ND flint quarry becoming historic landmark

STANTON, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota quarry where American Indians used crude tools to uncover the flint they refined into arrowheads and other implements is being formally dedicated as a National Historic Landmark this weekend.

A ceremony is set Saturday at the Lynch Knife River Flint Quarry on land near Dunn Center owned by Allen and Gail Lynch, The Bismarck Tribune reported. The site received landmark status last year and on Saturday will officially become the sixth National Historic Landmark in North Dakota.

Mandan and Hidatsa villages along the Knife and Missouri rivers were an important trading hub years ago, and the dark, hard rock from the flint quarry was a valuable commodity.

“In the Lower Hidatsa site (one village area) archaeologists estimate there are well over 150,000 pounds of flint still there from them making tools,” said Craig Hanson, chief interpreter at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site near Stanton. “The flint is a big part of our story. We can't talk about that culture without talking about flint.”

Historic site Superintendent Wendy Ross said there are no plans to try to turn the quarry into a national park.

“It's enough to have it designated. We're just thrilled to have it recognized as an important resource that's so intertwined with our story,” she said. “(The quarry) is an amazing story. It was like a shopping center, a Walmart for flint that was manufactured into very desirable goods.”

The other National Historic Landmarks in North Dakota are the Big Hidatsa Village at Knife River, Fort Union Trading Post at Buford, Frederick A. and Sophia Bagg Bonanza Farm near Mooreton, Huff Archaeological Site near Huff, and Menoken Indian Village Site at Bismarck.

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