CHAPTER XVIIHot Springs

The first cabin built in the Black HillsNow standing in Custer, S.D.

The Gordon party like many others decided to try to break through the troops and start mining gold. The party consisted of twenty-six men, one woman, and her son. They left Sioux City in October of 1874. They suffered many hardships in the trip, crossing the Badlands, swimming the Cheyenne River, and overcoming innumerable difficulties. They kept ever on, confident that they would all become millionairesas a result of the expedition. They met Indians to whom they had to give much of their food. They finally struck the Hills near Sturgis and from there took General Custer’s trail south to Custer City. They arrived on French Creek December 23, built the stockade, and began panning for gold. They found paying quantities. In the meantime the government troops were trying in vain to follow the complicated trail that the party had purposely planned to lead them astray. A blizzard set in, finally, obliterating the trail. The party got together enough gold and on February 6, 1875 Gordon and one of the other men started for Sioux City with it on horseback. Sioux City went wild upon the arrival of the men with the bag of gold tied on a saddle horn. They immediately sent another expedition to the Hills. This party, however, was taken by government troops and their property was confiscated.

Museum, CusterO’Neill Photo

The Indians reported to the military authorities the presence of the white people in the Hills, and on April 4, 1875, the troops found the settlers, and gave them 24 hours to get ready to leave as prisoners for Fort Laramie, Wyoming.

Three times parts of the expedition tried to escape and go back to the stockade, but each time they were rearrested and brought back. The third time, however, they escapedwhile being brought back and succeeded in reaching the stockade. Mrs. Tallent, herself, finally, the next year succeeded in returning to Custer, later going to Deadwood and Rapid City. There she became County Superintendent of Schools.

Miners found their way into Custer from all directions in 1875 in spite of the government troops. Mining in the Black Hills had come to stay.

Thus runs the story of the Gordon Stockade and Tallent monument, and their significance in the early life in the Hills. Their principals started Black Hills History.

The expedition camped in a valleyCourtesy of South Dakota Historical Society

We proceed to the municipal camp upon the hill past the town, and there pitch our tent. A storm is brewing. We hurry along, getting dinner over early. Then we go into the fine community building to get acquainted. There we meet a young man who has just graduated from the School of Mines and has accepted a position in the deserts of California where he is to develop certain mineral deposits owned by a large corporation of Oakland.

Placer Mining—Deadwood GulchMining gold in the Black Hills in 1876

A Custer street in the Early Days

This young man shows us a case containing 205 minerals. They include practically all of the world’s minerals except some of the valuable ones such as diamonds and radium. He proceeds to tell us the story of the formation of the Hills. He tells us that in eons past there was a terrific granite upheaval. The layers were higher than they now are. Gradually they eroded and mineral bearing ores washed down between the crevices of granite. This left the great sloping layers of granite and minerals that we now find.

A Typical Log Cabin

After an interesting evening we retire, just before the storm breaks. It rains, while we sleep on.

The next morning having heard that log summer cabins could be built upon land leased from the government, we proceeded to the offices of the Harney National Forest Service Supervisor to learn the details. He tells us that the United States has surveyed sites along several streams, and South Dakota has done the same in the State Park. These sites are in the more desirable parts of the Hills, readily accessible from main roads. The government surveys the land and stakes out a group of plots in a line. These are leased to those desiring summer home sites at ten dollars a year, or fifteen if the site is to be sublet. The forest service marks certain trees which may be cut and used for making log cabins. These trees, used for building are sold to the lesseeat 2½ to 3 cents per lineal foot, depending upon the size. Thus a cabin amounts to a comparatively few dollars, and the annual fee is but few more.

General Custer’s camp in 1874Photo by Illinworth, official photographer on the expeditionCourtesy of South Dakota Historical Society

The supervisor shows us maps which are made of the sites surveyed. Several fine sites are available on Rapid Creek, Spring Creek, French Creek, Battle Creek, Sunday Gulch, Sunday Creek, Chinaman’s Gulch, St. Elmo, and Balser Gulch. They are close to Custer, Hill City, Rapid City, theGame Lodge, and Sylvan Lake. Other sites, he informs us, are available at Spearfish through the Black Hills National Forest Service’s office.

