1880 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4,63 
countries, and many farm crops grow well. At 
Berthold Agency, latitude 47° 30', wheat has been 
grown successfully ; while this is one of the lead¬ 
ing crops around Winnipeg, which is above lat 50°. 
Bench and Uplands. 
Back of the “bottoms,” a few feet higher, are 
the “bench lands,” extending to the foot of the 
“ bluffs.” Sometimes they are narrow strips a few 
feet wide, oftener entirely absent; sometimes half a 
mile to a mile or more in width ; and, like the bot¬ 
toms, are sometimes on one side of the stream, 
Fig. 4.— SPECIMENS OF MISSOURI SAND-BARS, ETC., 
AND THE STEAMER’S COURSE THROUGH THEM. 
sometimes on the other—seldom on both sides at 
the same point. These are similar to the average 
prairie soil, and where they exist in sufficient width, 
will be excellent localities for farms—for grain and 
corn especially. The adjacent bottoms supply 
plenty of grass, and when broken yield corn, pota¬ 
toes, and iudeed all crops suited to the latitude. 
Back of the bottoms and bench lands where they 
exist, are the “bluffs” forming the sides of the 
.general river valley, which varies in width, between 
the bluffs, from half a mile to two, five, eight, and 
in one place to fifteen or twenty miles, averaging, 
we should guess, 2 miles, for 600 miles above Bis¬ 
marck. These are mainly sloping irregular banks, 
rising 30 to 100 or more feet above the river, the 
sides cut into dells, or cut down by water and frost, 
with now and then little valleys running up and out 
at the top, filled with trees—in which case they are 
called “Coulies.” The bluffs are, however, cut 
into all sorts of regular and irregular forms, often 
weird and fantastic, frequently of great beauty, 
and presenting an ever-changing scenery that gives 
a charm to one’s journey. From the top of the 
bluffs—which are seldom “bluffs” as that term is 
usually understood—the country runs back as a 
level, treeless prairie, more or less rolling in many 
places ; in others broken into hills and hollows, and 
here and there intersected by the wide “ bottoms ” 
of rivers or creeks that flow into the Missouri. A 
good map will show many of these affluents, some 
of them of great leDgth, as the Little Missouri, 
the Milk River, the Big, Little, and Lower Muddy, 
the Cheyenne, etc., besides the large Yellowstone. 
“Bad Lands.” 
Strictly speakiug, we suppose this term applies 
to those lands which are very hilly, and covered 
with a dark-colored, finely-broken stone, allowing 
very little vegetation. It is here, apparently, ap¬ 
plied to all land not fit for cultivation, whether too 
sandy, too dry, or too alkaline. Such lands are 
frequent, back from the river, along most of the 
Upper Missouri, but there is much good land also 
that will in due time, and not very far distant, 
come into cultivation. The “bottorqs” and the 
“ bench lands ” along the Missouri and its feeding 
streams, will afford good land to sustain a popula¬ 
tion of hundreds of thousands, not to say millions. 
Among: the Indians. 
We write this, surrounded by many thousands 
of nearly uncivilized Indians, including 1,500 to 
2,000 "hostiles,” who have come from Sitting 
Bull’s bauds, just over the line in British Territory, 
on a foraging excursion. These all live in Lodges, 
or “tepees,” that is, conical tents covered with 
tanned Buffalo skins, the hair removed, and sewed 
together. It occurs to us that our readers will be 
interested in some brief general notes on the ab¬ 
origines... .For 250 years the Indians have had a 
certain relation to the agriculture of our country. 
The ever increasing demand for new land to culti- 
vata has led to a continuous struggle for obtaining 
it, by fair means or by foul, from the aborigines 
who claimed ownership and were in possession. 
The red line of war and massacre, stretching from 
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico has gradually moved 
westward, sweeping over nearly the entire country, 
for two centuries. Many pioneer settlers on the 
frontier have worked with rifle always at hand for 
protection, and many have fallen by savage hands. 
To-day all this is about Over. 
During the past few years almost the entire In¬ 
dian population has been gathered upon Reserva¬ 
tions, and nearly all of them are now peaceful¬ 
ly occupying their limited areas. These reser¬ 
vations, marked upon an ordinary map of the 
whole country show only as small spots, with three 
or four exceptions—the Indian territory south of 
Kansas, the Sioux territory in western Dakota, and 
the one where we now write, viz., that between the 
Upper Missouri and Canada, including some land 
south of the river. Leaving out Alaska, the total 
amount of land thus reserved was reported in 1879 
as 258,600 square miles, and the number of Indians 
of all ages, 252,897. These Indians are grouped un¬ 
der the direction of about 70 government agencies. 
