The Mystery of Scott's Bluffs
As is well known, a wonderful story may be enfolded in the mute
testimony of the hills and rocks, and far more enduring than ever
written by human hands. Some of these interesting records, open to any
observer, are as plainly written in the exposed cliffs of Scott's Bluffs
as in any spot that I have known. Their location was noted upon the old
maps partly perhaps because they had received a name in memory of the
tragic death from starvation of a man who was deserted by his companions
on Laramie Fork. Scott was too ill to continue his journey, and the
entire party was destitute of provisions. He lived, however, to make his
way alone to these Bluffs, where his remains were eventually found. The
altitude of the Bluffs as given in the Government survey is 4,662 feet
above sea level, a fact in no way remarkable except as fixing the
highest elevation attained in Nebraska.
The isolated position of this vast pile makes it a conspicuous object
when viewed from no matter what direction. It rises abruptly from a
comparatively level plain upon which it was once believed no vegetable
life could ever grow, for the surface of the surrounding country was as
barren and bare as a brick pavement. The rock at once arouses interest
by virtue of its beautifully terraced formation, and picturesque
outlines embellished with towers and castles, the handiwork of Nature.
There it stands, in majestic solitude, guarding its silent chambers,
innumerable records of a remote antiquity,--an ancient ruin compared
with which the storied monuments in the valley of the Nile are modern
and insignificant.
It was not, however, because of its hoary age and unfathomable mystery,
but because of its beauty as it appealed to the eye, and because of the
promise of a wide outlook from its summit, that I determined to make the
ascent. When our train had reached the point at which our pathway
approached nearest the bluff, I relieved myself of all impedimenta
except a revolver and a field glass, and started alone for the climb.
From a distance along some of the channels that scarred the sides of the
bluffs, could be seen a line of small cedars and a few shrubs that had
fastened themselves in some way in the fissures of that inhospitable
heap of indurated clay. Discovering on the north side of the southern
bluff what appeared to be a continuous ravine intersecting the numerous
level terraces, I concluded that the ascent along that course would not
be difficult. To that ravine my steps were directed.
The ascent was indeed not difficult as that term would be used of
mountain climbing. Terrace after terrace was passed, each capped or
protected by a stratum slightly harder than the main body of the bluff,
which is the true formation of the Bad Lands and is now known by
geologists as Brule clay. These thin, hard layers yielding more slowly
to the action of the elements than does the intervening hard clay, there
results the formation of terraces with level tops and perpendicular
sides, as the general face of the bluffs disintegrates. The summit,
being reached, was found to be comparatively level, with a number of
prominences upon it a few feet in height, but each also with a level
surface, the remains of a still higher terrace. Upon one of these I
observed a thin, hard stratum in which numerous shells were tightly
imbedded. Ascending one of those small level areas upon the highest
summit, from which the best view of the country toward the south could
be obtained, I enjoyed through the field glasses a superb panorama of
the surrounding landscape. Far in the distance towards the south, other
bluffs of similar formation, and separated one from another by many
miles of lowland, rise to nearly the same level. Among them is Dome
Rock, not far away. I was not then aware of the fact that among the
prominences visible far away in the distance were Court House Rock,
which we had climbed several days previous and Castle Rock, a striking
elevation of the same type, far to the east.
It was my immediate conclusion, and one that would be promptly formed by
any other superficial observer, that this shell-bearing stratum had some
time been the bed of a prehistoric body of water, which existed there
previous to the upheaval of all that territory, covering all of what is
now known as the Bad Lands. I observed also that the level strata in the
distant bluffs were each a duplicate of the strata in all the others. It
suggested at once the age when they were continuous, and the fact that I
was now standing, not on a mountain summit, but on what was once the
common level of that country. Surely the continuous action of the
elements, beginning perhaps with the wearing out of the gullies near the
river, had worn back into the high plain and gradually widened out in
all directions until nothing remained of the original level, except
these few high elevations. Scott's Bluff, Chimney Rock, Castle Rock, and
other notable peaks alone remain to tell their tale of the ages that
have passed since this work of erosion began. This, however, is but part
of the story discovered in the descent.
The perpendicular faces of the bluff present three or four varieties of
clay formation, slight differences in color and texture being
noticeable. One series of strata, called Mortar beds in Darton's
geological reports, is called the Ogalalla formation, the strata being
merged into a light colored, sandy clay. Beneath this is a formation
sufficiently lithyfied to be fairly classed as soft sandstone, and
beneath it all, as late examination shows, the Pierre clay, now supposed
to be at least 2,000 feet in thickness at this point.
Here also is seen at a glance one of the great sources of the enormous
volume of sediment continually borne along in the waters of the Platte
and down the great Missouri River, which have transported many cubic
miles of earth and have deposited it to form the alluvial lands now
forming the great states along the waters of the lower Mississippi. The
suggestion seems overpowering, but true it is, that by these slow
processes extending through ages, immeasurable even by the most learned
geologist, the surface of this part of our continent has been
transformed without limit.
