The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1888-03-30
THE SIOUX RESERVATION.
The Peel Bill Opening a Large Portion
Uf This Great Rattier to Settle
luenr Passes the Senate.
An Interesting Description oftl:is par;
Oft!c iuoiic No.nain by
Col. Fred Evans.

On Thursday last the house hll
throwing open to set tlement a portion
of the Sioux reservation was taken m
and passed with Il few minor amend
merits which i is Thought can lie
readily adjusted OF the floor Of the
house. The limit of time fixed in the
bill when it passed the house. within
which the st. Paul and Northwestern
roads must complete their lines acros,
the reservation was increased from
three to four years and the clause al
lowing land absolutely necessary for
railway stations, side tracks, etc, wasi
amended so as to give the companies a
reasonable amount of Land sor iii.
purpose. hut a clause vas Inserted pro-
hibiting the sale OF this lani.
In a recent interview with a Sioux
City Journal reporter Col. Fred Evans
gave an intercstin. description of this
vast tract of rich agricultural land soon
to be thrown open to settIement. Mr..
Evans is well acquainted wltl, the
country lying between the Mis- ouri
river and the Black Hills .iaying se,n
engaged in the transportation ar>iness
for nearly ten years. during which time
lie has travcr.ed the reservation by a
number Of different routes. ..ls
understand it," SAID Sir f.eans. lie
territory now proposed - he apfH Il
to settlement i. the tract LYING y. g}seah
the White and Chey nnc stsegs. and
reaching west to the south ior!a OF III
cheyenne. II ahoa' 17o niles long
on the soutN s.de api i.1V 80 fta uprGa.
bordering Oh the Miss arr 'Dr neg
100 miles and so to $50 nii,s on de
western extremity. This give an area
of some 10000 square miles. There
ave two Considerable streams ematy-
ing INTO the Missouri and flowing
from west TO cast throngh
this territory between the White
and CHEYENNE. These are i}ad river.
which is about lie SIZE ard l#ngtii #
the ilovd. and the yellow Medicine.
which resembles Perry creek. The
water in all these streams is muddy
i'm appearance. like the Missouri. but
sweet and liealthful for man and beast.
There are quite extensive belts of
timber along the White and Cheyenne.
and occasional groves of cottonwood
on the other streams. In my iudg-
ment so per cent of this territory is
susceptible of cultivation. Portions
are somewhat broken. but for the most
part it rolls Just enough for drainage.
The valleys are veryrich and the table
lands also have a fine deep soil. For
farming purposes or for grazing I
consider it far ahead of the country on
the east side of the Missouri. The
grass is luxuriant and very nutritious.
We have wintered our cattle in the
Bad river valley after working them
hard all summer and without a mouth
fnl of hay. | do not believe there is a
healthier climate in the world.
During my nine years experience in
freighting we were employing from
$40 to 1900 men and I cannot recall
a single case of sickness, though these
men slept in the open air and i'll all
kinds of weather. 1t is not an alka'
region and in no sense partakes Of tho
nature of the so called bad lands Til,
bad lands lie southeast of the Hills i.
Shannon and WASHINGTON counties
and they are not so bad as they arr
painted. The worst OF the badness is
the difficulty of travelling on accoun'
OF numerous gnlches washed down
deep in the earth. with almost per
pendicular sides like the canyons o
Colorado and Idaho. and therefore i'm
passible. If we had some of the bac
lands soil here we would use it for
fertilizer. There will be no difficult,
about removing the Indians from til,
territory which it is proposed to open
for there are none to move. They al,
around the agencies further nortl
and south. The day is not far distan
when there will no longer he an
Indian reservation i'll Dakota. They
are occupying a great. rich agricultura
region that the white man wants t,
occupy 1t is manifest destiny tina
the Indian must go" Mr.. Evans wa
enthusiastic over the benefit tina,
would result to Sioux City by thu
opening of the reservation. Its /;
great grain and stock country, he said
and Sioux City will handle the product
There is no other matter of such i'm
portance to Sioux City at this time az
the settlement of that country and the
the consequent railroad extensions t.
the Hills.