Over three-fifths of the lands reserved are at three 
points : in the Southern Indian Territory, 64,214 sq. 
miles; the Sioux reservation in western Dakota, 
49,176 sq. miles, and the Fort Peck aud Black Feet 
reserve in northern Montana, 41,330 sq. miles—in 
all three 154,620 sq. miles, leaving but 104,000 sq. 
miles for all other lauds allowed to the aborigines, 
and the recent cession of the Ute territory in Colo¬ 
land (“much big land”), more implements and 
more seed. And this too among the most uncul¬ 
tured tribes, many of whom were engaged in the 
fighting of 1876 when General Custer was slain. 
A Most Worthy Consummation 
it will surely be, if, as is possible, during the pres¬ 
ent decade, the entire aborigines of the whole 
country are settled down to actual agriculture, each 
on his own farm, deeded to him individually. We 
can surely grant this. Allowing five to a family, 
and 160 acres to each family, no more land would 
be needed than is comprised in less than one 
quarter of the single State of Illinois or of Iowa, 
for all the Indians of the country. 
Partly Corrective. —In the advance copy of 
Sept, number, just received, we notice two errors 
in the last paragraph of Notes, on page 340, which 
was sent by telegraph —an error of the operator, 
doubtless. We wrote that the wheat crop of Min¬ 
nesota was unusually fine in the north-iwesi. There 
is comparatively little wheat yet grown in the north¬ 
east part of this State. Again, in speaking of the 
Americans and foreigners settling on the N. P. R. R. 
lands, we wrote the u former probably predominat¬ 
ing”—not foreigners , as the telegraph made it. 
This is not important; but it is a matter of interest 
that, of the new settlers along that road, a large 
number are from the older States. Foreigners, we 
judge, go more largely to Western Minnesota, to 
Dakota, and Nebraska, except where they cross 
the line to Winnipeg, as many English emigrants do 
to keep under the same government as at home. 
Fig. 1.— SIDE ELEVATION OF HOUSE. 
rado reduces this amount. The total land now even 
nominally occupied or allotted to the entire Indian 
tribes is 16,000 sq. miles less than the single State 
of Texas—or about equalling Montana and Idaho. 
Indian Agriculture in the Future. 
The present policy of the Government, and of all 
interested in the welfare of the Indians, is to as 
rapidly as possible get them to give up the chase, 
and devote themselves to the cultivation of the 
soil and stock raising.* And we are happy to re¬ 
port that there is a good prospect that the desired 
object will be obtained ultimately, if the present 
policy be carefully and judiciously persisted in for 
a few years. For example, away up here, 200 miles 
above the mouth of the Yellowstone, on the north 
side of the Missouri, we find some 800 Indian fam¬ 
ilies engaged in cultivating their allotments of land, 
growing as fine potatoes as we have ever seen, very 
good corn, oats, pumpkins, etc., using all the land 
that could possibly be broken and seed obtained 
for it. In a grand Council with the Chiefs and war¬ 
riors here, an earnest wish was expressed for more 
* The writer only consented to serve on the Board of 
Indian Commissioners, because urgently solicited to do 
so for the aid ho could give in this special direction. 
A Convenient Cottage, Costing $1,000. 
*T S. B. REED, ARCHITECT. 
These plans are fora dwelling similar in character 
to those published in the September number of the 
American Agriculturist. The divisions and general 
arrangements are changed, and the side entrances 
reversed adapting it to locations having an opposite 
approach. Exterior. — Two elevations are 
given. The sides (fig. 1) are 341 feet long, of which 
16 feet forms an end to the front, or main part. The 
rear or wing portion is carried up to the full liight 
of the front, and has the same general finish. The 
front (figure 2), has a breadth of 25 feet, with 
foundations showing 2 feet above ground. The 
openings and other parts are symmetrically ar¬ 
ranged, and the whole tastefully finished. The 
principal roofs have a pitch of 14 inches to a foot, 
giving them unusual' prominence. The chimneys 
pass through the ridges, where they appear to the 
best advantage. The two porches are sufficiently 
large to protect the entrances ; the front one is 
furnished with permanent seats at either side. 
Cellsir (figure 3).—Hight6!feet. In this climate 
it is necessary for all trench foundation walls to 
