The Great Falls leader. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1888-1900, 1889-12-21
The Great ArteSiian Basin.
A Little Theory About the Big Giant
Spring.
Uncle Sam Squares Accounts With
North Dakota.
Idaho and Wyoming Delegates are
Pushing for Statehood.
About the Giant Spring.

The New York Tribune in speaking
OF northwestern projects thus accounts
for the source Of the Giant spring: !
Among the enterprises proposed is the
utilization of most extraordinary phe-
nomenon, subterranean river, which is
believed to flow under the soil of the
Dakotas along the valley of the i'm river.
These are the demonstrated facts: that
water will gush forth upon the sinking
of shaft to depth of from 1000 to 5000
feet anywhere along this remarkable val
ley; that the length Of the strip of coun-
try within which an artesian flow may be
relied upon is about 800 miles due north
and south from Yankton, where the Jim
flows into the Missouri, to the DEVILS
Lake country, where it rises; that the
width Of the strip varies from five to
about twenty-five miles on either side of
the narrow and languid Jim; that from
the northernmost extreme of this stri p
subterranean water supply is to be
found with more or less certainty along o
narrower strip running almost due west
from the EeviFs Lake country; that this
/ strip crosses the Missouri north of Bis
marck and runs parallel with it until it
meets the river again at Great Falls,
Montana.
This is an altogether wonderful combi-
nation of facts. Artesian basins exist all
over the world, but to no great area or ex-
tent. Here is one known to be 800 miles
long north and south and believed to be
500 miles long east and west. Is it a
river? Does the water flow? If SO, in
what direction? Where from! Where
to? If we are to believe it is river, its
superficial area must be about as great as
that of Lake Superior, Huron and Michi-
gan combined. When Lewis and Clarke
upon their splendid expedition in 1904
came to the Missouri falls they found a
tremendous spring of water on the east
bank of the river between the first, Oh
Rainbow, and the second, or Black Eagle
falls.
The banks here are about eight fee
above the river and the water from this
spring surged and gurgled up from al
evidently subterranean bed and made its
way over and among the great rocks tina
bound the bank into the stream below
Millions and millions of gallons of pure
brilliant, crystal water flow from this out
let every minute into the Missouri.
Now, at this very point the artesiai
, water supply abruptly ends. Can it b.
that this stream is the mouth of a stream
flowing north from Yankton and wes
from the Devils Lake country? Thel
where can it rise? There are no noun
, tains in South Dakota, Nebraska or 1owa
and how such supply of water could b
drained from prairie region alread.
feeding the Mississippi, the Missouri an
the Platte is a mystery. The more prob
able theory, if one could but forget tha
giant spring above the Black Eagle falls
is that the Jim River basin is supple
8 from the Rocky mountain SHOWS and tina
E its contents flow east and south, not mort
and west
, Whatever may be said Of the polio
! suggested by South Dakota's plan for tn
y Federal government to tap this basin fo
irrigation purposes, it must certainly b
conceded that such means as are possibl
should be employed to solve these mys
teries. 1t is scarcely the work OF tn
: geological survey, but the same reason
Y which render it desirable for the govern
\ ment to measure mountains and trac
t rivers enforce the propriety of ascertain
: ing where that artesian water comes from
5 where it goes, an how it may best /
employed as natural force.