for the scientific world, as well as for the poor Indian, whose superstitious veneration for them is such that not a spear of grass is broken or bent hy his feet within three of four rods of the group; where he stops and in humble sup- plication. by throwing plugs of tobacco to them, solicits their permission (as the guardian spirit of the place) to dig and carry away the red sione for his pipes. The surface of the boulders I found in every part entire and un- scratched hy anything and even the moss was

This stone may be described as a meta- morphie quartzite rock of intense hard- ness, colored by some chemical process of nature in various degrees of red. ranging from cherry to lavender or violet-the prevailing shades being those named-by the aid of ferric oxide, and disposed in strata from an inch to eighteen inches in thickness and of any surface area ro- quired in the erection of buildings, laige or small. Vertical seams run through the quarry and are of great advantage in get- ting out the blocks, which can be worked info flagging or building stone.

Being the hardest of all building stone in use in this country, and of the color described, it is, of course, especially fitted for rustic styles of architecture, although where needed the highest and most endur- ing polish may be given it. When the stone is laid up in courses or in any tasto- ful way, it presents a wall of unrivaled beauty. It is practically proof against all deterioration from any ordinary source and stands fire equally well with any other słone.

The quarrying of building and paving stone is a more fully developed industry at Jasper than at Pipestone or any point in the red rock country and has been car- ried on since 1888. Several quarries are operated continuously at the village and in the vicinity and the output is consider- able. Of the stone quarried at Jasper the Jasper Journal of August, 1899, said :

everywhere unbroken, which undoubtedly re- mains so at this time, except where I applied the hammer to obtain some small specimens, which I brought away with me."

"""The fact alone that these blocks differ in character from all other specimens which I have seen in my travels, amongst the thou- sands of boulders which are strewn over the great valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi, from the Yellowstone almost to the gulf of Mexico, maises in my mind an unanswerable question as regards the location of their na- tive bed and the means by which they have reached their isolated position like five broth- ers, leaning against and supporting each other, without the existence of another boulder of any description within fifty miles of them."-George Catlin in "North American Indians." [A large granite houlder is found on the southeast quar- ter of section 22, Osborne township.]

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ILISTORY OF PIPESTONE COUNTY.

"The quarry lands contiguous to ,las- per comprise more than a thousand acres. and from these quarries is produced stone varying in color from light gray to a dark red or blue, which is taken from the quar- ries in evenly stratified layers, varying in thickness from three inches to four feet, and often fifteen or more feet in length.

"The quarries at Jasper have the repu- tation of producing the hardest of known building stone in this country and is a much desired material for buildings where solidity, elegance and parmanent color are sought. Strictly speaking, this stone is a jasper, being ninety-six per cent silicia and four per cent hon. It is hard- er than granite or limestone, is not af- fected by acids, and is susceptible of the most beautiful and indestructible polish. In point of hardness this stone is superior to all others. A report of Professor Win- chell, state geologist, gives jasper as being harder than feldspar and only three- . tenths less than agate. It is capable of withstanding a pressure of 2500 pounds to the square inch. Another important item in its favor as a building stone is that it is not easily affected by heat. Heat which wih crumble granite and softer done has not perceptible effect upon it. . The Jasper quarries also possess the advantage of lying close to the surface. After the removal of a very small amount of dirt a continuous wall of stone is exposed to view, which. after the marry has been well opened, presents the appearance of a high wall of evenly hewn rocks piled layer upon layer, and apparently awaiting only the action of the crowbar and derrick to be transfered in- to the walls of cities. . . . It is evenly stratified and the strata lie almost level, and thus can be readily eloven inte dimension stone with only the use of the drill and wedge. The layers vary in thickness from a few inebes to four feet,

and some of the lower ones run very nearly fifty inches. The area of dimen- sion stone taken from the heaviest strata is practically unlimited. Huge blocks, which measure sixteen feet in length, up- wards of three feet in thickness, and prob- ably four feet wide, solid throughout, and presenting without other dressing than the hammer a smooth surface, are quar- ried.

... . . The products of the quar- ries have supplied material for the con- struction of some of the finest business blocks, churches and residences of the towns and cities of the great middle west and northwest. No material has yet been found which serves the purpose of street paving so admirably as the paving blocks from these quarries, and there is scarcely a paved city of the west that has not pur- chased vast quantities of the stone for paving purposes."

While much space has been given to a description of the rock formations, it is not to be understood that Pipestone coun- ty is a rocky, sterile country. Snch is not the case. In fact. the rock forma- tions on the surface occupy a very limited area. and only a small portion of the conniy is onsnited to farm tillage because of the rock or from any other cause. The soil is stony so as to interfere with plow- ing only in small areas in the rolling fraet which forms the crest of the Coteau in the northeastern part of the county. Even there the stony knolls are inter- sporsed with fortile valleys and slopes. "With these exceptions," says the Minne- sota Geological Survey, "these counties [ Rock and Pipestone] are among the best in the state for all farming."