Custer EnrouteCourtesy of South Dakota Historical Society

Cabins have been built on many such sites. They are made of logs interlocked at the corners and chinked with oakum or filled with concrete, reinforced with barbed wire. One cannot help “falling for” them with their rustic construction, beautiful stone fireplaces, and attractive sites. We cannot help determining to come back to build a cabin for summerand for hunting season. Rustic furniture may be built for equipment and other features to suit the fancy of the occupant.

The Expedition in FormationCourtesy of South Dakota Historical Society

We leave the office filled with inspiration and wend our way toward the old museum cabin. On the way we pass a cabin built of Black Hills stone mounted in concrete with a beautiful fireplace of rose quartz, crystals, petrified wood, petrified moss, mica and tourmaline extending clear to theceiling. The effect is really one of splendor. Within the house are souvenirs of all kinds made of Black Hills stones, set in concrete. The place is one that should not be passed up. The Rose Quartz Soda Fountain is another rare sight. The whole town is filled with these beautiful mounted stones, even to the bridge lamp posts.

We reach the little cabin for which we have started and see the date 1875 on its gable.

Outside the door is a sluice box or pan used in the early days to pan gold. This is quite a curio. The gold, after going through a screen made of copper filled with nail holes, was supposed to stick on the sloping canvas bottom and let the water on through.

Camp on French CreekCourtesy of South Dakota Historical Society

Within the house is a great collection of early weapons, seats, pictures, an old wooden tombstone, saddles, implements, an ox yoke, rocks, horns, stuffed birds and beasts of that region and on the wall newspaper clippings of the early days. These relics are worth much time and thought. The newspaper clippings are colorful accounts of early shootings,hangings, holdups and gold discoveries. Interesting? Say, just start on them and try to tear yourself away.

A camp sceneCourtesy of South Dakota Historical Society

One placard reads in part as follows: “This cabin, the oldest in the Black Hills, was built by the U. S. troops under General Crook in 1875. Visitors to the Black Hills were not welcomed here in those days. The Indians, who then owned the land, did their best to discourage them from coming and removed the scalps of such of them as fell into their handsto mark their disapproval of their presence here. The U. S. Army, when they caught any gold seekers attempting to enter the Hills, burned their wagons and outfits and escorted them to Fort Laramie as prisoners.

What the Black Hills looked like to Custer’s Expedition

“In spite of all efforts to keep miners from entering the Hills, many, in less than a year from the time that the discovery of gold on French Creek had been made by GeneralCuster’s expedition, had reached Custer city and were busy prospecting the country in all directions.

“Then came General Crook with troops and ordered all the miners who were in the Hills to vacate the country by August 10, 1875. While the troops were here they built this cabin, etc., etc., etc.”

We leave the cabin and saunter over to the gold discovery monument just west of it. This is a beautiful thing of Black Hills rocks and cement, with a bronze plate upon it denoting its significance.

Community Cabin, Custer

North of Main Street is the huge log community house, probably the largest in the Black Hills. It is a gigantic thing and very impressive. We strike camp at noon and leave town by the west road. We are taking 85 to Minnekahta and U. S. 18 from there on to Edgemont. Possibly this is an ill-advised trip, but we make it nevertheless, hoping to see the petrified forest. In this we are not altogether successful.

We pass the state tuberculosis sanitarium composed of many pure white buildings. The place is very impressive, but we do not stop.

Sawdust Pile, Custer

Petrified Log, Edgemont

Our next point of interest is the large sawmill beside the road. The huge blower and sawdust pile seen in the picture give us some idea of its size. The main rip saws are in gangs of three cutting boards one and two inches in thickness. Cross cut blades cut boards into the longest possible sizes. The bark and refuse slabs are fed into the fire to make steam to run the plant. We do not see any fine work or finishing here.

