318 GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK HILLS. 



evidently been growing for several weeks. On the top of the Beaver Creek 

 plateau, at an elevation of 6,000 feet above the sea, the grass (June 5) was 

 six inches high, and covered the whole surface of the level mesa, growing 

 thickly under the shade of the pine forest, even to the very roots of the 

 trees, giving the region the appearance of a smooth, well-kept lawn, with 

 tall pines rising from the green carpet of grass. 



The grasses in the Black Hills are almost endless in variety, every 

 condition being so extremely favorable to their growth. In the interior of 

 the country the shorter grasses prevail. But among the foothills on the rich 

 bottom-lands of Rapid Creek the taller grasses, known as wild rye, crow's 

 foot, cheat, and wild oats, attain a luxuriant growth. The grama, or 

 buffalo grass, covers the valleys at the edge of the plains to the exclusion 

 of the other varieties. It is considered the most nutritious wild grass in the 

 Western country, curing to hay on the ground. But, when growing in an 

 alkaline soil, it seems to rapidly lose its nutritive qualities after the seed 

 ripens. Along the banks of the streams, where the soil is marshy, large 

 patches of the scouring rush are found growing. It forms an excellent food 

 for stock, for which they will desert the finest grasses, and feed upon it 

 until they are full and can eat no more. 



I had previously been engaged in explorations in Western Texas and 

 New Mexico, but I was surprised at the quality of the grazing we found in 

 the Black Hills, which resembled the grass growing in the oak openings in 

 Central Texas, except that it was finer and freer from weeds and the coarser 

 and less nutritious grasses. The escort of the expedition remained camped 

 on French Creek for six weeks, and grazing for nearly one thousand horses 

 and mules and three hundred head of cattle was found during that time 

 within a mile and a half of camp, the grass commencing to grow again as 

 soon as it was eaten off by the stock. For the requirements of the popula- 

 tion that the Black Hills will support in the next twenty years enough hay 

 can be procured from the wild grasses ; and should the demand in the future 

 increase, an ample supply can be raised by sowing timothy or other culti- 

 vated varieties on the bottom-lands of the valleys. The best localities for 

 hay are in the southeastern part of the Hills, on Amphibious, French, Spring, 

 and Rapid Creeks, and in the valley of Rapid, between the foothills and the 



