Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-03-01
i;s;sS0uRl VALLEY TIMES
ssARRIs & HoYLE. Editors.
weckly. $3.50 per year: Daily IS cents
t,Cr week.
The Bad Lands.

The Bad Lands.
Oacoma. SO. Oak, Feb. 26, 'O6
Editor Daily Times, Dear Sir:
| am truly sorry was only pre-
mitted to spend three days in
the Badlands, but am certain
ly going back and if any of the
young blood of your locality
feel bit adventurous and
would like to see a bit of the
most curious country in the
world, place them in communi-
cation with me and sometime
this summer we will make a
personally conducted" trip
through the Badlands. | am
certainly going, not because |
was inspired with awe at the
loftiness, grandeur or scenic
beauty of the land, but with an
alfred curiosity to know more
| of them.
] ann really at a loss as to
what to say concerning that
stretch of country. 1t is COM
posed principally of walls, at
the top of which extend great
stretches of level prairie miles
lin width. These walls are alb
solutely barren of any growth
except in a few small spots
where Red Cedar is to be found.
These stretches of prairie are
almost inaccessible but cattle
find pathsto the top of the walls
and last spring the fierce storm
of May 9th drove thousands of
horses and cattle over the walls
to death on the plain below.
In under the south wall and
along the White River abound
what the punchers call hogbaclls
and straw stacks. The hog
backs are rounded mounds of
earth much like the hams and
back of a hog. The general
color scheme is a drab or slate
color, but all the colors of the
rainbow are to he seen in their
make up. These hogbacks are
usually found in groups and
are of many sizes. One sees
an immense hogback and with
i'm a few yards an exact repro
duction, only in miniature.
Many of these miniatures being
less than four feet in height.
This is also true of the straw
stacks. The straw stacks are
much like the pyramids only of
course they have not the geo.
metrical perfection. They
range in height from four to
four hundred feet. Often we
met one standing all alone in
the midst of a fertile grass
covered prairie but not one
spear of grass to be seen on the
stack, although the grass grew
right up to the very base. Then
again we meet with pieces of
ground entirely covered with
pebbles and small boulders of
every imaginable color and
shape. Experienced mining
engineers have discovered many
4 different minerals and mineral
substances, in this land, of great
value to the world when once
facilities have been secured to
handle them.
One man claims to know of
an immense tract of fine sand
used in the preparation of Bes-
semer steel. Another of a
heavy vein of iron ore that can
be easily seen sticking out of
the sides of a canon. Another
showed me a pint bottle Of gar
nets that he claimed to have
washed in one pan of placer
ground. He claims he found
placer gold in paying quantities
but water is not to be had. There
is no doubt but that with the
coming of the railroads the
Badlands of South Dakota will
be thoroughly exploited and
many fortunes are tied up with
in it's grim old walls.
But to get back to the real
topic at hand. The walls |
spoke of are among the chief
curiosities of this curious land.
They vary in height from forty
to four hundred feet. Resemble
a miniature mountain range,
peak surrounding peak, craig
and canon, precipice and point.
can not describe their forma-
ton. On a clear day they are
overhung with mirages Of great
marble cities, fortresses and
castles. At a distance they are
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