Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1917-02-19

concerning Fort Mitchell, which in
1865 was rebuilt by Eugene Ware, as
substation of Fort Laramie, and was
occupied for several years thereafter.
Concerning what are locally now
termed the boys in western Ne
braska, is the following vivid descrip-
ton written by Mr.. Fairfield:
I'm this valley there is wonder
full deceptive quagmire called Grease
Wod Springs. 1t has the appearance
of artistic laid out landscape consist
ing of mounds of all sorts of fantast-
cal shapes and the appearance Of
paths and walks laid out in every di-
rection through and among the
mounds. The mounds are from one
to two feet high and from two to fif-
teen feet across. Their surface ap-
pears like finely pulverized soil, in
fact just like hugh gopher hills. The
crust on the sides of the mounds is as
hard as stone and perfectly firm and
strong enough to bear up large
horse or OK. But it is so thing and
soft on the top that pound of weight
laid on it will sink at once into sticky
solution of chalk or something of
similar nature of the consistency of
cream, and SO deep that | could not
find bottom with a pole fifteen feet
long. Any beast that walks on top
of one Of the 1lounds is doomed and
will speedily sink out of sight,
No Bottom Here.
"a ranchman told me that he had
run a pole thirty-hve feet long into
one of them without touching bot,
tom. The ranchmen say that there
are hundreds of cattle lost there every
year and that they are going to put
a good barbed wire fence around the
whole place.
1--WE saw some dead cattle that
had sunk partly out of sight and had
caught on the sides with their feet
| lave the honor to submit that this
place should be called the Devils
Cattle Trap ! came near being en-
quilted in one of them before | knew
the dangerous nature of the place.
| was walking with the instrument
on my shoulder and when came to
the first one of them | thought it
was dry gopher hill and was going
to walk over it when one of my men
warned me of my danger. They had
gone ahead of me with the wagon
and one of the mules stepped on
dry mound and sunk almost as radidly
as it would i'll water until its body
was nearly covered and would have
undoubtedly been lost had it not been
harnessed with the other mule, which
stood on hard, firm ground. When
the mule got dry there was a hard
crust almost as white as snow formed
on him and we had to wash him three
times with warm water and soft soap
before we got him perfectly clean.
Uses For the Mud.
II do not know of anything the
mud would be good for. 1t might be
used for making jugs andother ar
ticles of earthenware if there is a pot
terry nearby. 1t would perhaps make
good sundried bricks and the quantity
of evidently inexhaustible. | tried to
dip out one of the so-called springs
with shovel, but did not make a
very brilliant success of it as the mud
ran in as fast as | dipped it out.
"One reason why so many cattle
are. lost here, is that this swamp is on
dry prairie and gives out the scent
of water. The unwary OK approaches
to drink. The place looks safe. He
goes in among the mounds, little sus-
pecting how many Of his fellows have
trodden the same path never to re-
turn and whose bones repose in the
unfathomable depths beneath his feet.
He steps upon one of the mounds and
the treacherous crust gives way and
he discovers his danger, when it is too