Find of a lifetime

sneakygroundbuzzard wrote: its catlinite
and i would bet my three cats in the fact it was quarried at Pipestone quarry in sw Minnesota
that quarry produces the best catlinite in the country
tribes from all over the land came there to quarry the material
the area was considered sacred by all of them
and no fighting was allowed,it was not uncommon to have members of rival tribes to be working side by side at the quarry

catlinite is not found here around here. To get a chunk to make a pipe, it would have been at 100-150 mile trek for them. It stuck out like a sore thumb against all the other rocks when I first seen it, and it was wet from the lake so it looked darker smoother. all I seen of the pipe at first wast the mid section, the rest was in the dirt with weeds on it but it still STOOD out like it was there for me to find. If it could speak, I'd love to know its story. Still unreal to me that I found it....ME. ha

yup, the quarry is about 3 hours south of you in sw Mn
but ancient peoples would travel from the far ends of this continent for the material

i go to pipestone every year,and have made a couple pipes from the material
i have also talked to NA's at the monument about the history of the place and the material

i agree finding a pipe like that is a find of a lifetime


just in case your interested
there is a knapp in next weekend 9 miles north of milaca mn on hwy 169 at the HAIRY MOSQUITO TRADING POST
and one next month in lake benton Mn(about 20 miles north of pipestone) on the week end of 6-9th, a the county park on the corner of U HWY 75 & US HWY 14

there are always a few pipe makers there,not to mention many very talented flint knappers plus me

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catlinite

sneakygroundbuzzard wrote: yup, the quarry is about 3 hours south of you in sw Mn
but ancient peoples would travel from the far ends of this continent for the material

i go to pipestone every year,and have made a couple pipes from the material
i have also talked to NA's at the monument about the history of the place and the material

i agree finding a pipe like that is a find of a lifetime


just in case your interested
there is a knapp in next weekend 9 miles north of milaca mn on hwy 169 at the HAIRY MOSQUITO TRADING POST
and one next month in lake benton Mn(about 20 miles north of pipestone) on the week end of 6-9th, a the county park on the corner of U HWY 75 & US HWY 14

there are always a few pipe makers there,not to mention many very talented flint knappers plus me

I am interested! Sound like fun actually! Im gonna try to make it there

Cool, I will be at both. Will have my canopy set up and doing a little knapping with items on display.

Congratulations on that super find. It's a small miracle that all the freezing and thawing over the years didn't break that into pieces.

That truly is an amazing find! Congratulations, thank you for sharing and may your luck continue!

Had to go back and check my lucky spot again. Bugs were bad so I didn't stay long but I found this....prob nothing but it was in the same area
I was prob supposed to start a new thread but its probably just a rock anyway.
[

Wow thats one heck of a find congratulations bro.. Thats one thats on my bucket list..

Looks like a hammerstone to me!!

Your title is an understatement, I would still be dancing at the site I picked it up at!!! I get the material amazement as well. I hunt in the Northeast section of Ohio and find countless artifacts made of Flintridge material which is roughly a 3.5 to 4 hour drive from our location. The other interesting fact is how they considered the sights sacred!! The same is documented here in the Buckeye State that warring tribes would show up at the same time and all issues were set aside and they would harvest the material together. Great find. _Bill

What a beautiful pipe. Beautiful find. I found half of one, and am still looking for the other half, and will join you in a jig if I ever do. Congrats again.