Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-11-22
DEADwooo TO RAPID.
Mountain Air vs.. Prairie zephyrs.
A ssance a ~ ossaky sstssM Inc Prsssa
~ fsasrs lesksssik
Rapid Caty-Its Surroundings, Improve.
msnts, People and Prospects.

RAPID Cry, Nov. 16, 1877.
Out of Deadwood and into Rapid. Out
Of the gloomy depths Of the gulch and once
more into the warm sunlight and invigora'
ting breszss of the prairie. Il ID an agree
able change, for Deadwood il not . pleasan,
abiding place, particularly for n prairie
bred. The difference between the inner and
outer atmosphere is noted by every travele,
who over the ridge to the foothills
There were with me in the stage men who
had been in the Deadwood gulch for six
months and a year and not out of it during
that time. They were hardy. rugged toilers
and were in perfect health, yet the new at
mosphere gave them a freshness and buoy
ancy which they said they had not expert
enced in all their residence within the Hills.
The road out Of Deadwood and Into Dead
wood, of course, is over the rocky face of
the mountains rocky, PERCEPTIONS ascent
and descent which seems at sight to be i'm
psssable, but is traversed by all the trains
and stages which enter and leave the gulch
on the Pierre, Bismarck and Sidney routes.
There are some six or seven miles of this
difficult highway and this includes what is
known as the Violin toll road. 1t begins at
Elizabethtown and ends at Centennial prai-
RE. Coming out of Deadwood by This road
Crook City is encountered, ten miles down
the Wildwood creek and in the foothills.
Two hundred and fifty inhabitants is its
boast, but it is easy to bee that the town is
falling into decay. From Crook
City to Rapid City the road leads up a rear
ly level valley between wop parallel ranges
Of low hills and through the passes in the
outer line glimpses Of the broad prairie
which reaches out to the Missouri and be-
yond can be caught. l had passed into
these foothills a week before and then men,
hoped l might never see any more
l had been shut up for a few days
the Desdwood hills, and a glimpse
Of the ~treeless plains brought a feeling that
home was in the near beyond-that 1 was
out of the woods and once more on my
native heath. l concluded that we do not
all of us need woods and mountainst to make
up the sun Of our happiness. My progress
down the pleasant valley led me over rich
grounds, once the haunt Of the
buffalo, the elk and deer. Their bones were
there, whitening the slopes, and ! could see
that this had been once their favorite rem
devious. Now We find in their place the
of the hay cutters and the %corralls
Of the stock growers. The buffalo has de.
parted and otner game is on the road to cx-
and with them have fled the un
tanned savage, for which let us be truly
thankful. We have no use for him. This
1 take it, is the place where future
wealth will be piled up. 1t possesses a rich
soil and is the natural route for one or more
Of the coming railroads. 1t extends from
Crook City to Rapid City, a distance Of
thirty. five miles, and how much farther l
am unable to say under this date. The
ridges on either side show limestone out
groupings, the higher range being broken
up by mighty commissions and the
ratification tumbled about in every
conceivable shape. There is no certainty
that good placer diggings may not yet be
discovered in its numerous gulches and thai
gold will not be taken VI by the painful
l do not know that anybody has tried it
but an inexperienced Black Hills pilgrim
like myself sees gold in every hill and
valley.
RAPID CITY.
A sharp turn in the road through a pass
in the outer limestone range brought nae t.
Rapid City. 1t is located upon a prairie
patch between encircling ranges of low hill
over which one can look out upor
the prairie. 1t is just outside tn.
foothills, upon the largest stream Of waite,
which comes down from the Black Hills
in g natural pass into the mountains and
is 80 situated that it will command the trade
Of the southern Hills as soon as they are de
veloped. l am disappointed in Rapid City
and favorably. It is a town already respect.
able in size and it is all the time increasing
Good buildings are going up on all side.
and everybody is making preparations fol
the coming year and if it does not open up
an era of prosperity they will be greatly dis.
appointed. There is an abundance of rich
quartz in the hills northward and rich
placer mines up the creek which need only
water to bring out the precious metal. Two
or three stamp mills are already on the way
to the quartz regions and the great prob
lem will soon be solved. In the minds o
all the people here, a solution has already
been reached. They say for a certainty
that it is as rich as the Deadwood quartz
and much more easily reached and the,
look for greater results than has yet beer
attained in the Hills within the next lively,
months. People Of southern Dakota, keel
your eye on this spot. l am prepared t,
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