We pass on through Pringle. A short distance from here we find some interesting specimens which look like petrified acorns or small nuts embedded in limestone. But the next is the most peculiar specimen of all. As we cross the railroad well on the way from Pringle to Minnekahta, there stands, west of the track, in a pasture, a peculiar beast. It is made up of a log, with four prongs (branches) resembling legs. Another log is attached for a head and two root systems attached for horns. The result, with the addition of a little paint resembles very much a grotesque elk.

In Edgemont we see huge specimens from the petrified forest, one tree of solid rock weight 14,370 pounds. The specimens are remarkable, but we are not destined to see the petrified forest itself. In Hot Springs later we are to find all the petrified wood we care to carry home, however. We will speed back to Minnekahta and thence over U. S. 18 to Hot Springs.

Gray Rocks, Custer, S. D.

Battle Mountain Sanitarium for Old Soldiers

We arrive in Hot Springs late in the afternoon and look for a cabin for the night. All of them are filled up, so we look for a camp site. Evans Heights is too steep for our heavily loaded car, and we drive down to the Municipal Camp. After pitching camp we attempt to find out what there is in Hot Springs to see. We find that there is much and accordingly lay our plans for a big day.

After breakfast the first thing we do is to cross the railroad track on foot looking for petrified moss and wood. From the stream bed we get several particularly fine specimens of the moss. These we cache while we go into a pasture up the slope across S. D. 79 looking for petrified wood. Our search is soon rewarded. We find many fine specimens and return to camp well loaded with stone. The phenomenon of the mineral water turning vegetation into stone is a peculiar one.

We next take the twelve mile road down past the camp toward Cascade Springs. Ten miles from Hot Springs we come upon what at one time promised to be a fine modern city. Modern buildings were built, including brick business buildings with glass fronts. The hope was that “Cascade” was to be the center of medical baths instead of Hot Springs. At the head of the would-be town is a great warm spring, or we might say a geyser boiling out of a large hole in the ground. The water is highly medicated. Other similar springs are in close proximity.

We take the road on through the town and two miles farther on. We pass through a gate to the right and almost at once hear the rumble of Cascade Falls just below us. We drive over to the brink of the hill, dismount, and descend. A beautiful waterfall is before us. The water falls only about eight or ten feet, but it is impressive in its speed and volume. Vegetation of various kinds, petrified by the minerals in thewater or just in the process of petrification fills the channel above. Moss, waving to and fro in the water is like sand when we feel of it. It has a cool clammy mineral feeling rather than the soft sensation we had expected to find in moss. The bank high up, is lined with petrified moss of a coarse texture.

The whirl-pools just below the falls are deep enough for swimming but a few feet farther down the stream is just right for wading. This warm mineral water lives up to its reputation derived through long years as Indian medicine. One just seems to feel that this is something that tones him up ever so much. It reminds one of Ponce De Leon and his Fountain of Youth. Many people are out here today.

Battle Mountain Sanitarium, a National Hospital.U. S. Veterans Bureau Hospital for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors at Hot SpringsStevens Photo

We decide that no prettier or more inspiring place can be found for our lunch, so we eat in the valley beside the falls. After lunch we inspect the aqueduct, for irrigation, I believe, that crosses just above the falls.

But we must be on our way. Some of us who are not accustomed to it wonder at the composition of the red soil in the Hills region. We see crops, good crops, growing on brick red soil. We can hardly credit our senses, but it must be true.

Back at camp we climb Catholican Hill, just above and to the south of us. From there we get an excellent view of Fall River, Cheyenne River, Harney Peak, The Soldiers Home, The Country Club, the city, and surrounding country.

We drive on into Hot Springs. This is one of the larger cities of the Hills. It is one of the most beautiful, as well. Probably the medicated springs and the hospital service are the things for which the city is best known. Many sick people come here to be cured.

The great Evans Plunge is a large indoor swimming pool. Into it the water at 90 degrees Fahr. pours in great volume. The mineral content makes it pleasant feeling and restful. Hundreds of people swim here daily in the busy season. This is a real swim.

