Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 70 eodore Roosevelt called it "as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen." Charging Bear, chief of the Blackfoot band of Lakota Sioux, called it the place where "the spirits stayed and the medicine men prayed." Native Americans have long considered this a sacred place of powerful medicine, a history that gives the area its name: Medicine Rocks State Park. e arches, tunnels, holes, and spires of the rocks had their beginnings more than 60 million years ago in a wide, freshwater river that flowed from the Miles City area southeast into a saltwater estuary located in northeast South Dakota. e sand carried by the river was deposited in underwater dunes along the way, some reaching a height of 50 feet. Over the millennia, as ice ages came and went, the weight of the sand compacted it into stone. e monoliths have yielded some significant clues to the timeline of the area's formation. For instance, as the inland sea receded, saltwater flowed upstream in the prehistoric river, leaving evidence behind in the rocks. A layer of crusty, gray sand sits atop the rocks, and it's riddled with burrows made by tunneling marine worms. Wind and rain have eroded the rocks into bizarre shapes, and the strata of the dozens of layers of sand are plainly visible on their surface. In addition to the presence of saltwater, the age of the rocks has been pinpointed at 61 million years by dating the teeth of early mammals from the Torrejorian Age. Medicine Rocks is considered by many geologists to be one of the most significant deposits in North America. Native Americans gave the rocks a different kind of significance. Archaeologists estimate that humans have been visiting the site for about 11,000 years, and several Plains Indian tribes are known to have come to Medicine Rocks to immerse themselves in the mystical qualities they ascribed to the area. Tepee rings are still visible in clearings among the sagebrush, where the Arikara, Assiniboine, Mandan, Gros Ventre, Chey- enne, Crow and Sioux camped while visiting the area. ey were drawn not just by the mysterious rocks, but also by the abundance of medicinal plants like alum root, cinquefoil, and prickly pear in the area. Seashells could also be found, which were used to make jewelry and decorate items of clothing for trading. e rocks were holy, perfect for vision quests and other Native ceremonies. Medicine Rocks was partly located on private property until the 1930s, when Carter County seized the land over unpaid taxes. In 1957, the county turned over the property to the state, and the state highway department upgraded the 320-acre site with gravel roads and installed picnic benches and fireplaces. Medicine Rocks had become a popular site for picnicking and day tripping, mostly for locals from Ekalaka and surrounding ranches. In 1965, the state Parks Division took over manage- ment of the area as a natural reserve. Medicine Rocks is a haven to a wide variety of wildlife, including mule deer, coyotes, pronghorn, red foxes, and raptors like turkey vultures and golden eagles. It's also an attractive area for Merriam's turkeys, MEDICINE ROCKS: article & photos by EDNOR THERRIAULT T UCKED AWAY IN THE ROLLING PLAINS OF SOUTHEAST MONTANA ON STATE ROUTE 7, just about 10 miles from the place where the Montana border meets both Dakotas, is a spectacular landscape of natural rock formations that has been working its magic on visitors for thousands of years. Huge lumps of sandstone, some as high as 80 feet, have been molded by wind and water into fantastical shapes, many looking like blocks of Swiss cheese that have been left out in the desert sun.

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