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Distribution And Abundance Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs In The Great Plains: A Historical Perspective, Dallas Virchow, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

It is a common belief that the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) was an extremely abundant species throughout the Great Plains prior to European settlement. We examined accounts from explorers, naturalists, and travelers in the Great Plains in the 19th and 20th centuries and found few that adequately document the relative abundance and distribution to support this view. Immense prairie dog colonies existed in the western Great Plains before Euro-American settlement, but it appears that the eastern Great Plains supported only localized populations. Historic accounts also indicate that the easternmost extent of the black-tailed prairie dog's range before …

Great Plains Research Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2002 - Annual Index

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

annual index

Review Of Waltzing With The Ghost Of Tom Joad: Poverty, Myth, And Low-Wage Labor In Oklahoma By Robert Lee Maril, Ginette Aley

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

The Great Plains is home to a range of economic experiences, yet little research has focused on the roles that poor people and poverty have played in society. Constantly, though, the ghost of Tom Joad, John Steinbeck's protagonist in The Grapes of Wrath, has reminded us of the status of the contemporary poor while also embodying the potential for social change. Robert Lee Maril, has produced the first comprehensive analysis of poverty in Oklahoma, the eighth poorest state in the nation, in which he explores myths about the poor and the "real" causes of poverty, especially low-wage labor. Maril …

Was Old Jules Right?: Soil Stewardship On Leased Land, Bruce B. Johnson, John D. Cole

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

In a country where more than 40% of the agricultural land is farmed by tenant operators, the question of how that land base is farmed becomes paramount In this study we examined soil erosion levels in relation to land tenure and surveyed tenant farmer practices and attitudes in Nebraska and South Dakota, We found leased land was farmed and maintained by tenants in an environmentally sustainable manner, Furthermore, we found no evidence to suggest variation from this norm due to type of lease, size of farm, type of farm organization, or landowner classification, While educational level and years of experience …

Flooding In Kansas Respondents’ Satisfaction With Emergency Response Measures And Disaster Aid, Bimal Kanti Paul

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Several counties of south-central and southeast Kansas experienced floods in the first week of November 1998. The communities of Arkansas City and Augusta were among those most severely affected by these floods. This study is based primarily on a mail questionnaire survey of residents of these two communities, and it examines respondents' satisfaction with four emergency response measures employed by local officials and emergency management agencies before and during the flood event. The extent of external support victims received and the level of their satisfaction with that support were also investigated. The analysis of the survey data shows that the …

Community Dynamics Of An Ecotonal Forest-Prairie Interface In Northeastern Kansas, Elizabeth Hane, Steven Hamburg

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Climate change models predict that ecotones, which are boundaries between two biomes, are likely to be the first place we see the effects of climate change. However, very little baseline data exist for these areas and their current community structure. In order to better understand the community dynamics of an ecotonal forest, a 2.2 ha 60- year-old upland forest in northeastern Kansas was monitored for 10 years. This oak-hickory forest at the ecotone with the tallgrass prairie biome is growing more slowly than other forests of similar species composition farther east, possibly due to lower levels of available soil moisture …

Estimation Of Presettlement Populations Of The Black-Tailed Prairie Dog: A Reply, Dallas Virchow, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Determination of the historical distribution and abundance of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicanus) is important as a component of the science underlying decisions on the future management of this species. Clearly, we differ from Knowles and colleagues (2002) in our interpretation of those data (see below). In addition, Knowles et al. (2002) introduce other lines of evidence rather than focusing on the historical record as we did. The new lines of evidence they present include physical evidence, contemporary knowledge of prairie dog ecology, and distribution of the black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes. Unfortunately, these new lines of …

Great Plains Research Volume 12, Number 2, Fall 2002 - News And Notes

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Contents:
Call for papers

Review Of Birds Of The Texas Panhandle: Their Status, Distribution, And History By Kenneth D. Seyffert, Mark Lockwood

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Birds of the Texas Panhandle is the first book to focus on the avifauna of this region of Texas. Seyffert has been studying the Panhandle's birds for almost forty years, and no one is more qualified to provide a comprehensive overview of its bird life. His work concentrates on the twenty-six counties that make up the Panhandle, including habitats from two physiographic regions, the High Plains and the Rolling Plains. Seyffert details the occurrence of 406 avian species that have been satisfactorily documented in the study area and thirty-six others that have been reported without supporting details. Each species account …

