Empire of the Summer Moon
Just finished reading an excellent book called Empire of the Summer Moon – Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne. From what is now extreme southeast Colorado all the way to the hill country of central Texas, the Comanches controlled, often with […]
Sand Creek at 150
Although I’m about three weeks late, I would be remiss if I did not take the time to mark an important anniversary in Great Plains history. It has been 150 years since the Sand Creek Massacre in what is now southeast Colorado. On November 29, 1864, an encampment of mostly Arapaho and Cheyenne women and […]
Grasses Gone Wild
Grasses Ok. It’s time to turn away from state grasses. Let me guess. No one was riveted. Admittedly, even I, who is the biggest fan of grass I know, found it hard to get excited about the botanical finer points, and I mean no disrespect to botany. I am fully aware that the plants of […]
State Grasses – Colorado and New Mexico
The official state grass of both Colorado and New Mexico is Blue Grama Grass. It is very drought tolerant, and is native to much of the mid-section of North America, roughly from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. It is commonly used in ornamental landscaping, and sometimes even in flower arrangements. As with many […]
State Grasses – Nebraska and Kansas
The official state grass of both Nebraska and Kansas is Little Bluestem. Also known as “bunch grass” (because it grows in bunches) and “beard grass” (because of its feathery appearance). It can be found in most of North America, but is most common in the tallgrass and mixed grass prairies of the central U.S. and […]
State Grasses – The Dakotas and Wyoming
The official state grass of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming is western wheatgrass. It’s a prairie native, and I particularly like the statement from the North Dakota official state website NorthDakota.gov: “tough native prairie grass, once covered nearly all of the state.” Wow! It’s hard to believe, but that statement is probably fairly true. […]
State Grasses – Montana
All 50 states have a whole grocery list of official state somethings – state flowers, state trees, state birds, etc. Not all of the states, however, have official state grasses. This is disappointing, but not unexpected. It’s the usual slight delivered to grasses in general, despite the fact that grasses exist not only in all […]
Restoring Ancestral Lands
From the Good News Department: A recent article in the New York Times by Nate Schweber points to a small, but possibly growing movement on Native American ancestral lands to help restore prairie habitat. Native lands are in a particularly good position to be able to succeed in this endeavor because the percentage of unplowed […]
Books – A Pronghorn Year
The pronghorn is the fastest land animal in North America, and the second fastest in the world. Only the African cheetah can run faster, but even then, the cheetah is only faster for the first 100 meters or so, after that, the big cat flags a bit, but the pronghorn can sustain its fast pace […]
Photo of the Week – October 10, 2014
Excellent photos of a fantastic part of Nebraska, which will one day be an integral part of the Great Plains Trail!
Buffalo buffalo buffalo?
Ran across a gem the other day (even though it’s a head-scratcher) that I’d like to share with all you buffalo (not bison in this case) aficionados out there. It involves the word “buffalo,” and all of its permutations in terms of meaning and usage. First, here are all of the various ways that “buffalo” […]
This is September
Amazing photos of western North Dakota.
