Red Rock Ridge - some early history

A prominent ridge of red quartzite lies next to the Little Cottonwood River in north central Cottonwood County, Minnesota. In 1875 J.B. Churchill carved his name and date into the rock. In 1880 Warren Upham visited the ridge and made some notes about the petroglyphs. In 1885 a small group of men from New Ulm traveled up the Cottonwood River from Sleepy Eye to reach what was known as the Dells at Red Rock Falls and proceeded southwest to the Petroglyph site. Their report is found in the New Ulm Review of August 12, 1885. They viewed "peculiar inscriptions, [hewn] into the hard red-black rock". In 1889 the Red Rock Ridge was visited by surveyor Theodore Lewis and civil engineer Alfred J. Hill. They were in the process of doing an archaeological survey of Minnesota and the surrounding states from 1881-1895. This information is based in part on Gordon Lothsons 1976 book, "The Jeffers Petroglyphs Site: A Survey and Analysis of the Carvings" Information is at web site http://www.thudscave.com/petroglyps/arch-site.htm