Review Of A Business History Of Alberta By Henry C. Klassen, Max Foran

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Given the dearth of business histories in Alberta, and in Western Canada for that matter, A Business History of Alberta is a welcome contribution to Canadian regional historiography. Henry Klassen's study, the result of many years of intensive research at a variety of levels, emerges as a well written account of the development of business in Alberta from the territorial period to the present day. Using specific examples, supported in many cases by personal interviews, Klassen has brought to life the histories of dozens of business enterprises in all parts of Alberta over a hundred year period. His reliance on …

Review Of Wildflowers Of Alberta: A Guide To Common Wildflowers And Other Herbaceous Plants By Kathleen Wilkinson, Melanie Elliot

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This field guide, in a size and format useful for educators, naturalists, and life-long learners, is illustrated with excellent photographs, some artistically back lit, and line drawings. Appendices offer keys to the major families, comparisons of new and old taxonomy, selected references, an alphabetized species index by flower color, and a species index. There is also a good glossary, which includes page references back to species and diagrams. Corners help maintain the guide's shape even when repeatedly pulled out of a pack in the field.

Review Of Bounty And Benevolence: A History Of Saskatchewan Treaties By Arthur J. Ray, Jim Miller, And Frank Tough, Jennifer S. H. Brown

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This is a solid and useful contribution to the growing literature on the so-called "numbered treaties" with Native Peoples in the Canadian West. Its focus is on the five treaties negotiated with the First Nations whose homelands included parts of the present province of Saskatchewan: Treaties 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10, signed during the period from 1874 into the early twentieth century. Initially advertised with the subtitle A Documentary History of Saskatchewan Treaties, the volume indeed emphasizes evidence from and interpretations of written documents, some quoted at length. The authors note that the original intent was "to embody …

Review Of The Cast Iron Forest: A Natural And Cultural History Of The North American Cross Timbers By Richard V. Francaviglia, Brock Brown

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Drawing on the term "cast iron forest" used by Washington Irving in the 1830s to describe a central Oklahoma component of the larger Cross Timbers region, Richard Francaviglia fashions a thoughtful, thorough, and updated account of this bio-region. Nurtured by American expansion westward, the Cross Timbers was a formidable barrier to transportation and of immediate interest to anyone traveling east-west through the region. From early Euro-American encounters to recent times many of the explorers, surveyors, adventurers, and scientists who encountered and observed the Cross Timbers recorded their experiences. Francaviglia does a superb job bundling the diverse types of accounts into …

Review Of Ice Age Peoples Of North America: Environments, Origins, And Adaptations Of The First Americans Edited By Robson Bonnichsen And Karen L. Turnmire, Leland C. Bement

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

This collection of nineteen articles presents up-to-date regional or topical syntheses of the best data relating to the last Ice Age inhabitants in Northeast Asia, Beringia, and North America. Many of the papers were given in 1989 at the First World Summit, sponsored by the Center for the Study of the First Americans at the University of Maine. Authors were given the opportunity to update their syntheses to include new finds in their regions during the decade between the Summit and the book's publication, though some contributors waived the opportunity.

Review Of Freshwater Ecoregions Of North America: A Conservation Assessment By Robin A. Abell, David M. Olson, Eric Dinerstein, Patrick T. Hurley, Et Al., Arnold Van Der Valk

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Defining ecogregions as "relatively large areas of land or water that contain a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities," this book documents the efforts of the World Wildlife Fund-United States to identify areas with aquatic habitats in the United States, Canada, and Mexico that support "globally outstanding biological diversity." Public and private conservation groups can then focus their efforts on preserving the aquatic ecosystems of the most globally significant areas.

The book opens with its authors' discussion of their use of a biological distinctiveness index, focusing on fish, mussels, and crayfish species, to delineate the ecoregions of North America. Much …

Review Of The Last Best West: Essays On The Historical Geography Of The Canadian Prairies By Yossi Katz And John C. Lehr, Carl J. Traci

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

John Lehr is well known for his longstanding interest in and intimate knowledge of Ukrainian and Mormon settlement in the Canadian West. More recently, he has teamed with Yossi Katz to examine Jewish settlement and to analyze the influence of institutional factors on settlement success. The purpose of this collection of previously-published papers is to contribute to a "full understanding" of frontier agricultural settlement through the use of a comparative approach that analyzes the role of culture and institutions (social, religious, and government) in the settlement experiences of several ethnic groups in western Canada. Chosen for detailed treatment are the …

Review Of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side Of The All-American Meal By Eric Schlosser, Toby Ten Eyck

