The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1905-12-01
tion too but by a circuitous route.
Sturgis has all the necessary facilities.
Anv tbau mice uoeS tn DeadWOOd,

tion too but by a circuitous route.
Sturgis has all the necessary facilities.
Any they miss goes to Deadwood.
Sturgis is beautifully situated and
ought to be a first class business town.
1 don't believe they get the. business
they ought have from the country to
the north and east. The catalogue
houses give western merchants hard
competition and then the roads lead
ing to Sturgis are, when wet, most
abominable. 1 don't remember just
how many abandoned wagons, loaded,
that we passed in going from the
Belle Fourche river to Sturgis. There
is no limit to the depth Of the mud.
But it is a wonderfully rich soil and
the farmsin that Immediate vicinity
show that their owners are prosperous.
| should think the town of Sturgis
would take some interest in the good
roads proposition but they don't seem
to. Perhaps they would if they knew
how much they lose from poor roads.
Rapid City was evidently laid out
and built on the assumption that it
would be the home of at least 25,O 900
people. 1t has 1900 people, electric
lights, gas, sewage system, a number
of fine three story brick and stone
buildings, a creditabie daily paper,
There were formerly three and the
shame of a CHASTITY tragedy. Hang
mans rock projects out over the hill,
just back Of the town, an everlasting
reminder of one of the worst cases of
lynch law murders ever committed in
the west. 1t is''an old story, how an
innocent 1S-year.old-b boy, was hanged,
when it was known that he was
innocent, along with a couple of horse
thieves, but they tell about it yet. 1t
is true, they tell those who enquire,
that a fate has seemed to pursue those
who were guilty Of the crime for,
though none of them have ever been
tried for it, they have all suffered for
it in one form or another. Rapid City
is going to have better railroad facili-
ties soon and will be a more import
ant city, 1t is we'll situated for a dis
tributing point and will undoubtedly
grow very rapidly in the next few
years.
PROFESSOR ToDD's OBSERVATIONS
Anything said by Professor Todd
about the country through which we
passed will be received as coming
from accepted authority on the SUBJ
ject. The following is from an
article by the professor which origin
ally appeared in the Vermillon
Republican.
"As important as any discovery Of
the trip" says DR.. Todd, twas the
finding of the Laramie formation far
south of the Cheyenne, about the head
of the Bad river. Hitherto this re-
gion has been considered a gumbo
region like that Immediately west of
Pierre, but the sand Of the Laramie
not only insures a rich loamy soil, re-
sisting drouth much better than the
gumbo, but good water can be OBJ.
tanned at convenient depths in wells.
Moreover, the wash from this forma-
ton has exercised a beneficial effect
upon the adjacent gumbo and the
alluvium of Bad river. Another
corollary from this discovery is that
Ignite may possibly be found in thin
beds further south than formerly
thought, viz, in eastern Meade
county.
"The Laramie covers the most Of
the northwestern corner of the state
and extends with a similar formation
from the Fox Hills eastward along the
divides between the Grand, Moreau.
and Cheyenne rivers to within Is
miles of the Missouri. Between the
Cheyenne and the Bad rivers it ex-
tends a little beyond Grindstone
Buttes."
"The region is capable of sustaining
a population scores Of times larger
than at present and the next ten ear
will see a great influx into it. With