Next we visit Minnekahta Plunge, the old original Indian spring. We are told that each gallon of its water contains approximately 62.55 grains residue consisting of Sodium Sulphate 16.07, Mica 2.46, Potassium Sulphate 16.51, Magnesium Sulphate 4.32, Calcium Sulphate 16.33, Sodium Chloride 13.79. Iron Sesqui oxide Trace.

The temperature is 96 degrees Fahr. This plunge is used as a medical plunge, largely, with tub service as well as the swimming pool. There is a hotel in connection with the baths.

S. D. State Soldier’s HomeStevens

Battle Mountain Sanitarium, a National Hospital For Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, at Hot SpringsStevens Photo

Cascade Falls, near Hot Springs, S.D.Stevens Photo

We spend another night in Hot Springs and leave early the next morning for Wind Cave over S. D. 85. We arrive just in time for the first trip through, register, pay our fee, and start.

Wind Cave is a series of passages under ground formed by the erosive action of water. Not all of the passages have been explored, but three main routes are well marked. Above the ground there is no indication of a cave, nothing but a low broad hill. There is a souvenir shop and refreshment place above the entrance, and government buildings across the road. The cave is a part of the Wind Cave National Park, owned and operated by the United States Government.

Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs, S.D.Wind Cave Entrance. We enter through the little building in the foregroundStevens Photo

Tradition tells us that the place was discovered by a cow-boy who was riding by when a strong current of air carried his hat down through a crevice in the earth. We wonder if he ever recovered his hat? Why is it these stories leave out the one question our curiosity prompts us to ask. Possibly his hat, though, was not as important as the discovery of the cave. They are still looking for the other end of that current of air.

Now we are ready to descend. We might profit by putting on clothes that will not be harmed when soiled, tho this is not necessary.

To the right of the entrance is a stone carving of Alvin McDonald, the first guide through the cave. As we enter, with gasoline lanterns, we feel a strong downward draft. This disappears as we proceed. We go down two long flights of stairs to start with. Down, down, down, we go, emerging in the Bridal Chamber, 212 feet below the surface.

Our guide tells us quite confidentially that a certain young lady wished to marry the young man of her choice, but she had promised her mother that she would not marry anyone on the face of the earth. To keep her word and still satisfy her love she was married down here below the face of the earth. When the Government took over the cave, however, they forbade the continuance of this, for it was running matrimony into the ground.

The Sheep, Wind CaveLease Photo

Farther on we see petrified prairie dogs, on a petrified mound. We hope our guide is strictly truthful, tho he tells us that even he cannot vouch for the accuracy of all he tells us. Then comes the Milky Way with petrified stars in a petrified sky, and after this the Snowball Chamber. The Post Office 240 feet down is filled with box work crystals in a sort of cobweb pattern, each box having some depth. Weare shown the foreign department and the great Sears Roebuck mail chute. These formations are beautiful and remarkable formations of water, heat, minerals, and natural phenomena.

Room number 23 is Nellie’s room and the Beauty Parlor follows it. Rouge, here is free. The petrified zoo confronts us; very interesting indeed if our imaginations are up to par. The Bleeding Rock is colored with iron oxide giving it a blood color, and sure enough the Liberty Bell is cracked. In the rookery is a petrified bird on a petrified nest (believe it if you can.)

Wind CaveFrost Work, Garden of EdenLease Photo

Again, quite confidentially the guide tells us that one guide went over lovers leap the day before and six old maids followed. After the petrified whirlwind, imagine it, we see a map of South America, and then enter Opera Hall. From it we pass to Grant’s tomb on the Hudson and be hanged if there isn’t an Alligator going up to see it.

The Devil’s Lookout is 80 feet high, with his Dinner Gong close by. The Furnace Room, Hen and Chickens, Hanging Bridge and Bridal Veil Falls are very realistic. Sure enough, there sits a water spaniel dog begging for—daylight. Now we see some Swiss scenery, a mountain goat, cheese, bread and beer. Only the beer is not there, it was drunk by the last party through.

