16 
THROUGH WONDERLAND. 
contrasts. Huge petrifactions and vast masses of scoria contribute to the 
weirdness of the scene, and, as if to complete its plutonic appearance, smoke 
goes up unceasingly from unquenchable subterranean fires. 
It is a mistake to suppose that these lands are worthless for agricultural or 
stock-raising purposes. The valleys and ravines are covered with nutritious 
grasses, and thousands of cattle may be seen grazing where the buffalo and 
other herbivorous wild animals were wont to roam in days gone by. The term 
u Bad Lands ” is a careless and incomplete translation of the designation bestowed 
upon the country by the early French voyageurs, who described it as “ mauvaises 
ter res pour traverser .” 
At the crossing of the Little Missouri, the Marquis de Mores, a wealthy 
young French nobleman, has established the headquarters of an extensive stock 
raising and dressed meat shipping business. 
From this point, Medora, excursions may be made to Cedar Canon, one of 
the most interesting localities in the Bad Lands; or to the burning mine, where 
may be seen, raging, perhaps the most extensive of the subterranean fires of the 
entire region. It is also a good point from which to start out on hunting 
expeditions, large game being by no means exterminated. 
Sixteen miles beyond the Little Missouri, the train passes Sentinel Butte, a 
lofty peak rising precipitously from the plain on the south side of the railroad. 
One mile more and the Montana boundary is crossed, at an elevation of 2,840 
feet above sea-level. 
In crossing the great Territory of Dakota, the tourist has traveled 367 miles ; 
in traversing that of Montana, he performs a journey of no less than 800 miles, 
almost equivalent to the distance from New York to Indianapolis. Fortunately, 
the luxurious appointments of the train render weariness well nigh impossible, 
and the trip hourly becomes more interesting and enjoyable. 
At Glendive, 692 miles from St. Paul, the road enters the valley of the 
Yellowstone, the windings of which famous river it follows, more or less closely, 
for 340 miles. 
The valley, from five to ten miles in wddth, is inclosed by high bluffs of clay 
and sandstone, their curious formations occasionally reminding the traveler of 
the Bad Lands, though they have but little variety of color. 
If the Red River of the North may justly be regarded as the true Arimaspes, 
the Yellowstone may, with equal propriety, be designated the modern Amphry- 
sus. It is upon its banks and those of its tributaries that there has been 
developed, since the opening of the Northern Pacific Railroad, that-vast graz¬ 
ing interest which has given Montana as great a reputation for its stock as 
Dakota has for its wheat. 
For many years,—up to and including the winter of 1881-82,—this was the 
finest buffalo hunting country on the continent. But the slaughter that season 
was enormous, 250,000 hides being shipped East, principally from Miles City. 
Few have been seen since that time. There are hunters who believe that small 
herds might still be found north of the international boundary; but, so far as the 
