Webblog

This website for HIST 431/631 is inactive. The materials in it are those for the fall 2007 offering. I expect to offer the course on campus again in fall 2008. Feel free to look around.

Every time I see a school bus drive by in my hometown of Perham, MN I wonder what it is like to drive on the Great Plains. What sparks my interest most is what the winter months are like for the drivers. I also wonder if they like their jobs or if they would rather do something else. I decided to interview Bill Bauck who is the manager of the busing company in Perham. I touched on a few subjects such as community life in Perham, his experiences with running the bus company, and driving in the winter months.

There are many tests that a person has to go through to become a bus driver. They have to pass a couple written tests, a driving test with a school bus, undergo an entry level drug test, and be subject to random drug tests throughout the time they’re involved with driving school buses. Many of the tests they have to take are given by the state and local government. They must also follow the discipline actions enforced by the school. From what Bill told me, these drivers take on a load of responsibility the moment they have one child step on the bus.

Bill has lived in Perham, MN his entire life; he lives just a ½ block from where his great great grandfather grew up. He discussed how the town has prospered since the time he was born. The streets in the main part of town used to be just like township roads; they weren’t asphalt and actually had ditches. He stayed in Perham because he became involved in the family business; running the bus company. He does dislike the town somewhat though because it’s small. His wife and he enjoy bigger cities, so to compensate for living in a small town; they travel to much bigger cities when on vacation. They have visited many cities in Europe and Finland which is where his wife is from. He did say however, that it has gotten easier to live here because the town has prospered so much. 50 years ago there weren’t many job opportunities for young people; girls could clerk in a story or work at the hospital and guys could work on their family farms. Because Perham is a desirable place for couples and families the community has had to adjust and there have become many new jobs available and that’s because the community is willing to accept new people. Having more and more families moving into the community has added more children to our school district. But on the downside, because families nowadays are much smaller we have seen a decline in enrolment. I wondered why people want to move to a smaller town and Bill said that out town has much more to offer than surrounding communities. For instance, we have a very nice community center that was founded through just donations which says a lot about the people who live in Perham. We also offer many lakes, a good school district, and a great community life. He said that the community is involved in many school events and participates in holiday seasons such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the summer holidays such as the 4th of July. I then went on to talk about what driving a school bus on the Great Plains was like. Bill said that he has been involved in the busing company for 58 years; he manages the family business and also drives buses although he has slowed that down over the years. He said that driving the bus isn’t relaxing; it’s a very stressful job because of all the responsibility. Young people don’t respect authority much any more and it’s hard to discipline them because there are many more rules dealing with the issue than there used to be. Another stressful fact is driving in the winter months. He used to have to wake up at 3:30 when there was expected bad weather to go and check the driving conditions, then call the superintendent to give his opinion of what they should do for school that day. Sometimes when the weather wasn’t bad enough to cancel school, Bill would get calls from one teacher yelling at him because she indicated the teachers couldn’t get out of their garages however, all the bus drivers were already at the station ready to go. He said that having to be the one to call in the road conditions was probably one of the most stressful parts of his job because he was constantly getting second guessed. Sometimes the superintendent would decide to keep school on but when the buses were out driving and called in some bad roads, they would decide to cancel school for the day. This was another stressful part of his job because all the kids that had been picked up had to be dropped off again. However, some of the parent of the younger children had already left for work, so Bill would have to contact the parents and inform them of the cancellation so that they could make other arrangements. He also mentioned another reason he doesn’t care for driving in the winter months is because of the darkness. When they leave early in the morning and it’s dark and there’s a lot of snow, it’s difficult to tell where you are. Sometimes you think that you’re on the road and have plenty of room but you’re actually about to go into the ditch.

Hearing all of this information made me realize how truly hard it is to perform well at a job like this. I never had any idea that bus drivers had to go through this much; I guess it was something I overlooked. Knowing that you’re in charge of so many children that get on and off of the bus everyday would make me so nervous; I would never want that kind of responsibility. I really learned a lot from this interview, not only about bus drivers but also about my community.

Bibliography:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos242.htm
http://www.ladylike4.com/
I also contacted other bus drivers and the school to acquire back ground information.

Dances With Wolves begins with the star, Kevin Costner, playing Lt John Dunbar , a wounded Union soldier being told that his injured leg must be amputated. After starting off on what seems to be a suicidal ride on his horse, Kevin almost accidentally leads his troops to the battlefield where they obtain victory over the Confederates. Dunbar is rewarded with medical care and the choice for his next post for helping out the troops. He chooses one on the Western Frontier, upon reaching his new post he comes to realize the last two men that were at that post died, and he will be alone.
Dunbar has his horse and a wild wolf to keep him company. He later starts to organize his camp when he has his first encounter with the Lakota Sioux and they try to take his horse. In attempt to communicate with the Indians Dunbar in turn makes friends. He first enters the Indians camp after he saves a white woman who was adopted by the Sioux at a young age. She later becomes the translator for the two. After spending little time at his fort anymore and more time with the natives, and the white women with whom he begins to fall in love with, his fellow soldiers start to assume him a traitor and track him down.
Dances With Wolves shows the different views of the plains landscape, the damaging influences of white settlement against the beauty of the landscape, the battle between the white abuse of natural resources and the Sioux living within them. Also the extreme violence of war against the loving and family orientated Sioux.

The Searchers is a movie starring John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran that fought for the Confederacy living on his brother's land in Texas in 1868. Edwards is wandering, and people do not know what he has been since the end of the Civil War. While Edwards is out, the Comanche launch a raid that devastates him. His brother, sister- in-law are killed while his neices are gone and the farm house is burned to the ground. This is a major turning point in the whole story of the movie. This makes this movie turn from triumphant homecoming to a showdown. Edwards tracks the Comanche with help from his adopted nephew, Martin Pawley played by actor Jeffery Hunter. They continue to search until they find the the oldest niece dead, but not the youngest one. The youngest one is married to Scar, played by Henry Brandon, the leader of the Comanche. He has the same hatred for white people, as Edwards has for Indians. Edwards hatred switches from Scar to the youngest daughter. They are eventually found by the Texas Rangers.

This movie shows that racism is rampant for both cultures. This shows a common theme in American History. Indians and whites have a deep seeded distrust of each other. This is show in other movies like Thunderheart. I think that this is changing, but time will tell.

Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry Last Picture Show the film is set in a declining town in the early 1950's. It tells the story of two high-school seniors, Sonny and his friend Duane, who is upset over the closing of the towns theater due to the invasion of television. Due to the slow decline of the town there are few things to break the monotony, mostly sex and drinking. The boys mentor Sam the Lion gets through life by living in the past, most often by telling stories of events that happened years before. One of my favorite scenes, and the most poignant, were when Sam takes Sonny and his handicapped friend Billy, fishing at the "Tank" a small pond outside of town where according to Sonny there arent any fish but only turtles, to which Sam replies that is fine because he doesnt like anything about fish, he just fishes for the scenery.
This film reminded me alot of my home town. The townspeople seem to either be young people struggling to grow up, or old people struggling to stay young. Due to the fact their isnt much to do in town the most common distractions are the gossip about who seems to be cheating on their wife now or drinking. I thought it was ironic how some of the films that were played at the Royal Theater were some of the movies we were supposed to watch for this class because they tell the legends of Texas that in the film seem to be a era long past. The black and white filming of this movie and the constantly barren and windswept streets of the town depict the plains as Webb would have liked arid, level, and treeless and the fact that the town is barely alive and stagnant is a depressing look at alot of small towns in the plains that seems to tell me change and keep with the times or get blown away by the wind.

