Pipestone

Pipestone is a city in southwestern Minnesota. It is the seat of Pipestone County and has a population of 4554.

Pipestone is home to the famous Indian quarry at Pipestone National Monument. Many North American Indian tribes - including Ojibwa, Dakota, Oto, Pawnee, Sac Fox, and Lakota - came to quarry the sacred redstone known as pipestone or catlinite. The soft red pipestone is found under layers of the very hard Sioux quartzite. The pipestone became a valued trade item and was responsible for Pipestone becoming a Crossroads of the Indian World. The Song of Hiawatha Pageant has played at the pipestone quarry lake for nearly 60 years.