St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-07

4
| fence their cattle.
THE CHEYENNE VALLEY
| is sort of land of wonder. 1t con-
| tains immense tracts of good agricul-
| tUral land. of the description of those
| of the White river valley. 1t also con-
tains many thousand acres, which for
many years, will be used exclusively
for grazing. The Cheyenne is the larg-
| est of the streams which traverse the
| res 'rvatiOn. 1t rises in Eastern Wyom-
| ing and flows in general northWeSterly
direction, forming the southeastern and
| eastern boundaries of the so-called
Black Hills country, and continuing in
| the same course, ultimately empties in
| TO the Missouri river. Its length is
| about 400 miles. There are high bluffs
and extensive plateauS along its whole
| course. and its bottom lands are scene
of wild beauty and the seat of great fer
| tility. The ragged bluffs are gumbo
hills and are very rich, but of so sticky
| character as to be very hard To Work.
| Its plateauX are level and fertile and
| even now form the ranges of great herds
| of cattle. On the Black Hills side OF
| the Cheyenne many prosperous settlers
| have established fine farms, where they
| raise not only the cereals, but FLOODED
! stock of various kinds. The country Is
peculiarly adapted to horse culture.
| The dry climate, the rich grasses, the
comparatively mild winters of the west
! ern part of the reserve. the stem cured
| vegetation of the comparatively dry
plains. all combine to produce this con-
ditiOn.
THE WONDERFUL FEATURE
of the Cheyenne valley is, however. the
mauvais terres or Bad Lands. Nothing
| like them exists anywhere else IN the
world. They are unlike the Bad Lands
of North Dakota and are indescrlbably
unique. 1t is impossible to give any
very good idea of them by words or
| pictures. To be appreciated they must
be seen. They are at the western eX-
| tremity of the reserve, just east or tno
| Black Hills. 1t is amlsnOmer to call them
bad Lands" because had" would
never be suggested 10y the appearance.
"MaZy Land' would be far better. They
are most deceitful and perpleXing in
| their effect upon the eye and mind.
| In approaching them one seems to see
great white city rising from
the plains, with tall spires,
with roofs and chimneys, with
pinnaeles and minarets. 1t
looks i'm the distance like walled city
of ancient times and we could almost
expect to see vast crowds OF people, ana
soldiers in arms, moving through Its
gates. So complete is the deluSl0n
which they produce that during the
past summer a Swede, who had but
recently arrived in this section, and
knew little about it, while searching
for land, being far from any settlement,
observed the strange forms OF the Bad
Lands in the distance, and suppoSlng
them
TO BE A GREAT CITY,
made for them, with the intention OF
spending the night. Reaching them he
passed i'm through one of the openings
and was soon lost in the may windings
of the innumerable gulches, draws and
CANYONS which traverse this remarkable
region in every direction. 1t is an easy
matter to find ones way into the Bad
Lands, but it is far more difficult to find
the way out again. The poor Swede
soon discovered that he was like the
lost cavalier in the enchanted forest OF
fairy tale, and wandered around in
search of an outlet without success.
The may windings seemed to become
more labyrinthine and perplexing as he
went on. In vain did he try to discover
the place where he entered. and ever
pnd anon would come up against the
aIeat white wall which lowered
gerpendicularly above his head
and extended around this region. For
of the Bad Lands, and during that time
was without food or water. AT last
cowboy found him lying on the ground
in one of the canyons in state OF eX-
haustion. He was taken to the nearest
ranch and on regainIng his strength told
of his adventures. There are many
stories of this character told by the cow
boys who herd their cattle in the Bad
Lands, and have become familiar with
their windings and passes. The forms |
into which nature has thrown the crest
of the earth in the
BAD LANDS ARE GROTESQUE
bevond description, and are OF an in
finite variety. If asked for an outline
of the prevailing form, it could not be
given, for every step presents a new
one. and every canyon is surprise. 1t
is for this reason that the traveller be-
comes bewildered and finds on trying
to retrace his steps. with the assistance
of familiar objects, that the continued
succession of new objects has crowded
the old ones out of his mind, and that
he is lost. The Bad Lands are described
by biologists as of cretaceouS forma-
ton which, perhaps, in remote ages,
lay at the bottom of the so-called Pots
dam ocean. In the Bad Lands are
the fossils of animals of the mammoth
species, long since extinct, and some of
the rarer specimens which have been
found there are on exhibition at the
Dakota school of mines in Rapid City.
1t is mistake to suppose that the Bad
Lands are useless area. The canyons
and some of the levels, which occur
in places, contain rich vegetable
growth. For this reason very extensive
herds of cattle can and do find valuable
grazing there. 1t is not at all probable
that settlers will, at least for two or
three generations, select lands en-
braced within the Bad Lands,
but stock men will never fail
to appreciate and make that
of the grazing advantages. On account
of the remarkable character of this
amazing waste, and the never-taillng
interest which it has for the curiosity
seeker, some South Dakota citizens have
proposed that the state secure grant
of the Bad Lands from congress, and set
them apart forever as state park.
Whether such a course will ever be pur-
sued, however, remains for the future
to develop. 1t is not to be pretended
that the resources of the new puOlic do
main are yet fully known. Many ru-
mOrS OF
MTNURAL WEALTH
have gained currency both in South
Dakota and the neighbOring states. In
that portion which lies north OF the |
Cheyenne river some prospecting for |
gold and silver has been done by Black |
Hills miners and some expeditions are
already proposed from that section for
the spring. 1t is not well, however, for |
anybody to be led astray by reports of |
the existence of gold, outside of the |
Black hills, in South Dakota. 1t may |
be found in this northwestern part of |
the reserve and indications can be au-
thoritatively said to exist, but they are
not such as to cause any excitement.
Miners who have prOSpected on the
Indian territory claim the existence of
gold there in paying quantities and
assert that they only desisted
from producing by reason of the
interference of the Indian police; but
miners, like fishermen, do not care to
admit failure, and are ingenious in ex-
cuses. 1t can be stated as a fact, how
avar that coal aYiSts in the northwest