(JKAZING. 310 



Clioyoniio, wlierc (ho tallei" grasses are iibiuidaiit on tlu; moist bottoms of 

 the streams and side valleys. 



On the plains in the valle3's of the Cheyenne and the AVest l^'ork of 

 Beaver Creek there are localities where sage brush and " })rickly [)ears" 

 cover the alkaline soil, and grass is only to be found in patches. But gen- 

 erall}- throughout the area of the Black Hills the grass unifonnly covers the 

 land, wherever there is soil for its support and the shade is not too dense 

 for its growth. Except among the Red Beds in the foothills, sage-brush is 

 never seen and cactus but rarely met with. 



Over thickly-wooded areas, and in the mountainous and rocky region 

 about Harney Peak, the grass is found only in patches in the few localities 

 favorable for its existence. A similar region, comparatively destitute of 

 grass, occurs in the northern part of the Hills between Terry and Crow 

 Peaks, where the whole surface of the country is cut into innumerable 

 canons, and a species of ground ivy, called "kinnikinick," a plant probably 

 of the dog- wood family, replaces the grass. 



I estimate the total area of country destitute of grass, or where it only 

 occurs in isolated patches, to be not more than six hundred square miles, 

 or one-tenth the whole area of the Black Hills, the remaining five thousand 

 five hundred square miles constituting some of the best ranges for cattle, 

 horses, and sheep to be found in the whole Western country. 



Cattle frequently perish on the plains in large numbers during the 

 severe winters, not so much from the low temperature or intensity of the 

 cold as from the piercing winds, accompanied by sleet or snow, that sweep 

 Avith resistless fury over the level and unbroken surface of the ground, 

 chilling the animals more than any ordinary degree of cold could possibly 

 affect them in a more sheltered locality. In the Black Hills the wind may 

 blow a gale over the mountain-tops and exposed ridges, but in the valleys 

 the air will be comparatively at rest, the timber covering the hill-sides 

 and ridges materially conti-ibuting toward making the valleys warm and 

 sheltered. This will be of gi'eat advantage to the stock which may be 

 wintered in the Hills, shelter being found everywhere from sudden or 

 severe storms. The grass exposed on the hill-sides by the snow blowing 



