The Marshall republican., 1912-05-10

White River, g. d.
ApriI 20, 10 2.

.ahfs '1N
ton hoe boduet.n ~ did not know
that flowers were in bloom yet"
The above are 50 m OF the ex-
carnations and questols with
which ] was greeted yesterday as
! unrollej a large bun,h o: will
flowers gathered on a trip among
the hills east OF her,. ] started
out on my bicycle about $50 a. m
expecting to return 10 tin, to
attend chursh; bit found 60
much to interes. AMI dstain me
that Il was after for in the al
ternoon when ] return 4.
White River Is thu county seat
OF Mellette county, South Dakota,
is the temporary land Office WHERE
the three thousand homestea1ers
for the Ros, BUD AMI P.le Ridge
Land openings are making their
filings. Three months ago there
we're less than a dozen building
counting both business buildings
AMI residences. Now there are al
mos. one hundred buildings in
GLIDING a courthouse AMI public
school building. oh, no, these are
no such buildings as the court
house at Marshall or as the high
schoo! building, but they answer
their purpose just the same.
After leaving the village OF city,
whichever you wish to cal II, 1
went eastward for abo II four
miles over a comparatively level
country which reminded me very
much Of the PSttis,w Plains OF
Saline forty years ago The grass
Is not so tai as that which grew
on the Saline county prairies at
that time, but the sol il tough
and the soii Is very much thu same.
In some parts there Is a deep
sandy loan underlaid with sand
and gravel In other places, tn
sandy loan IL undertake with a
yellowish gumbo-real gumLo.
This level land that I passed
over Is one OF thu choica parts OF
Mellette county The best OF II
was allotted to the Indians, thea,
much OF the next grade was reserv
ed as school lands. what remiin-
ej is open for homestead.
As I wheeled along YER this
level plain. a high barren hill,
much higher than any hill In Sa-
line county. looms up In the dis
lance. Prom a distance Il looks
Hike an immens, heap OF sand. !
az once determined to CLIMB TO
the top OF th,t hin-pcrhaps you
would call 1t a mountain here Il
In called n butte.
As ! drop my bicycle at It's base
] sec it's not sand at all; but n
magnesia clay upol which the
winds may blow with little effect.
The rains, however, ara steadily de
creaslng the size ani height OF
this peculial butte, 80 that a
generation not a hundred years
off will find nothing noticeable
here.
! walk around it-iess than a
quarter OF a mile. l examine It's
PERCEPTIONS sides for a place to as
ceni. Finally a place Is found by
which | think ! can ascend, per-
haps l am not a mountain climb
er but I found this hill rather
difficult. The soft clay gave way
under my feet at each step and
went rafting down the barren
sides. Hold TO a bush or atuft
Of grass! No indeed, O a twig
OF a bush or a spear of grass
grows anywhere on this butte. The
ridge OF the s,anting extension Is
10 narrow that one cannot find a
footholi thereon 50 to use a poll
teal phrase, l straddled 1t and
climbed up. The top or peak Is
30 narrow that two persons can
not stand side by side without
holding to each other. The wind
is blowing so that / do not care
TO risk an erect position. A single
misstep or a sudden gust OF wind
would send me tumbling two hun
dred feet downward.
The view from this barren peak
pays one for the trouble OF GO
ing up. To the south, the west
ana the north, level plains and
grass covered hills, with not a
house to mar, extend as far as the
eye a reach. "But what is TO the
east OF Barren Butter" "Why,
there Is where / found the wild
flowers. To the east and north
east are the bad lands-grass COW
cred hills, fertile valleys, deep gull
ches, ana mighty buttes, barren
perhaps on the south or west sides