North Dakota State Historical Society

Posted on by
Reply

Spent part of the afternoon today looking at microfilm and old documents searching for narratives that I can use in the library with my kindergarten to fifth grade students. I am going back tomorrow to get some additional information on Arthur C. Huidekoper, a Pennsylvania transplant to North Dakota in the early 1880s. His memoirs are fascinating and I really believe some of my students, especially some of the boys, will be enthralled by his adventures.

Buffalo Gap National Grassland

Posted on by
Reply

Drove through one of the most gorgeous grasslands in South Dakota this afternoon. Buffalo Gap National Grassland is the second largest grassland area in the United States. Can’t wait to try the honey that is produced from the bee hives in the within the grassland boundaries. The grassland visitor’s center is in Wall, South Dakota.

 

Yellow Sweet Clover at Buffalo Gap National Grasslands

Yellow Sweet Clover at Buffalo Gap National Grasslands

 

Good Food

Posted on by
Reply

Eat at locally owned restaurants is always one of my favorite things to do. So far I’ve eaten at Montana Mike’s in Dodge City, Madeline’s Cafe and Bakery in Lexington, NE, Martinelli’s Italian Restaurant in Saline, KS, and Murphy’s Wagon Wheel in Hasting’s, NE. I’d definitely recommend all of them.

I’m adding Mad Mary’s Steakhouse and Saloon to the list. It’s not everyday that you get to eat dinner with a big picture of Roy Rogers at your table! If you haven’t eaten at Wall Drug, in Wall, South Dakota, you’ve missed a real treat.

This is a Midwestern restaurant chain that we've seen in several towns.

Taco Bell meets Jimmy John’s.
This is a Midwestern restaurant chain that we’ve seen in several towns.

Rock City is in Kansas not just Tennessee

Posted on by
Reply

Landforms fascinate many of us and seeing Rock City on the Kansas map I wanted to explore and see how it compared to Tennessee’s Rock City. Rock City, located near Minneapolis, Kansas has large sandstone boulders that are giant calcite-cemented concretions. Many of the boulders seem to be 10 feet high or taller. I wonder, did pioneers who traveled west by wagon train see these large boulders and wonder what they were? What did Native American tribes that hunted this area think of these boulders?

Rock City boulders

Rock City boulders

Santa Fe Trail Ruts

Posted on by
Reply

It’s hard to imagine that ruts can still be seen from wagons that traveled the six to ten weeks it took to go from Missouri to Santa Fe. These freight wagons, traveling approximately 18 miles each day, hauled sewing items, animals, cloth, farm implements, food, and seed. The Santa Fe Trail would link the eastern states with the southwest for 60 years.

Greensburg, Kansas

Posted on by
Reply

Located between Wichita and Dodge City is the small town of Greensburg, Kansas, an authentic, sustainable community. On May 4, 2007 Greensburg was hit by an EF5 tornado that leveled 95% of the town. The city has been rebuilt to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards making Greensburg home to the most LEED buildings per capita in the United States. Greensburg is now 100% renewable all the time.

As you drive through Greensburg, you see new buildings and windmills that provide all the electricity the city needs.

Keeper of the Plains

Posted on by
Reply

Kiowa-Comanche artist Blackbear Bosin’s Keeper of the Plains statue is located where the Big Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers come together. Located nearby is the Mid-American All-Indian Center dedicated to the history of Native Americans, with a focus on the Plains Indians. The center has a collection of Bosin’s art including a series of cartoons.