The small city of Comfrey, which is just passed nowheresville in Southwestern Minnesota is not the first place I would go to look for fun or learning, but it’s there. Out in the middle of the vast, sweeping, tallgrass prairie, we found our adventure. Jeffers Petroglyphs is home to an experience that can take you thousands of years back in time to when Native American Indian tribes roamed the land.
After arriving at Jeffers Petroglyphs, we got to check out the visitor center and eat the picnic lunch that we brought. We recommend bringing food along as the restaurant options in the area are limited. After our meal, it was time for some learning activities. Outside of the visitor center, a helpful historical society worker introduced us to the Atlatl. We learned to use the atlatl, which is a spear-throwing device that predates the bow and arrow by 1,200 years. It was of vital importance in the lives of the people that lived here as it was used for hunting massive game like bison. The amount of precision and strength it takes to use it properly is staggering. Good thing we didn’t need it to hunt for food that day, or we would have been in trouble. It was fun to try though, and the boys especially liked it.
Next, we traveled down a beautiful path lined with prairie flowers and grasses to the petroglyph site. The sound of the wind in the grass conjuring images of centuries of Native Americans traveling up to this living and sacred prayer space.
Because of the respect is given to such a sacred place, only the barefooted tour guide was allowed to walk among the ancient carvings. The high afternoon sun made the impressions challenging to see, so our guide used a spray bottle of water to darken the surface of the stone temporarily. As we walked along, he pointed out shapes. Images of animals began to appear. Our guide told us of great stories of spirit creatures, weapons, war games, and the legendary being called Thunderbird. We learned that there are more than 4,000 carvings, the most recent of which are 250 years old. The 300-yard long quartzite stone is known as Red Rock Ridge because of its color.
After our tour, our guide let us know that once the visitor center had closed for the day, we were free to go out and explore the stone on our own, provided socks and shoes were removed. Having the opportunity to walk on the rock and physically touch the Sioux Quartzite while discussing how sacred this site is to Native Americans was by far the most exciting part of the trip for the kids. As we made our way back across the rock, the kids pointed out more carvings that we had not seen yet.
It was hard to tear ourselves away, but we finally had to go. The increasing darkness and our hungry stomachs demanded it. The walk out to the parking lot gave us time to reflect on our favorite parts of the day.
One of our surprising discoveries on this trip was to learn that Minnesota has three types of cactus, the Opuntia fragilis (Brittle Prickly Pear) is found throughout the site. Jeffers Petroglyphs is on our list to revisit as the kids get older and can learn more about the history and geography of the area. Comfrey is indeed home to a worthwhile adventure.
Have you ever visited any sacred Indian sites? Share with us about you learned and felt!
