St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-07
WHAT THE LANDS ARE
That are to Be Opened to Set
Element on the Sioux
Reservation.
A Globe Explorer Gives Them
an Impartial and Full
Investigation.
There Are Valleys Of Great
Beauty and Surprising
Fertility.
A Graphic Description Of the
Unique and Wonderful
Bad Lands.

DAKOTA CITY, 5. d., Dec. 4.-The
II ,0O0,O00 acres of land soon TO be opened
to settlement in western South Dakota
are attracting great deal of attention
at the present time, and whatever can
be authOritatiyely stated in regard to
their adaptabilitY to the purposes of
homeSeekers cannot fail TO be of inter
est. 1t is not probable that much OF a
''rush" will occur TO this new public
domain until spring. even though the
president should issue his proclamation
declaring the lands open this winter.
The report has gone out through all the
world that this new domain is
remarkably fertile and capable of
being made highly productive, for
this reason it is anticipated that thou
sands of families will settle upon it in
the succeeding year; that cities will
grow up as if by magic; and that num-
erOus fortunes will be made. Indeed,
many reasonable people prOpheSy that
at least 100000 settlers will take up their
permanent abode there during the next
summer. What, then,
IL 1hlS lhESEhh ALUM
that so much has been written about it
and that it is attracting such general at
tenuon? Why have so many seemingly
authoritative reports gone forth concern
ing its richness and value? The pOr-
ton of the reserve VIII CHI the Indians
have ceded by recent treaty to the
United States government embraces all
the lands between the White and Chey-
enne rivers of Western South Dakota.
including the counties of Sterling, STAN
ley, Pratt, Presho, Lyman, Nowlin,
Jackson and Ziebach, and all.the lands
embraced in the counties of Scobey,
Delano, Rhinehart, Choteau, Martin
river, or 1900 square miles. The por-
ton Of this immense area be-
tween the White and Cheyenne
rivers is undoubtedly the most
suitable for agricultural purposes, and
it Is estimated that tW0-thirds of that
territory is good arabic land. For the
most part, it is of that description
known as rolling pranie. 1t embraces
the valleys of the White, Cheyenne,
Bad and Missouri rivers besides many
beautiful basins and valleys of lesser
size.
THE WHITE RIVER VALLEY,
in the southern part of this section, is
by far the most fertile and attractive.
The White river is stream of consld-
cradle size. which rises in Southwestern
South Dakota and winds its sinuOus
length about two hundred and forty
miles in an easterly direction to empty
into the Missouri. Nearly the entire
length It's banks are fringed with a
thick growth of cottonwood and box
elder trees, which will furnish lumber
and fuel for the settler. The valley
will perhaps average twenty miles in
width. but in some places is much
narrower and in others much wider. 1t
resembles the famous ElkhOrn valley in
Nebraska. In its wild state it is thing
or beauty, with its expansive area of
fertile plains: its tall grass way
ing as far as the eye can see; its
groves. through whose foliage the
CLINT of the stream is shining; its dis
tant hills. on whose slopes and in whose
canyons there appear clusters Of cedar
trees. There, too, fat range cattle
brOwZe upon the nutritious grasses,
even in the winter. for there, as in the
Black hills, these grasses cure upon the
stem and make the whole reserve one of
the
BEST GRAZING REGIONS
in the world. But. however beautiful
or fertile country may be there is al
ways some drawback which becomes
apparent in short time. So it iS>with
the White river valley as with all the
reservation, in fact. There is abund-
ance of good water in places, but
there are many localities from which
it is wholly lacking. The streams
are for the most part affected by
alkali. or by some foreign substance
which renders them almost useless for
domestic purposes. This is said to be
due TO the fact that both Oil and coal
exist in large quantities beneath the
surface. Whether that is true or not
remains to be developed, but one thing
may be asserted as fact, that there
are everywhere indications of coal. and
the groupings of that mineral are very
extensive in the bluffs along the valley.
Investigations show that the upper
portion of the White river valley, and,
indeed, the entire ives tern part of the
new domain south of the Cheyenne
river, are superior to the eastern half.
This is because the soil of the west
ern part is sandy loan which
holds moisture, while the rich
gumbo soil of other portions is
imperviOus to that most necessary
element. Throughout the White river
valley, however, there are certain to be
many large and prosperous communi-
ties established. In the milder seasons
of the year it is land to dream in. He
who wanders, alOnely traveller, through
its silent and hOuseless plains. cannot
but enjoy the pictures which his
Imagination presents of the future
of this region. Because there is
so much beauty, so much vegetation, so
many flowers. and so many birds, all in
dicating the habitabl5 nature of the val
ley, he imagineS, or rather he reasons,
with infallible accuracy, that when men
are no longer prohibited from cultivat-
ing the soil here, the flOwery wilderness
will be converted into garden spot.
THE BAD RIVER.
called by Indians. the Wakpa Shicka.
takes it rise in the western part of the
reserve. and runs in an eaSterly diTec-
ton. midway between the Cheyenne
and White rivers, about $50 miles to the
Missouri. 1t is narrow stream and its
valley is not more than eight or ten
miles in width at the greatest.
The waters of this stream are af-
fected by alkali, aud are not suit
able for consumption. The bottom
lands are rich and capable of being
made highly productive like those of the
White river valley. The vegetation is
luxuriant. but the timber, which makes
the White river valley most desirable. is
rather sparse. On both sides of the
valley the divides are high and broken.
There are many places where
these divides are singnlarly adapted
to grazing, and it is very probable that,
for this reason, both the large and small
stock grower, will locate in the Bad
river valley, and allow their cattle to
roam over the divides, which will prob
ably remain open for some years to
come. The draws and. gulches of these
high divides contain clusters of cedar
trees, which will be found very useful
to the settler, and they, with the drains
and gulches, will furnish excellent pro-
lection to the herds which will roam
over the unOccupied lands in the winter
Right here, it is proper to suggest that
perhaps the legislators of South Da-
kota, in the approaching session of the
state legislature, would do well to take
| into consideration the legislation neces