We next come to the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is the custom to bow as you enter the low door and also bow going out. We are especially requested not to spit on the altar. Bishop Fowler’s Cathedral is 190 feet across.

We can just see the appetizing popcorn in Popcorn Alley, and then we pass on to the Hanging Rock. We carefully avoid going beneath it. Three hundred feet down and half a mile in we come to Odd Fellow’s Hall. There is the all-seeing eye and the three links—Friendship, Love, and Truth, with the third slightly stretched. There also is the road to Jericho and the Goat.

We pass Samson’s Palace, The Queen’s Drawing Room, Capitol Hall, and Turtle Pass. Here the trail divides, the short route going to the Garden of Eden, the medium route to the Fair Grounds, and the long route to the Pearly Gates. We take the medium.

In order we pass Scalping Grounds, Masonic Temple, Elks Room, with an elk head within and an American Eagle alighting on a rock, then the Grand Canyon with its great clefts hundreds of feet underground.

Monte Cristo Palace is 390 feet down. Old Maid’s Glasses follows and Dog Tooth, made of five points spar crystals. McKinley’s memorial is next, and then Assembly Hall. Here, again is much artistic boxwork formation. Next is A. O. U. W. Hall. In it is a stone book which, our guide tells us, isthe only Natural History of Wind Cave. From here we go to the Giant’s Punch Bowl and on to Johnston’s Camp Grounds.

In the Bachelor’s apartments everything is upside down and all dusty. In his cupboard is a loaf of bread with a mouse gnawing at it. This leads us at last to the ticket office to the Fair Grounds. The Fair Grounds is a beautiful large room with a white ceiling, the whole covering about three acres. The first attraction is the South Dakota Teacher’s School Room with its calcite crystal wall. The Elephant’s Foot has fallen through the ceiling farther on. Then come S. D. Federation of Women’s Clubs Room, Ice Gorge, and The Northwestern Hotel Men’s assembly chamber. In the Farm Yard are a guinea hen, a little red rooster, a polar bear, the little red hen drinking, a guinea pig, a rabbit and a hen fighting, and a donkey. Last comes the jaw bone of a monster.

In the Meat Market hangs a ham, a goose, and some beef. Over high steps and under a low ceiling we pass into the Coliseum. The seats are of white rock. In Rambler’s Hall is a knife through the ceiling. Next are the Catacombs. Here we go down a rocky precipitous descent. Last comes the Elk’s Room, and then the return to the entrance. Everything we have seen is made of rock and our imagination.

“Buffalo,” the Monarch of the PlainsBison in the State Park

Traffic Cop, on a turn in the roadLease

This has been an eventful trip.

We drive on north over 85 and 81 to the South Dakota State Game Preserve. Here we see elk, deer, and buffalo.On the way we find some specimens of rose quartz. At the Game Lodge we stop to see the zoo. In it are deer, mountain sheep, coyotes, foxes, bears, eagles, owls, badgers, raccoons, porcupines, bobcats, prairie dogs, spotted rabbits, and elk, all alive. These are particularly interesting to lovers of animals.

Bear in the Zoo

In the Zoo

The Game Lodge Hotel, which is the structure used by President Coolidge as the Summer White House of 1927, is a large well furnished affair, not altogether unsuited to the purpose for which it was used. Now, in the reception roomon opposite sides of the comfortable fireplace are large oil paintings of President Coolidge and Grace Coolidge. Here this first lady of the land and her distinguished husband will, in the spirit of the paintings, receive guests in behalf of the nation and the State of South Dakota for years to come. Elk and deer heads also adorn the walls, while huge fur rugs cover the floor. Great leather rocking chairs and davenports add to the comforts of the room.

The State Game Lodge in Custer State ParkRise Photo

So popular is the Game Lodge as a summer resort hotel that any one wishing to secure a room here must do so several days or weeks in advance. During the various hunting and fishing seasons of the year this place is frequented by hunters from many other states of the Union as well as South Dakota.

Special hunting licenses may be procured providing lodging here during the hunt.

