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Lecture two is about the many things that define the Great Plains or the "Wild Land." We discussed four different ways: the environment, the culture, the climate, and plants and animals. The enironment to me is what really defines the plains. The elements eroded away the Rocky Mountains and built up braided rivers to create the High Plains. Yet erosion also created cannonball boulders in the Missour Plateau. Glacial erosion left Wyndmere, ND a very rocky country while just over in the Red River Valley the soils are very silty. All these areas of the plains have their own distinct characters but they still all belong to the Great Plains area.
The culture can also define a region. Most of the plains are considered sparse and densly populated. Many have far spaced towns where if you blink you may just miss it. We also talked about how each area has distinct ethnic groups. I found the story of the State Basketball tournament to be very interesting and humorous. The idea that each team in the tournament was mostly the same ethnic group and you didnt really want to play a certain team or had to beat that team because they were your rivaling ethnic group seems so silly. Yet I believe there are still people today who think like that.
The climate is mainly subhumid because the Great Plains are in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains. I think the climate is what keeps the riff-raft out of North Dakota. A lot of people can't handle the brutal weather. The commonalites of the plant life also defines the plains area. Trees mainly only grow close to river banks, while different types of grasses grow freely all over the prairie. The lastly are the animals, the prairiedogs, flickertail gophers, and the jack rabbits. Each of these animals defines a certain place on the plains.

--Becky_Peterson