Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-29
The FL DORADO OF DAKOTA.
Observations of an Ex-congress-
man in the Black Hills.
FARMING AS wELt AS MINING
Enormous Crops of Wheat and Oats
Wonderful Fertility of the VAL
leys-Goid, silver, Tin
and Copper.
Developjpu /, Kingdom.

making q tour OF the Black Hills, writes his
paper, the New York Sun, as follows, under
date of Hill City, S. D..
Six days have l spent among the peaks of
the Black Hills. Il is wonderland. APPLY
may the hills be termed the Azores of the
plans. They are the ceuter of an ocean Of
verdure. They tower above the vast prairles
of Dakota and Wyoming as the Western
islands tower above the broad bosom of the
Atlantic. Scanned with wild -gorges,
sprinkled with fertile valleys, clothed in for
ests of dark pines, and capped with turreted
crags, they may well excite awe and admira-
ton. But they are far more valuable than
beautiful They are ribbed with lodes of
gold, silver, tin and copper. The golden
sands of the gulches are still being washed
The Homestake and other mines are still
pouring out their millions every year.
There are 100000 tons of tin ore on dumps
awaiting concentration. Lead, iron, copper
and other minerals are found, and coal has
been discovered at the foot of the hills.
Just now the tin prospectors are the moss
active. They are selling their lodes as fast
as they find them, and they are finding them
every week. The pine forests are another
source of wealth. The music of the circu
lar saw is heard in many gulch, aud little
settlements are springing up like magic.
But this is not all. The Black Hills give
birth to a score or more of streams that give
life to an agricultural kingdom below them.
fertility. No irrigation is needed. Like
Pixies Peak, Harney's Peak is n storm cen
ter, but, unlike Pixies Peak, it generously
scatters its showers over the wide valleys
and broad plateaus that stretch to the hori-
zon. The effect is marvellous. Dakota to-day
is the greatest wheatproducing country in
the union. Indeed, it is said to be raising
nearly thirtieth of the wheat crop OF the
world.
The Black Hills oasis, however, is only
Just beginning to do its share of the work.
Its fertility almost surpasses belief. The
best wheat and oats undoubtedly grow upon
its farms. There are surprising statements
concerning its crops. Wheat yields from
twenty to forty bushels per acre, but sam
Piles of n weld Of eighty-four bushels to the
acre are shown. John Schamel, who lives
two miles west of Rapid City, recently raised
400 bushels of wheat from ten acres of
ground, and sold it out of the wagon for 90
cents per bushel The grams of Black Hill
wheat are large and plump. They seldom
fall under seventy pounds to the bushel. The
soil, bear in mind, is not stimulated. Scratch
the rich earth and you get your reward with
out fertilizers.
Oats, in the Hills sown upon the same
soil, become too heavy. A field in Hill City
was seen which yielded nearly sixty bushels
to the acre. The oats weighed fully forty-siX
pounds to the bushel. The golden sheaves
were sight TO behold. The heads were APP
parently solid mass of oats, and the over
burdened sprays hung down below the girde
means marvellous yield for the Hills. The
statement that sam Scott, who owns a small
place adjoining Rapid City, raised 100 bushels
of oats FROM three acres seems Incredible.
There IS no doubt, however, that DIR. Doty
CLEANED $50 bushels from ten acres. His
ranch is on Box Elder creek only few
miles from the city. The Hill farms are shell
tered from the wind and well watered and
tmbered. No richer garden spot can be
found. Vegetables attain an unusual size
without losing their flavor A potato weigh
ing over ten pounds, grown in a gulch, has
been exhibited When baked it proved
mealy from skin to heart and satiiied the
appetites o. four men.
A luxuriant growth of grass extends over
the whole region. The wild grass turns out
tremendous crops of hay. Timothy, clover,
blue grass, orchard grass, millet, redtop, and
alfalfa equal wheat in growth. Besides this
nature has supplied SIX varieties Of wild
grass. Rye, barley, corn, buckwheat, and
sorghum thrive wonderfully. A farmer may
raise grain in the valleys, and his cattle and
sheep find ample subsistence the year round
on the wild grass of the low hills and noun
tain slopes. The valleys are lovely. Peaks
clothed to the top with dark pines surround
them. Crystal springs purl through them.
They head in springs of the purest water
and they are fed by the SHOWS and rainfalls
of the mountains. Many of the valleys are
under cultivation. Others await the appre-
ciative husbandman.
Ten years from now, when the Tin mines
doubtedly prove far more valuable than the
gold placers IN the gulches Pennington
county, of which Rapid City is the shire
town, includes the heart of the hills. 1t has
about B., 900 farms under various stages of
cultivation. There are few barns and few
ideal farmhouses. Settlers who have just
taken up choice locations frequen ly live in
wall tents. Upon the cultivated farms you find
the latest improved agricultural impemen s.
A farmer was seen using moving machine
while his vile followed with horse rake.
They We're gathering in the second crop of
hay for the season. Most of the farms in
the valleys are taken up. There are choice
table lands in the country around the hills,
some of which are still open TO settlement.
They are subject TO rainfalls, and, with few
exceptions, are said to be fully as fertile as
the lands in the valleys.
Aside from agriculture the drainage OF the
hills sustains an immense cattle industry.
Nearly million cattle browse on the grass
bordering streams that have their source
near Harney's peak. They dot the valleys
| as far as the eye can see. They feed upon
| the native grasses, summer and winter.
These cattle mostly escaped the rigors OF the
| winter that proved so disastrous in Montana
and upper wyoming few years ago. Huge
trains laden with them are beginning to roll
| down the Elkhorn road toward Omaha and
| Chicago. These trains have the right Of way,
| and frequently attain speed of forty-tve
| miles an hour. "If you are ever in d hurry
to get out of the Black Hills country" said
/
| You'll get here twelve hours ahead of the
| regular express"
| The choicest grazing lands IN the entire
| northwest are found in the hills 1t seems
| to be a paradise for stock rasers. Prob
| ably not more than twentieth of the
| area is fit for cultivation. The remainder
| Is covered with forests. 1t makes the
| finest range for stock and sheep. There
are ranges along the most of the streams
| flowing from the hills. The great cattle
| kings Of the district are @. j. White and
| the Wood Brothers. They own 1000 head
and have 81, ,000,0 900 Invested in the business.
| The management is concentrated at Rapid
| City. Last year they shipped over ten thou.
sand cattle, yielding q cash return of over
| $1,000 The same corporation owns great
| horse ranch, with seven miles OF nevertail-
| ing water. 1t is stocked with 1000 fine
mares and thiIty pure bred Percheron,
| Clydesdale and Shire stations. 1t is said to
return 20 per centa year IN dividends. These
ranches, however, are only surface indica-
ton of what is being done. There are many
breeding farms within a days ride of the
hills. 1t is horse country. Everybody
listens with pleasure to the soft click of the
hoof. There are racing associations at Rapid
| City and Deadwood. Good time is made,
and the purses this fall aggregate $1,000.
Money is TO be spent without stint. The
horse ranches around Rapid City may in
time become as famous as those in Ken
tucky and California. Small ranches are