Thoughts on national grasslands
Grassland trail must deal with barbwired pasture land
I love national forests but national grasslands are special and unique unto them selves. Maybe it’s because they are so open and vast and empty.
They are cris-crossed by barb wire fences so cattle can safely graze on the tall rippling grass, so maybe they aren’t really so open. And as to empty? Grasslands are full of amazing plants, special animals, and isolated ranches and farms.
So what makes them special? Maybe it’s the imprint left by those who went before and those who continue to try to tame the land.
Perhaps its the recilence of the land itself.
In some ways I envy the folks we meet that have a connection to one place. Especially when a place has the unique beauty of a grassland. You can see the love of the land and a way of life in the basswood carving done by a gentlemen who spent his life on a plot of land in Sheyenne National Grassland.
And then there is the couple how live overlooking the expanses of the Curlew National Grassland from their farmhouse and welcome strangers like us with open arms. They know every hillside, stream, and secret of this area. They told us about Colen H Sweeten Jr. who writes about his time on the Curlew. A favorite piece of theirs is “Field Thirteen” (fenced pastures are all given names so the permittee will know which is for his use). It reads like a mini-novel.
Here are few lines from “Field Thirteen”:
A blizzard comes up
With no warning at all
When you’re cuttin’ out cattle
Late in the fall.
The horse you are on
Turns from ornery to mean
There’s a pretty good chance
You are in Field Thirteen.
. . . .
Field thirteen can get pretty mean,
But, today I’m enjoying the ride.
The feeling won’t last, but ghosts of the past
Ride along in the dust at my side.
