[meteorite-list] Arizona impact features and the Fort Pierre meteorite

From: Donald Blakeslee <blakesle_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:42:06 2004
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.20010131103019.00717764_at_twsuvm.uc.twsu.edu>

Hi, List.

I have heard several passing references to some impact features found by
Gene Shoemaker and others in Arizona, near Chinle. Can anyone point me to
some written material on them and whether any meteorite fragments are
associated? Thanks.

On another subject, I may have stumbled onto the point of origin of the
Fort Pierre meteorite. This specimen came to light in St. Louis, where it
was reported as having been found by some fur traders "20 miles form Fort
Pierre." The fur trader in question was C.P. Chouteau, who was from a very
prominent family of traders in St. Louis.

I was looking at some other data, when I realized that I had information on
Indian trails leading to and from Fort Pierre. The fort was built near to
a ford where a major trail crossed the Missouri River. To the west, the
trail led to Fort Laramia, another trading establishment. To the east, it
ran to the Sioux Rendezvous on the James River in NE South Dakota. If you
go from Fort Pieere to the main ford (there were two -- one for low and one
for high water crossings) and then follow the trail northeast, twenty miles
brings you to a spot the Sioux called Paha wakan, now called Medicine Knoll.

Now, this could be a coincidence, but Indians placed other meteorites on
hilltops and used them for shrines. So, I can't prove anything yet, but
I'm looking for evidence on beliefs about this particular spot to see if
they correspond to those about other meteorites. Location is:
        N 44 deg 28 min 18 sec
        W 100 deg 02 min 16 sec


Don Blakeslee
Department of Anthropology
Wichita State University
Wichita, KS 67230-0052
Received on Wed 31 Jan 2001 11:30:19 AM PST