100 THE BEEF BONANZA. 



The description of one valley will answer for hun- 

 dreds of others, as they are very much alike. Lodge 

 Pole Creek, 396 miles west of Omaha, has an elevation 

 of 3861 feet above the level of the sea, and is one of 

 the best ranges in the West for both cattle and sheep. 

 It is 190 miles long, and empties into the South Platte 

 River. For 180 miles it flows adjacent to the Union 

 Pacific Railroad, and the valley in this distance con- 

 tains at least 1,000,000 acres of grazing-land. The 

 grass is short, sweet, and nutritious, and the range in 

 every way suited to sheep-farming. On the bottoms 

 great quantities of hay could be cut, and in the whole 

 length of Lodge Pole at least 600,000 sheep could be 

 raised, yielding annually 2,500,000 pounds of wool, 

 worth $1,000,000. Horse Creek, 5000 feet above the 

 sea, is located near Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, and 

 empties into the Platte. It is a fine stream, 100 miles 

 in length, and has Bear Creek, 40 miles long, for 

 a tributary. At the head of Bear Creek is Bear Lake, 

 on the banks of which grow beautiful groves of cotton- 

 wood and box elder. Along the bottom of the main 

 stream is plenty of luxuriant grass for hay, and on the 

 uplands 6,400,000 acres of grazing, where half a million 

 sheep might feed the year round. Larrens Fork is 

 60 miles long, with hay-lands, uplands, timber, and 

 buffalo grass. Fox Creek is 30 miles long, rises out 

 of solid rock, runs south, and is a fine stock-range. 

 Box Elder is 25 miles long, empties into the Platte, 

 and has plenty of sheep-grass. Deer Creek is 40 miles 

 long and has good pasturage. On both Box Elder and 

 Deer Creek is found aspen, box-elder, and cottonwood 



