Philip weekly review. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 1907-1912, 1908-09-04
'HE WILD and WOODY
A Trip Through Stanley County
A Fine County with Great
Possibilities Ahead

Last week we had the pleasure,
and we use the word advisedly, for
it was pleasure, of taking a trip
through Stanley County, that new
empire of the west which has just
been opened to settlement by the
extension of the railway from Pierre
to Rapid City.
Arriving at Philip early Friday
morning to take the north bound
stage for Topbar, country post
office and store some thirty miles
north. The rain Of the preceding
night had put the gumbo in good
condition to stick and the first eigh-
teen or twenty miles was indeed slow
and painful. But after crossing the
divide the Cheyenne slope presented
an entirely different aspect. The
sticky gumbo was left behind and
the soil now was sandy loan, and
the roads, except In the creek bottoms,
were excellent.
Some eight or nine miles north
west of Topbar we were met by
Clyde Mcneil and conducted to his
little shack upon the plain. Adjoin-
ing his claim was the ranch of Frei
Fairchild. whose wife, Miss Nellie
Stobbs, all oldtime Washington peo-
pie will remember. This ranch is
located on Spotted Bear Creek and
is an ideal spot for such business,
well timbered and abundantly watered
though we cannot say much for
the quality of the water, it being
strongly alkali. Miss Stobbs' claim
was about 80 rods west, well up on
the plateau.
A few miles to the east and north
is an ideal farming country, known
as Hardingrove Flat. No finer laying
land could be found anywhere than
stretches there for miles. Every
quarter has been filed on, and nearly
all the land is fenced and the roads
laid of square, giving it a much
more up-to-date appearance. Not
with-standing two months drouth
the crops are good on the compar-
atively small area which Is farmed.
No threshing had yet been done,
but the small grain promised an
exceptionally heavy yield. The dry
weather had been too much for
most of the sod corn, but that on old
ground that had been well cultivated
gave promise of good crop.
An account Of that country would
be incomplete without mention of
one Of it's leading citizens, Dan
Bierwagen, an old time rancher. We
dropped in to Dams Sunday evening
and were very Hospitality received,
and the following morning were
shown some of the finest scenery, it
has ever been our good fortune to
view. At the head of the little creek
on which the Bierwagen ranch is
located, is mamouth spring, send
ing a large stream OF water down
the creek for several miles until 1t
looses itself in the sink holes of
Plum creek. Around this spring a
patch of couple Of acres or SO had
been plowed up and put in garden.
Every kind Of vegetable was growing
there including celery. Tomatoes
by the bushel were just beginning to
ripen and we would not be surprised
to hear that car load OF cabbage
had been shipped from that garden.
A little further on was natural
park which in point of beauty rivals
anything we have ever seen. Should
a railroad ever penetrate that region
Mr.. Bierwagen tells us that he ex-
poets 10 lay it off for park. No
more delightful summer resort
could be found anywhere. At pre-
sent it is forty miles or more to the
nearest railway point.
The return trip to Philip was on
dry roads and the gumbo had lost all
its terrors. Travelling over them
then, one could scarcely imagine
how bad they could be, and In point
of fact, they are no worse than many
of the roads in Iowa and Illinois in
the muddy season. Washington
Enterprise.