To visit Two Bridges Llama Ranch, go north of Redfield, South Dakota three miles, turn right on County Road 15 (Two Bridges Road), cross the railroad tracks and river, go past the small house on the hill a half mile and turn down a long driveway.
In addition to seeing a working llama ranch, you will see a plethora of Indian artifacts. The owners sell llamas as pets and for breeding stock. Wool is taken from the llamas by combing, not shearing.
The ranch owner has a pickup truck full of stone axes and three milk buckets full of arrowheads found on the property. The Sioux had a butchering ground near their village. One artifact of particular interest is a stone three inches thick and oval shaped. It is about two feet long by eighteen inches across and concave. The owner turned it up while cultivating his field and found a round stone five inches diameter a couple of feet away. This combination was evidently used to grind or pound food.
He has so many stone axes on the place that he uses them as a border for his flower garden. They are all axes that were discarded by the Sioux. Over the years as the stone axes became dull the Indians made a new ax. There was no practical way to sharpen the old one.
Arrowheads found strewn about are usually slightly misshapen, having been tossed aside while chipping a new one. A single arrowhead found in isolation in perfect shape was probably launched and missed its target.
The owner says all the artifacts collected on the property were exposed on top of the ground following a heavy rain or when snow melted in the spring.
This former butchering ground would be a fertile field for exploration by archeologists or an interested University. All the area in and around Redfield should be examined to learn what we can about how mankind has survived in this region.
Open year round.
Mail: Two Bridges Llamas, RR2, Box 110, Redfield, SD 57469-9308.
Telephone: Wilbur Dvorak, Alan & Kathy Maddox 605-472-0316, 605-472-1548, or Randy & Carol Maddox 605-472-3339.
From journal Touring Northeastern South Dakota