62 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
Ta the badlands many beds of lignite can be seen outcropping as 
black bands along the faces of the buttes and ‘‘temples,’’ and petrified 
stumps and logs are especially abundant about Sully Springs and near 
the lower end of the valley. (See PI. VI, A.) The reason why some 
of the stumps and logs are petrified is that when the trees fell they 
were covered by mud before they could decay and for ages were soaked 
with water charged with silica. This silica replaced the vegetable 
tissues, preserving even the most minute structures of the plants, so 
that it is possible to tell to what kind of tree the wood belonged. The 
petrified logs give a good idea of the size of the trees composing the 
forests of that day. 
The village of Medora is situated on Little Missouri River at the 
point where it is crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway. The river 
flows here in a deep, rugged canyon, which seems to 
be about the last place in which to establish a settle- 
ment. The village was founded in the early eighties 
by the Marquis De Mores, who named it after his wife. 
On an eminence on the west bank of the river he built a‘ ‘chateau,” 
which can be seen on the left (south) from the passing train. The 
marquis evidently expected that Medora would become a busy center, 
for he built a large packing house, the remains of which can be seen on 
the right. He left the country and met a tragic death a few years ago 
in the Far East. 
There are two prominent beds of lignite in the bluff at Medora, one 
40 feet above river level and the other 30 feet higher. The upper bed 
is 4 feet 6 inches thick and the lower one 9 feet 4 inches, with 3 inches 
of clay near the bottom.! 
After crossing the river the road follows Andrews Creck and climbs 
to the upland in about 16 miles. For most of this distance the rocks 
of the Fort Union formation are well exposed, and near the river there 
are exposed the same thick beds of lignite that were seen at Medora. 
(See Pl. VII, B.) 
Medora. 
Elevation 2,290 feet. 
St. Paul 601 miles. 
* The log of a deep well at Medora, sunk 
by the railway company for water, records 
the occurrence of a lignite bed 
thick at a depth of 120 feet. Although 
beds of lignite from 8 to 9 feet thick are 
known farther up the river at nearly the 
same depth and may extend under the 
town, too much confidence should not be 
placed on the thickness given in the log 
of the Medora well, as drillers are not 
always careful to distinguish dark shale 
from lignite. As reported in this log, 
there is altogether 29 feet of lignite in beds 
3 feet or more thick. 
The lignite here has been mined only 
for local use, but when improved methods 
for the utilization of this kind of fuel have 
been devised, the canyon of Little Mis- 
souri River will offer exceptional oppor- 
tunities for cheap mining on a large scale. 