I just wanna say, I had a real good time in this class, it seems that this semester flew by too fast. I hope you all have a safe semester break and good luck on finals next week.


ttyl peace

Open Range starring Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner, is about two free grazers, Boss (Duvall) and Charlie (Costner). It begins with Boss and Charlie moving a herd along with their hired hands, Button and Moses. They take their cattle, and graze them on the open prairie, and then once a place is grazed off, move on to another place, and eventually sell the fat cows. Moses is sent into town, and runs into trouble with the local cattle baron, who loathes free grazers. Boss and Charlie go and rescue him, but then the cattle baron (Baxter) sends men out to kill them and scatter the herd. Moses is killed, and Button is severely wounded. Boss and Charlie take Button to the town doctor, and then they settle down to take justice into their own hands on Baxter and his men, who are going to come after them for defying Baxter. Boss and Charlie settle in for a gunfight, and Charlie happens to fall for the doctor's sister. The next day the gunfight shapes up, and Boss and Charlie clean house with Baxter and his men. The movie ends with Charlie proposing to the doctor's sister, and she accept. Then Boss, Charlie, and the recovered Button set out to sell their cattle and return to the town to settle down.

This movie shows a lot of good scenes of the country, and the town seems to be pretty authentic to a plains town. One of the best thing it tells about the plains is that the men who live there must be willing to defend themselves and their property against bullies like Baxter, or they will lose everything.

Corner gas is a television show based in a fictional Canadian town called Dog River. Things in Dog River are often slow and uneventful and the townsfolk like it that way. In the first few episodes one of the main plots is the new owner of Ruby's Cafe, Lacey, trying to run things a little different than the townsfolk are used to and meeting some hostility. Brett, the main character and the owner of the gas station is the main character who tries to keep life simple but is usually the character who ends up going through to most trouble. His interest in Lacey drives him to do alot of things he normally wouldn't even try such as babysitting to try and impress a girl. Most of the plot lines follow along the lines of odd and everyday things such as the signs in the bathrooms in the gas station and getting a new cell phone.
I Can see why this show is called the Seinfeld of Canada. Seinfeld prided itself on being a show about nothing and Corner Gas follows along these same lines. Much like alot of the small towns in North Dakota, and on the plains as a whole, the townsfolk like things the tradition way they are and when those things change for whatever reason they are usually met with confusion and often hostility. I cant speak for every town on the plains but being from a small town i have witness this hostility myself many times. My town often prides itself on trying to be open to businesses and opportunities but whenever anything new comes to town it is usually met with alot of scepticism and more that a fair share of hostility that makes it tough for new businesses whcih in my opinion is partly to blame why the population of our town is slowly declining. In my opinion a small town needs to be open to change in order to survive and im not sure Dog River would survive for long in the real world.

Lecture ten was about politics on the plains. Being I tend not to follow politics much, I got to be honest this was my least favorite of the lessons. Political ties on the plains have always been mainly republican excluding Oklahoma. On the political map these state every year are displayed as red states, possibly the only states in the nation that are actually close to deserving that title. Plains politics have always been slightly weird, I will explain of course. On the plains we typically send the republicans to our state offices, but for some reason year after year we send democrats to the senate. While other regions have had their political trends described by scholars the plains have not been able to do that like other areas. Sure one man is currently trying to make an attempt however lets just say that things are not looking hopeful. It was a short lesson but more interesting than I thought it would have been.

By: Justin Nygaard

Capote is about the cold blooded murders that took place in 1959. These murders happened in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. Two men entered a small farm house in a effort to get ten thousand dollars. They did not want to get any evidence of their crime so they kill the whole family. Truman Capote learns about these murders when he was writing for the New York Times. He went to this small town to write an article on these murders, but the more he discovers, the more he wants to know. He figures out that this could be the foundation for a great novel. After the two murders are captured, Capote schedules several interviews with these two men. He befriends both of the murderers, but starts to develop a relationship with one of the murders, Perry Smith. Capote starts to help these two individuals, by getting them a new lawyer. Capote soon realizes that he needs these two men to die before his book can be finished. He starts to feel very drained by this whole thing because he wants to finish his book, but he has strong feelings for the men as well. Towards the end of the movie, Capote is even reluctant to tell Smith the name of his book, In Cold Blood, because he doesn't want him to feel bad. The two men are finally executed in 1965. Capote was present at the execution and is finally able to finish his book. It was a huge success and Capote never wrote any more books again.

Legend of the Falls was produced in 1994 based on the novel by Jim Harrison. The setting of the movie spans from just before World War I into the Prohibition time and into the 1920s. It is base on the Ludlow family of Montana. The father Colonial Ludlow, played by Anthony Hopkins being a veteran of the Indian War and after being perpetrated by the Indians decides to move away from all the nonsense and actual hires a couple of Natives as hired hands on his ranch. The most significant being One Stab, a native who speaks mostly of his Cree people, and narrates the movie. Colonial Ludlow and his wife, who was born and raised in a city, leaves him and their three sons to return to the city. The middle son, Tristan (Brad Pitt), is wild, handsome, and one who has studied the ancient American Indian traditions. The oldest son, Alfred (Aidan Quinn), is mature even at a young age, always responsible, and cautious. The youngest son, Samuel (Henry Thomas), is naive but educated, and constantly being watched over by his brothers. As the story expands, Samuel comes home from Helena and brings his fiancé Suzanne (Julia Ormond) whose presence is captivating for all. Samuel decides he wants to serve the country and enter into World War I, when he does this his dad and brothers are obscured. His brothers decide they most enter in order to protect their little brother. While in the war, Tristan comes upon Samuel getting brutally killed, and is deeply affected by it. When Tristan and Alfred return from the war, both console their father and Suzanne who obviously is attracted to Tristan. Alfred, being in love with Suzanne purposed at his brother Samuel's grave saying it's what Samuel would have wanted. Susanne declines. Susanne later finds Tristan weeping at the grave, and comforts him. Alfred, jealous because he is aware of their attraction, and having seen them return together from a ride, makes a sharp comment to Tristan at dinner that night which sends him storming out. Susanne follows, and he turns and kisses her. The two become lovers. The story ends with Tristan, still largely affected by his brother's death, leaving Suzanne and his family at the ranch for about 10 years. When he returns from traveling the world, Suzanne has married Alfred and lives in the city with him. When Tristan returns he falls in love with One Stable men's daughter, marries her, and later she is killed as Tristan is caught dealing alcohol during Prohibition. After Suzanne hears of the marriage she is distraught and kills herself from being jealous because she always loved Tristan. The story ends of Tristan encountering a bear, which is significant in the fact that Tristan's characteristics are like a bear. The bear ends up killing Tristan in the woods of Montana, but the actual bear lives on, just as Tristan's spirit would have.