I had carefully inspected the surfaces of the bluffs and the interesting
panorama that surrounded them; the next problem was to descend. This
would have been simple enough if I had been content to retrace my steps
and return by the ravine I had followed in ascending, but I had crossed
to the southern rim of the summit, and I desired to explore that side of
the eminence. On the southwest corner, however, there appeared to be a
dry run which from my point of observation seemed to afford a safe and
comparatively unbroken descent to the foot of the cliffs on that side.
Although the view looking down this newly discovered ravine was not so
comprehensive in all its details as would have been obtained below at a
distance, I nevertheless determined to risk it.
Following it down for a hundred feet or more I encountered a terrace
with the usual perpendicular face, but not intersected by the ravine
along which I was descending. As the footing seemed to be good further
along, I dropped myself over the edge of the terrace and comfortably
alighted upon the level gallery that was next beneath. These narrow and
level galleries surmounted each of the many upright-faced terraces, the
latter varying somewhat in height. This mode of descent seemed fairly
easy, and was indeed exhilarating. The process was repeated three or
four times as other terraces were encountered, until I found myself upon
a level gallery twelve to eighteen feet in width and possibly a hundred
feet long.
Walking the length of this gallery back and forth, I found no point
where below it there was not a sheer, perpendicular precipice of more
than a hundred feet in height. At each of its ends the gallery narrowed
to a point against the cliff which extended far down beneath. Nature had
here failed to carry out the general architectural plan of the bluff's
structure. I felt earnestly that the terraces should have been
constructed with more rigid uniformity. The discovery was now made that
the branch ravine which my eyes had been following bore off in its
upward course round this cliff and was lower than I had supposed.
To return was impossible, for the smooth cliffs down which I had
dropped, being absolutely vertical, afforded no better footing than
would the side of a perpendicular brick wall. I was on the opposite side
of the bluffs from the road which our train had followed, and miles from
it. The last glimpse of our wagons showed them moving far away in the
distance to the westward. A shot from my revolver would not be heard a
tenth of the distance. Even though I should be searched for, it would be
practically impossible for friends to follow my tortuous course down
those cliffs over which probably no idiot before had dropt himself, and
I should not be hunted until missed at night, for we often left the
train for long side trips. The bluffs had already been named from one
starving unfortunate, but I had no desire to add my own name to its
history. As I walked back and forth along that gallery, looking upward
and downward for some line of escape, the prospect was not cheerful. I
suddenly became both hungry and thirsty.
A long, dry, cedar log lay upon the hard floor of the gallery, and I
wearily sat upon it for a brief period of silent meditation. The broad
landscape to the south stood out clear and beautiful in the sunlight,
and far beneath, at the foot of the cliffs, the dark cedars in the shade
were in mild contrast with the dull gray of the steep, clayey cliffs to
which they clung on either side; but the landscape seemed at that time
to have lost much of its interest, although it produced a lasting
impression. The cedar log was a straight, slender, tapering shaft
possibly fifty feet in length. It was hardly more than eight inches in
diameter at its butt. Being without bark, it had doubtless rested there
for many years, and was thoroughly dried out as was nearly everything
else in that climate, which was arid the greater part of the year.
Taking hold of one end of the log, and without any definite idea why I
did it, I was surprised to discover how light it had become through
seasoning. Either end of it could be lifted without great effort.
At the western end of the gallery upon which I stood, and far below it,
was the ravine, which from that point seemed to be continuous, and made
a rapid descent to the foot of the mountain. It was comparatively
narrow, and two or three tall cedars on its opposite side sprang out
from a little ledge in the cliff. Some limbs in one of the cedars were
hardly more than thirty or thirty-five feet distant from the wall of the
rock upon which I stood, and on a lower level. A practical thought
finally came into my mind. Carefully breaking from the log the stubs of
limbs and twigs which remained upon it all of which were found to be
very brittle, I planned to slide this log over the edge of the gallery,
so that the smaller end, which happened to be in the right direction,
would find a lodgement somewhere in the limbs of the live cedars across
the ravine, leaving the larger end supported on the gallery, thereby
constructing a bridge.
I spent considerable time in calculating this problem, for I certainly
believed that my life depended upon the success of the plan. I slowly
moved the log along so that it projected beyond the gallery, and then
carefully considered the proper direction for pushing it further. Laying
aside revolver and field glass, I prepared for the one supreme effort.
All the strength at my command was put behind the log as I balanced and
then vigorously pushed it onward beyond the brink. Surveying the result,
I was gratified after the first effort to discover that it had not
fallen into the depths below and that the end had caught upon a small
limb, which proved strong enough temporarily to support it. Another
push and a careful turn of the log left its end apparently secure near
the junction of a small limb and the main trunk of the tree near its
top.
