Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-05
, nishes tine subject Of another article which

nishes the subject of another article which
appears below.
While Rapid City is rich in minerals, she is
not less blessed in her agricultural resources.
Miles and miles of surrounding territory are
occupied by thrifty farmers, whose showing
of grain and vegetables is one of the princi-
pal delights of the citizens. The wheat of
Dakota has long been the marvel of the
country, but the state IN no less degree ex-
cells in her articles of food for home con-
sumption. AS au evidence of this our party
brought home some vegetables, among which
were potatoes weighing four pounds. They
were solid and true 10 the core, fact ex-
emplified by the hslving of number Of them.
Buffalo Gap.
This town is one of the most promising in
the Black Hills. 1t is located in Bever creek
valley on the line of the Fremont, Elkhorn
& Missouri Valley railway. 1t is situated IN
Custer county and has population of 9O0
1t is yet new, though there are many evi-
dences of private and municipal enterprise
A visitor to the Gap will find it provided
with good school--with fine stone build
ing in prospect for this year; two churches
secret orders and societies, good hook aud
ladder company, telephone connection with
all towns in the Black Hills, one good hotel,
one bank, one Touring mill of 200 bushels
capacity per day, and one excellent news
paper, tne buIdiO Sup news. whose euluOf
is A. ID. Glare. The town is incorpo-
rated and is one of the most orderly in the
territory IL has an assessed valuation. in
cluding real and personal property, of S2l3,-
900. Mercantile pursuits are we'll repre-
sented, the business men being energetic and
enterprising. The time was when Buffalo
Gap had large population and was teeming
with early frontier life and reckless pros
perity; but those days are forever past, and
now the town has settled down to a slow but
Stn ont hnu hfn1 ns,,th yl,a
frontier element is no more In it's place are
better men and better condition of things
generally. Give this pretty city few more
years, and IT will number larger population
than ever before and take its place among
the solid towns Of the great northwest
There is reason for this faith. Material re-
sources are everywhere abundant. There
are rich valleys and plains for the husband
man, grazing lands for the stockmen, forests
of pine timber for lumber, and the most eX-
tensive quarries of building stone and marble
in the country. Back Of this city about two
and one-half miles, In the first range of the
Southern Hills, is The "Gap"-the natural
goiewu. gateway to ,,a the rich mineral re-,
through this wide.ppen gap that the road
runs to Hot Springs and Custer, AS you
approach 1t the view presented is very strilS-
ing. 10 the right and left are towering hills
and naked rocks; in frpnt is beautiful val
ley, and yonder, cutting the hills in twain. is
the gap, natural gateway indeed. Go
through this gap and on toward Custer and
Hot Springs, and yon will find broad valleys
containing thousands Of acres of the most
productive soil in the universe. Vast beds of
gypsum abound, and this, disintegrated by
the delements, washes down into the plains
below, and thus becomes one Of the best of
fertilizers. Much Of this excellent land is
already taken and Improved, but great deal
remains for those w'ho are yet TO come, and
| they are coming thck>and fast Nearly one
hundred good, sKillful farmers came into the
| territory tributary TO Buffalo Gap last sum
| mer. Year by year these rich lands grow
| scarcer and scarcer, and il will not be long
before ploughed fields and habitations will
| be seen on every hand. An important con
| sideration is the fact that every bushel of
| farm product finds ready and ever grow
| ing market in the Back Hills country itself.
QuARRIEs OPssTcNE AND MARBLE.
Ranking along side of agriculture in i'm
| portance, however. are Buffalo Gaps numer-
| Gus quarries. That they will prove more
/ precious than mines of tin, silver or gold Is
| apparent to the eye and judgment of every
| observant visitor Within one and onehali
! miles from tOwn lies the celebrated whet
| stone ledge rs feet thick and with 3,00O
foot outcrop. Specimens shown are of a
| very superior quality, and IT is expected that
the ind viii be properly developed and
utilized In the near future. The brown and
white sandstone quarries are three and one