Page 278

WAR-PATH AND BIVOUAC,
of the centennial year. More is the pity, too, because its
kindly, open-hearted founders deserved all the success that
courage and energy should -win.
   By the time the horses were fed, General Crook was
ready to proceed, and, followed by the usual wild cheer-
ing, we rode on to Deadwood City, over a well defined
and " improved " wagon road, through a wooded tract, just
enough undulating to escape being called a timbered prai-
rie. On the right and left, however, rose some lofty pinna-
cles of rock, and ledges of quartz showed themselves at every
step. Heaps of the mineral, thrown around promiscuously,
as it were, appeared in the most unexpected places, looking
like deposits of petrified snow. Quartz being the concomit-
taut of gold, its presence always indicates the strong proba-
bility of the presence of that precious metal, and, as regards
quartz, the Black Hills appear to be an irregular mass of
that mineral. We encountered a number of horsemen and
several wagons on our way to Deadwood. Everybody was
armed, and the men all wore huge spurs, which jingled like
sleigh bells after the first snow-fall. Some " ranches" ap-
peared at intervals, bearing the legend " saloon " on their
dingy fronts. As a rule, it would be better for the traveler
to have some Indian lead in his carcass than have a glass of
ranch rot-gut in his stomach.
   About three miles from " the city " we met a group of
equestrians who were well mounted and dressed in neat
fashion. Their clean, civilized, respectable aspect made us,
by way of contrast, look like white savages-veritable Goths
and Vandals. I am free to say that a seedier, more tattered
278