McLintock, starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, and Patrick Wayne is a great western comedy. John Wayne is George Washington McLintock, a cattle baron, who has to spend most of the movie defending his land. Katie (Katherine as she would have it) used to be a rugged wife of McLintock's and they reminisce about the old tough times and Indian fighting throughout the movie. She was brainwashed by the East and the city life, which has partially affected their daughter as well. McLintock basically has a steak in everything in the town life and is depicted as the white mans only real means of communication with the Indians. The Indians are depicted in a very derogatory way as only wanting to go on the war path, get guns, and they are lead by one drunken Indian that is in eternal whiskey party mode. During a town festival, they are given guns and ride through the town shooting up the place with the cavalry hot on their tail. McLintock has to go and settle a dispute between new settlers who want their steak and McLintock does not want to give up his acres of cattle land. In the end, the unruly women are spanked and taught a lesson and they live happily ever after.
McLintock told of the ruggedness of the plains and the changes over time, which resulted as more settlers came to towns and were looking for land. It also demonstrated a sense of how the Indians felt after being chased off their lands by the white man. This depiction of the Indians was very stereotypical for westerns at the time. Overall I think McLintock is my favorite John Wayne movie.

My second dipping into the world of Rawhide was no less fruitful than the last. After years of telling my parents that I hated Westerns, I'm coming to the conclusion that that isn't the case at all (my first clue should have been when I began to like High Noon and the Magnificent 7).
In these episodes we learn that women on the Plains were, for better or worse, evil; especially if Rowdy becomes interested in one of them. In the first of the anti-woman set, the crew find a woman standing next to a burning house; she explains that it was her house, her parents died of a disease, and she didn't want to bury them and get it herself. They offer to take her with them to the nearest town, which she agreed to do. Of course, all if not what it seems and, after flirting heavily with Rowdy, its discovered that she is part of a gang which wants to steal the Cattle Drive's payroll!
Rowdy contines his bad luck in the next episode, where they find a woman baking candy and singing in a house surrounded by dead Indians. Despite her acting crazy, a show, it quickly becomes obvious that she poisoned the natives out of revenge for the slaying of her husband. Unfortuantely, Rowdy has once again fallen for the woman and decided to escort her back to the East coast for her own safety. Everythinh comes out in the open when she runs into her sister an dbrother in law, and is then shot by the cheif of the Deleware Tribe out of revenge for the killing of his brother.
The depiction of Indians in this episode is, although not wholly negative, hardly politically correct. The tribe, although Christian, is shown to be friendly but childlike. Of course, this is still much better than the women of these episodes which are shifty, coniving and secretive; they bring nothing but disorder and strife to the all-male world ofthe Cattle Drive.

Lecture 9 was about immigration onto the plains. The main immigrants into North Dakota were Norwegians and German Russians. At first the main ethnic group in North Dakota was Norwegians but through the years the Germans have taken the title as the largest ethnic group. For the most part on the plains immigrants tended to stick together making towns that were mostly one ethnic group. When moving over here some immigration was planned carefully by having one man come over and find a good place to live and buying land for the rest of the community to come over as well. This was not the only type of immigration however their was also chain immigration. Chain immigration worked because one family would decide to move over to the plains and eventually when another family from that community decided they were moving to the plains they thought may as well move to the same area as our friends and so it kind of worked like a chain movement. German Russians were primarily from two spots in Russia the Black Sea German Russian, and the Volga German Russians. Onto the plains their was also a large movement of Methodists, and of course their was always other group as well however these were the main movements. On the plains before the immigrants however their was also a group of Yankees usually running the towns before they got there. However most of them waited for the immigrants to get here and settle down then they made a killing selling land to the immigrants and then they left out much richer.

By: Justin Nygaard

Our Daily Bread reflects the time of the Great Depression, and how hard life in the city was. John Sims and his wife Mary live in the city and cannot find work. Mary invites her uncle over to their house for supper to see if he would give John a job but ends up giving them land in the country. John did not know anything about farming, but he decided to start his own community where everyone would work together, not for money, but to help each other out. A good example of this is in the community there is a stonemason and a carpenter building a house right next to each other. The carpenter is trying to build a fireplace and cannot get it, while the stonemason is trying to assemble the frame for his house. They both realize that neither one is doing a good job, so they decide to switch jobs, and work on a part that they each know how to do. The community plants corn but a drought sets in and by the end of the summer everyone begins giving up, including John. John was to the point where he was running away with another lady who came to the community, when he heard that there was water flowing 2 miles from their community. He rushed back to tell everyone, and after some convincing, they all work together to build a creek towards the field. Finally they get water to the corn and they are all able to survive. The movie shows how if everyone pulls together their resources and knowledge, that you can accomplish many things. It also shows that you must never give up on yourself and your dream because miracles really do happen. The movie also shows what life was like in the plains during the great depression and how everyone was affected by the depression, as many families came to the community.

Friday Night Lights is a 2004 movie, which is based on a book by H.G. Bissenger called Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and A Dream. This movie tells of the 1988 Permian Panthers rocky season and shows their highs and lows. They are coached by Gary Gaines, who is played by Billy Bob Thornton, who seems to be on the verge of losing his job. Though out the season, Gaines seems to be getting threats from the people in the town that if it does not win, they will hurt him.They story really focuses on a couple of the players and how they struggle with football and their everyday lives. James "Booby" Miles, played by Derek Luke, is stud of a running back but tears his ACL. The movie shows how Miles tries to come back, and gets hurt even more. Miles season and career are over after the injury. Another player that is focused on in the movies is Don Billingsley, played by Garrett Hedlund. Billignsley has a rocky relationship with his father Charles, played wonderfully by Tim McGraw. Charles is an alcoholic and absolutely obsessed with football. In the movie, Charles duct tapes a football to Don's hands. This is a theme though out the movie. Even the town is obsessed with football. The team makes it to the playoffs and all the way to the championship ,but runs into a buzz saw that was Dallas Carter High School. This made for a climatic end to the movie. Permian loses but the game is very close.

I found that this is common theme on the plains. I experienced this to an extent but not as intense. Football or sports in general is the glue that makes the community come together.

Not too long ago I visited the Heritage Hjemkomst in Moorhead, and I highly recommend that anyone spending some time in the Fargo/Moorhead area should check it out. Once you pay the admission fee, there is so much for you to be able to do, including a Viking ship, a Stave Church, the Clay County Historical Society's museum and a separate part of the building that has an exhibit that changes. The Viking ship is the first thing that I saw, and it is really very impressive. An area man built the ship by hand in a potato warehouse not too far east of here on highway 10. After completing the ship, the builder and his family launched this ship in Duluth, then sailed it to the east cost through the great lakes, and eventually sailed it across the ocean to Norway. The other great thing at the center is the Stave church which was built by a group of people from the metro area. The church is as close to the original Norwegian construction method as modern building codes would allow. The design of the church is really quite spectacular, especially when you learn that the real churches in Norway were built without modern fasteners, but instead fit together with properly notched wood. Along with the construction of the church, there is an amazing amount of hand carving done on the inside and outside along the front entrance. It is all really cool to see and everyone should!

