Unirrigated Uands of Eastern Coeorado. 
7 
ber of underground streams of varying width. Some are very nar¬ 
row, and some are so wide that there are regions which are said 
to be underlaid by “sheet-water.” This suggests the possibility 
of the existence of an underground water system consisting of 
rills, creeks, rivers and lakes on the Plains. Also, in the same 
connection, it must be admitted that hills and mountains exist 
there. If we could strip the country of the soil so as to uncover 
the shale beds and water bearing sands, it is likely that we would 
discover a country not so level as now exists there, but with many 
hills which are now under hollows, and many streams of various 
sizes trickling through beds of sand much the same as the waters 
of the Big Sandy pass through its vast sand bed. There are now 
quite a number of streams in Arapahoe, Washington and Yuma 
counties whose outlets are covered by sandhills. One of these in 
Washington county is over two hundred feet wide where the 
B. & M. railroad crosses it, but it ends on the west side of a big 
sandhill. The visible streams of water are few. The Big Sandy 
shows open water at intervals along its course. This stream seems 
to have an underflow which follows the course of its sand-bed, 
although it seems to be much wider in places. The Smoky Hill 
River in Colorado is crossed at intervals by an underground 
stream which does not follow the course of the present sand-bed 
any great distance at any place. The South Fork of the Republi¬ 
can is a visible stream for a few miles just east of Flagler, where 
it runs over a bed of shale. It then goes under the sand, and does 
not again appear until near Tuttle. From Tuttle to Benkelman, 
Nebraska, where it joins the North Fork of the Republican, it is 
a visible stream. The Arickaree River rises near River Bend. It has 
no known underflow corresponding to its sand-bed until within a 
few miles of Cope, at the townsite of Arickaree City. Open water 
appears several miles below Cope, and a small stream is constant 
in flow between that point and Haigler, Nebraska, where it unites 
with the North Fork of the Republican. The North Fork of the 
Republican is a good stream from its source. It is formed by the 
union of several spring streams in the sand-hills west of Wray. 
When the country was occupied by the stockmen, they took 
possession of the open water, using the range as far out on the 
flats as their stock could graze from water. They sometimes 
pushed their cattle out onto the flats when the lagoons were full 
of water from rains, but as a rule the flats were not used very far 
from the streams. Those men seem to have seldom thought of 
pumping water from deep wells for their stock. But, when the 
country was settled by farmers, they began to dig deep wells. 
Their necessities caused the introduction of well-augers and well- 
drills and powerful force-pumps. Windmills were also improved 
to meet the needs of the times. Soon wells were found in large 
