144 THE WHITE RIVER BADLANDS 



THE BADLAND LIFE OF TODAY 



Conditions for present day animal and plant life in the 

 Badlands are fairly favorable. The average annual rainfall 

 is approximately seventeen inches. Of this amount about 

 thirteen inches comes during the five crop growing months, 

 April, May, June, July and August. The average annual 

 temperature is about 44 deg. Fahrenheit. 



The soil varies considerably. Much of the flatter coun- 

 try is covered by a silty or sandy loam which nourishes rich, 

 native grasses and it has proven under cultivation to be 

 favorable for the growing of vegetables and grains. 



The native plants incline toward the hardy semi-arid 

 types. Annuals are conspicuous in many places especially 

 where moisture lingers longest. Pubescent-leaved peren- 

 nials with their well-anchored roots are widely distributed. 

 There is a surprising abundance of flowers and they appear 

 in tenaceous succession through the summer. Grasses are 

 the predominant plants over much of the country. Chief 

 among the many species are buffalo grass, grama grass, 

 wheat grass, needle or spear grass, blue stem and wire 

 grass. Of these the buffalo grass and grama grass have 

 been of the greatest value in making of the region a great 

 cattle range. Cacti and yuccas among the gorgeously 

 blooming plants and sage brush among the woody shrubs 

 are abundant and conspicuous but they are by no means 

 uniformly distributed. The chief wild fruits are plums, 

 chokecherries, sandcherries, buffalo berries, gooseberries, 

 currants, wild grapes, raspberries and service berries. 



Trees are abundant in places but well wooded areas 

 are greatly restricted. Cottonwoods are common along 

 some of the alluvial flats and red cedar and the western 

 yellow pine form considerable of a forest growth among the 

 higher breaks. Pine Kidge, a prominent irregularly etched 

 escarpment and an integral part of the area under discus- 

 sion owes much of its picturesque nature to the presence of 

 the pines and cedars scattered so promiscuously among its 

 otherwise nearly bare slopes and precipices. In addition to 

 these there are in much less abundance the box elder, ash, 

 elm, hackberry, stunted oak, and willow. 



There are or were until recently more than forty native 

 mammals frequenting the Badlands. Approximately three 



