St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-05
THE BAD LANDS.
Marvellous Volcanic Formations of
Surprising Beauty and Interest.
Sketch Of the Strange Region OF the
Mauvaises Terres.
Fort Keogh Mont .lIetter

ing scenes on the North American continent
are to be found in the wonderful Bad Lands
OF Dakota. question whether the marvels
of the Yellowstone National park are equal,
and they certainly are not superior, to the
wonders of this romantic region of peculiar
butte formations. Here for ages past the
mighty forces of fire and water, fiercely
battling, have wrought scene of strange
confusion. The chaos of butteS, so curious
and fantastic in form, so beautiful and
varied in color, lies almost entirely in
Dakota near the boundary line of
! Montana on both sides of the Little Mis-
souri, river, which flows through it from
south to north. The district is about
twenty-five miles wide from east to west,
but has length in the opposite direction of
nearly three times its width. The early
French ''vOyageurs" who came into the
country during the last century on hunt
ing or
TRAPPING EXPEDITIONS
to trade with the natives for furS, pelts and
skins, described the region as ''mauvaiSes
terreS-" With our happy-go-lueky care
leSSneSs Americans translated this to mean
Bad Lands" and the Northern Pa
cifc Railroad company have since
named it Pyramid park. The
name bad Lands" is certainly
misnomer for Pyramid park is really one of
the most fertile spots in the Northwest. and
was at one time the home of thousands of
buffalo and other herbiverouS game animals.
There Is legend of the Bad Lands told by
Red Bird, an old chief of the Mandan In
dams (whOSe tribe. il is said, afterwards
lived among the pile of wonderful butteS
composing this SectiOn), which has been
handed down from chief to chief, until we
tnd it to-day part of the unwritten his
tory OF this once powerful and great nation:
MANY hundred years ago what is now
the Bad Lands was high plain of table
land, covered with rich pastures and forests
Astounding in all kinds or game. They were
the favOrite hunting grounds of all the tribes
who annually came to participate in the
chase and procure the winter supply of
meat-the calumet grounds, where all could
meet in common and
THE BLOOD HATCHET
was buried as in the famous Pipestone val
ley in Minnesota, where all nations of the
red men could meet with no enemy TO mo-
lest or make them afraid. But finally a
fierce mountain tribe of many thousands
took possession of these famed hunting
grounds, driving and keeping all other peO-
pie out. Many futile attempts were made
lives being lost in the numerous battles for
their recovery, great council of all the
tribes on the plains was called and their
medicine men ordered to invoke the Great
Spirit in their behalf. After fasting
many days and suffering self-inficted
fortunes. as directed by the
medicine men, the Great Spirit
heard their cry and shook the earth with
his wrath. The earth became darkened.
smoke and fire belched forth from the
ground, vivid lightning flashed and terrible
thunder rolled, the mountains sank and the
valleys upheaved TO the sky. The earth
rose and fell like the heaving of a storm
tossed ocean, burying all in one common
grave. Towering buttes and deSOlation
marked the spot where once stood the fer
tile plains. Not one buck. squaw or
papOOSe was left to tell the tale of the
naughty tribe of the mountains who had
incurred the anger of the Great Spirit.
leaving these Bad Lands monument OF
his wrath"
There is but little doubt but that
THE BAD LANDS
were, in remote ages, the bed of some great
lake or pond that covered the country for
miles round about, for among the fossil re-
mains are oysters, clans and crustaceans.
Before or afterwards stately forest grew
in the bed of this lake. Mammoth tree
trunks turned TO stone crop out from the
sides of the cOnglOmOrate mounds and ap-
pear all through the valleys. PetrifcationS
are to be found on all sides that are suscep-
tible of a finer polish than marble, while
others have the appearance of being made
of heavy yellOwiSh clay. Some hunters tell
a story of finding in the depths of
the Bad Lands an UNEMPLOYED can
yOn, upon riding into which they
saw prairie dog village, and at the mouth
of each mound one of the little animals sit
ting on its launches with paws folded
across the breast in perfectly natural
manner. Contrary to their usual custom
the dogs did not dive into their houses at
the approach of the strange visitors. To
the great surprise of the latter they re-
manned motiOnlesS. Investigation showed
that every one of them was stone dead. The
whole village of dogs had been evidently
killed at the same moment by some I'M
known power ages ago and then petrifed.
Stranger still, the hunters found scattered
among the dogs and in the same condition
the
OWLS AND SNAKES
which are known to share their home.
The petrifactiOus found in the Bad Lands
are marvellous. Signs of petrifactionS can
be seen hours before reaching the wonder
full place. When the rough lands begin to
break away from the prairie in small
buttes and hillOcks, almost at every step
small pieces of detached limbs and larger
StumpS of trees may be seen. and in fact
whole trees, some of them four, five and
even six feet in diameter, lying on their
sides, turned into solid, heavy stone
These trees are partly as Opaque as obsidian
and partly as translucent as rock crystal
The butteS themselves, varying in height
from so to $50 feet, are beautiful objects to
contemplate either at a distance or at
short range. When viewed from afar
they appear to be crowded closely together.
and as Mr.. Winser so happily remarks,
In the haZy distance seem like ocean bill
lows, stiffened and at rest. - Their tops
are of variagated colOrs, and their sides are
striped with broad bands of different shapes,
the colOring of which is very rich. The
submits of the butteS are on level with the
general prairie, while the whole valley of the
Bad Lands is some hundreds of feet below.
This fact corroborates to some extent
the geological idea that the Bad Lands bot
toms were at some remote period the bed of
q great lake. When examined closely, the
butteS present a most fantastic and gorgeous
array of color that is
POSITIVELY DAZZLING
TO look at. The spectator viewing these
strange freaks of nature for the first time is
almost struck dumb with awe and astonish-
ment at the utter lavishness and waste of
delicate shades and tints of all colors that
are here so prOfuSely distributed over miles
and miles of natures canvas.
In some cases the whole side of butte
is mastered thick with a rich crimson that
would be the delight Of painters heart