The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1891-01-29
THE FAMOUS BAD LANDS.
An Immense Barren Dessrt. Chisay Remarkable
for Being The Greatest Store House Of
FOsSil Remains On The Continent.

This tract Of land, which since the out
break Of the Indians hostilities has come
into greater prominence in the public mind
than ever before, is an immense barren
desert in Dakota, Wyoming and North
Nebraska, west, south and southeast
Of the Black Hills. The Bad Lands may
be said to extend from the North Fork Of
the Platte to the South Fork Of the Chey.
enne river, lying mostly between the l0Sd
and l05th degree Of longitude, with an
area as large Us the state Of Missouri.
The land in question is composed at
the surface Of white and yellowish in
durated clay, sand, mari and occasionally
Q thin bed Of sandstone and lime. Geol-
ogists hold that during the Miocene period
a vast fresh water system covered this
continent when the comparatively soft
materials that composed the surface Of
the Bad Lands were deposited.
After the plains further east subsided,
which now form Missouri Valley, and
the lakes in the vinicity were drained of,
the original lake beds were by the secen-
ing water worn into canyons that wind
in every conceivable direction. Despite
the winds and rainstorms Of thousands
and thousands Of years that have swept
across the barren stretch Of land which
has been the unrestrained play ground
Of the elements, the ancient water beds
remain in all imaginable forms, many Of
them resembling the ruins Of abandoned
cities.
All sorts Of elevations, some Of which
look like towers, spires, obelisks and
pyramids, are seen as far as the eye can
reach.
DR.. Hayden, one Of the earliest explorers
Of the Bad Lands, paints this picture Of
them.
Not infrequently the rising or setting
sun will light up these grand ruins with
wild, strange beauty, reminding one Of
q city Illuminated in the night as seen
from some high point. The harder
layers project from the sides ofthe canyon
with such regularity that they appear like
the seats Of some vast amphitheater.
The rain fall Of this region Is very light,
hence there is little or no vegetation.
Moreover, the soil is little suited to veg
citation, being, for the most part, Of soft
porous, powdery variety, formed by the
dissolution Of rocks by water in previous
geological eras.
Although Of little value as farming or
grazing land, some Of the most astonish-
ing treasures Of fossil remains.are found
there. In some places the soft, clayey
soil seems to be literally filed with bones
Of extinct species Of the horse, camel,
rhinoceros, q deer resembling q hog,
saber toothed lions and other marvellous
creatures which have made this tract q
place Of the highest interest 70 the scien-
fists Of all lands. Fossil vegetation Is
also found in great quantities.
The conditions that brought about this
extensive petrifaction do not now exist
and no one knows how long it has been
since the changes took place or how
many thousands Of years It must have
required to make them. The soil still re-
tains It's ancient quality Of changing ami
mails and vegetable substances within It
into stone.
The government Geological Survey has