ARTICLE XII. 
GEOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE ESTUARY AND FRESH WATER DEPOSIT 
FORMING THE BAD LANDS OF JUDITH RIVER, WITH SOME REMARKS 
UPON THE SURROUNDING FORMATIONS. 
BY F. V. HAYDEN, M. D. 
Read March 4th, 1859. 
Near the mouth of the Judith River, not far from the sources of the Missouri, in Lat. 
47i°, Lon. 109J°, is a wild, desolate and rugged region which I have called the “Bad 
Lands of the Judith,” in contradistinction to those of White River. No other portion of 
the Upper Missouri country exhibits the effects of erosion and denudation on so large a 
scale, and to add to the picturesque effect of the scenery, the variegated strata are distorted 
and folded in a wonderful manner by the action of the subterranean forces that have ele¬ 
vated the mountain masses in the vicinity. The surface of the country occupied by the 
deposit I am about to describe, is cut up into ravines and canons, with nearly vertical sides, 
rising to a height of 400 to 600 feet above the bed of the river, with scarcely a tree or a 
shrub to greet the eye of the explorer. A few scattering pines cap the summits of the hills 
and draw a scanty nourishment from a thin dry soil, but it may be regarded for the most 
part as an inaccessible desert suited only as a retreat for the buffalo and mountain sheep. 
The area occupied by this peculiar basin I could not determine with precision, but have 
estimated it at about forty miles from east to west, and from fifteen to thirty from north 
to south, and it is separated into two nearly equal portions by the Missouri. The Judith 
River rises in the Judith Mountains, pursues a course nearly due north, for the most part 
through cretaceous strata, and empties into the Missouri in Lat. 48°, Lon. 106°. The 
Judith River forms the northern boundary of this basin. The Muscle Shell River also 
rises near the Judith Mountains, but takes a course a little east of north, flows through 
Cretaceous Formation No. 4, and empties into the Missouri near Lat. 472°, and Lon. 108°. 
