North Country Prairie

Photo Credit: Claranne Baddeley

The wind blows across the prairie of North Dakota and the grass sways in emerald green waves, like an incoming tide sweeping in off the ocean. The only sound is the wind and the chattering of red-winged black birds down in the slough and the chirping of gophers, Richardson's Ground Squirrel.

My wife Louise and I are staying at the Baddeley Ranch, which originally was owned by her parents, Hazel and Lloyd Swensrud. Louise and her sister Claranne were raised on the farm. Claranne and her husband Charlie recently purchased the ranch and are raising horses, angus cattle and longhorns. Louise, Hazel and myself are spending a few days at the ranch visiting.

The ranch is nestled behind two small rounded hills, on the rolling prairie of North Dakota. About 10,000 years ago, continental glaciers swept north over this region leaving a landscape of undulating hills, small lakes and ponds. The soils are generally deep and laced with sand, gravel and rock and scattered large boulders called erratics are quite prevalent. Glacial debris.

Claranne gave me a couple of pictures of the ranch and the first one shows longhorn cattle with the ranch buildings in the background, on the wide open prairie. The second picture shows Claranne's husband Charlie and their daughter Linea, on horseback. Linea is riding a horse named the Ragin' Cajun, with a saddle that was owned by her grandfather. Charlie is riding a horse named Gone Physco. In the foreground of the picture is an old horse drawn one-bottom plow that Hazel and Lloyd used for farming, many years ago.

The prairie grass has gotten off to a slow growth this year after a hard winter, with lots of snow, which will make for smaller hay crops. The small ponds and lakes are brim full of water, which will make for great nesting habitat for ducks, geese, swans, red-winged blackbirds and shorebirds. In the fall the adult birds and their young will take flight to more moderate climates.

The weather is king, in the north prairie country, and the seasons dominate the activities of the local residents. Summer brings hay cutting and tending of crops followed by fall which is harvest time for wheat and other crops. Winter seems endless with arctic like conditions of frozen ground and snow followed by the miracle of spring with the regrowth of the grasses, new calves on the range, and brand-new flocks of baby ducks. The timeless cadence of life on the prairie.