Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-05-22
4 MAErELoUs Mosrlsx srorY.
The Rosiest Lie That Probahly Evsr 1
Daylight In the Yellowstone.

@yAA6hb In tne 3eilOWGtOn0.
From the Glendive t'~Independentn Of
May IL: Three miles south OF Glendive
Eagle Butte stands forth q grand and mic.
turesque landmark, a sentinel, as it were.
on guard over the swift rolling Yellowstone.
~Deoouching at its base is a ravine, or in the
common Language Of the West a coulee, that
70 the passer by would be unnoticed, save
Una the hills from which it emerges are
almost mountainous In their character.
and the lovers OF flowers might notice the
iu~xurlant growth and almost myriad va
riety OF their ~fayorite production of the
vegetable kingdom.
Up this ravine or coulee, in the wears
past strange discoveries have been made
In the shape OF columns of rocks that were
set down as the production OF nature. how
produced none would pretend to say, from
u lew inches to q hundred feet long, per.
fectly proportioned and scattered over the
ground in great profusion; stones resem-
ding oranges and all tropical fruits, and
Other formations that the hunter and
trapper passed by with the exclamation,
Curious, amt they?"
some two weeks ago q couple OF gentle
men started on q hunting an 1 pleasure ex.
petition, and directed their steps to Eagle
Butte and
UP THIS WEIRD CoULEE.
Their story on their return after ten days |
absence rivals Rider Haggard's romance OF
"She, +" aud proves the old saying: There
are stranger things under the sun than is
dreamed OF in mans philosophy" or
rather that portion OF the story they are
willing to tell leads US on to what may be
that result.
About a mile and a hall up the gulch it
separates, or rather three forks there unite
In one. The gentlemen followed one Of
these, and soon their progress became 80
dIf1cNt, owing to the sides of the gulch be-
ing so precipitous, it seemed as il they must
stop; they halted, and as natural after a
rest, one commenced ar examination of
their immediate surroundings. In q few
moments he startled his companions by the
sudden exclamation, Great God, look
here" His companions started up, and
there, where appeared an impossible stone
wall, on removing the hanging vines was q
well defined, broad highway. cut in the face
OF the solid cliff. No more rest was thought
oil, and they entered upon the broad road.
After pursuing their way for probably half
a mile, the road debouched
IN A CIRCULAR BASIN
miles in extent, and surrounded on all
sides with mountainous hills, the lace of
which showed the formula OF yellow soft
rock so noticeable on the Yellowstone river.
On entering the basin they made
their way directly to a fringe Of timber they
observed, and found a beautiful stream OF
water, the general direction OF which was
QQaEs HaoR ond onfoInDn nh1s,~I4I --IIi
buffalo were seen in the distance. John,
where are WEI" exclaimed one OF the gen.
tlemen. II don't know; believe we are in
an enchanted land. Unless we are, we
can't be over twenty miles from Glendive.
We had better camp and rest, and figure
this thing out" SAN right" II
Next morning the march was resumed !
the stream, and about 10 O'Clock they
arrived at the end Of the valley, and found
the river ran directly Under the hill.
What now, Tom?" asked John. "Well, |
to the right" That they would have tod do,
or build a raft, as the stream had in fact
become q river. But q few hundred yards |;
as it were and the cliffs revealed to them
openings, and on exploration these open
ings showed plainly that they had been ages L
past the residence Of men. Space prevents
q description, save to say that the scat
tered pillars they had observed, before en-
tering the wonderful valley were proven to
be the work of the hands OF men, and in
men at that, for here they were
,amped in one OF these Il
AVE DWELLINGS,
with all manner Of game grazing peacefully /,
around them. ID
Next days march around the cliff re-
vealed innumerable more of these cave
dwellings, and some OF such magnitude and /,
OF a~dornment, that proved
them to be public buildings. Towards i
s~yeuinq the aantfssaaa,imaginad thar had II
passed the place where theyhad entered the
wonderful valley, and accordingly camped
Tor the night.
For three days they hunted for the way
they had entered and failed. On the evening
OF the third day they were thoroughly
as even their stock OF salt was
exhausted. Waking up in the morning OF !
the fourth day, Lom said: Look here" 1
What is III" asked John. 1t was simply I
q small dry log and a paddle.
''This means, John, if we get out oil here
We must float out under the hill down yon-
II guess you are right, Tom, and it
means that there are live people here, but !
have enough and want to get out" (
One O'Clock again found them where the /
entered the mountain, and binding ]
our dry logs together with withs, and the 7
in T, ms strong hand, they COM g
nitted themselves to the current.
The gentlemen say the passage was easy {
and not dark, and the river apparently !
separated into several channels. they
in what is known as Beaver !
Creek. After twodays' march they reached |
Mingusvilfe, and from there came to Glen ]
live. -. II
They say that one OF the wonders this
,ide the cut road is a fitting stone that lar
,urpasses the one OF Ireland; it weighs tons
and can be moved and ~revolved with one &
hand. The gentlemen propose, II possible, |
10 again find the roadway and Thoroughly
xplor this romance land. In the mean
lime we suggest to our citizens who have
eisurs to look up this wonderful valley,
the right hand fork up the coulee will reveal |
strange and wond sriul sights, and may b :
The road to the valley described by our
This is worthy OF investigation, 10
no fancy tale, but plain, unvarnished iac''
and within five miles of Glendive.