The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1875-04-02

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be made available? Al least fOur to
six months in the year these streams
lBUlle Fuurchc and South Fork of
! CheyenneJ are quite hiEh. The logs
could be cut and transported TO the
sides Of these streams during the dry
season, and when the trcanIs are
high, in the spring of the year, they
could be taken down into the Mis-
souri, River with IL good degree Of
safety and ease.
The Black Hills, which appear in
| the distance and derive their name
from. their dark and gloomy appear
aucc, contains al ineXhauStible guam
titv of the finest timber, mostly pine,
watch will doubtless remain undis-
turbed for many years to come"
General Custer, who visited the
| hills last summer, i'm his report also
speaks glowingly of the supply of
timber, and says: he timber
found consisted of many varieties,
principally of pine, oak and elm.
The pine is of suitable dimensions
for being worked into lumber, and is
met with in abundance on every
hillside"
Col. Forsythe, of Gen. Sheridan's
staff, who accompanied the eXpedi-
ton, also r~OrrUhuratps the statement
that II great abundance of timber
exist in the hills.
The fertility Of the soil in the
I Black Illus was noticed by Lieut..
Warren, in 1868. Speaking of the
valleys in that region, he says in his
report of that year: an these noun
tain formations which border the
great plains on the west are to be
E,u,.I IA,V,tfFY1 AnNEf.fr - raaV, md
small rich valleys covered over with
fine grass for hay, and susceptible of
cultivation by means of irrigation.
Fine timber for fuel and lumber,
limestone, and good stone for build
ing purposes are here abundant.
Gold has he,n found in places in
valuable quantities, and, without
doubt, the more common and useful
minerals Will be discovered when
mo g minute examinations are
made
In the same report, further on, he
says: "The country furnishes the
means Of raising sufficient quantities
of grain aud vegetables for the use of
the Inhabitants, and beautiful,
healthy and desirable locations for
their homes. The rpmaI kabIe free
dom Hcre from sickness is one of
the attractive features of the region,
and will, in this respect, go far to
T~pcOuIpUn>e the settler from the
! Mississippi valley for his loss in the
smaller amount of products that can
be taken from the soil. The great
want of suitable building material,
which now so seriously reoards the
growth of the west, will not be felt
herc.2'
He also says that these settlements
in the Black Hills country, cannot
be agricultural 10 the sane extent as
those misunderstanding valley, but
must depend greatly upon the rails
ing ofStork.
Gen. w. f. RaypohlS. who made a
Typographical survey of this region
in IS59-60, says, in speaking uf it in
his report, page I: "Ihe whole re-
giDn Of the Black Hills is unqucS-
tiuuahly destined, at no distant date,
to afford hCme5 for q thriving pupu-
laIium The mountains will furnish
a sufficient supply Of pine lumber for
ordinary uses, and although timber
is Vpry scarce in the region rs a
1 whole from Fort Pierre to the Pow
der River), yet the Black Illus will
J fully supply this great deficiency in
the districts Immediately sIijOinIug."
His route from the Missouri River
led him to the Forks of the Big
Cheyenne, and then he skirtUd the
northeast and north side of the hills.
lie describes them in his Journal as II
succession of mountain ranges with
beautiful valleys between, the soil of
which is rich and fertile, and COW
cred with a heavy grnwth of grass.
Groves of ash, oak, elm and other
varieties of timber are mentioned us
being met with, fringinG the clear,
beautiful streams of water, putting
down from the hills into the Belle
FOurchp. Between the forks of the
Cheyenne very decided evidences of
the existence of gold were found
page n; but prospecting WAS dis
Outraged by him on account of dan
ger from the Indians, and for fear of
making the expedition "A failure.
1" 1t wa- for these reasons that the
search for gold was at all times dis
c~ouragrd," he a y page II, "yet
std II. was often difficult To restrain
the disposition to 'prUSpert.' and
/ there were moments hen j. was
feared that SOME of the party would
defy all restraint"
These descriptions and discoveries
We're made of the Black Hills SIX
teen and seventeen years ago by
reliable army officers, whose only
object was to make truthful reports
of the country, and We're made under
many disad vantAgPS. The number
Of men each Id was small, and the
dangers from the hostile Sioux were
not the only trouble they had to pro
vide Hg inst.
Warren went north from Fort
Laramie, vi! Red Buttes and OId
WOmau's Fork to the South Chey-
enne. and thence to Inyan Kara,
where he was intercepted by the
Sioux, and compelled to retrace his
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