Writing Rock / Native American Legends

One of the legends tells the following: Late at night, a water spirit would emerge from the Sheyenne River and write messages on a rock for the Dakota tribes. If a girl caught a glimpse of a spirit she would have many admirers from the most desirable of the tribe. If it were a man, he would become an expert hunter and warrior or a leader.

The next night, spirits would erase the old message and write another. After white settlers arrived, the spirits did not return.

Captions: In 1890, Theodore H. Lewis of the Northwest Archaeological Survey examined the large light- colored granite boulder known as Writing Rock The notes and drawing to the right are from an article Lewis wrote in 1891. Present-day archaeologists support the position that the markings on the stone are the result of nature and not man. 1. Apparently the horns of some animal. 2. A nondescript. There is a similar figure on the quartzite ledge near Little Cottonwood Falls, in Cottonwood County Minnesota 3. A crescent. This figure is often o found along the Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. 4. A nondescript animal. 5. A peculiar-shaped cross. There is one similar in form on the face of a cliff a few miles above Stillwater, Minnesota 6. "Pins, "so-called. There are two of the same shape on the quartzite ledge, among other figures, near the "Three Maidens,"at Pipestone, Minnesota. 7. Three pairs of cups, one set being joined by a straight groove and the other two by curved grooves 8. There are four long grooves with odd- shaped ends.