OCR Text |
Show ALONG LODGE POLE CREEK. 25 small poles tied together at the apex, over which is placed a covering of tanned skins, sewed together in a shape and of a size to make a smooth surface. A lodge so constructed has the appearance of Sibley tents, with the ends of the poles projecting from the top. The tent I refer to is con structed upon a precisely similar principle, but with a centre pole as a substitute for those used in the lodges. The In dian builds his fire in the centre of his lodge, and the smoke escapes through the top, while the tents have the improvement of a stove, generally, though I have seen fires built in them as in Indian lodges. To the Aborigines, then, we are indebted for the princi ple upon which one of our most extensively used tents is made. The course of Lodge Pole Creek is through a valley, the sides of which gently ascend to the level of the extended prairie, both North and South. The valley abounds in rich nutritious grass, and has a soil, which at some period, will doubtless yield abundantly of many of the staple agricultural products of our country. This valley is the natural route for the Pacific Railroad, after leaving South Platte River j but whether or not local influence will prevail, and take it over some other, time only will determine. The ex pense attending its construction here would be very trifling compared with that of building it by the way of Denver , but the influence of Colorado will probably take it to that city.* Should it fail, then another Denver, more prosperous than the present, will spring up as by magic at some point in this valley. Lodge Pole Creek possesses many peculiarities, and not least among them is its entire disappearance, for miles, in some places. This strange phenomenon is not owing to a * Since this was written the commissioners of the Pacific Railroad have deter mined that the road shall be built along Lodge Pole Creee, and enter the Black Hills at a pass about 20 miles south of Cheyenne Pass, down which the creek flows. As the road can be constructed along this valley as rapidly as it has ' been along the Platte the probability is that it will b completed throngh the Black Hills by the spring or summer of 1868. |