ARTICLE XII. 
GEOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE ESTUARY AND FRESH WATER DEPOSIT OF 
THE BAD LANDS OF THE JUDITH, WITH SOME REMARKS UPON THE 
SURROUNDING FORMATIONS. 
BY F. V. HAYDEN, M. D. 
Read March 4th, 1859. 
Near the mouth of the Judith River, not far from the sources of the Missouri, in Lat. 
472°, Lon. 1092°, is a wild, desolate and rugged region which I have called the “ Bad 
Lands of the Judith,” in contradistinction to those of White River. No portion of the 
Upper Missouri country exhibits the effects of erosion and denudation on so large a scale, 
and to add to the picturesque effect of the scenery, the variegated strata are distorted and 
folded in a wonderful manner by the action of the subterranean forces that have elevated 
the mountain masses in the vicinity. The surface of the country occupied by the deposit 
I am about to describe, is cut up into ravines and canons, with nearly vertical sides, rising 
to a height of 400 to 600 feet above the bed of the river, with scarcely a tree or a shrub 
to greet the eye of the explorer. A few scattering pines cap the summits of the hills and 
draw a scanty nourishment from a thin dry soil, but it may be regarded for the most part 
as an inaccessible desert suited only as a retreat for the buffalo and mountain sheep. 
The area occupied by this peculiar basin I could not determine with precision, but have 
estimated it at about forty miles from east to west, and from fifteen to thirty from north 
to south, and it is separated into two nearly equal portions by the Missouri. The Judith 
River rises in the Judith Mountains, pursues a course nearly due north, for the most part 
through cretaceous strata, and empties into the Missouri in Lat. 48°, Lon. 106°. The 
Judith River forms the northern boundary of this basin. The Muscle Shell River also 
rises near the Judith Mountains, but takes a course a little east of north, flows through 
Cretaceous formation No. 4, and empties into the Missouri near Lat. 473° and Lon. 108°. 
