SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES 145 



hundred species of birds have also been found visiting or 

 making their homes in the region- The commonest of the 

 birds are the cliff swallow, the rock wren, the meadow lark 

 and the chikadee but others may be found in considerable 

 numbers. Mammals once occupying the country in an im- 

 portant manner but now nearly or wholly dispersed are the 

 bison, elk, deer, bear, antelope, mountain sheep and puma. 

 Among those that are yet to be found in abundance or in 

 considerable numbers are the following : Coyote, gray wolf, 

 gopher, jack rabbit, cottontail rabbit, prairie dog, badger, 

 skunk, porcupine, raccoon, bobcat, kitfox, weasel, mice and 

 shrews. 



RECENT HISTORY 

 The history of the White River Badlands in so far as 

 it relates to man before the advent of the white settler has 

 to do chiefly with the Teton Indians. When white men first 

 penetrated the region they found Indians frequenting the 

 country and calling it a part of their possessions. In the 

 earliest days the Crows, (Absarokas) controlled the coun- 

 try and later the Cheyennes but sometime before the close 

 of the eighteenth century the lands passed into the possession 

 of the Tetons of the Dakota Sioux. The claims of the sev- 

 eral Teton tribes shifted from time to time, the Brules and 

 the Minneconjous for a while occupying much of the country 

 but later the Oglalas assumed a large control. (Plate 49). 



The earliest white men to see the Badlands were traders 

 and trappers in search of furs. Their coming led in due 

 course to military and exploratory expeditions. Conflicts of 

 diverse kinds occurred between the Indians and the new- 

 comers and for a number of years an irritating warfare pre- 

 vailed. However, most of the actual fighting took place 

 outside the region under consideration. The severest con- 

 flict in the Badlands proper occurred during the Messiah 

 Craze of 1890. This is commonly known as the Wounded 

 Knee affair. It was an unfortunate clash between federal 

 troops and the Indians in which 200 Indians, men, women, 

 and children, and sixty soldiers were killed. 



During the last quarter of a century, with the growing 

 preponderance of white people the Indians have progressed 

 toward civilization and many of their homes show semblance 

 of comfort, stability and wealth. The traveller finds them 



