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"My Antonia" is a 1918 novel by American author Willa Cather, presented as the fictional memoir of a man named Jim Burden. The story details his childhood in Nebraska and his lifelong friendship with Antonia Shimerda, a Bohemian immigrant adapting to the harsh realities of pioneer life. The narrativ...
Published in 1999, Plainsong is a literary novel by American author Kent Haruf that explores the intersecting lives of residents in the fictional farming town of Holt, Colorado. The narrative follows a high school teacher, two elderly bachelor farmers, and a pregnant teenager as they form an unconve...
The Big Rock Candy Mountain is a 1943 semi-autobiographical novel by Wallace Stegner that explores the American immigrant experience and frontier life. The narrative follows the Mason family—patriarch Bo, his wife Elsa, and their sons—as they endlessly migrate across the western United States and Ca...
El Silbón is a prominent figure in the folklore of Venezuela's Los Llanos region, as well as parts of Colombia. According to legend, he is a towering, emaciated specter who wanders the plains carrying a sack filled with the bones of his father, whom he murdered. He is identifiable by his characteris...
Lord Grizzly is a biographical western novel written by Frederick Manfred, published in 1954. The book provides a fictionalized account of the historical American frontiersman Hugh Glass, detailing his survival journey after being severely mauled by a grizzly bear in 1823. Left for dead by his compa...
Eventide is a literary novel by Kent Haruf published in 2004, set in the fictional farming community of Holt, Colorado. As a sequel to his earlier novel Plainsong, the book revisits several established characters, including the elderly McPheron brothers and their adopted daughter, Victoria. The narr...
Robert H. Lowie (1883–1957) was an Austrian-born American anthropologist who trained under Franz Boas at Columbia University. He conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork among the Crow (Apsáalooke) and other peoples of the North American Plains, producing detailed studies of social organization, k...
The Pronghorn Clubtail, described by B. D. Walsh in 1862, is a robust dragonfly of the central United States, notable for the distinct, prong-like projections on its abdominal tip.
Described by Minter Jackson Westfall in 1975, the Oklahoma Clubtail is a rare dragonfly species endemic to the rocky streams of the Ozark region in the south-central United States.
The Plains Clubtail, described by Hermann August Hagen in 1858, is a large dragonfly native to the central United States, recognized by the distinct yellow stripes on its thorax.
The Xi'an City Wall is an ancient defensive fortification that forms a complete rectangular ring around the historic center of Xi'an, China. Substantially rebuilt in 1370 during the early Ming dynasty on the foundations of the former Tang imperial palace, the wall stretches for 13.7 kilometers and s...
Echinocereus reichenbachii, commonly called the Lace Cactus, is a small cactus native to the south-central United States, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma. It is noted for its short, interlaced spines that form geometric patterns along the plant's ribs, giving a lacy textured appearance. The species...
Kafue National Park is the largest national park in Zambia, encompassing an area of approximately 22,400 square kilometers. The park is named after the Kafue River, which flows through the reserve and serves as a vital water source for its diverse ecosystems. It features a wide variety of habitats,...
The Samuel H. Ordway Jr. Memorial Preserve is a protected natural area in north-central South Dakota managed by The Nature Conservancy. Covering roughly 7,800 acres, it preserves native mixed-grass prairie, wetlands, and other northern Great Plains habitats. The preserve supports research, conservat...
Kankakee Sands is a large conservation and habitat-restoration area in northwestern Indiana managed by The Nature Conservancy. Its landscape includes sand prairie, wetlands, savanna, and restored grasslands within the former Grand Kankakee Marsh region, providing habitat for diverse plants, birds, i...
Broken Kettle Grasslands is a Nature Conservancy preserve in the Loess Hills of western Iowa. It protects the state's largest remaining contiguous tract of native prairie, where steep ridges and deep valleys formed from wind-deposited loess support tallgrass and mixed-grass communities. The preserve...
Prairie Coteau, historically known as Coteau des Prairies, is a large, elevated plateau primarily spanning eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa. The landscape was largely shaped by glacial retreat, leaving behind rolling hills, native tallgrass prairies, and thousands...
The Saskatchewan River is a major Canadian river system formed by the confluence of the North and South Saskatchewan rivers. Flowing roughly 1,939 kilometers across the prairies, it traverses Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba before draining into Lake Winnipeg. Historically, it served as a crucial...
Suffield National Wildlife Area is a protected area established in 2003 in southeastern Alberta, Canada. It covers approximately 458 square kilometers of mixed-grass prairie situated within Canadian Forces Base Suffield, a military training area. The reserve protects habitat for numerous species at...
Junagarh Fort is a historic fortress situated in the city of Bikaner in the arid region of Rajasthan, India. Constructed between 1588 and 1593 under the supervision of Raja Rai Singh, a general in the Mughal army, the fort is distinct for being built on flat plains rather than elevated hilltop terra...
Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area, located in Grundy County, Illinois, preserves approximately 2,537 acres of tallgrass prairie and wetland habitat. Established in 1969, it represents one of the largest remaining remnants of the once-extensive Grand Prairie that covered much of Illinois before E...
Grand River National Grassland encompasses approximately 155,077 acres in northwestern South Dakota, managed by the USDA Forest Service as part of the Dakota Prairie Grasslands complex. Established in 1960, the area protects mixed-grass prairie within the watershed of the Grand River, a tributary of...
The plains lubber grasshopper (Brachystola magna) is a large, flightless insect belonging to the family Romaleidae. Native to the western United States, it primarily inhabits open plains and prairie ecosystems. The species is characterized by its heavy body, short wings, and prominent hind legs. It...
The Wainwright Dunes Ecological Reserve is a protected natural area located in east-central Alberta, Canada. Established in 1993, the reserve conserves a large expanse of native sandhill prairie, grassland, and distinct dune complexes. The local ecology is adapted to the sandy soils and semi-arid cl...
Hoosier Prairie Nature Preserve is a protected conservation area located in Lake County, Indiana, within the Calumet region. The preserve is distinguished by its rare, remnant assembly of tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, and marsh wetlands, which were historically common in the region before industri...
A central plains variety of golden currant, buffalo currant produces sweet berries historically eaten fresh and dried by Indigenous peoples across the North American grasslands.
Scuppernong Prairie in Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine State Forest is a wet prairie remnant notable for harboring regionally rare plant species within its poorly drained, acidic soils.
Fort Pierre National Grassland is a federally managed grassland in central South Dakota, south of the state capital, Pierre. Administered by the United States Forest Service, it covers more than 115,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie interspersed with wetlands and other wildlife habitat. The area supp...
Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center is a protected tallgrass prairie and nature center in Lancaster County, Nebraska, operated by the National Audubon Society. Its landscape includes native and restored prairie, walking trails, and surviving ruts associated with nineteenth-century overland travel. T...
Hempstead Plains Preserve protects part of the remaining Hempstead Plains grassland on Long Island, New York. The original plains formed Long Island's only naturally occurring tallgrass prairie ecosystem, but development reduced the habitat to small remnants. The preserve supports native grasses, wi...
