Kansas and Oklahoma. 265 



gentle depressions in the prairie through which the stream 

 meanders across a sandy channel. 



It is along these streams and usually at the point of contact 

 of the Tertiary above and the Cretaceous and Red-beds 

 beneath that the springs which form the title of this article 

 are located. Ordinarily the spring has carved for itself a 

 canyon, or at least is situated in one, often at its head. Some- 

 times, however, it bubbles up from the bottom of a sand-draw 

 or, it maybe, from the almost level prairie. Now it is a single 

 bold spring issuing from a crevice in the rock and running off 

 down the canyon ; again, and perhaps more frequently, it takes 

 the form of a number of seepage springs coming out along a 

 line for a distance of perhaps 100 yards. In any case the 

 water is very pure, and is clear, cold and soft. It is the best 

 water found anywhere on the plains. In nearly every instance 

 the site of a Tertiary spring is marked by the presence of 

 trees and not infrequently they are the only trees anywhere in 

 the country — the upland plains being in most places a treeless 

 prairie. Some of the rarest bits of timber in all the plains 

 country are along these spring-fed canyons. 



But the springs have an economic value. This is one of the 

 best cattle countries in the world. Grass grows luxuriantly. 

 Cattle may be ranged the year round. But the question of 

 water supply is always a vital one in a grazing country. It is 

 often the first problem with which the stock man has to deal, 

 The presence or absence of water on a range often determines 

 whether or not it is a profitable grazing ground. There is a 

 saying on the plains, il The man that controls the water con- 

 trols the whole country." A single Tertiary spring often 

 supplies the stock water for an area of several square miles, 

 and thus renders this region profitable. If the spring is suffi- 

 ciently strong to flow a steady stream no further notice need 

 be taken of it, and the cattle are permitted to drink directly 

 from the stream. If the spring is weak the water is often 

 piped into tanks or reservoirs to which the cattle have free 

 access. It frequently happens also that dwellings are located 

 near a favorite spring. Occasionally the water from a spring 

 will be piped through the kitchen, into the milk house, and 

 from there into a tank in the barn lot, furnishing an ample 

 supply for all purposes, and the surplus is then utilized to 

 irrigate a small garden. 



But Tertiary springs are utilized on a still larger scale. 

 Camp Supply, a military post in northwestern Oklahoma, is 

 situated on a flat prairie where Wolf and Beaver Creeks unite 

 to form the North Canadian. The underlying formation con- 

 sists of Red-beds in which the water is not only insufficient in 

 quantity but also poor in quality. Some three miles distant 



