PREFATORY NOTE. 



This paper is written to supply the need, so often expressed, 

 of a concise summary description of the badland formations of 

 the Black Hills region. It is intended primarily for those who 

 may not have had training in geologic and paleontologic study, 

 but who are interested in gaining an intelligent idea as to the 

 meaning of the Badlands. In so far as it is reasonably possible, 

 therefore; the paper is brief, general, and of a non-technical 

 character. 



A vast amount of work and a great sum of money have 

 been expended during the last sixty years and more in the study 

 of our badland deposits but the results of all this have been 

 published in abstruse scientific papers distributed for the most 

 part beyond the reach of any but the specialist having access 

 to well-equipped libraries. In a few large museums, reference 

 to which is made in the following pages, a generous display 

 of the carefully restored fossil remains has served in a measure 

 to relieve the condition, but even this has its limitations 

 particularly as regards immediate usefulness to those who have 

 little or no opportunity to visit the cities in which the museums 

 are situated. 



I have made effort not only to present in readable form 

 the most important and most interesting facts concerning the 

 badland deposits but also to provide, for those who may desire 

 it, a convenient help to further study. Readers who may wish 

 to enquire more fully into the literature will find in the biblio- 

 graphy a list of the more important publications. I have also 

 given a full list to date of all well-defined species of the fossil 

 animals that have been identified, together with reference to the 

 publication containing their earliest description. 



It is perhaps unnecessary to say that in writing this paper 

 I have drawn liberally from the works of many men of science, 

 who have spent arduous years that they might have a part in 

 unravelling the marvellous story of these strange lands. In 



