The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1874-11-20


Nl0brgra rivers, with no wand and y
great scarcity 0f water besides, his
route runs through tho Pawnee reser-
yaiinn Alter reaehng anl eresslng
lhe AiphraTa, great Halld lillli, deynlh
nj vegetation stretch nnIlhWarl W
the white rigeri aud rom White aver
on ~ the Hack Hills the NMauYais
lerres,n which arc both dangerous aud
diiiieult will no found,
From Cheyenne ~ Fort Laramie the
road IL excellent but from lhe latter
place 10 Red Clouds agency, one would
again encounter ihpse desOlale sand
bills, running west, through which u
10 almost Impossible ~ take 4 loaded
wagon. Beyond He'd Clouds agency
the country Is very broken, aud over
run by hostile Indians at all seasons Of
the year, This route also lfayerses
lhe Sioux reservation from south "
north, passing through lied Cloud ageh,
ey, aud within iheen miles VI hpolled
Tails agency, No other route can be
had from Cheyenne, except via Fort
felleTmall, which II hllly as bad II not
worse than by lied Cloud,
The route from liOseman ny the way
Of the abandoned old forts 10 u good
One-a wagon route, well dehned, COW
ering u great portion Of the distance,
The route from IiOseman via the
mouth NJ Tongue river, although COW
ering an unexpl0red o0unlry, and hold
ing Out great Inducements ~ pr0hpeGr
tors, will be found dliiicull and per-
haps impnelleable for Wagons belween
the Yellowstone aud the Little Mis-
souri,
lhe route frOu Bismarck 10 the Hack
Hills IL much nearer than the route
from any Glher p0lnl 0ne hundred
aud seYenty'liYe mllns nearer lllAn
from Cheyenne, on the Union Pacific,
aud one hundred and MY miles nearer
than from Columbus, Nebraska, This
route ID over u country we'll watered,
aud furnishing good grazing, Between
bismarck aud the Black Hills there II
not " fool " bad lands besides, II
passes over neutral gr0lDd-gr0und
not occupied or claimed by the Indians,
II IN IN safe from Indian attacks ~ the
country between bismarck and Fargo,
General Custer, Ia speaking OF this
route says
hI'h0 distance from Bismarck 10
bear lutte IN about 1913 miles, Har-
neyg peak IN 10 miles southweat Of
Bear iiulte. Cuater's Oulch can be
Ieaohed by u march Of 80 miles, over
an excellent country, ailordlng good
gfazlng, u fair amount ~ timber, an
abundance Of water aud everything
essential " building up prosperous VII
lagos along the route. A route which
Oiitra absolutely no engineering diiil-
oultlea should OCCASION demand the
construction OF u railroad from Biz
marck 10 the Hills. The trip can be-
made without the lenat difficulty In
eight days, though ordinarily II should
take ten days.
In DlDudlng 10 the route suggested
from the south, General Custer says;
II " believed that oil attempts 10 en-
ter the Hills from the south or east
will be futile. made several attempts
10 pass them southwark, but failed 10
find u passage. | had no difficulty IN
entering them from tho west, or In
passing out toward the northeast.
Ola suggested route, via old Fort
Pi0rrc, General Custer says:
Referring TO Reynolds, who passed
over the route from Fort Pierre 10
Bear Butte, In 1850, Hind that he pro-
nounces against the country. On the
twenty-seventh page he says ave
have now been out ten travelling days,
and are one hundred aud forty miles
from Fort Pierre. The whole country
traversed IL entirely UNIT for the resi-
denc0 of white men, This, M | I'M
derstand II, IL the trail that some par
ties have talked OF taking. | do not
| think IL IL u feasible route or one likely
10 be adopted. II cannot be compared
with the direct route have suggested,
running southwesterly from Bismarck,
crossing at nearly right angles the fol-
lowing streams Little Heart, Cannon
Ball, Battle creek, Grand river, Owl
river and Cherry creek, striking the
Cheyenne ut It's forks. These streams
are all small, and excepting one ortwo,
afford good water and every facility for
camping.
Many routes have been mentioned,
but absolutely none present the advan-
tages offered by the Bismarck route.
AT Bismarck complete outfits can be
secured, and NJ at low rates as ut any
other point on the Missouri river.
II should be bornein mind that there
to the Black Hills, made by Custer's
expedition; that q score or more of cit
liens of Bismarck accompanied the
Black Hills expedition, who are famil-
lar with the route, many Of whom will
accompany an expedition from Bis
marck to the Hills ~ soon as the gov
ernment will consent to their occu-
pancy.
l feel warranted in saying that this
will be done In thespring, and that the
abandoned forts in the Yellowstone
country will be reoccupied.
JOHN w. SMITH.
BISMARCK, ID. r., September "a.
To George l.. Miller, Editor Omaha Herald:
DEAR SIR Having accompanied
General Custer's expedition to the
Black Hills, and been close observer
of all prospecting and explorations, /
deem IL my duty on account of former
letters to your valuable paper, several
years ago, and on account of my init
Hidte acquaintance WIN lne country
adjacent to the Hills, on all sides, as
well MS for the benefit of old friends at
Omaha, and on the line of the Union
Pacific railroad, to state, most pos
itively, that the reported gold discov-
cries in the Black Hills are true, and
that the report of General Custer is not
"howery" or Exaggerated
On the heads of streams flowing into
the Cheyenne (south fork from the
north side, supposed to be Box Elder,
Bill Gerry and Beaver creeks, we dis
covered surface diggings that would
pay ten dollars per day to the man.
The gold was found in the grass roots,
and grew richer and coarser as holes
were sunk. In no case did We reach
the "bed rock" Only three openings