Evening star., 1899-02-03
MONTANA'S ICE NINE.
How Natures stores 1t in Winter and
Keeps 1t in Summer.
From the San Francisco Call.

From the San Francisco Call
Seven miles to the north and a little TO
the east of the Cheyenne Indian agency in
Custer county. Mon. is a well filed with
ice that excites much curiosity among the
ranchars and cattlemen of that section.
Every cowboy who visits the well has much
to tell and invariably advances his own cx-
PLANTATION. Many ingenious theories are
| given which tend to indicate that mankind
| of all degrees of scientific knowledge put
| forth an effort to find the origin of things
however, they all agree that the ice forms
! in the well during the summer and that 1t
actually thaws during the winter. This ap-
parent contradiction of the natural laws
| that govern the outside world has carried
the fame of this well for miles around and
people have travelled great distances to wit
ness the formation of icicleS during the hot
weather of July.
This we'll is within a few hundred feet of
the summit of the Little Wolf mountains,
on the north slope, at the very beginning
of Greeuleat creek. which emptlcs into
Rosebud eight miles from where the Rose-
bud joins the Yellowstone river. This por-
ton of the mountains is covered with
growth of tall pines.
Fourteen years ago three men prospect
ing for silver, mistakiug certain colors in
the rocks, began sinking shaft; at fifteen
feet IL diSa greeaby cold at twenty
feet the cold had iucr rAased rapidly that
they were thoroughly frightened. They
could feel currents of cold air rushing up
from the creyices in the rock they imag-
ined they We're digging into soma mystic
rious underground cavern; they had heard
just enough of wonderful adventures of
digging into caves and underground lakes,
and being alone in this wilderness whcre
the very stiffness permitted the ears to
hear and the mind to imagine all manner
of gruesome powers hid ben eath the rock.
so thoroughly filled them with the fear of
impending danger that they abandoned, the
work which has since gained such renown.
The submits of Little Wolf mountains are
covered with scoria, which has all the ap-
| pearance and texture of a good grade of
tiiins. Ii is usually red, but varies in color
through all the shades down to black
These varying colors give the beautiful tints
| 10 the thousands of buttes throughout the
band lands. In comparatively recent geo
logical times vast beds of Ignite coal were
formed over the eastern half OF Montana,
| extending into western Dakota. The burn
| ing of these beds of coal was the beginning
OF the bad land formation The fine de-
posits of clay above the coal were burned
as brick are burned In a kiln and formed
the scoria. Where the heat was greater
and rock and sand were present IL melted
and mixed with the coal and coal ash form
ing large, cinder-Hke rocks, which are some
times mistaken for lava. AS the coal burned
out from beneath the clay, now baked into
scoria and melted into einders. it broke into
small divisions and fell promiscnousIy down
into the pits thus formed. Volcanic ash IS
found scattered over the Little Wolf noun
tains and the eastern portion of Montana
1t must have drifted with the wind from
powerful eruptions In the Rocky noun
tains, AS there are no Indications of any
volcanic action in the vicinity of the ice
We'll. The Little Wolf mountains are mere
ly rough range Of buttes apparently Of