Fairfield had done much, and out of deference to him was the name. Fairfield was one of the old surveyors for the government and he was also one who surveyed out Minatare canal, and others of the early days. He was an enthusiast of irrigation, and in pioneer development.

Tim; Quagmires Fairfield's spectacular language is written into the field notes now on file with the state surveyor, in the office of the state land com-

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

missioner, but nowhere does it surpass his description of the bog holes or quagmires found in western Scotts Bluff county. These singular formations seem to be wells in the firmer soils, and the wells are filled with a soft muck. These differ in color but all are very thin, and originally many cattle were lost in them. The grass grows green around the edges, and in tufts on top of the heaps of muck, for it seems that the internal pressure forces the bogs to rounded forms above the level adjacent ground.

There are two groups of these bogs in the county, about two or three miles apart : one just east of the Crocket ranch and the other on Honeycutt hill. Each group has a dozen or more of the bogs about ten feet across, twenty-five feet and upward apart, and sometimes connected by trenches that seem to be cracks, possibly made by an upwards pressure of underneath forces or materials. No one

for distances instead of using the chain.