Dr. Isern’s final lecture for this course was about community on the plains. Isern discussed the great sense of community that has been found on the plains for as long as there have been people here. I found it interesting to hear him talk about how when the overnight boom towns came with the railroads, a sense of community came almost instantly. Isern talked about how community differed from those living in town and those out on the farm. Townsfolk would primarily be involved in some sort of lodge, such as the masons, would be primarily from Yankee stock, and would hold town social events. Farmers grouped up in more similar ethnic backgrounds, had a strong community built around the church, and would visit socially from farm to farm. With the coming of the automobile this all began to change and the sense of community began transforming as well. Starting in the 1920’s rural populations began to dwindle as more people moved to town and many left in the wartime era of the 1940’s as well. There was a short boom in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, but unfortunately that was short-lived. Present day North Dakota is primarily centered along the two major highways running east to west; those being of course Highway 2 in northern ND, and I-94 across southern ND. All the major "Class A" towns can be found along those two roads.

I really enjoyed this last lecture from Isern, and think it was a good lecture to end with. I still feel there is a great sense of community to be found here on the plains. I know where I grew up almost everyone knows everyone else, and it’s impossible to go to the grocery store, gas station, or any parts store and not run into someone you know. I miss that now living in the big city of Fargo; it seems you loose some sense of community when a town gets too large. Overall though this lecture was short, but very enjoyable, much like the class as a whole.

The movie begins with a man riding into a town saying the Alamo has fallen after the shot at the scene at the Alamo. The movie is based on the events that took place before, during and after the Alamo. The movie goes back in time to show Sam Houston selling Texas and Davey Crockett asking Sam Houston to come out and see what Texas has to offer. After Crockett makes it out to Texas he takes Lt. William Travis with him to the Alamo after being asked to defend it by Houston. The men seem to underestimate the Mexicans attacking and begin to fight amongst themselves meanwhile the Mexicans are beginning to surround the Alamo. The Mexican General Santa Anna waits anxiously for Sam Houston to arrive and after he doesn’t they start a series of attacks on the fort. They refused to take surrender from them and keep attacking. After waiting a long time Lt. Travis begins to realize the strength in his men and gains a lot of respect for them and gives them a motivational speech to keep them going. After getting the men to fight, they all die except for Crockett who threatens Houston’s arrival on Santa Anna. Santa Anna does not surrender and says he will kill Crockett on the spot. After Houston arrived Crockett’s word was the truth and the Mexicans were taken down. I thought it was a great film and did a wonderful job in portraying what the Alamo must’ve been like.

Hey folks,

Some of you may have movies still out. If so, please return them to the department secretary Jack on the top floor of Minard Hall. Jack sits in the office with the big glass windows. Thanks!

Lecture 11 or 12, the last hurrah was a big discussion on Dr. Isern’s book Dakota Circle. The discussion added a little bit more to the book because we got the North Dakotan perspective and the Minnesotan view on the book. We first broke up into our five groups and discussed the overall theme of the book which was a collection of short stories and experiences that targeted essentially locals for its reading audience. Then Dr. Isern called and we conducted a very successful internet class or whatever you would call it. There were only a few interruptions because of the connection, which is much better than I expected. After discussion, we opened up the floor to questions and such questions were asked such as who the book was intended for, when did he get the idea to put the book together, and why there were not any road maps in the book.
The discussion drew from old lectures such as Webb’s Theory, ethnic cultures on the plains, and small town claims to fame through big ugly objects. This topic has come up in multiple lectures. We finally asked the question, do Minnesotans feel such a connection or sense of pride in their big statues? I believe we (Minnesotans) do not take as much pride in them because they are tucked away better, there is more scenery to enjoy so you do not have to stop and marvel at an ugly statue because it is the only thing around. For instance, I think only two of us Minnesotans knew about the big ball of yarn and none of us cared.

This was another short lecture about community on the Plains. Dr. Isern began by explaining the population boom and decline on the Plains. The population boom started after WWII when all the war veterans came home and wanted to start a family. Once the children grew up they decided they did not want to live on the Plains anymore and also if they stayed they did not have as big of families as previous generations. We also discussed how population follows the major roadways. Dr. Isern showed us how all the big cities of North Dakota are found on either I-94 or Highway 2 by drawing a map on the blackboard. We also talked about how farms have become larger and larger because less people want to farm. Dr. Isern had a good theory that the parents encouraged their children to go to college and get a job away from the farm so they could sell the farm and live in a nice condo in Arizona. I thought this was a great theory because I have been to Yuma, AZ to visit my grandparents and there are a lot of people from the Plains that live there.

This was a short lecture about politics on the Plains. Plains states tend to send Republicans to the state government and Democrats to the national government. This seems odd to me since most Plains states are considered Republican states. It would seem then that they should send Republicans to both parts of the government if they are considered Republican states. Radicals were the next subject for the lecture. Agrarian radicals show up most on the Plains. This is because there are a lot of farmers on the Plains. Then we moved to the 4 point model and Gordon Kahl. Next was the dependency theory which covered the Staples Theory, Carl Kraenzel, Elwyn Robinson's 6 Themes, American Sectionalism, and the dependency theory in the southern hemisphere. Politics are not my favorite subject but it was still a good lecture.

Lecture 11 dealt with the population boom on the great plains through the 1960s and the the ultimate population decline that occured starting in the 1970s. Professor Isern presented us with the information about how small towns were bustling communities until the automobile came around and started to change everythingand that peopl could go where they wanted to get there supplies or take their travels. this also lead to the eventual movement of people away from parts of the great plains as the automobile allowed people to move much easier to larger populated cities and towns leaving some of the smll communities that littered the plains just shells of their former selves. I found this unique in the fact that you still see this largely today as small communities are tending to still shinki becasue people will move away to larger communities like fargo, or the cities.

Matt Liese

This lecture focused on immigration mostly of Germans from Russia. The Great Plains was a great spot for immigrants that wanted to keep their culture. They could buy large sections of land and group together with people from their home country. There were 3 different patterns for migration, chain, group settlement, and dispersed settlement. Chain migration is when one person comes to the new land and then sends letters to the home country encouraging more people to come. Group settlement consisted of sending a scout to the new land to choose a good spot and then the rest of the group would come and settle in the same area. Dispersed settlement is random people settling anywhere. Assimilation still remains a debate today because some say it is necessary for cooperation and others discourage it because of isolation. The Germans from Russia began coming to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some of the reasons were because Russia wanted them to become Russian and the men to join the army. Many also came to preserve their German culture. Next we talked about Mexicanos on the Plains. They come to work the beet fields and packing houses. They have a different objective then the Germans from Russia. The Mexicanos come looking for work instead of to preserve their heritage or because of government pressure.

"the next year, Gary Gaines led Chris Comer and the Permain Panthers to and undefeated season and the Texas state Championship."

This is my final blog for the semester so I will try and make it a good one.

I will tell you what, this is NOT a movie about WINNING football. No sir, I can say that right here for certainty up in the front of my blog. What is it about? I will tell you right here, its about a community rallying around one thing, with determination and single mindedness. For this town it was football, maybe for your town it was basket ball or maybe curling. I come from South High, my class alone I think had 100 graduating, maybe more. So yea we had sports and I think we do well today. Now I am not a sports fan, but I will tell you what I grew up watching football with my family every Sunday so I understand why people rally around their team even if they loose. It is that sense of common purpose, you and all your friends and family are there to see your team win, and if they don't you know that they tried their best, they put all their heart into it.