The soil is a rich black Joam, from two to six feet deep. very fine and generally free from pebbles. The soil is among the richest in the world, abounding in those mineral and chemical qualities, such as

AT THE JASPER QUARRIES

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HISTORY OF PIPESTONE COUNTY.

magnesia, phosphates, etc., necessary for the prolific production of grain and gras- ses. The subsoil is a mixture of gravel and clay and seems to have been intended by nature to perform the double duty of both draining the surface and acting as a reservoir. In wet weather the gravel and clay quickly absorb the surplus surface water, which it retains until the heat of summer draws the moisture back again to the surface. Thus nature has provided both a self-acting drain and reservoir that can never fail or get out of order .?

Pipestone county is well drained. There are no large rivers, but there are numerous creeks, most of which are fed by springs, and as a consequence they are clear and pine. Almost the entire area of the county is drained by streams which flow to the southwest and find their way to the Missouri by way of the Big Sioux." The exception is the extreme northeastern corner of the county, which ties on the eastern slope of the Cotean and which is drained by the Redwood river, in which

A writer in the Pipestone County Star stated that this part of the continent was once the bed of an ocean, and he attributed the richness of the soil to decayed deep water animal mnat- ter. He wrote:

"What becomes of the fish when they die? What becomes of the bones of the whales? Per- haps this is an unheard of question to ask. but still it may be asked. There are the shell fish, the sharks, the porpoises, but to name the denizens of the ocean would require hundreds of pages to write their names, in all seas, in all ages; so we will leave to the imagination to call the roll of the inhabitants of the sea. and ask again: What becomes of the fish when they die?

"On the seaboard in many lands they catch fish and manure the land with them, and it is a rich manure. If the fish had died on the ocean where they Iny, where they were buried it would he just as rich. There are currents in the ocean, and no doubt where the waters move most there the fish are most numerous; There there must be most death, and they are, no doubt, swept on with the flowing sea until they are carried to a burial ground, where the waters are at rest .. and where would that most likely he? No doubt the bottom of the sea is uneven like the surface of the land. Here there is a great chain of hills and on one side or the other there is a deep depression, the hills re- tarding the flowing waters and the dead, float- ing therein, drop silently into the deep depres- sion under the lea of the hills, and there they are buried; it's a great graveyard. hundreds of miles long, maybe, and miles and miles in width. There lie the fishes, little and great, in one common burial ground. The billows may roll above and the sea be lashed into foam and

area is also found the ultimate source of the Des Moines river.

The principal stream of the county is the west fork of Rock tiver, which rises in Rock township (so named from the circumstance ) and flows south through the eastern tier of townships, leaving the county one and one-half miles south of the village of Edgerton. Its elevation above sea level at that point is 1500 feet. In Burke township the valley of Rock river is about fifty feet below the general level. Farther south the bluffs increase in height. reaching seventy-five and eighty foet in Osborne township. while the sur- rounding country is about twenty-five feet higher still. Rock river receives several tributaries from the east, but none of in- portance from the west. The principal tributary that enters the Rock within Pipestone county is Chanarambie creek. which enters one mile below Edgerton Another tributary, Poplar creek, from the west side enters the Rock a few rods south of the southeast corner of section 32, Osborne Township. The Chanarambie

the water become muddy, but down in the burial ground all is quiet; the dead lie there in silence, and the muddy waters drop down their mantel of sediment and cover them over. "Now, just such a state of things existed in the ocean on the west side of the Coteau des Prairies. The soil that now yields the fabulous crops of flax and wheat and roots and grass was once the burial ground of the ocean, and under the long line of hills, stretching from where is now Spirit Lake, lowa, to way up beyond the water sheds of the Mississippi and Red River of the North on the cast and the Mis- souri on the west, to British America, is the hed of the sea; this was ocean's burial ground fur perhaps thousands of years, at least long enough for the dead and their covering to be of many fect in depth. The peculiarity of the burial ground is that it has undergone but lit- the change. The substances of the dead of the ocean are substantially still there, and it is to this is to be attributed the marbled character uf the soil as one sees it when it is dug through. Dig a cistern down into the yellow clay with its gravel and lime and then look at it as it is to be seen on the sides of the cistern; you can al- most make out the form of the bones of the fish as you look at the peculiar shapes the lime las assumed.

"This yellow till is clay, lime and gravel, and it was the old ocean's burial ground and is the richest agricultural soil in the work."

"The only portions of Minnesota whose waters find their way to the sea by way of the Mis- souri are Rock county, nearly all of Pipestone county and portions of Nobles and Jackson counties.

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HISTORY OF PIPESTONE COUNTY.

is also deeply channelled and there are many steep ravines.

