Traveller.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2014, 7 January 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Traveller.

A Sacrificial Stone near St. Paul

BT H. e. HOVKT, The ancient altar about to be described has aot b;ea hitherte mentioned in any published account, »• lar as I know, although it can hardly have altogether escaped notice in the local papers. Yet it gives its name, “ Red Rock,” to one of the landing places where the Mississippi steamboat* have touched ever since they began to run on the upper portion of that longest of rivers. Formerly there was a flourishing mission here,sustained by the Methodists? and with that fact in mind I made inquiry for the veteran who had it in charge, Rev. Chauncey Hobart, from whom the facts now given wtre prinsipally obtained. This pioneer cams on the field before the settlement of either St. Paul or Minneapolis, and retained a vivid reoollestion of many interesting events, which it is to be hoped he may yet publish in some permanent form before his nseful career is ended. According to him, it was the custom among the Sioux to worship the bowlders that lie scattered among the hills and valleys and here and there on the prairies of this region. When a Dakota was in perplexity or distress, and desired deliverance from seme impending danger, it was his custom to clear a spot from grass and brush, roll a bowler upon it, streak it with red paint, deck it with feathers and flowers, and then pray to it for needed help. Usually, when a stone bad thus served its purpose, it was no longer regarded as a saored object, but might bo disposed of in any way that suited the lavage whim. But the peculiarity of the saefitteal stone now decribed is that from generation to generation it was a shrins to which pilgrimages were made and where offerings were laid. Its Indian name was “Eyah Shah,” which simply means Red Rock, and is the same term by which they designate cntlinite, or the red pipeclay. The stone itself is not naturally red, as I found on examination, being merely an extremely hard specimen of hornblende-biotite-granite, quite symmetrical in shape, about five feet long and three feet in its greatest width. The Indians also called it 11 Waukan,” or a mystery, and had strange speculations as to its origin. It lies on a weathered ledge ot limestone, and evidently has not been moved since left there by the ancient forces that brought it as a trophy from sone granite range. Bat the Dakotas looked no further than to an adjacent hill, about twe miles dis tent, down whose side, as they said, they i could trace the path along which, self-im-pelled, it had rolled to the river bank. The particular clan of the Dakotas that claimed this rude alter was known as the Mendewacantons, although, being but two miles below the Tillage of the Kaposia band, it was to some extent resorted to by them likewise.

The hunting ground ot the clan was up the St. Croix River, and invariably before starting on an expedition they would visit Eyah Shah and leave an offering of gayly painted feathers, or a duck, or a goose, or a slice of venision, and after a few simple ceremonies they would go their way. But twice a year the clan would meet more formally, in order to paint the stone, which they did with Vermillion, or, as some say, with the blood of their enemies, which had been saved up for that purpose. When the painting was done, they would trim the bowlder with flowers and feathers and other ornaments, and dance round it before sunrise, with chants and prayers for success from the spirit of the mysterious rock. The last occassion on which they were known to have thus visited Eyah Shah was in 1562, prior to the terrible massacre that occurred in August of that year, and which is a matter of history. Since that date, however, the stripes of red paint has been renewed, the last coat having been applied as recently as three years ago—although my suspicions are that the work was done by white men desirous of perpetuating the interesting features of this ancient object of worship. Others with a different spirit have drilled a hole in one side, for the purposed putting in a blast, by which itchould be destroyed. I counted the painted strides encircling the rugged rock, and found them twelve in number; each being about two inches wide, and the space between being from two to six inches wide. By the compass Eyah Shah lies exactly north and south. It is located just twelve paces from the present river bank. The north end is ornamented by a design representing the sun, and a rudely drawn, face surrounded by fifteen rays. While mentioning these latter particulars, I do not attach much importance to them, because there is no proot that these existing markings were made by the Indians. Eyah Shah is about six miles below St. Paul, and is easily reached by boat or rail.