Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-08-25

I
places where the grass Is more spontant
ious. One pecuiiarity about the bufial
grass Is that it only grows in paohe'
ground. and dies out as soon AZ tine actio
of the ram aud frost loosens the soil
After the buffalo grass dies out. ! hav
noticed in more thickly settled portions Q
the State that blue-stem grass will tax
its place. increasing year TO year, unit
the entire surface which grew once fh
short buffalo grass, will have The appeal
ance OF AN agricultural country undo
cultivation.
In addition to being a good agriculture
and grazing locality. Biuff Greek Is an ex
ceilent place for sDortsineIl. Fish in larg
varieties are taken in abundance fror
/, this stream, and 10 those who are fond 0
the gun. they can practice their marks
manship on the buffalo. antelope. bear
jack rabbit, chicken orquail which aboun'
| IN the vicinity.
| From Bluff Creek. after passing over
beautiful rolling prairie for a distance o
fourteen miles. We enter the Bear Cree!
valley, the once famous headquarters o
the Cheyenne Indian hurting grounds. l
was here that Capt. Moore, with fou
companies of the 9th Infantry, was at
tackled in 1870 by band OF Indians Will,
laying in camp. resulting in the loss O
10 government mules. and necessltatlnS
delay OF some DAYS awaiting Transports
ton. 4 redoubt is still standing here
relics of past hostIlities, and originally
built by the government for the prOtec'
ton of a mail station. IL is now Rapidly
going 70 ruin. TINS is the vicinity in
winch Mr.. j. w. Driskill subsists hi.
numerous herds of cattle. rs il affords
good grazing. water and timber. three
very requisite articles in establishing a
herding camp. Mr.. DriskiIl, in addition
TO the excellent facilities for grazing, has
MS cattle near a shipping point to market.
He has. il is sand, from fifteen to twenty
thousand head in this locality.
Just beyond Old Bear Creek station il
one of the most beautiful prairies that il
has ever been my fortune TO see, For q
distance of four miles long by two wide
the surface is almost as level as a floor
and completely surrounded with isolated
tree,, which sets forth the panorama in all
its fascinating beauty. At the foot OF
this evel plain is located Glenn's Rancho,
or BE- tier known as Soldiers Graves, now
owned by Mr.. j. w. DriskilL This
rancho has good accommodations for the
travelling public. and is the night resting
place for MIR. Reynolds mail stage. The
place is so called from the fact that two
soldiers were killed and buried here.
Their names were John COMMISSION, pri-
vate Co. ''B, Sd Infantry. and Angus
tine Buck, Co. '.F, Sd Infantry, killed
b. Indians while defending the mail sta
ton here. on the Slst day of May. 1870.
The circumstances are as follows: A Ser.
geant and six men were left here to pro-
tect the mail station. and on the 3lst of
May. 1870. q party of Indians came t.
thus station and demanded something to
eat, TO which demand the soldiers were
in the act of responding by opening their
little stores, when two of the Indians
snatche0 up each gun and fired into the
soldiers. killing the two above named.
The Sergeant and the other four soldiers
would have met the same fate had not a
party of U. s. troops made their appear
ance on the PLAIN above just in the nick
of time. The Indians discovered them
and cried 'Washuchu sappa," and re-
treated without waiting to count their
scalps.
Southeast of this rancho, Just across the
creek. Is range OF bluffs varying from 80
to 100 feet from the level of the creek bot
ION. which affords considerable interest
to the geOlogist- The meteorological con-
stitution of these bluffs are indeed pecu-
liar, but owing to the limited time at my
disposal. my Investigation was necessarily
confined to O comparatively small portion
of the mass. and q superficial external
crust was only subject to view. but enough
was seen to warrant the conclusion that
the different stratas contained quartz,
feldspar, mica, tale, chlorite, horn blende,
slate and CLAW, and these materials form
the chief proportions Of the loose soils
and also of the softer species of stone,
which are very abundant here There are
q variety of species Of quartz here. but
the principal portion is flint, opal and
chalcedOny, some specimens of subtle,
zealite aud epidote arc found. but so
small in their form as scarcely TO be dis.
cernable 10 the naked eye. The feldspar
is Of an oblique parallel apiped bright
lustre and very brittle. Mica in small
quantities evidently exists here-at least
a species having q bright metallic lustre
and whiteish color. almost transparent,
but is more like talc in its bitterness, as it
Of tale found here resembles mica, except
that il is more flexible and is VOID of elias
ITCHY, and Is heavily charged with slick
and magnesia. There is indeed splendid