The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-12-18
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ii will be recog-
nized as a place where prehistoric ia
ture lies disclosed and where wonders
of the past are associated with the pic
t-uresqueness of the present. These
important finds are the result of a
carefully planned geological exploration
of the Band Lands made by Prof. ].
E. Todd, state g%eologist of South Da-
kota, and five scientists of the state
university-E. C. Eckert, r. w. Ellis,
L. A. Jordan, B. S. Payne and e. j.
Wallace. These explorers followed the
valleys of the White, Cheyenne and BAG
rivers, crossed their divides and COW
cred the famous trail between the
Black hills and Chamberlain. From
Rose Bud, %Porcupine creek and the
noted fossil ground of Indian draw
they collected more than a ton of many
rare n several new specimens, which
they shipped from Hermosa to Vermil-
lion. First and foremost, that much
iiAAl lit III lCull
hog, has been found at last. For Prof.
Todd and his associates unearthed its
remains in the fossil beds of the Bad
Lands" 1t bears in general outline
resemblance to its descendant COM
mon to this country. There the resem-
blance ceases, for it is almost as large
as a medium sized elephant and is
/ 1rn1nd with tu,o loa.a a,z..I :-l--
IN length, one on each side of its long,
HeXlble nose. Scientists recognize this
interesting brute as the brontotherium,
a compromise between the elephant
and the tapir on one side and the rhin-
oceros and hog on the other. Skulls
were dug up which measured two and
a half feet in length and nearly as
much in breadth. They are saddle
shaped, much like that of the rhinocer-
os, the back of each rising in a prom
inent transverse crest. Fortunately
for prehistoric man, the brontotherium
was almost exclusively a vegetarian.
1t was a powerful beast and must have
been a hard fighter. Had it been car
nivorous it would have discouraged
immigration and interfered largely
with the census. 1t abounGed in the
White river region, and was a very
quick breeder. The scientists say it's
habits were mostly those of the rhin-
oceros of today, but they unite in clas-
styling it as the common ancestor of
the wild and domestic hogs. Above
the brontotherium beds Prof. Todd
and the others found plenty Of fossils
of oreodons and turtles, most of the
latter of enormous size, though some
were only a few inches in length. Many
skeletons of the oreodon, a prehistoric
animal combining the characteristics
of the hog and deer, were as large as
q sheep. Four or five species of ro-
dents and as many of carniyora were
unearthed, non of the latter being
larger than a dog. The professor
found a complete specimen of that size,
but it was in very small fragments.
They also discovered incomplete speci-
mems of a species of rhinoceros, a cam
ell and one Of the ancestors of the horse,
the miohippus which was no bigger
than a Southdown sheep. In the
Loup Fork beds, everything the White
river, they dug up specimens of water
plants and fresh water shells and a
few of the large bones of the nam.
moth and mtstadon, most of which
were very much under the weather.
"Of the picturesque features Of the
Bad Lands said Prof. Todd to the
writer, there can scarcely be an ex-
aggeration in language. Words fail
to convey the continual change of out
lines, both beautiful and grotesque,
which meet the eye of the traveller as
he passes through this strange region.
Every one, as he passes through mile
after mile of these startling FORMS"
continued the professor, asks what
could have caused this region to be so
different from those which bound it
upon every side. The question is an
swered as follows:
"The country is largely barren, be-
cause the formations are nearly imper-
vious to water, SO that most of the
surface quickly becomes dry; and al
though some species have evidently in
certain seasons succeeded in establish
ing themselves upon these barren sur
faces, yet the usually prevailing dry
ness of the region almost completely
prevents vegetation, except on the low
err flats, where moisture is retained for
a longer time"
Speaking of the enormous fossil beds,
Prof. Todd vent on: THE thickness
of these beds is from 300 to 500 feet
and they were deposited by the waters
of a vast fresh water lake. A natural
explanation of the occurrence of fos-
sils near the margin of a lake, especial
ly on the Black hills side. would seem
to be that herds of animals at times
were overwhelmed on it's shores dur
ing severe storms. The rarer remains
of other species may be accounted for
by the ~supposition hat tributary
streams occasionally carried their bo-
dies into the lake."
Enlightened at Last.
An old Ccntph Iafv uho bad NJ