I find it interesting they made the movie and the book I assume as well about the season these kids lost and not the one they won. So why that year and not the one they won? I have a theory. I think the author wanted to make the story about the intensity of the game and not about winning or loosing. For example about three times in the movie they would remind you the town would shut down for the game, now that is passion for the game! About Boobie Miles (I am not making his name up...) he was suppose to carry the 1988 team to victory but a knee injury took him out of the season. So rather than carrying the team on the field, he becomes a rallying point off the field. In a way he was a great disappointment not because he failed his team on the field, but his injury was a huge set back and a lot of people started questioning the coaches decision making ability on the field. I will tell you what, I wanted to see the team win! I wanted to see a team win against all odds and have a "feel good" experience, instead I got a movie about passion, intensity, and football at its best on the great North American plains. So what does sports fanaticism say about small towns on the plains. Well the community identifies with the team when it wins, winning is not asked, it is demanded, it is expected. That is how a small community makes it place on the map. that is how this movie relates to the class.

Have a good Christmas, David Suda.

I’ve been planning on going to the Hjemkomst center in Moorhead since the beginning of the semester to use it as a Heritage site but didn’t get around to it until this week. I’m actually glad I waited after reading Dr. Isern’s book Dakota Circle. I found some things in his book that just seemed to pop out at me more as I went through the Museum.

Hjemkomst is the name of the ship that is housed at the Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center. It is a Viking ship built by Bob Asp in Hawley, MN modeled after the Gokstad burial ship unearthed in Norway in 1880. The point of building the ship was to sail it to Norway from Duluth, MN. Bob Asp built the Hjemkomst in the 70’s and first sailed it for the first time in 1980. Sadly Bob Asp passed away before the ship could be taken to Norway but his family and others still made the voyage in 1982.

The chapter in Dakota Cirle that talks about people wanting to leave their mark on the world through different things such as big things on the plains and this is a perfect example. I also remember the part about us really tying our heritage to the Vikings. I went to eastern Russia as a 16 year old and everyone I met there said they came from Mongolia or more specifically from Genghis Kahn. We want a glorious and dominant past in our lives. The Hjemkomst is another example of us as plainsfolk trying to leave a mark, follow a dream, and have pride in our past.

Justin Lervik

This movie was truly great and that's coming from somebody who doesn't typically like westerns. This movie had great acting, lots of action, and nice plot to go with it. The movie starts out on a ranch where Ethan Edwards returns home to his brother's homestead after the Civil War. Everybody is excited to see him and for the most part he is happy to see everyone else. The one exception does seem to Martin, who is 1/8 Indian and the adopted son of Ethan's brothers family. That anti-Indian sentiment would continue to play out over the course of the film.

Soon after Ethan returns home a bunch of cattle were taken by what at the time were thought to be cattle rustlers but it turned out to be Indians. They tracked the Indians for miles only to learn that they had a set a trap to lure them away from the homestead of Ethan's brother. By the time they realize what happened it was too late, the Indians had killed most of the family and take their two daughters hostage. The rest of the movie centers on the Ethan and Martin's quest in finding Debbie(Lucy ends up being found dead in the early part of their search). Ethan and Martin pretty much track a Comanche chief named Scar all over the plains. Eventually, they find him only to realize that Debbie had become a part of their culture and was now the chief's wife. Martin still wants to take her home but Ethan becomes so enraged that she would turn to their side that he tries to shoot her but Martin distracts him long enough to save her. While he is distracted Ethan gets shot and Debbie flees. Both Martin and Ethan decide its best to give up and return home. Martin and Ethan find her again, thanks to Scar moving into to the area where Ethan and Martin were staying. They once again battle with the Indians but you'll have to watch the movie to see how it ends.

Besides being a solid movie, The Searchers also portrayed the plains well, it showed the harsh extremes the plains can have. One character even continually blamed the land for their problems. The movie also portrayed Indians in what was a negative and inaccurate light. I don't think Indians actively sought out trouble like in this movie. With that said, the movie was entertaining and that's high praise coming from somebody who isn't a big fan of this genre of movies.

This movie a lot like Friday Night Lights in many ways, the only difference is that it is doesn't take itself as seriously. The movie reflects how important high school football is in Texas. In the movie there are parents that were former players reliving their old high school glory days through their kids. There are is also Bud Kilmer the coach who expects nothing but perfection from his players and gives little recognition to them when they manage to live up to his high expectations.

The movie starts off with a scene showing all the players in the movie from when the played football as kids. There parents were intense even then but for the most part you could tell the kids loved playing the game. After that the movie flashes forward to their last season of high school football ever and thanks to the coach back-up QB Jonathon Moxon is counting down the games of football he has left to play. He had pretty much lost interest in the game thanks to coach Kilmer and only played because his dad did. The rest of players didn't lose interest but instead just seemed to live with the fact they had to play for a jerk and didn't let him stop them from enjoying the game they loved. As the movie progress Kilmer's chosen QB Lance Harbour goes down with a major injury and he is forced to play Jonathon. When given the chance to play Jonathon excels but his changing of the plays in the huddle is enough to drive Kilmer over the edge. He even gets madder because for the most part they work out perfectly. So even with the team having a great deal of success Kilmer still rides them hard and eventually they snap. This happens because Kilmer demands that the running back take a shot of some drug, the drug's purpose was to reduce the pain and the swelling enough to ensure that he could finish out the game. After seeing this the team realizes that not only does Kilmer never give them any credit but he also could careless about them. As a result they tell him to get lost and when he does they finally start having fun. Of course they also manage to win the big game.

This movie really reflects how big the sports culture on the plains is. The whole town was crazy about the team, from the parents of the players to the guy running the convenience store. There was even a sign as the bus left town followed by a caravan of cars and trucks that said, "Last one out of town please shut off the lights." That phrase could definitely fit some class B towns during basketball season, especially during the state tourney.

The movie Friday Night Lights is based on the book by H.G. Bissinger, which was in turn based on the story of the Odessa, Texas Permian High Panthers. I really enjoyed watching this movie; not only was it based on a true story it was also a good representation about what Friday night lights are all about. For this small town athletics are all that they have, which is the case for a lot of small towns, it is how they get their names out there. If they get their names out there they are hoping that more people will enroll their kids in the school because of the athletics in turn raising the population in the town. For this town, like many others, football is the one sport that you have to be in to be somebody. I know that at my school if you are not in cross country then you have to be in football and even if you are not first string you are still somebody because you can stand out there on the field with your pads and jersey on.

For the seniors on this team it is their last chance to prove themselves to colleges; with out scholarships many of them will not go on to college because they cannot afford to pay for it. And for Boobie Miles his first game of his senior year would be his last; he suffered a season ending injury and was not able to play, in turn not receiving a scholarship. For these teams it is also all on the coach; after the first loss of the season Coach Gary Gaines finds "For Sale" signs all over his front yard; if the team doesn't preform the way that the town wants it to then the coach is to blame. My favorite part of this movie is the speech made by Coach Gaines, when he says "Perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down." I totally believe him and ironically it is because of my own high school football team.

