64 



them, they vary in height from 10 to 200 feet, and in the western 

 portion are ranged in ridges running east and west ; but in travelling 

 you are frequently obliged to cross them, as the intermediate valleys, 

 •which are also sand, are not continuous. About the sources of Loup 

 Fork many of the lakes of water found in them are impregnated with 

 salts and unfit to drink, and our sufierings in exploring them will 

 always hold a prominent place in our memories. The present form 

 of these hills is mainly if not entirely due to the wind. Where the 

 grass protects the surface the sand does not drift ; but if this is re- 

 moved, the wind whirls the sand in the air, and often excavates deep 

 holes. I therefore look upon them as utterly impracticable for any 

 line of railroad ; for should any attempt be made to grade the surface, 

 which would be necessary, the wind would fill up the cuts with sand 

 as with drifting snow. 



In this section is also to be found the Bad Lands, or Mauvaises-Terres, 

 of White river, so celebrated for their vertebrate remains. The 

 locality to which this name (Bad Lands) has been applied is in extent 

 about one hundred and fifty miles long, in a direction northeast and 

 southwest, and about sixty miles wide. The term Bad Lands was 

 given to this section by the traders, on account of the difiiculty of 

 getting a road through a portion of it. The extent of the geological 

 formation to which these Bad Lands belong is very great, and, as the 

 name is an improper one to be applied to the whole of it, I shall not 

 use the term except in speaking of the portion occupied by it along 

 the middle course of the White river. In this part of White river 

 some as beautiful valleys are to be found as anywhere in the far 

 west, though, like other parts, the majority of the country is barren. 

 These Bad Lands of the White river country have frequently been 

 spoken of as a vast grave or sepulchre, from the amount of bones found 

 there; and this figure of speech has somewhat tended to give a gloomy 

 idea of the place which it does not especially deserve, as it abounds 

 in the most beautiful and varied forms, in endless variety, giving the 

 most striking and pleasing efiects of light and shade. It has also 

 been described as having sunk away from the surrounding world, 

 with the country rising like steps to the Black Hills, which is not the 

 case, many portions of these Bad Lands being higher than all the 

 intervening country between them and the Black Hills, from which 

 the portions on White river are distant about thirty miles. The 

 formation to which this ])ortion belongs extends almost uninterrupt- 

 edly east to the mouth of the Keya Paha, and south beyond the 

 Platte ; and an instance of the striking appearance which it some- 

 times makes is exhibited in Court-house rock and Scott's bluffs. The 

 word " Bid Lands" is generally applied by the traders to any sec- 

 tion of the prairie country where roads are difficult, and in this way 

 to parts of many distinct geological formations; and as it is generally 

 calculated to mislead, should not be used. When I shall use it occa- 

 sionally, I use only the name of the country, as it was originally 

 given to mean bad land to travel through. 



The second section is the cretaceous formation, forming the level 

 country at the base of the Black Hills, the valley of the Shyenne river, 

 and the immediate valley of the Missouri river, from Heart river to 



