Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-07

A4A1 LA ~ 1851 = - - 4ltt
AN INTERESTING REGION.
Msrvelisss vsieasic rssmaslsns sf sur.
passing peausv end ussersss-A Rival %
YsIiswsssae Para.
A Fort Keogh on. IT, letter says
Some Of the strangest and most inter-
csting scenes on the North American
continent are 10 be found in the won
derful Bad Lands Of Dakota. ! ques-
ton whether the marvels Of the Yell
lowstone National Park are equal, and
they certainly are not superior, to the
wonders of this romantic region OF Pc
culiar butte formations. Here for ages
past the mighty forces Of water and
FIRE, fiercely battling, have wrought
scene Of strange confusion. This chaos
of buttes. so curious and fantastic in
form, so beautiful and varied in colqss
lies almost entirely in Dakota near the
boundary line OF Montana, on both
sides of the Little Missouri 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
time its width. The early French
yoyageurs " who came into the coun-
try during the last century on hunting
or trapping expeditions to trade with
the natives for furs, pelts, and skins
described the region as maaraises
terres." With our happy-go-lucky
carelessness, Americans translated this
to mean "Bad Lands" and the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company
have since named it Pyramid Park.
The name "Bad Lands" is GER
tainly 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 herbivorous game animals.
There is legend of the Bad Lands told
by Red Bird, an old chief of the Man
dan Indians Whose tribe, it is said, az
forwards lived among the pile of won-
derful buttes composing this section),
which has been handed down from chief
to chief, until we find it to-day part
of the unwritten history of this once
powerful and great nation.
THE LEGEND.
"Many hundred years ago what is
now the Bad Lands was a high plain.
or table-land, covered with rich pas
lures and forests Astounding in all kinds
of game. They were the favorite hunt
ing-grounds of all the tribes who an
nually 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
Ratchet was buried, as in the famous
Pipestone Valley in Minnesota, where
all nations of the red men could
meet with no enemy to modest or
make them afraid. But finally a fierce
mountain tribe ofmany thousands took
possession Of these famed hunting
grounds, driving and keeping all other
people out. Many futile attempts were
made to dislodge them without avail.
Many lives being lost in the numerous
battles for their recovery, a great coun-
Gil of all the tribes on the plains was
called, and their medicine-men ordered
to invoke the Great Spirit in their be-
half. After fasting many days and suf.
fering self-inficted tortures, 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 noun
tains sank and the valleys upheaved to
the sky. The earth rose and fell like
the heaving Of storm-tossed ocean,
buryingall in one common grave. Tow
ering buttes and desolation marked the
spot where once stood the fertile plains.
Not one buck, squaw, or pappoose
was left to tell the tale of the naughty
tribe of the mountains who had in
Cured the anger Of the Great Spirit,
leaving these Bad Lands monument
of his wrath"
HISTORY IN STONE.
There is 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 remains are oysters,
clans, and crustaceans. Before or af-
forwards stately forest grew in the
bed OF this lake. Mammoth tree-trunks
turned to stone crop out from the sides
of the conglomerate mounds, and ap-
pear all through the valleys. Petrifac-
tons are to be found on all sides that
are susceptible of finer polish than
marble, while others have the appear
ance of being made Of heavy yellowish
clay. Some hunters tell a story Of
finding in the depths of the Bad
Lands an UNEMPLOYED canon, upon
riding into which they saw a prairie
dog village, and at the mouth Of each
mound one of the little animals sitting
on its launches with paws folded across
the breast in a perfectly natural man
ner. 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 |
remained 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 unknown power ages
ago and then petrified. 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 petrifactions found in the Bad
Lands are marvellous. Signs Of petri-
factions can be seen hours before reach
ing the wonderful 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 trans
lucent as rock crystal.
MARVELLOUS MONUMENTS.
The buttes themselves, varying in
height from so to $50 feet, are beauti-