The native peoples have a legend that in ancient times it rained for so long that the entire world was flooded.

Everyone was swept away and drowned except for one beautiful young woman.

When the rains finally stopped, she climbed up on the cliffs in this place and realized she was all alone in the world.

Then a large bird flew overhead and landed by her. The bird walked toward her and turned into a young man. The young man said he’d come to find her because he loved her, and he would be her husband and the father of their children.

That young woman and that young man were the ancestors of all the native peoples who repopulated the land after the floodwaters had subsided.

To the Sioux, the Lakota, and all the other plains tribes who came to quarry the red pipestone in these cliffs, this place became known as “the Relative.”

Walking here among the pink rock outcroppings and by the cool, flowing water, you can’t help but feel the spirituality and peace that make this a sacred place.