THE SNEEZELESS LAND OF THE DACOTAH 



507 



may not be as big as some, but it certainly has the gen- 

 eral idea and one of the finest trips in the Hills is the 

 ride through this trench on the railroad which runs up its 

 entire length. 



The only drawback attached to the trip is that the sight- 

 seer is not good for anything for two or three days 

 after making 

 the journey. 

 He is too 

 busy rubbing 

 cocoa butter 

 on the roof 

 of his mouth 

 where it is all 

 sun - burned, 

 and changing 

 the splints on 

 his neck. 

 That is the 

 only trouble 

 with Spear- 

 fish Canyon. 

 The sides are 

 both built too 

 close to the 

 railroad 

 track. \\'hen 

 there is sev- 

 eral thou 

 sand dollars 

 worth of 

 s c e n e r } 

 around a per- 

 son and it is 

 nine feet 

 away an d 

 nine hundred 

 straight u p , 

 it becomes 

 quite a task 

 to see it prop- 

 erly. It seems 

 t o m e the 



railroad could institute a novel idea and overcome this 

 thing by running a string of flat cars fitted up with mat- 

 tresses so the visitor could lay on his back and be in a 

 natural position to look where the looking is at its best. 



While in Spearfish the tourist also may see the gov- 

 ernment fish hatchery if his taste runs to such things. 

 Of course it isn't much to see and the seeing would doubt- 

 less do one very little good, but it is there, and to people 

 interested in that sort of thing it is quite interesting. 



Rapid Canyon also is quite a groove if one is out 

 looking for ruts. It was built near Rapid Creek and the 

 creek got into it some way and couldn't get out. It did 

 a good job of trying, however, and it doesn't run more 

 than twenty steps without switching to one side or the 

 other in an evident effort to climb the cliffs. Conse- 

 quently, the road through the Rapid Ravine runs largely 



KNIFE BLADE ROCK IN 

 BLACK HILLS 



THE 



to bridges, there being scores of them in every mile of 

 road which doubtless is the largest and most cumber- 

 some number of bridges to the inch ever turned out, ex- 

 cept by the Associated Carder of Allied Dentists. 



Then there is Crystal Cave and Jewel Cave, small but 

 very select, and containing geological .specimens as fine 

 as any in the world, and there is the Wind Cave Game 

 Park and the State Game Park, where may be seen deer, 

 antelope, elk and buffalo. 



Among the towns there are several of interest. Cus- 

 ter, the site of General Custer's headquarters in 1874, 

 and the first town in the Black Hills, is famed as being 

 the spot where the first gold was discovered in this 

 region. A tablet marks the spot. Custer is the heart of 

 the Hills and from here easy access may be had by rail 

 and road to all the points of interest. It is six miles from 

 Sylvan Lake and nine from Harney Peak. It is also near 

 Wind and Jewel Caves, Hot Springs and the Needles. 

 Deadwood, the second, and most beautiful town of the 

 Hills, is the point from which to see Roosevelt Moun- 

 tain and Monument, the White Rocks, .Spearfish Can- 

 yon, Bear Butte 

 and the Home- 

 stake Mine In 

 Deadwood are 

 the graves of 

 Wild Bill Tlic- 

 k o k. Calamity 

 Jane, Preacher 

 Smith, Captain 

 S e t h Bullock 

 and many other 

 notables. Cap- 

 t a i n Bullock, 

 first sheriff of 

 the Hills, U. S. 

 mar.shal, rough 

 rider and a close 

 friend of Roose- 

 velt, was the 

 man responsible 

 for the dedica- 

 tion of Roose- 

 velt Monument 

 to the memory 

 of our greatest 

 American. 

 (This, of course, 

 is put in as a 

 personal opin- 

 ion. D e m o- 

 crats may dif- 

 fer.) 



Speaking of monuments, there is a natural one in the 

 Hills which should not be overlooked. It can't be over- 

 looked if one gets within a hundred miles of it, the same 

 being Devil's Tower, which has been designated by the 

 government as a national monument. The Tower is the 

 only one of its kind in the world, being a great rectangular 



THE HUGE PILE KNOWN AS THE 

 DEVIL'S TOWER. 



