a few hundred yards to three or four miles. The most recently formed of these hills are entirely bare of vegetation, while the greater portion are covered with a scanty growth of grass and scrubby timber of little value. The sand-hill country is of no value except for pasturage. The water of this section is almost all bad, whether to such a degree as to materially affect its value for stock-raising we have no means of determining. Otherwise, the country is tolerably well adapted to the business. The country west of the Cimarron River and north of the 6th standard parallel is generally high, rolling prairie, almost wholly devoid of timber. There is a little cottonwood and scrubby elm timber in the valleys of some of the small creeks; also some cedar in the deep gorges at the heads of the streams near the dividing ridge between the Cimarron River and the North Fork of the Canadian and Beaver Creek; but the total amount of timber is insignificant in proportion to the extent of the country. The soil of this section of the country is generally second or third rate. Much of the country-probably not less than half of it-is too rough or rolling for profitable tillage, and the adaptation of the tillable portion to any of the chief cultivated crops of the West is, in our judgment, doubtful. The growth of grass is not heavy, but it is, no doubt, very nutritious, and the country is well adapted to grazing purposes, unless the supply of water is insufficient or its character unsuitable. The water of this section is nearly all of the kind called gypsum or alkali water. The country is generally underlaid by beds of gypsum, some of which are 10 or 12 feet thick. Springs are very rare, and the water of the streams not permanent. The adaptation of this section of the country to the use, for grazing purposes, of a permanently-settled people, owning the land in small bodies, is, in our opinion, rendered extremely doubtful by the uncertainty connected with the supply of water and its fitness for use. As an open or free range for stock, the grass might be utilized by taking advantage of favorable seasons, and driving to other sections in times of drought. The country south of the 6th standard parallel, which is drained by the North Fork of the Canadian River and its tributaries, is generally smooth, rolling prairie. The supply of timber is scanty and of but little value except for fuel. There is some stone of poor quality. The soil is much of it sandy, and generally second or third rate. Along Wolf Creek, chiefly on the east side and the north side of the North Fork of the Canadian River, there are sand-hills extending back from one to four or five miles. The water of this section of the country is generally good, and the supply probably sufficient to render the country, in that respect, fairly well adapted to stock-raising. Much of the country, probably 30 per cent., is too sandy for cultivation, and the adaptation of any considerable portion of it to profitable tillage we regard as improbable. The growth of grass is good, and the land generally well adapted to stock-raising. The country south of the 6th standard parallel and the Cimarron River, which is drained by that stream, is chiefly exceedingly broken prairie. There is some good tillable valley-land along the Cimarron and the larger creeks, but west of Glass Mountain probably not more than 20 per cent. of the land is plowable. About the heads of the creeks there is some good timber, and in the gorges generally there is a good deal of cedar. There is little stone of value. Beds of gypsum, from 6 to 10 feet thick, crop out near the hill-tops. The water of this section is very similar to that of the country to the northwest which has been spoken of, and we think the same remarks are applicable with reference to the suitableness of the country to stock-raising. The country east of the Cimarron River and the valley of Eagle Chief Creek, and west of range 6 west, which is drained by the Cimarron, consists of sand-hills, more or less covered with scrubby oak and a thin growth of grass, and open, level or gentlyrolling prairie of second or third rate soil. The region of sand-hills lies along the river and extending back from 3 to 6 or 7 miles. This section of the country is moderately well watered. No stone was seen. The timber is of but little value except for fuel. Some portions of the land on Turkey Creek, and about the heads of the small creeks between Turkey Creek and Eagle Chief Creek, are probably fairly adapted to general farming purposes. It may not be superfluous to state the substance of our observations of the game of the country traversed. We saw two or three hundred buffalo in the valley of Eagle Chief Creek, and about as many more between Eagle Chief Creek and the Cimarron River. In the valley of Buffalo Creek we saw probably from eight to twelve thousand buffalo; in the valley of the North Fork of the Canadian, one thousand, probably. There are considerable numbers of deer and turkeys, chiefly in the sand-hills and along the most heavily-timbered streams. As furnishing a permanent supply of food and other necessaries of even savage life to any considerable number of people, the game of the country seems to us worthy of very little consideration. As a whole, we regard the country referred to in this portion of our report as chiefly valuable for stock-raising. Some portions of it we believe to be adapted to wheat, and we have little doubt that, with experience, a considerable portion of the country will be found adapted to other profitable crops. On Sunday, November 4, we reached the Abilene cattle-trail and stage-road, near the stage-station on Skeleton Creek, and started for Wichita, Kans., which place we reached on November 9. Mr. Smith having received intelligence of the severe illness of one of his family, it was decided to adjourn to meet in Paola, Kans., on Monday, November 26, on which day the commission reassembled and began the preparation of this report. In conclusion, we desire to state that, while seeking to use the money appropriated for the business in which we have been employed, in the most rigidly economical manner, and to limit our expenditure to that amount, we have, in various ways and from various causes, apparently to us unavoidable, exceeded it, which being unauthorized to do, no account is made of such excess. The journal of the commission will be transmitted with the accounts of the disbursing agent, Mr. Topping. For the detailed statement of prices fixed upon the lands appraised by us, your attention is invited to the schedules which are entitled "Description and Valuation of Cherokee Lands in Indian Territory," &c., which are forwarded herewith. Very respectfully, WILLIAM N. WILKERSON, Hon. E. A. HAYT, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. Commissioners. Description and valuation of Cherokee lands in Indian Territory, lying west of 960 west longitude and west of the Osage lands, appraised in 1877, under the provisions of the fifth section of an act of Congress approved May 29, 1872. (Stats. at large, vol. 17, p. 190.) |