Wyatt Earp featured Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, and Gene Hackman. It was the turbulent story of the lawman Wyatt Earp and his brothers in their quest for fortune on the frontier. However, the lack of law caused brother Virgil to join the law, then the other brothers just could not leave him hanging. The movie depicted the frontier in the romantic sense because of the colorful cowboys. They traveled from one cattle town to the next and they did so by covered wagon. At each town they ended up having a shootout with bad guy and then force them to leave town. The movie got really violent when the cowboys killed Virgil. Wyatt went on the proverbial warpath of revenge and wiped the cowboys gang clear out. There was some historical value in the fight because Wyatt never actually got shot, though the movie made him out to be immortal.
The movie reinforces the romanticized stereotypes of the frontier, such as, wagon trains, bandits, saloons, hot bar maidens, gun fights (the highlight was the O K Coral), lots of leather apparel, and more six shooters than you can shake a stick at. It also had a shoot out at a train station, showing the change the frontier was undergoing throughout the movie. I compared the first half of the movie to our lectures because once they moved to Tombstone, they left the geographic limits of the plains. My favorite part was the final gun fight where Wyatt gets ambushed but he shoots some cowboys while in the saddle, dismounts, reaches over the horse, grabs his rifle, and then walks right up to the bad guy and shoots him dead. The whole time he was being shot at with bullets tearing through his cloths but never hitting him.

This lecture was about the small town, how it was set up, and how it died but now might be having a comeback. I guess I don't come from a small town (classmates informed me of this) but I do see the T-town in D-town (Dickinson as some people call it). I can see the railroad and then Broadway and Main parallel and perpendicular to the railroads. I have also seen the decrease in population. Take the glory that is Prairie Hills Mall, for example. My grandfather tells me that back in its heyday every shop in the mall was full and had people waiting for someone to go out of business so they could get in. Today, there are hardly any stores left! There's a K-Mart, Herbegers, JC Penny's, Wells Fargo, and a few other small businesses, but nothing really to attract people to shop there when they can just drive the extra 100 miles to Bismarck. What was really interesting was the fact that all the towns that were not next to the railroad eventually died out and the ones that were close to them flourished. This makes sense though; its more sensible to live as close as you can the the railroad when that is pretty much your lifeline. Towns flourished, the women started giving piano lessons, community theaters popped up, and mens clubs were established. These were places where the men could safely brag about (or rag on) their wives. The main reason for the emptying of small towns, other than the railroad, was the Dust Bowl during the '30s and WWII.

I really enjoyed this lecture because it reminded me of the sense of community that the plains offer. I recall having a conversation with a man from California on the light rail in the cities. He moved here for the snow but stayed here for the people. He told me "We would not even be having this conversation. People don't look at people for fear of being shot." This was just beyond me! I love saying hi to random people and smiling at them, especially the grumpy ones; they usually don't know if they should be even more mad that someone would have the gall to be so happy, or if they should just smile back.

Rawhide was a western drama which began in 1959 and went on into the middle of the 1960s. The show was produced from the same people who made Gunsmoke and lasted for 217 episodes. The series is based on what seems to be a never ending cattle drive across the plains. The show stared Eric Flemming as the trail boss Gil Favors and Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates. After watching several episodes the violence theme was once again prevalent in almost every episode. Guns were strapped to every mans side and they were ready to fight at a moments notice. These cowboys found comfort in religion and often referred to God during the show. It appeared to me as though on the trail Gil Favors was portrayed like a god figure. He would work for isolation and try not to interfere, unless there was no choice. Favors was in charge and he answered to no one on the trail, except his one true God. I really enjoyed the theme song. In the begging you hear the words rollin, rollin, rollin. As if the cattle drive is not a group of men but a well oiled machine which does not work unless everyone pulls together, does their job, and listens to the trail boss.

Incident at Oglala tells the story of a shootout that happened at the Pine Ridge Indian reservation is South Dakota during the early 1970’s. It told the story of how FBI agents had followed a vehicle that matched the description of someone they were searching for. There ended up being a large shootout that ended in the death of 2 FBI agents and resulted in a nationwide manhunt for the Indians who were involved. They basically pinned the whole thing on Leonard Peltier because they needed a scapegoat and were able to get enough “evidence” to convict him.

It’s a very disturbing to see the holes in the investigation exposed by the documentary. The shell casing controversy was upsetting to hear about. It’s scary to think that someone could be convicted on such a weak case overall. The movie made me feel as though Leonard Peltier was being prosecuted as guilty until proven innocent not innocent until proven guilty like our court systems are supposed to be run. It was as if the FBI needed to catch someone and get a conviction more for pride than for justice.

This story reminded me of the West Memphis Three case that took place in the 1990’s. If anyone really found themselves interested in this movie or in Thunderheart they should definitely check out the West Memphis 3 case. There are two documentaries following these boys case and any info you want can be found on www.wm3.org.

Justin Lervik

Politics, I HATE POLITICS, and that was what lecture 10 was about. Dr. Isern’s lecture, Prairie Fire, was a lecture teaching us about the political powers of the Plains. First we were taught about the three different contradictions. The one that intrigued me the most is the fact that the republicans are commonly sent to the state house, and the democrats are commonly sent to the capital. That cracked me up, because that is the only thing I have ever noticed about politics on the Plains. Also was discussed was the four -point model; politics as environmental determinism, politics as cultural heritage, the metropolis, and technology. Looking at my own political belief based on my heritage, I understand why I like to have nothing to do with it. I have never heard my family talk about anything to do with politics, and if anyone ever does, it is simply hushed instantly and changed to a better suited topic to bicker about.


All in all, I do feel that this lecture was a good one. When class started out being asked who is interested in politics, I was scared that I was in for a real long day. However, Dr. Isern did an amazing job keeping it light as possible, and attempting to have everyone understand what he was saying. I feel bad that I do not understand, and probably never will, the complete aspect of politics on the Plains, but this lecture helped slightly for me to at least try and sit still to listen about it.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman portrayed Capote and earned an Oscar for his amazing work.This movie gave great insight to his struggles and life. Also, as this was a period piece, everything was revelant to the time period, the late 1950's and early 60's. More importantly, we got to see Perry and Dick.The relationship between Perry and Capote was amazing. Capote was quite two-faced in his investigation. He made Perry believe that he really cared about him, when in truth, he did not. We got to view their meetings from the trial, up until Perry took his final drop.There were some very interesting struggles also. Capote and Dewey, and Capote's novel and the final outcome. First, Dewey's heart sided with the Clutters, while Capote was more interested in his book. Capote kept trying to find new lawyers to keep their case alive in order to write his book, while Dewey wanted the killers dead for their crimes. Dewey had a great line in saying, "If they get off, I'll personally come to New York and hunt you down." Indeed, a conflict of interest. Also, Capote was struggling with his final part to the book. He couldn't write the ending unless Perry gave him the details of the killings. Once Capote had this, he finished his book, but realized that he could do nothing to save Perry, even if he had wanted to.

