1895.] In the Region of the new Fossil, Demonelix. 215 
that they become unmanageable. Throughout the spring and 
early summer months there is a wonderful profusion of flowers. 
As fast as one species finishes its blooming period another takes 
its place; in fact, whatever one sees is but an earnest of what 
might be, were rain less uncertain, or could the land be irri- 
gated. But for irrigation, since the greater part of the county 
is so high above the three small streams that drain it, depend- 
ence must be placed upon artesian wells, which would cost more 
than the average ranchman can afford to pay. The conse- 
quence is that one seldom meets with a settler anywhere in 
the county except in the cafions, where water may be obtained 
with little trouble. 
In early times there may have been over a broad strip of 
country, west of the Missouri River, a dearth of vegetation that 
made the name of Great American Desert much more appro- 
priate than at present. It is not unlikely, in fact, it is very 
probable, that Fremont, when he gave origin to the term, was 
deceived by the aspect produced by the low creeping buffalo 
= grass. In the eastern part of Nebraska the buffalo grass had 
almost entirely given place to the blue-stem grasses when the 
state was admitted into the Union. There has been a constant 
westward movement of vegetation, though it is doubtful 
whether, outside of man’s influence, it has been as rapid as 
some of the early writers would have us believe Still, there 
is an impression constantly met with among the older settlers 
that there has been a great change in both climate and vege- 
tation. The territory north of the Platte River, known as the 
“ Sand-hills,” is said to have been once entirely bare, but it is 
now covered with grasses. The yearly amount of moisture 
precipitated is believed to be, on the whole, steadily increasing. 
In the extreme western part of the state, in early territorial 
times, one might sleep in the open air without one’s blankets 
being dampened by a single drop of dew. , Now heavy dews 
fall all over the state. 
This constant change of climate is commonly accounted for 
by the western settler by the breaking up of the prairie sod 
and the cultivation of the soil, which certainly has enabled 
much of the rain that has fallen to be retained instead of run- 