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

American fast food has come to symbolize runaway capitalism, pointless pop culture, and callous globalization. It is bad for the environment, bad for workers, and bad for consumers. This industry supports meatpacking firms-some of the largest are now located in the Great Plains-that are heavy polluters and rely on a labor force consisting largely of immigrant workers who receive few, if any, health or medical benefits, even though their work is some of the most dangerous in the US. Fast food restaurants are the signifiers of urban sprawl which threatens precious farm and ranch lands in the Great Plains and …

Review Of Changing Prairie Landscapes Edited By Todd A. Radenbaugh And Patrick Douaud, Fred Samson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

In the past decade there has been a slow but steady change in the field of prairie conservation. More and more research is investigating the role of natural ecological processes and factors leading to the declines in many native prairie species. Although this change should be seen as progress, achieving the needed balance between science and practical roots in conservation remains illusive.

Title And Contents- Summer 2002

Great Plains Quarterly

Great Plains Quarterly

Volume 22/ Number 3 / Summer 2002

CONTENTS

CONGRESSMAN USHER BURDICK OF NORTH DAKOTA AND THE "UNGODLY MENACE": ANTI-UNITED NATIONS RHETORIC, 1950-1958 163 Bernard Lemelin

"PRIVATE" LIVES AND "PUBLIC" WRITING: RHETORICAL PRACTICES OF WESTERN NEBRASKA WOMEN Charlotte Hogg

"SHE HAD NEVER HUMBLED HERSELF": ALEXANDRA BERGSON AND MARIE SHABATA AS THE "REAL" PIONEERS OF O PIONEERS! Douglas W. Werden

REVIEW ESSAY: INDIANS AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS David Wishart A review of Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13. Plains.

Book Reviews

Joseph Epes Brown with Emily Cousins Teaching Spirits: Understanding Native American Religious Traditions By KATHLEEN DANKER

James P. Ronda …

Review Of The Plains Indian Photographs Of Edward S. Curtis By Edward S. Curtis, Clara Sue Kidwell

Great Plains Quarterly

This selection of Edward Curtis photographs is accompanied by three scholarly discussions of various aspects of his work. Martha Sandweiss places him in a historical context by considering both the development of his photographic techniques and the work of other photographers of his time (early twentieth century). Curtis was the most prominent of a group of individuals who made photography a popular and commercial medium. Mick Gidley emphasizes the fact that Curtis did not work alone; he employed both photographic and ethnographic assistants in relatively large numbers. Financed largely by J. Pierpont Morgan, Curtis and his assistants traveled extensively, but …

Congressman Usher Burdick Of North Dakota And The "Ungodly Menace" Anti-United Nations Rhetoric, 1950-1958, Bernard Lemelin

Great Plains Quarterly

In the rare studies dealing with American post-World War II isolationism, the state of North Dakota always holds a special place, as it has acquired the reputation of having been "the nation's most isolationist state during [the] postwar decade."¹ To a large extent, this reputation can be ascribed to the attitude of some of its prominent members on Capitol Hill, such as Senators William Langer, who voted against the United Nations Charter in 1945, and his colleague Milton Young, an opponent of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949.² Representative Usher Burdick, who sat between 1949 and 1959, also …

"Private" Lives And "Public" Writing Rhetorical Practices Of Western Nebraska Women, Charlotte Hogg

Great Plains Quarterly

The library in the western Nebraska town of Paxton (population approximately 500) is small, and my grandmother was president of the library board for many years. When I was younger, I learned about the history of the library from her research and writing published in the local county newspaper. In write-ups for both the library's twenty-fifth and fiftieth anniversaries, she described how women "were found to be very handy with hammer and saw" when starting the library.¹ I saw my grandma frequently and had been hearing her stories for years, but here were her words in a newspaper, which …

Review Of Quilting Lessons: Notes From The Scrap Bag Of A Writer And Quilter By Janet Catherine Berlo, Laurel Horton

Great Plains Quarterly

This series of personal essays documents the author's reflections over a two-year period in which she, an otherwise successful and prolific scholar and writer, found herself in a state of professional paralysis. Unable to complete a major manuscript on Native American women artists, Berlo submersed herself in her own creative expression, making quilts. "Eleven months were almost exclusively nonverbal and nonlinear, filled with color. Yet they also were filled with confusion over the loss of my scholarly work. For during the months that the quilter emerged, the scholar disappeared. From being a productive writer and researcher I was transformed-seemingly overnight-into …

Review Of Finding The West: Explorations With Lewis And Clark By James P. Ronda, Greg O'Brien

