468 BUFFALO LAND. 



of a stage-coach, or snugly nestled inside, have undertaken to 

 write a history of the country while rattling through it at 

 the best rate of sj^eed ever attained by the " Overland Mail." 

 What the writers of this class lack in proper acquaintance 

 with their subject they usually make up by an air of pro- 

 foundness, and positiveness in expression, and the result has 

 more than once been the foisting upon the public of a species 

 of exaggeration and absurdity which Baron Munchausen him- 

 self could scarcely excel. 



As a rather curious illustration of the numerous absurdities 

 which have obtained currency concerning the plains, may be 

 mentioned the statement published more than once during the 

 winter of 1871-2, to the eifect that the snow of that region 

 is different in character from that which falls elsewhere. In 

 support of this assumption, the fact is adduced that snow- 

 plows sometimes have but little effect upon it, on account of 

 its peculiar hardness, being pushed upon it, instead of through 

 it. A little more careful examination, however, would have 

 discovered that the snow itself is essentially similar to that 

 which descends elsewhere, but that the wind which drives it 

 into the " cuts " and ravines also carries with it a large 

 amount of sand and surface dirt ; and this, packing with the 

 snow, causes the firmness in question. 



The valuable surveys being made from time to time under 

 the auspices of the Government, in charge of persons of ex- 

 perience and sagacity, are doing much to replace this superfi- 

 cial knowledge with a more correct comprehension of what 

 the plains really are ; and, altogether, we may well hope that 

 the time is not far distant when this whole wonderful region 

 will be as well understood as any portion of the national do- 

 main. 