All the other streams of the county flow in a southwesterly direction and oy- ter the Big Sioux river. The average slope of the prairie from northeast to southwest is about ten feet to the mile : hence the streams whose beds are gravel- ly and not deep down flow freely but not. rapidly. The most northerly of the streams on the west side of Pipestone

county is Flandreau creek, which has as a tributary Willow creek, and which rises in Fountain Prairie township. Pipesione creek, which is the next south, flows past the Pipestone quarries and receives a trib- utary from the north before it flows from the county. The Split Rock, one of the most picturesque streams of southwestern Minnesota, has its source in the southwest- ern part of the county aud flows through the village of Jasper.

CHAPTER XXXI.

ATHIE PRESS.

D URING a newspaper history of thirty-two years Pipestone county has been the home of no less than sixteen weekly, one monthly and one daily publications, ranging in life from a few issues to thirty-two

years. Of these eighteen newspapers founded only five are in existence at the date of the publication of this volume, as follows: Pipestone County Star (semi- weekly) by Star Printing company. Ralph G. Hart, editor: Edgerton Enter- prise by Oscar A. Green, Jasper Journal by Selah S. King. Farmers' Leader ( Pipe- stone) by George G. Stone, and Wood- stock News by A. II. Higley. Those that have fallen by the wayside are the Pipe- stone Daily Star. Pipestone Republican, Pipestone Republic, Pipestone Independ- ent, the Publie Tribune and Farmers' Ad- vocate, which were succeeded by the Farmers' Leader; The Week's Review, which later went by the name of Pipe- stone Review : Minnesota Stjernen, Ed- gerton News, Woodstock Journal, Wood- stock Eagle, Holland Advocate, Holland News. Trosky Advertiser and Ruthton Gazette.

The click of type was heard for the first time in Pipestone county in the month of June, 1879, on the nineteenth of which month was born the Pipestone County Star. A few weeks before this

event Isaac L. Hart had disposed of a paper of large patronage in lowa and set out to seek a location for a new journal. After investigating the opportunities offered by many places, Mr. Hart came to the conclusion that Pipestone county, which was then enjoying rapid settlement, offered the best inducements for a long and profitable newspaper venture. So he purchased a plant and founded Pipestone county's first news journal-a paper which has ever since been maintained. practically under one management.

The Star at its birth was a seven col- umn folio, only two pages of which were printed at home, and for several years it was a weekly publication. The first copy from the press was a proof and was pur- chased by Charles HI. Bennett. The first complete copy of the paper was presented lo W. N. Davidson, of Luverne, while the second copy went to IT. D. Sanford, who was the first regular subscriber. For a few years the home of the Star was a lit- tle frame building which was located on the site of the present Odd Fellows build- ing, but in 1883 Mr. Hart erected a na- tive stone building on Hiawatha street. which has ever since been the home of the pioneer journal. The venture was a pay- ing one from the start and within a little over a year the Star was enlarged to an eight column folio.

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THSTORY OF PIPESTONE COUNTY.

From the date of founding the pioneer journal has never missed an issne, but in the early days circumstances arose which sorely tried the publisher's wits to main- tain this record. As an instance: Dur- ing the snow blockade of 1880-81, when the ground was covered with four feet of the beautiful and the little village of Pipestone had been withont mail. express or freight matter for eighty days, the Star was printed on colored paper for two weeks, then for several weeks on brown wrapping paper, which was secured from the stores, and when the supply was exhausted the Star appeared one week in miniature form on pages ent from a stock of scrap books which were carried in the old Star book store.

From January 22, 1884. until Febru- ary 11, 1887, the Star was published as a semi-weekly. a seven column folio in size. On the last named date the weekly is- she was resumed and the paper was en- larged to a quarto. Gardner E. Hart. son of the founder, was at this time ad- mitted as a partner. and the publishing firm became 1. 1 .. Hart & Son. At the close of the year 1889 the founder of the paper withdrew temporarily from active management, although retaining his prop- erty interests in the paper, and Gardner E. Hari became sole manager. Hle pub- lished the paper as a six column quarto and in October, 1891, bought his father's interest and became the sole owner and publisher. I. L. Hart conducted The job department and assisted in the manage- ment of the paper to some extent.

The Pipestone Daily Star was founded April 1, 1892, and had an existence of nearly sixteen years, being discontinued on the last day of the year 1902. It was an evening journal, was founded as a five column folio, but was soon enlarged to a six column paper. There is, perhaps, no town in the state of Minnesota of the

size of Pipestone which supported a daily paper for so long a time.

Gardner E. Hart withdrew from the business March 31. 1900. and the publish- ers became Star Printing company. Ralph G. Hart, a younger son of the founder. becoming a member of the firm and tak- ing editorial charge. Another change in management was made in May, 1904. when the Star Printing company was or- ganized with the following officers: J. L. Hart. manager: K. G. Hart, secretary and treasurer : Ralph G. Hart, editor. At the present time Ralph G. Hart has editorial charge.

