BUILDING AND ORNAMENTAL STONES. 451 



although when used they give striking and not unpleasant effects. The 

 spots are stated by the above-mentioned authority to be equally dura- 

 ble with the rest or colored portion. A similar stone is quarried at 

 L'Anse, in Houghton County. Mr. Bach en states these stones were in- 

 troduced into the Chicago market about 1870. Their chief defects are 

 flint pebbles, which fly out in process of dressing, aud clay holes. Both 

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

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

 New Jersey brownstones, aud apparently would prove more durable, 

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

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

 various places along the lake shore west of Keweenaw Point, and also 

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

 the Laughing Whitetish Biver and around it. At this latter locality 

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

 slabs of any required thickness, and is especially suited for heavy ma- 

 son ry. 



Minnesota. — According to Professor WiucheU* the red sandstones of 

 Fond du Lac are the most valuable of their kind that the State pos- 

 sesses. They 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 texture and of a brown or reddish color, closely 

 resembling the Connecticut brownstone, but much harder and firmer. 

 A similar rock comes from Isle Koyal and Sault Ste. Marie at the east- 

 ern end of Lake Superior. At this latter place it is often mottled with 

 gray or greenish. The stone consists almost wholly of quartz cemented 

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

 tween 4,00u and 5,000 pounds per square inch. 



At New Ulm aud in other places in Cottonwood, Watonwan, Bock, 

 and Pipestone Counties there occurs a very hard, compact, red quartzite, 

 which has been used to some extent for building purposes, 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 for ashler work, producing very striking effects. I 

 am informed by the quarry 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 explosives being necessary. A polished slab of the 

 stone of great beauty was exhibited at the Chicago Exposition in 1886. 

 . In Courtlaud Township, Nicollett County, the same quartzite occurs 

 of a beautiful deep red, almost purple, color. Samples received at 

 the National Museum were found to work with great difficulty but 

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



*Geol. of Minnesota, Vol. I. 



