BUILDING AMD OKNAMENTAL SIONKS. 451 



altliou.^li wlirn used tliey give strikiiifi: and not imi)l('asaiit eilects. The 

 spots are stated by tlie above-nieutioned atitliority to be equally dura- 

 ble with the rest or colored portion. A siinilai' stone is (]uarried at 

 L'Anse, in lloughtou County. Mr. Baclieii stiites these stones were in- 

 troduced into the Chicago market about 1870. Their chief <lefects are 

 Hint pebbles, which ily out in process of dressing, and clay lioles. Both 

 defects can be avoided by proper selection of the stone. In color the 

 Marquette and L'Anse stone are both richer than the Connecticut or 

 Xew Jersey Itrownstones, and apparently would [)rove more durable, 

 although as yet they iiave been too little used to establish this point to 

 a certainty. Uesides the localities mentioned, these stones occur at 

 various places along the laice shor-e west of Keweenaw Point, and also 

 near the eastern end of the coast of Lake Superior, along the valley of 

 the Laughing Whitelish Kiver and around it. At this latter locality 

 the stone is very hard, compact, heavily bedded, splitting readily into 

 slabs of any re(]uired thickness, ajid is especially suited for heavy ma- 

 sonry. 



MliDicsota. — According to Professor ^Vinchell* the red sandstones of 

 Fond du J^ac are the most valuable of their kind that the State pos- 

 sesses. Tiiey are of the same formation as the New Ulm quartzite de- 

 scribed below, but were less hardened at the time of their upheaval. 

 The stone is of medium lexture and of a brown or reddish color, closely 

 lesembling the Connecticut brownstone, but much harder and firmer. 

 A similar rock comes from Isle Itoyal and Sault Ste. iNLirie at the east- 

 ern end of Lake Su[>erior, At this latter place it is often mottled with 

 gray or greenish. The stone consists almost wholly of <piartz cemented 

 w ith silica and iron oxides. Its crushing strength is said to vary be- 

 tween 4,i)0u and 5, 000 [)0unds per square inch. 



At Xew Ulm and in other i)laces in Cottonwood, Watonwan, llock, 

 and Pii)estone Counties tiiere occurs a very hard, comi)act, red (piartzite, 

 which has been used to some extent for building pur[)Oses, though its 

 intense hardness is a great drawback, but it is practically indestructi- 

 ble and hence valuable. In Pipestone County the rock occurs associ- 

 ated with the beautiful and interesting red pipestone or catlinite, famous 

 on account of its being used by the Indians for pipes and ornaments. 



At this point the rock is jasper red in color and very hard, but is be- 

 ginning to be used i'or ashler work, produ(;ing very striking effects. I 

 am informed by the (piarry owners that the entire bed at Pipestone is 

 some 75 feet in thickness and the stone is quarried entirely by means of 

 bars and wedges, no explosiv'es being nepessary. A polished slab of the 

 stone of great beauty was exhibited at the Chicago J^]xposition in 1S8G. 



Ill Courtlaud Township, Nicollett County, the same quartzite occurs 

 of n, beautiful deej) red, almost purjjle, color. Samples received at 

 the National I\Iuseum were found to work with great difficulty but 

 weie very beautiful. The same stone, but of lighter color, occurs at 



*(!(!()]. of Miiiiu^Hota, Vol. 1. 



