RAINFALL IN NEBRASKA. 41 



The second reply to those who object to the little rainfall in 

 western Nebraska, is that the rainfall is increasing from year to 

 year. This fact will be considered in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER IV. 



EVIDENCES OF INCREASING RAINFALL IN NE- 

 BRASKA—SOURCES OF RAINFALL. 



Appearance of New Springs — Increasing Size of Streams — Changing Vegeta- 

 tion — Former Character of Vegetation — Causes Producing Increased Rainfall 

 — Wrong Reasons Assigned — True Reason, the Increased Absorptive Power 

 of the Soil, produced by Cultivation — Experimental Proofs — Special Ab- 

 sorptive Power of Nebraska Soil — Extension of Sufficient Rainfall over 

 Western Nebraska — Original Sources of Rainfall — Effect of Change in the 

 Direction of the Winds — Moisture from the Rivers — Amount of River Sur- 

 face Exposed to Evaporation — Temperature of the Rivers — Nebraska ef- 

 fected by the Amount of Precipitation in the Mountains. 



SOON after I first came to the State in 1864, it was reported that 

 some new springs had made their appearance at the base of the 

 bluffs facing the Missouri bottom and river in Dakota County. On 

 investigation this was found to be correct. This phenomenon was 

 observed in other portions of the State. It has occurred, for ex- 

 ample, during the last few years in the Pierce precinct in Lancaster 

 County. Up to this time I have a record of one hundred and fifty 

 springs that have made their appearance during the last ten years 

 where they were never known before. This same appearing of 

 new springs has been noticed by many observers in the State, and 

 is particularly familiar to the older settlers of the State. Connected 

 with this same line of facts is the phenomenon of the appearance 

 of water in old creek beds, where it apparently had not been flow- 

 ing forages. Many of the smaller tributaries of the Elkhorn, the 

 Logan, the Bows, the Loups and the Niobrara, with beautiful 

 small bottoms and old stream beds in the midst or one side of them, 

 and which were perfectly dry when I first knew them in 1S65 and 

 1S66, are again living streams. Indeed many of them, especially 

 towards the head of the Elkhorn?, that had sod grown over the 

 stream beds which were even difficult to find so nearly obliterated 



