The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-04-28
THE BLACK HILLS.
An Impartial Account of the HIS an" TN"
Prospects for Gold. fttI4nN

uncomfortable attention, What Will Snt
expedition of exploration under Gen.
Custer. the scientific expedition under
Prof. Janney, the negotiations for the
for the purchase of the territory from
the Sioux. the removal of the miners,
and the gold fever stimulated by inter
ested parties and papers on the frontier.
That which was most needed has not
previously been obtainable, plain and
practical account of the Hills and their
Inducements to settlers and miners.
Col. Dodge's book, just published is
one of singular value. His opportuni-
hes for examining the Hills in those de-
tails wherein practical persons are most
interested were exceptionally favorable,
and his Investigations were prosecuted
with intelligence and impartiality.
GEOLOGY OF THE HILLS.
The hills are clad with somber
growth of pines, whence they take their
name; near the top is a stratum OF red
sandstone, several hundred feet thick;
next comes belt of very uniform thick
ness of white limestone; then jurassic
formation of greenish color; next beds
of great thickness of a stiff, red clay,
and at the base immense dirty-white
beds of gypsum. Geologically described,
the rocks of the Black Hills consist of
three ciasses-the older metamorphic
sediments, now states and schists; the
more recent unchanged sedimentary
strata, sandstones, hmestones, and clays,
resting upon the former uncomfortably,
and the GRANTEES, feldspar, porphyries,
and other rocks of igneous origin. The
surface of the hills in the granite area
is indescribably broken, and the scenery
beautiful and varied. Deep ravines,
high and abrupt mountains, smooth,
grassy meads, huge bare rocks and
flower covered lawns succeed each other
anever- ending and fascinating variety.
SOIL AND CLIMATE.
The soil of the granite area, indeed of
almost every portion of the hills, is a
rich black loan, admirably adapted to
agricultural purposes; that on the tops
of the mesas is lighter in color, but
equally good; in the Red valley parts are
so filled with alkali as to be useless.
Some portions, the author thinks, will
prove magnificent agricultural country,
though in others the season may prove
too short for certain agricultural pro-
ducts, but its splendid grass, pure water
and excellent shelter fill all the require
ments of first-class stock farm. The
Hills are not adapted for stock ranches
of immense herds, as water is SO plentiful
that the cattle would stray, and the
thickets are 80 dense that proper super
vision of them would be impossible. For
farmers who own few head of fine
blooded stock, they would be the Yer
mont of the West, while the outlying
plains offer immense advantages to large
stock owners.
Information concerning the climate is
too scanty to warrant a final opinion.
The miners who wintered there in 1874
say the winter was cold but clear, and
the temperature remarkably equable.
There were no storms of disagreeable
magnitude, the first serious snow-storm
occurring in March. Wind-storms are
not frequent or severe In the Hills, but
tornadoes are very destructive in the
Red Valley. The climate in the belt at
the outside foot of the great mesa is
milder than in the granitic area. Octo-
Der 81 the grass was scarcely Drowned,
autumn flowers bloomed' in profusion,
and the deciduous trees were still green.
WATER AND TIMBER.
The canons that run south have occa-
ional springs, but no continuous run
ming water-a fact which may detract
from the value of the most attractive
part of the Hills. With this exception,
the whole country is profusely watered
by springs.
Though the country is covered with
pine, the great majority of trees are of
less than eight inches, and there is
scarcely to be found forest of old trees.
Large pine saw-logs are to be found, but
rarely in large bodies. The south mesa
is fairly covered with uniform pine trees
of eight to twelve inches, but the boughs
grow low. On the high ground ON both
sides of the northern rim the pine and
spruce are small, and the branches grow
almost to the ground. On the west mesa
is dense growth of pines about six
inches in diameter, but without branches
for thirty, forty or fifty feet, and SO just
the right size for railroad ties. The
1000 square miles of forest will not,
Col. Dodge estimates, furnish more than
one-tenth of the merchantable lumber
that would be obtained from an equal
area of virgin pine woods in Michigan,
though there is enough timber for al
purposes of the country itself. None oil
the other woods can be counted ON.
ANIMALS, BIRDS, ETC.
Animals, birds and fish are in compar
atively little variety, and not in very great
numbers anywhere in the hills, though
in some localities many deer were found
Col Dodge has seen more deer in one
day in Texas than he saw in three months
in that apparently perfect game country
Bears, grizzly, brown and black, are
numerous; SO are large timber wolves
and silver gray foxes; there are few
mountain lions and lynxes; few noun
tain sheep aud elk are found, consider
able numbers of black tailed deer, and ,
great many red deer; beavers are YER,
numerous; the buffalo is practically ex
tinct.
Reptiles are rare, but insects YER,
numerous. Grasshoppers breed in i'm
mense numbers, but do no perceptibl
damage, leaving the hills as soon as thei
wings grow, and horsehies are abundan
and vigorous.
The Black Hills. BY Richard Irving Dode,
Lieutenant colonel United States army. Now York
james Miller.