Great Plains Quarterly

Amid the hype over the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition, University of Tulsa history professor James Ronda has written a work of eminent common sense that provides an antidote to the myth-making surrounding the journey of the Corps of Discovery. A prolific scholar of the West and the Lewis and Clark expedition, Ronda here presents seven "stories" and a map essay examining the wider context, the cultural and political assumptions, and the impact of the trek. "Such a reconsideration," Ronda insists, "might reveal not one voyage but many, not one band of explorers but whole congregations of the …

Review Of Governmentality And The Mastery Of Territory In Nineteenth-Century America By Matthew G. Hannah, Christine Pappas

Great Plains Quarterly

This contribution to historical geography maps the idea of governmentality in the nineteenth- century United States through the career of Frances Walker, director of the 1870 and 1880 Census, social commentator, and educator. Drawing on Foucault, Hannah explores Walker's life and work, pinpointing the essential but subtle "moments" in the emergence of governmentality.

Walker's work with the national Census was pivotal, Hannah claims, to increasing governmental control of America's people since it was one of the ways to "internally colonize" a territory. Governmentality, in short, is the "logic of social regulation that consistently blends the principles of freedom and regulation." …

Review Of Cold Snap As Yearning By Robert Vivian, Jonathan Ritz

Great Plains Quarterly

In this collection of personal essays, Robert Vivian offers a series of vivid, intensely reflective, and soul-stirring renderings of the lives and landscapes of the Great Plains. He explores a broad range of topics, from the dynamics of grief to the existential ephemera of modern existence, with wonderful literary inventiveness, quilting together seemingly disparate anecdotes, images, and reflections into a more complex whole. Many of his subjects here are closely personal, though even in the essays that provide an intimate glimpse into his own life Vivian's gaze inevitably turns outward, to the places and people around him; the book's many …

Review Of Mackenzie King And The Prairie West By Robert A. Wardhaugh, Allen Mills

Great Plains Quarterly

William Lyon Mackenzie King was prime minister of Canada almost continuously between 1921 and his retirement in1948. The main exception was the Conservative government of R. B. Bennett between 1930 and 1935. Yet at the very same time, in all sorts of ways, the Prairie West was, apparently, not part of this victorious parade. The Prairie West instead chose to go a-whoring after strange, sectional, political gods of its own invention: first the Progressive farmers movement after 1921; then Social Credit after 1935; and finally the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, which formed, if we are to believe Seymour Martin Lipset, the …

Review Of Dissent In Wichita: The Civil Rights Movement In The Midwest, 1954-72 By Gretchen Cassel Eick, Timothy N. Thurber

Great Plains Quarterly

Community studies of the modern civil rights movement have tended to focus on the South or the Northeast, but Gretchen Eick makes a convincing case that important developments, long ignored by most scholars, were happening in the Midwest too.

Eick surveys a broad range of topics, including education, employment, housing, and relations between the national and local NAACP. Much of the story in Wichita resembles that in other parts of the nation. Real estate agents thwarted efforts at neighborhood integration. Local officials dragged their heels on school integration until pressure from the federal government forced change. The aircraft industry, the …

Review Of Handbook Of North American Indians Volume 13. Plains. Edited By Raymond J. Demallie, David J. Wishart

Great Plains Quarterly

INDIANS AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS

To say that the Plains volume of the Smithsonian Institution's Handbook of North American Indians has been long awaited is a literal as well as a figurative verity. Research for the volume began in 1971, then stalled until 1985, when Raymond DeMallie took over as editor and reinvigorated the project. Still, progress remained slow until 1998, as other volumes in the series were given priority. Then an all-out push was made to complete the work: manuscripts written in the 1970s and 1980s were revised, often through the addition of a co-author, and the content was generally updated …

Review Of Ed Ruscha By Neal Benezra And Kerry Brougher, With A Contribution By Phyllis Rosenzweig, Daniel A. Siedell

Great Plains Quarterly

This book, intended to accompany an international traveling retrospective exhibition, is a welcome contribution to understanding Ed Ruscha's important but underappreciated role in the complex and diverse history of postwar American art. Although he has long been regarded as one of the "important" contemporary artists who came to aesthetic maturity in the mid-1960s, why he is important has not been sufficiently demonstrated. This publication points the way.

The number and quality of reproductions of Rusch a's work are the book's most important contribution. The images alone demonstrate the sheer diversity and energy of Ruscha's aesthetic vocabulary, a vocabulary that is …