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June 12, Came through a patch of pines about a mile where fire had killed them all several years ago & they had become rotten & had all broken off from 10 to 30 feet from ground, leaving a [[strikethrough]] f [[/strikethrough]] thick forest of dead pine stubs. All were rotten. There was no regularity of directions in which tops lay.

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[[underlined]] Devils Tower [[/underlined]]

and numerous pieces of small stalactites & fossils & lava pebbles are mixed with other stones. The river flat is a mile wide. There are some ranches with small fields & large pastures.

Pines come down to river. Oaks grow in patches. Cottonwoods (P. monolifera) are the commonest trees along river flat. Diamond willows are abundant & well diamonded. Shepherdia argentia is abundant. Fraxinus americanus - white ash, - is common, so is Negundo aceroides. A little blue Lupine and a Dalea like anual which we found at forks of Cheyenne are common here. Plantago patagonica is abundant over mesas, growing in solid patches. 

Set out a lot of traps. Shot a Sciurus & a Cottontail

[[underlined]] June 13 [[/underlined]] Rained hard in night, caught nothing, Dutcher caught a Zapus & a Sitomys.

Started at 9:30 and followed up the river about 6 miles to the Devils Tower. The road is rather slippery but not very bad. is mostly sandy instead of gumbo. Followed a picnic road up a gulch around back of tower and camped close to base of talus on west side at the picnic grounds. It is a lovely place in pinewoods with grassy parks, clean and shady. A pool of rainwater nearby furnishes [[strikethrough]] of [[/strikethrough]] us a supply but it is 40 rods down a steep hill to the little creek. Grass is splendid. Strawberries are ripe.

The Tower stands on a bluff close to the west bank of Belle Fourche R. Its long diameter is N.&S. At river at foot of bluff the Aneroid read 3525 & at camp at base of talus 3925.

Transcription Notes:
"P. monolifera" = Populus monolifera but should be monilifera but transcribed as written. "Shepherdia argentia" should be argentea but transcribed as written.