Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-03-30
OPENING THE SIOUX RESERVATION.
Some Interesting Facts Stated by a Gentle
man Thoroughly Acquainted With


Some Interesting Facts Stated by Gentle
man Thoroughly Acquainted With
the Country.
Now that there is a very certain prospect
that large tract of land in the Sioux
reservation is to be opened for settlement
reliable information concerning the coun-
try will be eagerly sought. Probably no man
is better acquainted with the region be-
tween the Missouri river and the Black Hills
than Fred L. Evans, ST.. of Sioux City,
la. He was pioneer in the great trans
portation business that commenced when
the Hills first attracted the attention of
the miners. AS early as 1876 he took
train of freight through, which was the
initial enterprise of what soon grew into an
immense traffic. For nine years Mr..
Evans superintended the transfer of sup
plies from Missouri river points to the
different supply depots in the mining re-
gion, and in that time he trayersed the
reservation by number of different
routes.
AS understand it, said MIR. Evans to
a Daily Journal reporter, "the territory
now proposed to be opened for settlement
is the tract lying between the White and
Big Cheyenne rivers, and reaching west to
about 40 miles long on the south side and
120 on the north, bordering on the Mis-
souri, for nearly 100 miles and so or 60
miles in width at the western extremity.
This gives an area of some 10000 square
miles.
There are two considerable streams
emptying into the Missouri and flowing
from west to east through this territory
between the White and Cheyenne. These
are Bad river. which is about the size and
length of the Floyd. and the Yellow Medi-
cine which resembles Perry creek. The
water in all these streams is muddy in ap-
pearance, like the Missouri, but sweet and
healthful 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 judgment 80 per cent. of this ter
ritory is susceptible of cultivation. Por-
tions are somewhat broken, but for the
most part it rolls just enough for drainage.
The valleys are very rich and the table
lands also have a fine deep soil. For
farming purposes or grazing consider it
far superior to 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
mouthful of hay.
Il do not believe there is a healthier
climate in the world. During nv nine
years experience in freighting we were en-
ploying from 500 to 1,50O men. and can
not now recall a single case of sickness. ("
though these men slept in the open air and
in all kinds Of weather
1T is not an alkali region and in no
sense partakes of the nature of the so.
called bad lands The bad lands lie
southeast Of the Hills, in Shannon and
Washington counties. and they are not SO
bad as they are painted. The worst Of
, the badness is the difficulty of travelling on
account of numerous gulches washed down
deep in the earth, with almost perpendicu-
lar sides like the canyons of Colorado and
Idaho, and therefore impossible. If we
had some of the bad lands soil here we
would use it Cor a fertilizer.
There will be no difficulty about remoy-
ing the Indians from the territory which il
is proposed to open, for there are none to
move. They are around the agencies
further north and south. The day is not
far distant when there will no longer be an
Indian reservation in Dakota. They are
occupying great, rich agricultural region
that the white man wants to occupy. It il
manifest destiny that the Indian must 90. "