The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-08-20

AtO AVCdCcu prominent walls OF solid
rock, presenting here and there the ap-
-pearance of castles constructed of ma
:sonry. From their marked cresem-
blance, | named this stream ssCastle
Greek. Ehe direction of Castle Creek
having commenced to lead us more to
the northeast than We were prepared
to go, and the valley having become
narrow and. broken, I left ehis water
course and assembled the valley Of a
small tributary, which again gave us 4
southeasterly course. After a march
OF fourheen miles we encamped on
small creek furnishing us an abundance
Of water and grass. The direction Of
this creek was nearly east. On. the
Both / moved in continuation Of our
previous course, and through
A FINE, OPEN COUNTRY, i
covered with excellent grazing. After
a march Of over ten miles, we eneamped
early in thesday about five miles from
the western base of Harney's peak,
finding water, grass and wood abund-
ant. with springs OF clear, cool water
running through camp. On the
following day the command remained
in camp, except the exploring parties.
sent out in all directions. With small
party | proceeded to Harney's Peak,
and. after great difficulty, made the as
cent to it's crest. We found this to be
the highest point in the Black Hills.
From the highest point we had a view
Of Bear Butte, in the north part of the
plains to the east far beyond the Chey-
enne river. Our party did not reach
camp till near one o'clock that night,
but we were amply repaid for our labor
by the magniticence of the view OBJ
tanned. While on the highest point,
we drank the health of the veteran out
of compliment to whom the peak was
named. On the LIST Of August we
moved camp few miles simply to OBJ
tain grass, still keeping near the base
of the hills to the east of us. This
morning dispatched two companies
under Colonel Hart in southeasterly
direction to extend our exploration of
the south fork of the Cheyenne river.
Tomorrow morning at five o'clock
will send out five companies of cavalry
and endeavor to reach the same stream
in a southwesterly direction from Har-
ney's Peak.
Reynolds, the scout who is to carry
this dispatch to Fort Laramie, will go
with us as far as We 60 in that direction,
when he sets out alone to reach his des-
| tination. travelling mainly by night.
THE COUNTRY
through which we have passed since
leaving the Belle Fourche River has
been genel ally open and extremely fer
tile. The main portion of that passed
over since entering the unexplored por-
ton of the Black Hills consists of Deauti-
full parks and valleys through which flow
stream of clear, cold water, perfectly
free from alkali, while bounding these
parks or valley, there are invariably
found unlimited supplies of timber,
much Of it being capable Of being made
into good lumber. In no portion of the
United States, not excepting the
famous blue grass region Of Kentucky,
have | ever seen grazing superior to
that found growing wild in this hitherto
unknown region. I know of no portion
Of our country where nature had done
so much to prepare homes for husband
men, and left SO little for the latter to
do as here. In the open and timbered
spaces . partly prepared farm Of almost
any dimensions, Of an acre and upward,
can be found here. Not only is this
land cleared and timbered both for
fuel and building, conveniently located,
with streams of pure water flowing
through its length and breadth, but ma
ture oftimes seems to have gone fur
Their, and placed beautiful shrubbery
and evergreens in the most desirable
locations. for building sites. While on
Harney's Peak, I could contrast the
bright green verdure of these lovely
parks with the sun-burned and dry,
yellow heritage to be seen on the outer
plains. Everything indicates abund-
ance of moisture within the space in
closed by the Black Hills.
THE SOIL
is that of rich garden. and composed
Of dark mould of exceedingly fine
grain. We have found the country in
many places covered with Wild rasp-
berries, both the black and red varie-
ties. Yesterday and to-day we Toasted
on the latter. 1t is no unusual sight
to see hundreds Of soldiers gathering
wild berries. Nowhere in the States
have tasted cultivated raspberries of
equal flavor to those found growing
wild here, nor have l seen them as
large or in IS great prefusion. have
seen hundreds of them here. Wild
strawberries, currants, gooseberries,
and Wild cherries are also found in great
abundance and Of exceedingly pure
quality. Cattle would winter in these
valleys without other food or shelter
than that which can be obtained from
running ct large As there are scien-
lists accompanying the expedition, who
are examining into the mineral re-
sources of this region, the result Of
whese researches will accompany mT
detailed report, I omit all present rel.
erence to thst portion of our c-.r .osa-
tons until the return Of the expeai-
ton. except to state what will appear
I 4