I was suprised lately, while reading through "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser, when I realized how deeply the book was delving into the topic of Great Plains agriculture. Most likely I shouldn't have been so shocked; after all, all of the food that I get at the local McDonald's has to come from somewhere. And, really, thats the point of the book; telling the American consumer exactly where their food is coming from, as well as exploring the deep impact that the fast food business has had upon agriculture in the country.
Instead of focusing only on the resteraunts themselves, the book looks at the entire fast food industry, from the men and women who work behind the counter, to the farmers who raise genetically engineered chickens to sell to the new meat packing business, like IBP, which have spring up across the Plains. Although the description of labor violations and seedy practices at the stores were shocking or, more to the point, digusting, one is left most shaken by the description of how the Fast Food industry has managed to mutate agricultural production within this nation and lead to the rise of the so-called "ag-businesses".
From a store in Colorado Springs, to a rancher in Montata, to people across the Plains and this nation, "Fast Food Nation" shines a light on "the Dark Side of the All-AMerican Meal"

The Alamo, is the story of the fall of the mission to the Mexicans. Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton play Sam Houston and Davey Crockett. This movie is based on the 13 days in 1836 when only 200 Texans held off the Mexicans army of about 7,000 before the mission fell and everyone was killed. The beginning of the movie the director set it up as a flashback. We see the outcome of the battle and then back to Sam Houston trying to sellTexas. Davey Crockett and a few of his men decide to go out to Texas, they get there just in time to be trapped. While the men in the Alamo are comforted by Crockett's presents, he does not seem to be the man they had all heard stories of. The Texans hold off the Mexicans for 13 days under heavy firing until the Mexicans attack during the middle of the night. While this movie was based on a historical event, the filmmakers make the story a little more their own. One of my favorite parts in the whole movie was when Davey Crockett was about to die says how he thought Santa Anna would be taller.

This movie is based on Owen Wister's novel The Virginian. In the beginning it is the typical woman moving to a small town in the west to go teach when she was originally from a large city in the east. In this movie that woman's name is Molly Wood. When Molly first goes to this small town she is almost run over by a steer, but luckily she was saved by Virginia, the main character of this movie. No on really knows his name, which makes him even more mysterious, all they know is that he is from Virginia so that is what they call him; there is also another man whose name is Nebraska. There is also the typical "bad guy" in this case his name is Trampus and he is a cattle rustler that gets Virginia's friend Steve caught up in rustling as well.

The reason that I put bad guy in quotes was because mostly everyone in this movie uses violence at some time and it makes me laugh that they solve violence with more violence. To them, at least it seems to me, if they cannot solve something with violence then it cannot be solved at all. The end of the movie even comes with a duel; only instead of the duel coming at high noon they have it at sunset. To me this is what ruins the movie, every other western that I can remember seeing, has had the duel at high noon so that it was was fair to everyone shooting. To me having the duel at high noon is like having something that helps the country seem less barbaric. If they make everything as fair as possible, even with violence, then they are keeping the country in control. Would I recommend that others watch this movie? Yes I would; it has a great story line to it, one that includes a friend betraying another and a small love triangle; all in all a good movie.

Usually, when someone from the rest of the United States is asked to come up with an image of the Great Plains, one of the things he or she will mention is the Small Town. This image, often drenched in nostolgia, comes complete with mother's baking apple pies, hometown football games, religiously devoted families and the like. Oddly enough, judging from the lecture by Dr. Isern, this isn't entirely fall from the truth; or, at least, the truth of the way things once were.
One of the most interesting ideas brought up in lecture was the split between the town-community and the farm-community and the lack of interplay between the two of them. Growing up in the country myself (3 miles out from a town of 189 people, thank you very much!) it always seemed as if you still identified yourself with one of the small towns near by (Despite going to church in the nearby town of Bevent, my family considered itself Elderon people. Its where we went to elementary school, and the general store there was the first stop if you had to but anything. Even more so; there was just something weird about Bevent, and we couldn't fathem wanting to associate ourselves with that place!) I had just always assumed that this was a universal trait and, more over, was the way things had always been. Apparently, I was wrong.
I was actually pleasent to hear about the different community bonds which held people together at that time. I think one of the dominant views of the Plains in this nation is of a very lonesome place; but it would seem that the settlers of the time would not have agreed with that idea at all. It seemed like there was plenty of social activities to keep people busy year 'round, and to strengthen the feelings of community.

Politics are my bread and butter; the one thing which always seems to excite me more than anything else. Some people have football games; I've got elections. I'm not sure why any of this is (except, of course, that I might be a total and other geek!), but it did mean that I was predestined to find this lecture on Plaines Politics to be fascinating.
I, personally, have often wondered how a region which once turned out the Populists and Williams Jennings Bryan (and he was the conservative one of the bunch!) could turn around and start producing ultra-conservatives a mere century later. Of course, the more you looked at it, the actual emotions behind the politics of the region had stayed the same, it was just the way in which they were expressed, which had changed; the great conspiracy of the "moneyed interests" became those "damned liberal elitists" (oddly enough, these were largely the same people; east coast elites!) Even the strong strain of religion hasn't disappeared in all of that time.
Dr. Isern's explanation of a sense of radicalism within the region seems to make the most sense. Plains residents seem to have an us-versus-them mentality when it comes to politics and are quick to feel as of the rest of the nation is, at best, ignoring them and, at worst, actively oppressing them. Add to this an appreciation for political 'characters' and you've got a situation for very colorful and dynamic politics within the Great Plains.

“The Life History of Emil Schaffer”

By Emil Schaffer

This is a memoir, written by Emil Schaffer, a German Russian living in Gackle, North Dakota. Emil’s memoir is organized by year, from his birth year of 1917 until 2004. Each year is represented by various stories and memories of Emil’s life. He has documented everything from his birth, and stories he has been told about that, to the births of his siblings. I was amazed by Emil’s memory. Each year’s story includes so much detail, like specific names of teachers from his childhood, or specific dates of things such as illnesses in his family or big storms that impacted the Schaffer household. But Emil does not just document events; he also adds his personal view and feelings on these happenings.

As the years passed in Emil’s memoir, the stories took on more shape. Each story became more detailed, and the reader learns more about Emil’s past. I especially enjoyed the story of Emil’s dating in high school, and meeting his wife. He tells how he was set up on a blind date with his future wife, Lillian Krapu. After an evening in town, Emil’s friend was driving everyone home when he took a sharp turn. Seeing this as an opportunity, Emil leaned with the car as it turned and leaned right in for a kiss on his future bride.

Emil tells his story with such frankness, and honesty, it is hard not to feel as if you know him personally after reading his story. One story that struck me was the story of Emil’s wife Lillian and struggle with sickness. As Emil’s memoir ends, Lillian becomes more and more ill, until she dies and Emil documents in his memoir how he feels about his marriage, Lillian, her illness, and her death.

This memoir characterizes what I think is, and was, common day to day life for German Russians in North Dakota. Emil doesn’t dress anything up to look better or more exciting than it was. His life is fascinating and I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this memoir, and get a glimpse into Emil’s life.

I left wondering if many other German Russians, or any other North Dakotans of various ethnic backgrounds, have also left beyond many diaries or memoirs, especially accounts of their lives in more of a story form.

The movie The Alamo, is the story of the fall of the mission to the Mexicans. Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton play Sam Houston and Davey Crockett. The movie is based on the thirteen days in 1836 that only about two hundred Texans held off the Mexicans army of about seven thousand before the mission fell and all were killed. At the beginning of the movie they director sets it up as a flashback. We see the outcome of the battle and then back to Sam Houston trying to "sell" Texas at a political party of some sort. Davey Crockett and a few of his men decide to go out to Texas. They get there just in time to be trapped. While the men in the Alamo are comforted by Crockett's presents, he does not seem to be the man they had all heard stories of. The Texans hold off the Mexicans for thirteen days under bombardment until the Mexicans attack during the middle of the night.
While this movie was based on a historical event, the filmmakers make the story a little more their own. The best line of the movie is when Davey Crockett, with his hands tied and about to die, comments that he thought Santa Anna would be taller. I enjoyed the movie but I thought it could have been done a little better.

