Writing Rocks State Historic Site – Grenora North Dakota

Writing Rocks State Historic Site – Grenora, North Dakota

No one knows the origin of the “writing rocks” that are found in Grenora, North Dakota, but a park, Writing Rocks State Historic Site, has now been designed around them, so that visitors may study and discover the many theories surrounding the rocks, and perhaps hypothesize for themselves the significance of the writing rocks that have had people intrigued for centuries.

Years ago, three Native American tribes, the Assiniboine, Sioux, and Plains Chippewa, were the inhabitants of the plains that now cover the areas of North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan. These tribes felt they could foretell the future when the visited the “Spirit Rock” located in what is now the farthest northwest county of North Dakota. The site they visited is now the Writing Rocks State Historic Site, and found there are two huge granite boulders that have petroglyphs, a form of pictoral writing, etched into them.

Petroglyphs are pictures or patterns that have been chiseled into the rocks by people that have no written language. This form of pictoral writing can be done on any surface, but when chiseled into rocks, the pictures are called petroglyphs. These particular ones are thought to have been created by the prehistoric Plains Indians. There are rocks all over the world with petroglyphs on them, and in Georgia there are ones that have a very similar pattern. Because of this, it is thought that perhaps the people that did these particular petroglyphs were originally from the southeast.

The most identifiable picture on these rocks is that of a thunderbird, which was mythologically sacred to the Plains Indians. Outlines of the thunderbird with its wings extended appear on both rocks. The exact meaning isn’t known, but in the Plains Indian mythology, the thunderbirds were often in combat against snake-like water monsters.

There are several theories as to what these pictures mean. One theory told within the Plains Indian culture is that some people could foretell the future when “reading” the changing pictures on the rocks. It is believed the supernatural power was lost when the smaller of the two rocks was moved to a nearby stream by white settlers. Others have suggested these pictures originated from travelers from lost continents or wandering explorers from Asia. Still others have wondered if the pictures are maps telling where rivers and hunting grounds can be found in the area.

In 1931 two brothers, Henry and Edgar Syverud, formed the Writing Rock Historical Society, and five years later the Society purchased the site surrounding the two rocks. A shelter was erected around the larger rock in 1956, and the smaller rock was returned to the site in 1965 after being studied at the University of North Dakota for over thirty years.

Today Writing Rocks State Historic Site includes a playground and picnic shelters for visitors to enjoy as they study the rocks for themselves. Visitors are welcome May 15 through September 15 each year.