Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1906-02-12
MIXTURES OF MEXICO;
How THESE BIRDS HAUNT THE ARID
ALkALI PLAINS.

INV tt1ESE7 bttUSs 1Al5NISsTF1E ARID
.45 .ss ALkAlI PLAINS. 4
Desert scavenEers and the Way I'm
Which the CircIing Mass Descends
Upon Its Carrion Prey.
At night the moon looks down upon
desolate, arid plain, stretching away
to the great Sierra Madre mountain
chain, deep. shadowy blue, against the
western sky. The air is chill, and a
bleak wind searches out every fold. In
our blankets--we might almost be
spending a night on the tundras.
With scarce moment of dawn the
sun floods everything, a most welcome
warmth for awhile, soon to make one
gasp in its breathless heat. Long be
fore the rainy season actually begins
vegetation seems to feel a quickening
In the air; the plants scent the coming
moisture weeks beforehand; the rush
ing streams, swollen with the melting
SHOWS from the lower mountain tops,
bring life to the lands through which
they flow; spring is awakening every
where except on the alkali plain. 8
Where thin rind of red brown
grass roots partly covers the white
dust, parched mesquite bushes find
root, and strange, uncouth organ cacti
rear their columns, like mammoth cam
delabra. Here wild eyed cattle roam
uneasily, nibbling occasionally at the
bitter grass stems.
Farther out in the desert, where even
the mesquite and cacti fail, we ride
slowly across the parched surface,
wondering If single living thing can
endure the bitterness of the earth In
the distance move the whirlwinds Of
dust, tall, thin columns with perfectly
distinct outlines, undulating slowly
here and there, both life and death in
their silent movement 5s:.s
Most remarkable it seems to MS when
a stray great blue heron now and then
flies silently up from the desert what
can possibly attract these birds to such
| a place of death as this, distant even
from the bitter pools p and flaps slowly
out Of sight. Twice q great ebony
raven sails through the dusty air over
our heads--the same bird repassing.
M, 3other life 40 visihlas save the hal.
anced hIack snacl,s hip,,5 ! pa,nst m,
tSne as ;nyar.iah, : no M M q Mavican
day as arc stars of rho mont q lHoro,,ss,,5
Yultures, raven all move slowly, seem
ing less alive than the distant dust
columns
mt NO fae, tte real anir;t az The
eternal fiesert when a. wa tnr,n RI "a,
trace onr stems uxa Ss,,v ! s,,1nmathine
white difraren+ fro,n ti,a snrra,,p y II q
earth and the ssnelI sof a 2 pes FAILS
unon ns The ,,ittar o. for q .sver f7rv.
ING nm the -uyhirlwintisI carru 5the flrst
from Mace I'd nlace rho hirf1ss f.oTn,.
and On as thav ,,1aasa INT +l,,s ,.ai,c 81
an eIenhant nf tha 1n,dan tin,a .,,rinp,as
nast ana nraaant into D .loas. Il tonrh
what scenes has ne ldesert iooked
mon since f,,is ma rnmot,, atapposered
diving info tha ana o,rrnirae .yvhich nITa5S5vaa
its tomb7 Orr ewes smart B from fI,e
dust a we raI,, 81 ii IL t,1rn o,1r hnrsas,
heads on the hack RAJ, FOR xve Should
mo ~ staIz ana .aarc,, mi s4tasn 5fns-
si1s-nnra fascin ain 81, q Z
fhe living boasts and I,irda xrhict nan.
nle the tronies bavo,,d
f,na r. tbe ;,,cst MO-, ! o,.f,,,s ~ 5+to
axhihitions - MA s.,ise -7,,,on,l,sa fod +o
~ q Max;cs !, 4,,a
alr,Ii rIain a-,d IN Z, 40 :, : 300, AZ
n,asn,,ita eo,,,,, 3, s.
Ala ~ !, i, i, -
soIvas itsa,e - s.. q
no, snacps me me ~,
- 49, ! ~.
,a,.d 49, ~ D. s s. = !, IS !, 8
sa.,,, ] s.
~ d,
- 80 = -. 49,
-, :, 1870 $3.50 s sAs any.
49, 80 WA, 49, :. l..e y, 5 3
n1 1as .nsy aie sll.uiss. h =. g
- -. ,1ss s1e 49, upoi e.e plaiu :
- 49, " 1e.@ly, anu nsle go a..s
49, ls,sYet lias z w sss'li y IN
~ 9 y ous = = SuS.i
- - = ss'i ullly .liaongn Wy g'ass-
olo Z lially s,.o.e ~ a..u .'.-
Aes S Waikins apout anu lst ~
u