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The Old Cottonwood Reflection
The summer of 2022 is winding down and soon the fall leaves will be floating by in the breeze. The end of a season is a natural time of reflection. It always goes by so fast – in the spring it seems the summer months will be long enough for so many plans. At the end of every summer I lament what didn’t come to pass, but this summer did start with a lovely day showing my sister and two of her girls a special place with a significant history. As you enter the Yellowstone – Missouri Confluence Center, a majestic cottonwood now over 200 years old, stands guard at…
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Sakakawea: A Good and Best Woman
Published in The Cowboy Chronicle, July 2021, Volume 25 Issue 4 Much of what we accept as historical fact is often interpretation and legend created from a few known and recorded truths. It is frequently difficult to separate fact from fiction for many of the famous historical figures in our western heritage. The passing of one such person on December 20, 1812, was sadly noted by clerk John Luttig at Fort Manuel, a short lived (1812-1813) fur trading outpost along the Missouri River in what is now South Dakota. He wrote, “This evening, the wife of Charbonneau, a Snake squaw died of putrid fever. She was a good and best…
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Returning Home: the Tragedy and Triumph of the Great American Buffalo
Published in: The Cowboy Chronicle Volume 24 Issue 6 November 2020 Publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame With profound joy and a great sense of a spiritual connection they watched the animals step out of the trucks and onto Tribal lands once again, greeting them with traditional welcoming ceremonies. The buffalo and their way of life had been gone for generations, but the longing remained in the people’s souls. The relationship between the buffalo and native people is deep, personal, and ethereal. While the stories and sacred ceremonies had been retained, the youth could not completely understand the kindred relationship because they had not been able to…
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Necessities for a Nomadic Life
It was time to move. The young woman took down their tepee and secured the poles to the horses, building the travois’ that would carry the rest of their home and other worldly possessions.
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War Bonnet!
The old steamer trunk has been in the family attic for generations. The treasure it holds comes out from time to time to be admired and pondered. Who wore it? What moments in history did the wearer see and experience? What stories are hidden in this honorary headdress? Over one hundred years ago the US government opened up a strip of land to homesteaders between the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. There were over 100,000 applicants but only 2500 families won a claim. One of these families was that of Henry and Margaret Lutgen, who established their farm along the path the local Native Americans…
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The Legacy of the Horse in the Lives of the Great Plains People
The Great Plains spread in a boundless swath of land across ten states running from Texas through North Dakota and into Canada. The Northern Plains, including North Dakota, have vast open expanses dominated by short and tall grasses. The climate is one of extremes; cold harsh winters and hot humid summers. The grasses change from a vibrant green in the spring to a sea of gold as the summer ends when land and animals prepare for the winter. Sometimes as you look across the plains, those wide open spaces of flat and rolling grasslands can seem to go on forever. The wind and sunlight will create waves in the ocean…
