Pipestone National Monument – Minnesota
During our 1995 cross-country road trip, our route carried us through a part of Minnesota, where we stopped at one of the most remarkable sites: Pipestone National Monument.
Here, the soft red stone, pipestone, has been quarried for centuries by Native people and carved into ceremonial pipes used in prayer and spiritual life. This is not simply a historic site but a living cultural place. Tribes from across the Plains and beyond retain the right to quarry the stone, continuing traditions that long predate European settlement.
Pipestone was formally protected as a national monument on August 25, 1937, when it was designated by Franklin D. Roosevelt. The designation recognized the site’s profound cultural and spiritual importance and ensured that Native Nations would retain access to the quarries while the land was preserved for future generations.
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Denali National Park – Alaska
Flying into Anchorage, our first destination was Denali, and the drive itself felt like the beginning of the adventure. Leaving the city behind, the road quickly opened into vast stretches of wilderness where the scale of Alaska became unmistakable. The Parks Highway winds north through wide valleys and uninterrupted views that seem to stretch forever. […]
Obed WSR – Tennessee
When I traveled through Tennessee, I found myself moving through the landscape of the Obed Wild and Scenic River. Unlike many places we visit and clearly arrive at, this was a landscape you enter without gates or formal entrances. At the Obed WSR there are miles of creeks and rivers. This remarkable river system came […]
Fort Smith – Arkansas
While traveling around Arkansas, I visited Fort Smith National Historic Site. This fort was established in 1817, as a U.S. military post to project federal presence on a volatile frontier. From the beginning, it served as a gateway to the West, a place where eastern law met western uncertainty. The strategic position of this fort made […]