In the second half of Lonsome Dove, Gus and the crew keep moving north toward the Montanna territory. Miss Lori is stolen by Blue Duck, the half breed who holds a grudge against the Captain and Gus for something that happened a long time ago. Gus goes after her and gets her back with the group. Later Gus and one of his men ride out ahead to check things out when they get attacked by Indians. Gus takes two arrows to the leg, he sends the other guy for help when night falls. In the mean time Gus is found by a wanderer who takes him to the nearest doctor. The Captain and the rest of the men meet up with Gus only to discover that he has lost a leg and is very sick with gang green because he will not let the doctor remove his other leg. The Captain promises to take Gus back to Lonesome Dove and bury him there. The Captain started his ranch and then traveled back to Lonesome Dove, with Gus.

Todd Volk

Anotnia Berning

Adam Sprengeler

Abby Ihrke

Dallas Carlson

Fred McLaughlin

Group 4's first question was: What is the theme, or purpose, of this book? What is it suppose to accomplish.

Our group believed the theme of the book was mostly based upon life experiences, excursions, and folklore of the people of the Great Plains and more specifically North Dakota. We believed the purpose of the book was to show why people live in this area of the country and how we can enjoy this area. An example of this would be the Class B basketball games, gatherings at Cenex Stations, building of the enchanted highway and so on. In the book we thought Isern was trying to accomplish a book about the Dakotas that was informative, story-telling, and about enjoyment and all around fun stories of the Great Plains.

Our second question: A sub theme running through the book is that of inventiveness---Is this something peculiar to the region? Is there anything about it distinctive to the region?

We thought this was basically a pretty simple question because we felt in this area of the country we love to show how independent we are and how easily we can adapt to the rugged Dakotas. As a people we love to be very inventive and this shows with our survival kits we make up, all of the huge statues around the state and how basically how everything is a big deal here. We like to show the other parts of the country that we are, in fact, and important part of the plains.

The Germans from Russia: Children of the Steppe, Children of the Prairie

Although restless, they had deep roots in home. Germans from Russia are agricultural pioneers who are a distinctive group on several continents. Although these people appeared to be, and were often called Russian, they called themselves German. This film begins with a history of Germans immigrating to Russia. The history of German Russians included in this film is very extensive, and compares life in Russia to life in Germany. The immigration of German Russians to America is also discussed at length.

The German Russians often traveled together with people who shared their dialect, religion, and heritage.

I was amused by the some of the stories told about the German Russians’ first contact with America. Many were initially frightened by the Statue of Liberty (a tall woman with large horns coming out of her head), also when they arrived at Ellis Island the immigrants thought they were eating terrible butter on their bread, but really it was ice cream!

The film explains how German Russians mostly settled on the Great Plains. Traditions, the value of community, and hard work are discussed in this film. It is pointed out in the film that German Russians think locally, act globally; examining how hungry for German Russians are for community and identifying with others like them.

The importance of the German language is focused on in the film. It is pointed out that many German Russians thought God couldn’t understand English. I am amazed by how much these elderly German Russians remember about their childhood, and their parents’ childhood. I also loved the way the language is so mixed with many of these German/English speaking North Dakotans. They start the sentence in English, and use some words in German to make a point.

German Russian history and way of life is closely examined in this film. Narrators reminiscing about their lives as German Russians on the plains made the film even more personal.

After reading Dr. Isern's book Dakota Circle, I've come to see that it really is the story of all stories. The whole book is about the places he's been, and things he's seen on the plains. Throughout most of the book there are stories told by families on the plains, many of which we hear today. For me this book was very easy to read, mainly because it seemed like more of a conversation than a book I was reading. I had troubles distinquishing the thesis that Isern intended the readers to have but after discussing the book in class I soon saw what he was trying to get at.
Today's discussion in class about th "big things" that plains town create to get themselves recognized always seem to make me laugh. I don't know how many times I've traveled on the Enchanted Highway, past the Holstein cow on I-94 or even through Lemmon past the Petrified Wood Park(the worlds largest, or so they say). I also enjoyed the "You might be from ND if...." part at the end of the book, many of these statements are so, so true to people on the plains.

Friday Night Lights is based on the true story of the 1988 Permian Panthers high school football team. The movie takes place in Odessa, Texas, a small plains community that revolved around football. The entire town follows the football team so closely that all the stores in town closed down during the games. It seems like most of the men in the town played on the team when they were in high school and went to state. The team is under enormous pressure to do well. The team is on their way to a perfect season when their star player, Boobie Miles, receives a career ending injury. Without him, the team suffers. However, they pull themselves together and manage to make it to the State Championship game. They fight tooth and nail in the championship but it just was not enough.
This was an interesting movie to watch. The high schoolers in the movie were under so much pressure from the entire community to do well at football that they did not have time for anything else. I've been told by friends from small towns that this is a good showing of how obsessed with sports some people are. It seems crazy to me that people get so worked up over a high school game.

Lecture 11 was about community on the plains. A strong community value has always been important to plains folk however for some towns that community is under great threat today. In class we learned that some towns have tried to stifle that fate through monuments like Salem Sue, or the giant buffalo outside of Jamestown. These monuments were made at great expense to the town in order to hopefully put the town on the map. Not all town monuments were giant statues however, the Petrified Rock Garden in South Dakota however is a definite monument to the town. It was built and is still maintained with the intent of keeping and attracting people to the town even if they don’t stay or pay money to see it the very act of attracting people to their town is attractive to them. Community on the plains is vital in rural areas but in many instances people are now fighting to try to hold on to it. Dr. Isern also talked about how plains communities were set up as T-towns. He described a T-Town as having a major railroad running though it with a main street running parallel to it and often a boulevard running perpendicular. Also along the railroad tracks would be an elevator and somewhere in the town would be at least one bar and always a hotel near the railroad tracks for travelers to stay in. This astounded me because that is literally the exact layout of my town including main street and boulevard just like he said it, amazing.

By: Justin Nygaard

In the final lecture of this class, Community on the Plains, we talked about the towns and communities that formed and dissolved on the plains. As the railroads were built, the towns next to them flourished but any of the towns farther off the railroad slowly vanished. The railroad was the life line of the plains and these towns reappeared along the tracks. In these towns more social activities began to pop up. Women began giving piano lessons in their homes and community theatres sprang up. In these theatres both community and touring performances took place. One other thing that started up was men’s lodges and clubs. These were a type of fraternal group that would watch out for its members. Another thing we talked about was the decline of the farm population. People were migrating away from the family farm. People left for many reasons but two of them were the Dust Bowl and World War II. Also, families were starting to have fewer children so there sometimes was no one to take over the farm. The last thing we talked about was the sutland and the yonland. The Sutland was everything along the main lines of travel and the Yonland was away from the lines of travel.

I liked listening to this lecture. It was interesting to hear how some towns managed to hold on and grow and others just died out.