Jeffers, Minnesota

[rtbaum]

After replenishing my self with baked goodies in the booming metropolis of Gibbon, Mn (pop. around 750), I completed the drive to Jeffers, Mn (pop. around 380). This is an area made "famous" by the popular show Little House on the Prairie. The opening of every show showed the Ingall's girls running down a hill through a field of grasses and wildflowers. My objective was the top of that hill. One would think that if the producers of that show had actually visited the area they would have featured this spot at sometime.



At the top of the hill is an outcropping of red Souix Quartzite. In this part of Minnesota, which is flat as a pancake for many miles as far as the eye can see, any hill is notable and would have been useful as a point of reference. And so it was 7000 years ago, Native tribes that were long gone before the current tribe, the Lakota, tread this soil. The Lakota refer to them simply as 'The One's that Came Before.'



The site has in excess of 2000 petroglyphs that were made by a variety of tribes over an estimated 7000 years. It has been preserved from agriculture by virtue of its shallow soils. In the 1960's, the local residents urged the Minnesota Historical Society to take ownership of the site.



This Thunderbird was likely to be a more recent glyph as it is typical of the Lakota symbology. Nobody really knows what many of these petroglyphs mean, there are several theories out there. They may be religious in nature, like the Thunderbird.


The turtle is an important icon of multiple tribes, thus it did not surprise me to see it depicted here



I joined with a group tour and the tour guide would spray the glyphs with water to enhance viewing, I will remember this trick when I next visit.

Another theory is that the glyphs depict items that were held in reverence to the people.
The above photo illustrates the latest in 7000 year old technology, the Atl-Atl.





The guide was kind enough to illustrate the use of this tool that was so useful in bringing down large herbivores. The atl-atl is a force multiplier that made it possible to bring down game without the risk of being gored. It may look bit simple, keep in mind that it was sufficient to cause the extinction of giant sloths, wooly mammoth, and mastadons.

As far as the guide....his form was good, but his tribe likely would have starved....his aim was bad.


Atl-Atl and Bison



Another possibility is story-telling.

This glyph depicts Red Horn

Red Horn is a mythological figure in native lore. He fashioned his hair with a mixture of grease and ochre to arch to one side. Near as I am able to determine, he is similiar to Homer in his exploits.



What's the most important thing to take from this site? We were here for thousands of years. And the spirit that we believe in, the Great Spirit – our creator – left here his marks, here... that's why, to us; it’s a very sacred area. These markings that are left here are the survival of the people – the spirit of the people... the markings here are what they used to survive. This place is an encyclopedia of American Indian ways of being, put here by elders to teach us.” - Joe Williams, Dakota Elder, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, South Dakota





This glyph depicts a face and shoulders



Several glyphs here: the forementioned profile, hand print, circle, possibly an otter(?)

You may note the wilting plant in the last two shots. Sage is revered in native culture and here has been offered as a gift by a Tribal Elder that had visited. It will not be edited out.

Also note the diagonal and parallel lines etched into the rock, those are a gift from the last glacier



And a reminder, once upon a time, it was all underwater

[TonyW]

These are fine pictures but I feel I need to be an archaeologist to appreciate them properly.

The tool used with the spear is like the woomera that the Australian aborigines used. I had not heard of them being used elsewhere.

[rtbaum]

These are fine pictures but I feel I need to be an archaeologist to appreciate them properly.

The tool used with the spear is like the woomera that the Australian aborigines used. I had not heard of them being used elsewhere.

The atl-atl was instituted very early in Man's development and is probably one and the same, just a different name. Some of the petroglyphs are more recent and interpretation is clear, others are anybodies guess. My opinion is that we have always seemed to have a need to leave our mark, think of them as prehistoric taggers

[rtbaum]

Well....Clearly, 7000 year old human history is not a good photo!

[purplehaze]

Very interesting, Randy. Some of the glyphs were hard to make out at first viewing, and I wonder if they might benefit from some selective editing to enhance contrast or detail. I am glad to learn of this place, and will try to put it on the itinerary for a future visit to Minnesota.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.