History, Environment, and the Future of the Great Plains

Abstract

On the coasts Americans refer to the Great Plains, with more than a hint of contempt, as flyover country. Looking out the window of a jet or an air-conditioned auto, it seems at first view to be vast, flat, and mostly empty. Although it can be green with the rains preceding summer solstice, more often the operative color of the place is yellow. This neutral tone combined with the two dimensions of linear horizons and bowl-shaped skies gives the Plains one of its ancient names: the Horizontal Yellow. In fact, many names have been given to this enormous expanse of country stretching from Texas to Saskatchewan. Llanos, a Spanish word, has been in common use for 400 years and was eventually adopted and translated as “plains” by Northern Europeans, who had no suitable word for dry, grassy steppes. Upon first approaching the region, English speakers had appropriated a French term, Gran Prairie, to name a place as alien to Scots and Englishmen as the British Highlands would be to a Bedouin.