The fall of the principal rivers traversing the region above named is about as follows: Arkansas, to the 99th meridian, eleven to fifteen feet to the mile; the Canadian, the same; the South Platte, from Denver to North Platte, ten feet to the mile; the North Platte, to Fort Fetterman, seven feet to the mile. The descent of the country from Denver Junction to Fort Hays is nine feet to the mile. Thus it will be seen that abundant fall is obtainable to irrigate all the lands adjacent.
THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS AND VALLEYS OF BUFFALO LAND.
The Platte (or Nebraska), the Solomon, the Smoky Hill, and the Arkansas, are the four largest rivers of Buffalo Land proper, and form natural avenues to the eastward from the mountains which shut it in upon the west.
THE VALLEY OF THE PLATTE.
Describing this, Hayden says: "West of the mouth of the Elk Horn River, the valley of the Platte expands widely. The hills on either side are quite low, rounded, and clothed with a thick carpet of grass. But we shall look in vain for any large natural groves of forest trees, there being only a very narrow fringe of willows or cottonwoods along the little streams. The Elk Horn rises far to the north-west in the prairie near the Niobrara, and flows for a distance of nearly two hundred miles through some of the most fertile and beautiful lands in Nebraska. Each of its more important branches, as Maple, Pebble, and Logan Creeks, has carved out for itself broad, finely-rounded valleys, so that every acre may be brought under the highest state of cultivation.
"The great need here will be timber for fuel and other economical purposes, and also rock material for building. Still the resources of this region are so vast that the enterprising settler will devise plans to remedy all these deficiencies. He will plant trees, and thus raise his own forests and improve his lands in accordance with his wants and necessities.
"These valleys have always been the favorite places of abode for numerous tribes of Indians from time immemorial, and the sites of their old villages are still to be seen in many localities. The buffalo, deer, elk, antelope, and other kinds of wild game, swarmed here in the greatest numbers, and, as they recede farther to the westward into the more arid and barren plains beyond the reach of civilization, the wild nomadic Indian is obliged to follow. One may travel for days in this region and not find a stone large enough to toss at a bird, and very seldom a bush sufficient in size to furnish a cane."
THE SOLOMON AND SMOKY HILL RIVERS.
The Solomon and Smoky Hill Rivers, while possessing some of the general characteristics of the Platte, have more timber, and the entire surrounding country is uniformly rolling. The Smoky Hill is a visible stream only after reaching the vicinity of Pond Creek, near Fort Wallace. Above that point a desolate bed of sand hides the water flowing beneath. We have spoken fully of these sections elsewhere.