Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-11-03
NOUN
Sums Rays Start II Going Every Yeas
and Indians Resort to t..
Prom the New York American.


Since the discovery of gold in thy.
Arbuckle mountains by prospectors
from California and Colorado the Ar
buckle range, near old Fort Arbuckle,
has beer thoroughly explored, and
among the many curious freaks of ma
ture none have attracted SO much at
tention as Burning mountain.
This old volcano frequently burns,
and tho smoke can be seen from the
highest mountain peaks for many miles
away. Passengers on the Santa Fe
often notice large volumes OF smoke OF
to the left near Davis as they come
from the north, but few ever stop to
ask about ii. In fact, Burning noun
tain has never been fully explored I'M
til quite recently, and the general pub
lie knows nothing of It's history. old
residents at the little town of Daugher-
ty can relate wonderful stories about
this mountain, but they rarely speak
of 1t to strangers.
Burning mountain burns only about
four months in the year. Ii appear
that the heat OF the sun causes the sui
Iphur and a%sphaltum to ignite, n II
.smolders and burns all during the
summer months, and In n autumn 1t
gradually grows dim, and nearly goes
out. The spot is a most romantic
place, situated In the rock-ribbed hills
OF the Arbuc&le mountains, about nine
miles southwest of Davis, and about
five miles from Daugherty on the west
side of the Washita river.
The Indians la made Burning
mountain their summer resort for sew
.eral generations, and they formerly
believed smoke from this old crater
would cure them of almost any ills
flesh was heir to. 1t vas believed that
to smell this smoke one would never
have consumption, and those who suf-
fered from catarrh would find imme-
!diate relief and a permanent cure. The
fumes are deadly If taken more than a
few minutes at a time, and an old In
dian relates how some of his people
many years ago dropped dead or the
spot from inhaling this smoke.
In order to get within a few feet Of
the crater one must climb to the top
of a rocky cliff, some 200 feet, and then
descend over a series of rocky preci-
Ipices down into the crater. Once with
in this curious old volcano one feels
rather faint, and If the sulphur fumes
happen to blow In you direction you
will probably seek relief and shelter.
1t must not be assumed that Burn
ing mountain, as 1t is locally called,
is actually a blazing furnace or active
crater, such as those % read about In
the South Sea islands, but only a
,smoldering mass of smoke from burn
ing asphaltum and sulphur. Biologists
have recently visited the place and re-
port 1t as an old gas blowout, giving
as their opinion that at one time the
gas and oil were thrown out at this
point and the a%sphaltum which now
shows in great abundance is the heav-
Ter portions of oil, and the sulphur be-
ing a part of the oil-bearing strata.
The heat Of the sun causes the as
phaltum to melt n run down into the
old crater and the smoke begins to
rise in great volumes. This is said to
be the greatest phenomenon in the en-
tire country. Scientists call it the
I"Arbuckle freak" n the locality is
known throughout this section as the
wonderland OF the Mountains
On the side OF this burning noun
tain is a most wonderful cave, which
has been only partly explored, but a
party is being made up to explore 1t.
"A party of Davis business men found
an underground river about 1000 feet
beneath the surface, filled with fish,
and II is the intention of the new
party to catch some Of these fish and
bring them TO the surface to learn
whether or not they will live In cold
water, such as this river affords.