DESCRIPTION OF THE STREAMS ' 261 



SECTION IV. 



CASTLE AND RAPID CREEKS. 



Rapid Creek is formed by two main branches — Castle Creek and the 

 North Fork — each heading in the limestone divide near Crook's Tower, one 

 of the most elevated portions of the Black Hills. It is the only stream on 

 the eastern slope of the Hills flowing a continuous stream of water during 

 all seasons to the Cheyenne. The other creeks sink among the foothills, 

 and during the greater portions of the year are marked by dry channels 

 traversing the plains. Though second in size to Spearfish or Redwater in 

 volume of water, Rapid Creek is the largest stream rising in the Black Hills. 

 From its extreme source in the springs issuing from the limestone at the 

 head of Castle Creek to the point where it empties into the south fork of 

 the Cheyenne, its length, omitting the minor bends, is not less than one 

 hundred miles. Throughout its course it is characterized by a rapid current, 

 the descent of the valley being about 3,200 feet from the source of Castle 

 Creek to the edge of the plains at the foothills, and nearly 800 feet in 

 traversing the open plains a distance of forty-five miles to the Cheyenne. 

 The area drained by Rapid Creek and its tributaries has been divided by 

 the miners into the Castle Creek and the Rapid Creek mining districts, the 

 north fork not having been located as a district the past season, although 

 gold was discovered in considerable quantities on that branch. 



THE CASTLE CREEK DISTRICT. 



Castle Creek, near its source in the limestone, is a small stream fed by 

 numerous little springs issuing from the sides of the valley, and every few 

 hundred feet the creek is dammed by the beaver, producing marshy ponds 

 and boggy tracts of bottom land. At the head of the creek groves of tall 

 slender spruce cover the hill-sides, separated by narrow open glades of 

 grass land extending between the low hills, producing most pleasing views ; 

 but farther down the stream the spruce is replaced by pine, and the valley 

 is bordered by cliffs of Carboniferous limestone, whose castellated apjDear- - 

 ance suggested the name of the stream. 



