Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1875-1878, 1876-01-12

Custer-A long way this side o: Har
ney's Peak we struck country which
gave unmistakatle evidence Of contain
ing gold in paying quantities. and
am satisfied that rich mining regio,
| will be found IN the northeastern por
tion Of the Hills.
Rep0rter-What is the bes: route Il
reach the Black Hills mines from the
Missouri river? a
Custer-Urqnestionably direc,
route from Bismarck in the direction oI
Bear Butte. 2s
Reporter-What is the distance from
Bismarck to the gold region, and The
nature Of the country?
Custer-rhe distance from Bismarck
to Bear Butte is about one hundred and
ninety eight m les. Harneys Peak is 35
miles south west Of Bear Butte. Gus
ter's Gulch can be reached by march
If 24O miles over an excellent country !,
afforiing good grazing, a fair. amount
of timber, an abundance Of water ard
everything essential to building mp
prosperous villages along the route.
A route which affords absolutely no en-
gineering difficulties should occasion
demand the construction Of railroad
from Bismarck to the Hills y @ya@
" Reporter-How many days will it re
quire to reach the gold region from Bis
narck with loaded trains? A.
.,Custer-The trip can be made with
out the least difficulty in eight days,
though ordinarily it should take ten
days. ria e.. ..a.a aa.5 .@"
: Reporter-Are there any bad lands
on the route? ..-.& @.t~% ~ f.
Custer-None whatever. Tho bad
lands, ormaurais te,rs, are located along
the Little Missouri and the .llows,one
rivers, and are wholly barren Of vegeta-
ton. Sul:y describes them as looking
like the = bottom Of hell with the fires
out" Where the Northern Pacific
crosses the Little Missouri they are
only five miles in extent. and thirty
miles south OF the proposed crossing
they disappear entirely. From the
point Of beginning they increase in ex
tent until the mouth Of the river Is
reached. The same is true Of the yell
lowst0ne river bad lands. They wholly
disappear On its head waters. The
country along the route suggested is
not a sage brush region even, but is in
the main fair rolling prair'es, with oc-
casi0nal tracts somewhat sandy, pro-
ducing cactus but these tracts are pery
limited in extent. On cur recent trip
from Bismarck to the Black Hills not y
foot of land of this character was struck
until we had deviated from our course
eighty miles. Eighty miles west Of the
route suggested very in'erior country
is found, which was tulIy described in
nv official reports and in the letters Of
the correspondents accompanying the
expedition. ...a ....@ ....@
Reporte,--You speak Of deviating
from your conr-e in marching to the
Black Hills; why did you deviate?
Custer-My instructions and the OBJ
jects Of the exped' ton contemplated an
exploration of as great an extent OF the
unexplored region as possible, and
made the deviation in order to take in
country wholly unexplored. Il marched
three or four days. on direct route
from Bismarck to the Black HILLS, then
took. a.. westerly course into; Montana,
then southweste,lv into Wyoming, then
southeasterly into the Back Hills, en-,
tering them from the west. sauss, ,,.a
,Reporter--Are the Hills accessible;
from other directions? .ls. s@ t. u,
Custer-ltis believed that all ttempts
to enter tue hills from the south or ast
will he futile I made SEVERAL attempts
to pass through them southward, but
failed TO fad passage. llhad no diff .
Guilty in entering them from the west
or in passing out toward the north east.
Reporter see it is ciaimed that Old
Fort Pierre is nearer on thesmaps than
Bismarck to the Black Halls region. rs .
Custer--leeferring to Reynolds, who
passed over the route from Fort Pierre.
10 Bear Butte in 1869, find tina; he pro
.nounces against the country. On page
27 he says: " We have now been out
ten travelling days, and are one hundred
and forty miles from Fort Pierre. The
whole conntry traversed is entirely unfit
for the residence of white men," This,
as understand it, is the trail that some
parties have talked Of taxing. I,lv not
think it feasible route or one likely to
be adopted. ltcannot be compared with
the direct route I have suggested, run.
ming southwesterly from Bismarck,
crossing at nearly right angles the fol
lowing streams Li.tls Hart, Cannon
Ball, Battle creek, Grand river, Owl
river and Cherry creek. striking the
Cheyenne at its forks. These streams
are all small, and excepting one or two,
afford good water and every facility for
camping.