Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-10
IN THE BAD LANDS.
MISS RETTYE ADLER WRITES IN
TEREsTlNG LETTER FROM
WESTERN POINTS.

Former otturwa Woman Says Bad
Lands of Dakota Wrongly Named
Would Call Them Garden Of the
oGds-Visits Rosevelt's Old Home.
Speeding through the Bad Lands;
North Dakota-Montana border, Aug.
3.-To me for whom North Dakota
has stood for billiards. and Montana
for gold prospeotors with or without
prospects }this journey is an ever
changing revelation. Leaving St.
Paul at 10 o'clock last night over the
Northern Pacific we were knee deep"
into North Dakota by morning and
more beautiful country one could not
wish to see. From the rear platform
OF the last coach / fairly reveled in
the calm beauty Of the landscape
even, grass grown, prairie extending
for infinite distance on either hand to
lose itself in the far hazy horizon Of
deep blue sky. Not a tree or shrub
breaks it's green, close shaver surface.
This gives the :.rst conception Of the
vast expanse Of the great northwest.
Here are the much famed prairie
farms OF the region. Only a rude
shack of logs or planks or an adobe
hut here and there to vary the mo-
notony and convince one Of the habi.
tation Of man.
Then come the undulating rolling
lands for all the world like the rhythm
OF poem, swaying and wearing itself
in and out of the fast flying piano.
rama 1T appeals to the senses as an
organ anthem, its grand crescendoes
and far-reaching diminuendos a part
Of perfect whole.
One bit Of landscape has found
deep niche in my memory. It was a
clump OF trees, in the center Of a
stretch of softly rolling land, screen
ing square cabin, while beyond, on
slightly rising slope a small chapel
reared itself, fbathed in the brilliant
warmth OF the midsummer sunshine.
A chapel within a chapel it seemed to
me, Tor all outdoors was fairly breath
Ing the glory Of the Creator.
Occasionally we come to wee set.
Elements OF mushroom growth with
always tall, angular windmills in the
background.
Snow fences were a novelty all
along the route. These are high
board fences along the railroad tracks
to protect them from the drifting
snow in winter.
A more restful days travel l have
never experienced. The gentle mono.
tony of the landscape is like a sooth.
ing balm to the tired nerves and brain.
| wonder why some one hasn't Thought
to advertise this journey as a "cure
air for that tired feeling. It is indeed
And the service is excellent through.
out
The Bad Lands.
1t is the Bad Lands that started
to write about because I do not under
stand why SO little is generally known
OF this magnificent region. If you ever
imagined the Bad Lands meant an
arid, unfertile country pray dispossess
yourselves Of the idea at once. The
name is misnomer. should call Il
the Garden of the Gods" for even the
title Pyramid Park" given later, gives
Dut faint conception of it's wonders
A work shop Of nature sculpture 1t is
on a trem endous scale. Tall cones and
pyramids crowd each other for miles
IN the most peculiar shapes and forms,
with deep ravines or winding gullies
between. Some rise to great height
with rocks on top, while others are
broad and long with fiat surfaces. The
coloring Of these fantastic buttes and
cones Is Of infinite variety, the bril-
liant reds, deeD-toned terra-cottas and
weird grays all uniting in truly mar
velous symphony of color, kaleido-
scope of tones as the sun reflects on
their precipice-like sides.
Erosions is the name for them. and
they are said to have been brought
about by processes Of nature, through
the agencies of wind, rain, frost, ice.
snow and rivers. 1t is the debris from
the hills beyond which have gathered
in the valley and with the artist brush
of time and the elements became fash
Toned into these wonderously strange
spectacular objects.
The quantity picturesque sight
bursts upon one suddenly as we near
Medora, and form striking contrast
to the softly rolling prairies that we
have watched all day.
L hC udul6 odu LduuS WIS given
them on account Of the difficulty Of
travel alone, and not for any defect Of
soil or climate, as this is all said to be
fine grazing country.
1t is just over the hill beyond Me-
dora in the heart Of the Bad Lands
that President Roosevelt's old ranch
is still the attraction It was here
that the cowboy soldier-president came
as young man and began the career
that led up to the steps Of the White
House, and quaint little Medora prides
itself upon having been a stepping
stone in great life. In this garden
spot of nature he must have imbibed
the breadth Of view and liberality of
thought and freedom of action that
form the keynote Of his Americanism.
1t was when Medora was a rough min.
ing town that Roosevelt framed its
first code Of laws and tauott fhoir Az