New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-24
THE DAKOTA PLAINS.
RAINFALL AND TREE-PLANTlNG GkO" III
OF BISMARCK

OF BISMARCK.
svpox A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE iAiDoNNI
OK THE TRAIN BETWEEN bIsMAkoh AND
c,rxn,vy. d. T.. Sept 5.-For the last twenty loNI
h,,rs the Willard excursions party has Deeh u"Neinhs
aver the treeless plains that were once kho"n 40 'o
Go American Desert The prairie Is roinnS' ana INC
1v timber 10 be seen at any time Is that Whioh sA'S
s,e streams Tue railroad company however Is uohH
what II can to encourage the iarlherS Vi D'Ao'"
=. .lont trees in the hope that many forest trees
Iii rrav and thrive under cultivation on the praHes
,ough anne high authorities assert that there not
ecient moisture to support trees on the plans west
n, the Tooth degree Of longitude tree-pantlhs No-
artment OF the road has been organized and at 1app
100000 trees and cuttings were planted last year 'Uo
same number OF steele, and also ten bushels Oh poA
elder seed from which have sprouted ABOUT oVO'oVo
thrifty shoots Trees have also been extensively Pa'e
at other places The varieties white willow, cotton
wood and box-elder, but the experience gahe hs
TO experiments with white maple ns ,sf pereentage
of The trees planted have ded. Inc company Va ttb
% rovisions of the Tree Culture Act Of Congress,
will probably result In the growth Oh inan5 -
on these plains, providing the e1peilinen'' "I'
The outlook from the train. however is not promising
The grass is dry and the plains look paieeu anu az"
49, Of The Missouri River which we crUssed al BIS
marek. there fes houses ana INC SUI 69 Lone
cultivated. few buttes ana oees1oAi ~ rs,Iroad
break the monoony except Where tnei9 II To ch
village. The soil where 1t plouSned Is placS anu nun
looking.
THE RAINFALL QUESTION
- Colonel william Thompson formerly OF the Ohlteu
States Army who the first to enter for honeS'ea
when the land office esablshedin Bismarck sPoAe
enthusiastically to-day OF the fertility Oh e SOIL "'s
the river He says, however that TINS ROLLING pr"io
country may IN its natural state be Justly termed SUD
ord reoon Some OF IL its aridfty TO lack OF
sufficient rainfall That is the case along the east sac
Of the most elevated portions of the Rocky Mountains
,hrouch Western Kansas and Nebraska, Eastern COLO
raao and NORTH western Texas There the vapOr Wae1
4 ifafa 1prnl la nlSg-
ing the elevated mountain RANGES ie"'i"s " nv
scorcbing wind.
In this part Dakota however Mr. Thompson says the
arty is not caused by lack of rainfall so uch as oy
other circumstances. During four months APRIL May
June and July the annual rainfall averages about twenty
inches and this has been found ample for the maturity
of the usual crops after the land has been oroSen or
few years In August and September there is usually
q small rainfall which adds In maturing the crops
In the condition of the soil here before II is broken ior
cultivation, the rainfall soon evapDraes without pone-
tratog the ground for single inch in depth. But by
breaking and cultivating the ground TINS co.lCn v
runs into the ground OF the reach OF the evaporaig
winds. This tends to locaze the rainfall ana 10 give
having beneficial effect on the climate ibis iact IN
Win the S IL to reclaim ali
this and make It as fertile as any oher SUI
Colonel Thompson says that for ten he has been
engaged growing vegetables IN iSrs at tn ,1 post
and since that his homestead north OF bismarck
He says that has produced uniformly good crops Oh
The samples Of these products exhibited at bismarck
jamestown and numerous other places where the train
thing offhe kind to be seen in Western New-fork
"BooNERsr "RUsTLERs" AND "TENDERFEEE."
Colonel Thompson is veteran "boomer - that Is what
he Is termed The boomers" and Tstlers are met
at every station, and occasionally "enderioot" The
sboomer tell most wonderful stories OF the growth
and development Dakota and the opportunities that
are offered every hand to get rich And they do no.
talk general but partcuarize and give numerous in
stances every place of how men have made fortunes
here by taking land member OF the excursion party
hardly step of the train before he meets one OF the
enterprisng "DoomerS
The rustler goes TO work once, takes
the first OBJ ortnnlty and makes the best OF It The ten
derfoOt" is the who doesn't swallow all that's told
he said however, that few tendereet" have p,en seen
and they mostly on the train ana not competent to
speak except from the very limited opportunities offered
for investigation.
GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY.
The weather here Is pleasant 1t is warm during the
day rather uncomfortable in the afternoOnbut the
nights are cool Two heavy blankets needed. This
morning when we were awakened at a. M by the war
whoop Of a of journalists the train disguised
rs Indians the thermometer was at abOut 430 WsrT
clothing was necessary for comfort That at Bis
marck where the trains remaihed for several hours TO
participate In the ceremonies of laying the
for the newtcapitOl building OF Dakota Territory. Bis
inarck is spec men of enterprise of the
building up this country. In 1873 the engineers of
the Northern Pacific road decided crossing the Mis-
souri, River that place, which led to its settlement
The Indians, however were uncomf Ortaby make
Il safe place. AS late as 1879 Mandan, now tiny
town across the river from Bismarck, occupied by
Indians and the warlike Sioux had there a series OF
skIlmishes, eliminating pitched battle with the Rees,
branch OF the MaDdan tribe The railrDad built to
Bismarck 1879 but 1t not operated III winter for
two or three years later.
rhe crash 1873 seriously nterfered with the growth
OF this country. Bismarck was shippngpoint The
river for and Indian supplies and late
1878 people living here chiefly occupied in
"ireghting" Tor Contractors en they mad faith III
agriculture Now Bismarck Is gro wing place OF $500
inhabitants with large agricultural country tributary
it, There substantial buildings, four-milis. daily
newspapers, one of which has beer published several
years aud would do credIttO any place Of the size
One OF the interesting sights the capitol grounds
is graveyard h.led with the remains OF who died
with their boots on, the inhabitants here state In
the earlier days OF the place the desperadOes settled
their differences according TO the Virginia custom,
that gave to the cemetery The "bOOners"
that person dies here from disease at least hardly
And there good. salwart policemen TO be
tue stNets they no longer die from violence