We, at last, must tear away our mooring to the Hills and head for home. We still have a few things to see, but we have the feeling that it is all over, and the total addition to our beings has been tremendous, too great for measurement, and as time rolls by it grows still greater.

We miss one of the interesting spots of the Hills, Buffalo Gap. In Calico Canyon three miles west of town are locatedthe most beautiful colored sandstone in the Hills and a great natural bridge of rock.

Natural Bridge at Buffalo Gap

At Hermosa is a neat little tourist park, but we cannot partake of it. In Hermosa also we see the church which won so much publicity during President Coolidge’s stay. Its picture does it justice. Hermosa Crystal Cave is ten miles west of Hermosa. At last, we speed back to Rapid City. Hidden City is on the way. This is the probable vestiges of what was once an ancient building or buildings. We spend another night in that inviting municipal park; and reluctantlywith many a backward look, we head for home. Long after we leave the Hills we can look back and see those hazy black peaks rearing their majestic tops to the clouds. We can’t help recalling Morse’s old phrase, “What hath God wrought.” He indeed develops wonders here on earth at his almighty command.

Hermosa Crystal Cave

We have been pretty much concerned about the sights, now we look around and see what our car looks like. The food is gone. The containers now house quartz, mica, granite, tourmaline, lithia, copper, gold ore, pictures, pine cones, and various other souvenirs. The car glides swiftly over the excellent roads, but nevertheless we feel it is heavily loaded. We weigh the car, and consternation; it weighs 4,285 pounds, or 1500 pounds more than it does empty. We may as well look at the speedometer too. It was 12,114 and now it is 13,584. We have gone 1470 miles. 250 of these might be subtracted as our trip inland from Pierre.

We have had our vacation, and now we go home to ponder. It has been a glorious trip.

CUSTER STATE PARK HIGHWAYBLACK HILLS, S.D.

Moonlight on the MissouriPierre, S.D.Miller Foto 39

The following are some of the more important peaks of the Black Hills.

Large Horseshoe Curve, a long way around to get a short distance ahead

Railroad track beside a stream

River valley

Originally there were no trout in the Black Hills. Now nearly every stream in the Hills is stocked with trout. The U. S. hatchery at Spearfish and the S. D. hatchery at Rapid City keep the streams well supplied. Approximately two million trout are thus put out each year. They are chiefly of four varieties: Loch Leven, Black spotted, Brook, and Rainbow. During our visit to the Hills we see fishermen practically in every part of every stream from the interior of the tourist camps to the headwaters in almost jungles. They use anything from the bargain one dollar complete angling outfit to the best outfit made. For bait they use anything from worms to flies. The local fishermen are better authorities on the subject than the author. However, many fine specimens are seen, and many large messes of trout are taken by all types of fishermen.

Black Hills Streams—SeePage 169

Some of the more important streams of the Black Hills are:

Eventually these empty into the Cheyenne River.

Below these come the tributaries of the:

A drive through the pines in the Black Hills (76)Rise Photo

The camps themselves have been taken up to some extent in the body of this book. In 1928 the camps in Rapid City and the northern cities far surpassed those of the southern towns. But the people all over the Hills, especially in the larger cities are fast awakening to the realization that good parks play a tremendous part in the development of their localities. Spearfish, Sturgis, Rapid City, and Deadwood were the first to realize the value of service to their visitors. They have doubtlessly reaped rich reward for their investment, judging from the number of people who use those camp sites night after night.

The cost of the camps is generally fifty cents per car each night. This pays for the site, police protection, lights, in some places shower baths, swimming, laundry, toilets, pure water, firewood, reading room, community cabin, piano, and any other services the locality might afford; especially vegetable, milk, and grocery sales. Some of the camps are almost wonders in themselves.

For those who prefer cabins most of the camps have small log, wood, or tent cabins, variously furnished, accommodating from two to six people or more. These rent at a dollar plus the car fee of fifty cents to a little more for the larger ones. The added convenience of this method of camping is considerable.

