Sartell couple likes to track down legendary, rare ‘cross stones’
By Bill Vossler
Peering into the distance north of Sartell, home to Mike and Sara Trekell, the Penokean Mountains are no longer visible. Though they did exist 1.83 billion years ago--and were over six miles high, according to Robert Wichman, who has a doctorate in geology and 30 years of teaching at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.
Thus those mountains were higher than today’s Mt. Everest. But they’ve since eroded away.
Yet they’ve left very visible remnants, pieces still seen and accessed today. “Each crystal is a prismatic rod,” Wichman said, “often black rock up to a half-inch wide and one-to-two inches long. The cross-section is usually diamond-shaped (<>).” Cross rocks can also be reddish-brown, as many from the Blanchard Dam are.
When they are twinned, which happens rarely, they can form perfect crosses, (+) called stauros lithos in Greek, or “cross stones.” They can be found X-shaped, but not shaped like a T-cross.
Other names include angel stones, fairy stones, fairy crosses, because they were supposedly formed from fairy tears, crying about the crucifixion of Jesus. Some people call them Jesus stones or Jesus crosses.
Background
Wichman said, “Eventually six miles of rock sat atop this area, localizing the pressure and heat in this region, creating conditions for creating the mineral staurolite,” which is the mineral cross rocks are made of.
Mike said he has always been interested in artifacts, “Like any ancient things and anomalies of nature. When we moved to Minnesota 50 years ago, I loved fishing but didn’t have a boat. So I asked around about a decent place to fish from shore--one suggested spot was below the Blanchard Dam near Royalton. The water was fairly clear after the spring flood, exposing giant boulders the size of a kitchen table. I was amazed to find that every inch of those boulders was covered with little crystal formations sticking out all over these rocks. I didn’t know what they were right then, but they interested me.”
The late Lowell Olson, high school physics and earth science teacher for 35 years at Apollo High School in St. Cloud said, “They were washed free by high water in the spring. The moving water breaks down the matrix of schist and gneiss, which turns to black clay, leaving the harder staurolite crystals,” which can be reddish-brown to black.
Mike eventually discovered that he was onto something pretty rare, these pieces called cross stones. “Every time I fished there I checked them out, and began seeing people using a gold-pan. I saw that each person had a little pail full of these little crystals.”
His interest in the crystals was piqued even more on a trip to the north shore of Lake Superior. “On the way I stopped at places where they sell Superior agates and other rocks. They had black crystal ‘cross rocks’ they called them, with a blurb saying ‘Found by the dam near Royalton.’ They added the dam was one of the few places in the world that has them. That’s when I began to pay a lot more attention to them.”
Sara Too
Sara Trekell has been interested in rocks since she was a kid. “When my mother attended my concert in first grade, in my desk she found a paper sack full of rocks that I had picked up off the playground. I’ve always been fascinated by rocks--but these cross rocks are really cool.”
Sara said she first heard about the cross rocks from their son Ethan. “When he was in high school--he’s now 36--his science teacher at Sartell High School knew about cross rocks, and took his science classes on a field trip to the dam. We thought that was pretty cool that the entire science class got to go look for them.”
Another experience gave Sara another perspective on the cross rocks. “Coming home from Little Falls with three women friends, we came by Blanchard Dam, so I told them about the cross rocks. Despite living in the area for at least twenty years, they knew nothing about the cross rocks. So not a lot of people know about them. What fascinated me is wondering how that little piece of crystal got inside the other bigger rocks.”
That, according to Wichman, was due to massive pressure from the mountains above.
The Hunt
Mike said he’s hunted for many different things in his life, like Indian artifacts and agates. If I look and don’t find things I get disturbed. But when hunting for the rock crosses up there you can easily find the pieces, and hopefully even a cross, if you know what you’re looking for. Using a garden trawl or even your fingers you can find the pieces pretty easily. What I enjoy most is the anticipation of finding the whole cross, which gives you hope. When I’m out looking for agates, sometimes I can hunt forever and not find any. But with the cross rocks, this is the excitement: ‘I found one! Here’s another one too!’ It’s fun looking for them.”
He said he hasn’t ever found a perfect stone. “One day when we were up there with friends Sara found three perfect ones, the only full ones that I’ve seen personally. But the halves of the crosses are easy to find. I know from seeing those boulders full of these pieces that these little pieces were formed singularly rather than in that cross shape. Maybe in a few million more years they will form cross stones? I don’t know enough about geology to know how they form.”
He added that if really high mountains used to be in the area, “Then I understand. The mountains eroded after time, and the matrix that these crystals are in is soft material. On the west side of the river where I’ve hunted I’ve noticed many areas with a lot of black sand that has been eroded into very fine bits, and it’s a little sparkly. That’s where the people who are finding the pieces and the crosses, the good ones, are looking. They have to dig down a bit. Many natural springs come out of both sides of the banks, where you find these very obvious black sand. Dig down far enough and you can find some of the pieces that were washed away.”
Sara added that looking for cross rocks is peaceful in nature. “There‘s something unique about looking for them, and I like to learn about unique things. Maybe it goes back to when I was collecting rocks when I was a kid. But these are unique rocks.”
Sara did find three of the cross rocks. “But I lent them out to a guy, and he can’t find them, so I couldn’t get a picture of me with them.”
Sara says many of the crystals have perfectly straight edges. “Not rounded like normal river rock. They are so straight, like a ruler, that it’s hard to believe they are natural. I’ve never seen any of them more than an inch and a half or so long.”
Mike and Sara said Jordy’s Café in Bowlus helps push the idea of the cross rocks. Sara said, “They lend you gold panning pans, and ask you to return from the dam with a story. They also have a large plaque covered with over a hundred perfect complete stone crosses.”
Besides sharing the cross rock site with friends, the Trekells have also done it with their grandchildren. Sara said, “Taking them there was like finding something unique in your back yard. That was a good reason to take the kids. We like learning stuff, so that was another reason to go. You don’t have to go on a vacation to find something like this.”
The grandchildren did find pieces. “But,” Sara said, “their attention span isn’t as long as you might think. They put them in a plastic cup and thought they were cool, but the youngest one liked playing in the mud better. He was in the mud up to his knees, almost like quicksand. When he tried to get out, his boots stayed in the mud and his feet came out. Meanwhile the older artistic one was building a tower out of rock pieces, like the Indians did.”
Advice
Mike said, “I started by going down the steps on the bank on the east side of the river where the giant boulders are. It wasn’t until much later that I found out the better side of the river was the west. If you’re going to go down on that side, you should bring a walking stick. But it’s a beautiful area, right by the Woebegone Trail.”
He said he would stay close to the side of the river while searching. “Don’t get into the river too far. If you’re closer to the bank you can maybe find one of these smaller natural spring areas where pieces have been freed by the rushing water. They’re not too hard to find. You might even find a perfect cross rock. The dam roars and the water does a tremendous amount of sculpting on rocks, so if you move the bigger rocks off and dig around there, you have a better shot for finding pieces.“
Sara added that getting down the west side can be pretty treacherous. “You don’t want to fall. You have to be pretty agile, and like Mike said, the most complete ones can be found under other rocks. So you can just sit on a rock and pick around until you find them. They are there. Sometimes you just have to be patient.”