During the time the Daily Star was published the weekly edition was also maintained. Since the suspension of the daily a semi-weekly Star has taken the place of the weekly. The Star is repub- lican politically. It has always been a factor in the advancement of the city of Pipestone and of Pipestone county and is rated as one of the leading papers of southwestern Minnesota. The plant is equipped with modern machinery and is a model in every way.

Pipestone county's second newspaper was not destined to live long. In the summer of 1880 Gardner E. Hart, of the Pipestone County Star, put a plant in the little village of Edgerton, then just found- ed, and on July 24. 1880, issued the first number of the Edgerton News, a six col- mman folio. In September of the same year Jerome Davidson was installed as manager. but the venture not being a sue- cessful one, on"October 2 publication was suspended and in November the plant was purchased by Morse & Chapman, of Lake Benton, and moved away.

Edgerton was a progressive little eily in the early eighties, the spirit of its citi- zens demanded the publication of a pa- per there and it was not long before of- f'ers of support were given for the estab-

lishment of another journal. The Lager- ton Enterprise was founded as a seven column folio by A. R. Burkdoll on April 28. 1883, and that gentleman was con- nected with the paper for over three years. From October 11, 1884, to May 30, 1885. R. IT. Lueneburg. now of Lakefield, was associated with Mr. Burkdoll in the man- agement of the paper, and for two months during the closing days of 1885 A. B. Bar- ney was the publisher, he having bought the plant, but after a short reign having turned it back to Mr. Burkdoll. During it- carly history the Enterprise was a re- publican paper.

To prevent the suspension of the pa- per, in the fall of 1887. William Lock- wood, J. C. Fay and C. S. Howard, local business men, bought the plant in com- pany with J. C. Marshall, the latter as- suming editorial control October 1, and a little later becoming sole proprietor of the Enterprise. Mr. Marshall conducted the paper as a democratic organ for a num- ber of years and the paper and its editor were prominent factors in the political life of Pipestone county. He was in charge of the plant until the last of Do- eember, 1893. with the exception of a few months during the panic year. O. E. Houge conducted the paper from Decem- ber, 1892, to May, 1893, and then turned the office back to Mr. Marshall. J. Bax- ler Brennan Jeased the office in July of the same year but gave up the management after three weeks' trial.

A sale of the Enterprise was effected at the beginning of the year 1894, when E. (. Brake became the owner. He conduct- od the paper only until September of the same year and then sold to William Lock- wood, who installed A. P. MeDowell as editor and made the journal a republican organ. Mr. McDowell published his vale- dictory on Christmas day, 1896, and dur- ing the next year William Mcd'une mar-

aged the paper for Mr. Lockwood. At the beginning of the year 1898 the latter sold the paper to Prof. L. W. ITam, for- merly principal of the Edgerton schools, and W. C. Akers, who conducted the pub- lication under the firm name of Ham & Akers, changing the form to a five column (marto soon after assuming control and continuing it as a republican paper. Mr. Akers was in editorial charge until June 1. 1898, when he enlisted in the army and the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Ham becoming sole publisher. That gentle- man published a creditable journal until the disposal of the plant in August, 1900.

The new proprietors were Oscar .1. Green, who became editor and manager, and Lee W. Lockwood, who assumed the duties of local editor. They began print- ing the paper all at home in December. 1900, and one year later enlarged it to a six column quarto, which has ever since remained the form. Ed. Yocom bought Lee Lockwood's interest on January 1. 1902. and te publishing firm became Green & Yocom, Mr. Green continuing as manager and editor. On October 29. 1903. W. V. Olin became a member of the publishing firm. being associated with Messrs. Green and Yocom until June 9, 1904.

The last change in the affairs of the Edgerton Enterprise occurred December 1, 1905, when William Lockwood and Lee W. Lockwood purchased the plant. It. was Then leased for a term of years by Oscar A. Green and L. L. Green and its management is now vested in Oscar A. Green, who publishes an excellent journal. The Enterprise, during its long life, has had a varied career, but it has always been an important factor in the affairs of the little village in which it is published and in the history of Pipestone county jour- nalism.

The fourth paper to bid for the patron-

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IHISTORY OF PIPESTONE COUNTY.

age of the people of Pipestone county was the Pipestone Republic, which was found- ed by W. F. Jamieson on February 2, 1884. It was a six column folio, devoted largely to the interests of temperance. Mr. Jamieson published the Republic un- til April 11, 1885, when. not having met with financial success. the plant was moved to Delavan, Minnesota.

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An illustrated history of the counties of Rock and Pipestone, Minnesota, Part 57

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970 Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Rose, Arthur P., 1875-1970
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Luverne, Minn. : Northern History Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 924