The bridge, such as it was, being completed, I again strapped on my
revolver, and taking the field glasses, sat astride the log and
carefully crept along it to avoid any unnecessary jarring, my only doubt
in accomplishing the task being in the strength of the old log and of
the small limb which supported it. The distance beneath me had no more
terrors than forty feet would naturally have, but when I laid my hands
upon the slender trunk of the live cedar I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Shinning" down a tree was a simple matter, with which any youth would
be familiar. After reaching the base of the tree I found other trees and
shrubs that aided in the further descent, although there were a few
other terraces or perpendicular cliffs twelve or fifteen feet in height
over which I dropped with ease and safety.
This course led me into a ravine, which, like nearly all such erosions
in that country, had abrupt sides, averaging thirty or forty feet in
depth, which I discovered later led to the Platte River, gradually
increasing in width and depth as it descended. Some miles distant it was
crossed by a bridge over which the traffic by that trail passed.
Following the bottom of this ravine, or dry run, until I reached a point
slightly outside the higher walls of the bluffs, I there came upon a
huge pile of fossil bones. Skeletons, half exposed, projected from the
steep sides of the deep run in great numbers. Many lay strewn upon the
bottom of the ravines where they had been left stranded since the last
rains in quantities enough to load many wagons. My knowledge of
osteology was very limited, but it was sufficiently definite to enable
me to determine that none of them were the bones of creatures like any
with which I was then acquainted. It was a strange, weird sight.
Being somewhat weary I dropped down in the shady side of the ravine to
rest and gazed up and down at the mute records of the past which were
scattered around me. It seemed as if the monsters whose bones lay there
were suddenly reincarnated. A group of Titanotheria seemed to be
assembled in a vast body; the Rhinoceros, Oreodon, and diminutive horse
such as lived in those parts, were gathered around, each apparently
ready to tell its tale of events which no man ever had heard before. A
Titanotherium Robustum, smacking its huge jaws, turned its dull eyes
upward to the summit of the great bluff 700 feet above where I was
resting, and then turning its gaze toward me, said, "What are you? You
are the first specimen of your genus that has ever passed this way. How
old are you?" "A score or two of years," I replied. There was a roar of
grunts doubtless intended for laughter which echoed up and down the
ravine, and the pachyderm looked at the oreodon and smiled. Continuing,
the Titanotherium said, "Do you see the top of that lofty bluff?" I
nodded yes. "Well, that is young, and it is not more than three or four
decillion years since this country was pushed up and has been washing
down the river. Before that, it was under water for nearly as long a
period, because it was mighty slow work filling in all that 1,500
perpendicular feet of clay out of which all the layers of these bluffs
are made."
The Rhinoceros then grunted out his reminiscences, to the effect that
all that occurred long after his day, because he was doing business
before the beginning of that vast cycle when the country was so deep
under water, and before these deposits were made. Continuing, he added,
"Away back in those times a very bad spell of wet weather and floods
occurred, when we all were caught and stuck in this swamp which finally
dried up on all this great crowd of companions of a bygone age. Since we
were washed out by the last winter and spring rains which swept down
this gully we have seen nothing, and you are the first two-legged
creature we ever saw, except a few dinosaurs, and but very few of them
lived in these parts."
After this dreamy colloquy I woke up from my little rest, and the
shadows of the prehistoric pachyderms vanished, but the thousands of
bones were still protruding from the walls of the deep ravine.
"The waters stood upon the mountains;
At Thy rebuke they fled;
He uncovereth deep things out of darkness,
And bringeth out to light the shadow of death."
I picked up a massive femur, and put it upon my shoulder to show to the
boys as a trophy, but it soon became too heavy, and I dropped it behind
me, perhaps to be moved along a little further toward the Platte River
by the next spring flood. In time it doubtless found another resting
place in those soft river sands, possibly to be exhumed in some future
geological period, to lead the finder into some wild chain of reasoning
concerning its history. I reached the train, which was camped six miles
west, and told my story to the boys, and after supper fell asleep.
The year after the discovery of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it was
my pleasure personally to furnish Professor Powell with a careful
description of the location of these remarkable deposits of fossils in
Scott's Bluffs, which he and others investigated later. At that time I
believe no investigation of those fossil beds had been made by scholars
qualified to classify them.
Amid all the intricacies of the ravines that run down the bluff sides,
it would be difficult to indicate any locations there with exactness,
but certain landmarks make this one to which I now refer comparatively
easy to describe. A professor and students from one of our universities
made later investigations of this particular deposit on information
given as to its nature. The recent marvelous agricultural development of
this country as the result of an irrigating ditch cut near these bluffs
is a revelation to those who first saw it as a barren area, a part of
what was well named the Bad Lands. These once barren clay lands near the
foot of Scott's Bluffs are now, strange to relate, highly productive. If
any one of the young ranchers now engaged in the development of that
country would care to follow the ravine crossed by the bridge over the
old trail and with a ladder would ascend a few cliffs that will be
encountered as he proceeds along the ravine, and then climb up until he
reaches the high precipice, he will find the old cedar log still lying
across the chasm and resting on the tree top, for no one would have made
the effort to remove it, and nothing decays in that pure air.