On the Minnesota and South Dakota border is Pipeline National Monument. This park honors the Plains Indian life, the red stone and the pipes that the Indians have made over the last 2000 years. The Visitors Center has a carving demonstration area, intricately carved pipes and other items created by the Plains Indians. There’s also a nature trail that takes you to a demonstration quarry, rapids and thru the open prairie.
This apron is made up of 1000’s of tiny beads.
Beeswax is rubbed over the finished pipestone product to give it the shiny appearance.
The carvers prized this durable yet relatively soft stone that ranged in color from mottled pink to brick red. This location came to be the preferred source of pipestone among Plains tribes.
Today pipe carvings are appreciated as works of art as well as for ceremonial use.
We had a long 4 hour drive across the prairies of South Dakota. Occasionally, the drive was broken up by watching corn and soy beans grow. I was really looking forward to getting to Pierre (pronounced Perre) and see the bustling sights of the State Capital. Only problem, there are no bustling sights. We toured the Capitol building, which was gorgeous with all the marble laid by Italian craftsmen. Highway 34 runs through the “city” and is mainly lined with fast food restaurants. The downtown shops and mom & pop restaurants run perpendicular to Highway 34 and are maybe a block or two long. That seemed pretty much it.
Pierre has a quest to place life size bronze statutes of every former Governor of South Dakota around the city. We spotted a couple of them, but didn’t seek them out. Ned posed with one of them, but almost burned his hand in the blazing hot afternoon sun. Time for a bike ride.
LaFramboise Island was listed as one of the top things to do in Pierre. It’s a nature island situated in the Missouri River with nothing but bike paths on it.
Sounds like our kind of place! It was the worst bike ride of the trip. There were very few trees covering the path and no historical markings of any kind. We either rode in mowed down prairie grass or walked our bikes through sand pits with the sun beating down on us. We lasted 5 miles and called it quits.
About 4 miles east of Pierre is a recreation area called Farm Island. Rather than push on past Pierre, we decided to stay here mainly because it had swimming next to the campsites. Farm Island is actually located in the Missouri River. The area between the Island and the mainland land is Hipple Lake. That’s where we are camped. We spent the next several hours swimming. It was delightful and definitely picked up our spirits.
Much to our surprise, we discovered that Farm Island Recreation Area has real bike paths, for miles(!) and all through the adjoining island. We took an early evening ride and it was great. We can’t figure out why all the “Things to Do in Pierre” lists mention LaFramboise Island and not Farm Island. The CCC was stationed here during the early 1930’s and built the causeway linking the mainland to the island and several other structures. Unfortunately, most of them are no longer standing. We think most likely flooding from the Missouri River over time caused them to crumble. The biking paths on this island were really fun and the white stuff flying off the cotton trees is surreal.
Back on the mainland we rode through gorgeous prairie with lots of wildflowers. There is also an archery range here. (Made us think of you Molly learning archery while horseback riding!).
We’re really enjoying the cool breeze this evening and less humidity. So nice that our towels actually dried out today! Couldn’t resist putting in this picture of Winnie with the moon in the background and the sunset reflecting off the door. She’s been such a trooper this trip!