Some of the high spots of a life-time occur in our meeting tourists from all parts of the state, nation, and world in these parks. These people range all the way from sheep herders to aviators and from students to corporatic magnates. They are all bent on the same quest, enjoyment of nature’s wonders; and all are congenial. All are as one great family, swapping yarns and experiences and discussing everything from the diet of fishworms to managing an oil company.

Deer in the Custer State ParkRise Photo, Rapid City, S.D.

A Log Cabin With Fire Place

Hotel rates are reasonable in the Hills, for those who prefer the best of conveniences rather than a complete outdoor vacation. Bus lines and train service from these afford excellent sight-seeing facilities. However, for some of us who enjoy freedom and independence the conventional tour seems to savor too much of routine. We lose some of the great pleasure of conquest and discovery of unusual and inaccessible places. And the privacy of our party, our own division of our time for the things that we personally are interested in, are features that make or break the success of the trip.

When one is on a vacation he likes to plan his trip so as best to satisfy his interests and humors. This can best be accomplished when he is his own boss and can give as much or as little time as he wishes to each place of interest. The scheduled tours are excellent, but if a person wishes to spend more time at the mines, in the Needles, seeing hydro-electric plants, or inspecting factories or mills he had best plan his own tour.

The cost of the trip is not excessive if carefully planned. The food is of course an item. Gasoline is another. Camp fees are small. The rest is more or less a matter of individual taste.

The question of camping equipment and clothing is not the easiest one with which we must wrestle.

First, possibly comes the food question. We might profit by carrying meat, butter, vegetables, salt, sugar, flour, pepper, and lard from home or bought in quantity at some point on the way, if we have a way to keep them from the effects of the sun. Carrots, potatoes, milk, lettuce, radishes, bread, fruit, canned goods, coffee, and groceries in general can be bought in or near most of the camps at the prices about the same as the home grocer charges. Carrying too much loads down the car excessively.

Head of Cottonwood Draw, in center of the “Bad Lands.” Layers of Sandstone in Clay Beds. The sandstone protects the clay from weathering and wearing away. The isolated caps are called “Ostrich Heads.”

Camping equipment is an enigma. A light tent,heavy enough to shed rain, large enough to accommodate all, and not having unwieldy poles, is the first essential; unless cabins, when accessible, or hotels are to be used. Second, enough cots should be provided to accommodate all. Car cushions and car beds are sometimes desirable. Probably the best is the small steel folding double camp bed with springs and a thin mattress. But these must be strong and not easily bent. Probably the greatest mistake of campers is to try to sleep with plenty of covering but not enough under them. Especially with the canvas cots the conduction of the cold air from below is considerable. Three woolen blankets or two and a pair of sheets and a mattress will keep two people comfortably warm under ordinary circumstances though some people prefer an extra blanket. High altitude makes the temperature drop perceptibly.

For clothing, khaki, whipcord, or corduroy breeches and high laced leather boots are the ideal, both for men and women for mountain climbing or rambling around through mines, forests, etc. They can be cleaned and they stand rough wear. They look well also. Have a good sunshade hat and khaki shirts; light colored ones or woolen ones are all good. (I prefer the wool, even in the hottest weather, because of its safeguard from cold.) Wear light underclothing of course. By all means have two sets of this type of clothing if the stay is prolonged, as laundry facilities are not always available. Two pairs of hose, well pulled up, are best, as they do not permit chafing of the feet and they protect the feet against bad results of sweat.

If at all possible to carry one without undue wrinkling, a good suit is desirable. There are occasions when one wishes to go to church, or to various other gatherings, dances or the like where a camping outfit is hardly proper.

The car will appreciate having the load well balanced. If a heavy trunk is suspended behind, the tent and cots had better be suspended above the front bumper to balance it. Cover all equipment from dust and rain. Do not pile up equipment in front of the radiator, in the uphill grades the engine will need all the air it can get. Do not barricade any of the car doors; you’ll be sorry if you do. It is best to supply a place for souvenirs. Very few people go out without loading up with “junk” of one sort or another before returning. (Our specialty was several hundred pounds of rocks and minerals.)

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