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Building on a borrowed past: History, place, and identity in Pipestone, Minnesota Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Southwick, Sally Jo Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 24/09/2021 12:29:10 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284014 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter tace, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Bell & Howell Infbrmatkm and Learning 300 North Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 BUILDING ON A BORROWED PAST: HISTORY, PLACE, AND IDENTITY IN PIPESTONE, MINNESOTA by Saily Jo Southwick A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1999 UMI Number. 9957956 UMI' UMI Mlcrofomi9957956 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA « GRADUATE COLLEGE As nembers of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by SALLY J. SOtlTHWICK entitled BUILDING ON A BORROWED PAST; HISTORY, PLACE, AND IDENTITY IN PIPESTONE, MINNESOTA and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy /C. /oya.-? y Garcia Date nderso Date Katherine Morrissey Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation reqtiirement. JL ^ J^c— 10/2.^ Dissection Director juan R. Garcia Date 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fuUillmentof requirements for an advanced degiM at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotations from or repi^uctioa of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in bis or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNEDa. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMEhrrS Many people made this project, and its place in my life, easier and more enjoyable. Throughout the research and wTiting,.staff at the Minnesota (fistorical Society gave invaluable assistance: Alan Wbolworth ofiered understanding of my focus and access to his private collection of Fipestone-related materials; Dallas Lindgren oriented me to the archives; and Debbie Miller provided not only a research space, but also consistent interest, keen suggestions, and her inimitable humor. My research benefited from the financial support of the Society for Local and Regional History, the Graduate College of the University of Arizona, the James J. Hill Reference Library, and the American Heritage Center. I appreciate the generous help I received at archives, including that of Michael Brodhead and Gara Rollen at the National Archives in Kansas City, Tom White and Bleen McCormick at the James J. Hill Reference Library in St Paul, Herbert Hoover and Margaret Quintal at the University of South Dakota, Joseph Amato at the Southwest Minnesota Historical Center, Betty McSwain at Pipestone National Monument, and David Rambow and Chris Roelfsema-Hummel at the Pipestone County Historical Society. Juan R. Garcfa, Karen S. Anderson, and Katherine G. Morrissey served as my committee and offered useful recommendations at all stages of the project. An array of friends sustained me in the last few years and they have my heartfelt gratitude-Beth Kautz, Debb Christenson, Ren^e Obrecht-Como, Michael Barbee, Todd Reasinger, Manisha Shendge, Donald Boatman, Nancy Roff, and Mimi Anzel. Special recognition goes to Sally Kaiser and Mary Alice and Bob Diebel, who opened their homes to me, particularly on my research trips; Jordan Holiday and Lukas Kautz Koester, who surprised me with joy; John Whalen, who stayed around for the conclusion; Christiiia Rabe Seger, who provided exceptional support, sympathy, and travel companionship; and Marion Yeager, who continues to surpass any reasonable expectations of friendship and to be one of my nicest thoughts. Finally, I am deeply grateful to {L Duane Hampton, for his years of steadfast encouragement and friendship, and for believing that I could, and should, do this; to my late father, Hiram, who, among much else, shared with me his love of both the natural worid and good writing; and to my mother, Peggy, who never asked when I would be done with this, but has steadily provided all manner of asastance, including rhubarb pies. For this and much, much more, she has my loving thanks. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 6 ABSTRACT 7 INTRODUCTION 8 CHAPTER I: CREATING THE NATIONAL IMAGE OF THE QUARRIES 22 CHAPTER II: BUILDING ON THE IMAGE .48 CHAPTER III: INSTITUTIONAUZING THE PLACE 87 CHAPTER IV: ENSHRINING THE QUARRIES 125 CHAPTER V: RECREATING THE IMAGE 171 CONCLUSION 201 APPENDIX: ILLUSTRATIONS 208 REFERENCES 221 UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Map of Minnesota 208 2. Map of Sweet Township, Pipestone County, Minnesota, c. 1880s 209 3. Postcards, c. 1950: Indians in quarry, Nicollet-Fremont rock 210 4. Postcards, c. 1950: Pipestone Main Street, road to Indian school 211 5. Photographs: bison on prairie, open quarry at Pipestone National Monument. 212 6. Photographs: Presbyterian Church, Historical Museum 213 7. Charles Bennett with petroglyphs 214 8. Three Maidens 215 9. Tourist markings at Winnewissa Falls 216 10. Close Brothers & Co. promotional brochure, c. 1886 217 11. Close Brothers & Co J Charles Bennett promotional brochure 218 12. Stationery, Pipestone Civic and Commerce Association, c.1950 219 13. Smorgy cartoon {torn Minneapolis Morning Tribune, 1949 220 7 ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on Pipestone, Nfinnesota, which provides an important example cf the process of creating and localizing national identity. Founded in 1874, the town derived its name firom the nearby pipestone quarries, a traditional excavation site for regional tribes, bi the early nineteenth century George Gitlin's artistic representations made the area famous and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetic interpretations of tribal mythology offered a romantic Indian past that appealed to industrializing America. This study proposes that the town's founders accepted the popular perceptions of the quarries' significance to the tribes-particularly the symbol of the "peacepipe" and its source in sacred ground-and actively employed related tribal imagery to create local identity and to promote the town on state and national levels. Emphasis on the quarries as unique and central to America's Indian heritage helped Pipestone attract railroad lines, a federal Indian boarding school in the 1890s, and a national monument in the 1930s to protect the quarries and to attract tourists. This dissertation traces the development of Pipestone from Catlin's eariy influential images of the quarries and tribes to the first productions of the town's annual "Song of Hiawatha" pageant in the 1940s and 1950s. Since the town's inception its residents continuously adapted their conceptions of the quarries' Indian heritage in order to generate a usable past. This study analyzes the ways in which they used tribal and landscape imagery to encourage town growth, investment, tourism, and the legitimizing presence of the federal government, making Pipestone a nationally-known place and a self-professed "real American" town. Archival sources examined include