134 PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 



In the unwritten annals of the Sioux Indians, who once roamed over 

 a large part of the continental interior, the Des Moines river was known 

 as the Inyan-Sha-Sha-Waitpa, literally, "Stone, red-red-river," or the Red- 

 stone river. This Indian name has peculiar significance. When Euro- 

 pean eyes first beheld it and for a period of more than two centuries 

 thereafter this noble stream was the only all-water route in all the 

 land by which, without getting out of his boat, Indian and fur trader 

 could traverse the continent from the Artie Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. 



The headwaters of the Des Moines river, or Inyan-Sha-Sha-Watpa, are in 

 the red quartzite district of the old Siouan mountains; but the red 

 stone is the famous catlinite found associated-the much-sought stone 

 from which the calumet or peace-pipe was wrought. From the pipestone 

 ledges of the broad prairies spread peace on earth and good will towards 

 men to the farthermost limits of the continent, to the remotest corner 

 of the Indian world. Forty centuries before the Nazarene appeared on 

 earth this spot was solemnly consecrated to the cause of world-wide 

 peace. 



GEOLOGY OF LYON COUNTY. 

 By Frank A. Wilder, Geologist. 



The Sioux quartzite or "granite," as it is commonly called, appears on 

 the surface in a single township in Lyon county. The area in Minnesota 

 and Dakota, however, within which exposures of this rock are common, 

 is considerable. As stated by Beyer its extreme eastern limit of outcrop 

 is found at Redstone, and its most westerly exposure is near Mitchell on 

 the James river. Its greatest width is about sixty miles, extending from 

 Flandreau on the north, to Canton, which is on its southern border, giv- 

 ing a total area of more than 6,000 miles. Its thickness has been variously 

 estimated, but on this point there is little on which to base a positive 

 assertion. Well drillings have not passed through it, though they have 

 entered it to a considerable depth, and there are no great folds or flex- 

 ures. It is thought by Todd, of the South Dakota survey, and by Beyer 

 that its thickness does not exceed 1,500 feet. 



Instead of quartzite, originally the formation was water-laid sand. 

 Proofs are still present in the ripple marks and lines of lamination and 

 stratification. The layers varied in thickness from two feet to half an 

 inch. Cross bedding was not uncommon, indicating that, in places at 

 least, the sand was deposited by rapidly running water. These charac- 

 teristics are still preserved in the quartzite. Subsequently the sand was 

 permeated by water holding in solution silica which crystallized around 

 the sand grains and cemented them together, producing a solid quartz 

 mass. Microscopic study of the quartzite by Irving and Van Hise has 

 made clear the fact that the silica which forms the matrix has been 

 deposited along the lines that correspond with the crystalline axes of the 

 several grains. The interstitial deposit of silica explains the unusual 

 firmness of the rock. The same observers made clear that while silica 



