Unsettling Times – Thoughts From The Middle of Nowhere

Today's Unsettling Times stories are from my neck of the woods. The first one that caught my eye was <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/05/30/build/state/32-the-life.inc">'I loved the life'</a>. n n<blockquote>Claribel was one of the first non-native children born on land south of the Yellowstone River that was part of the reservation. This strip was opened to white settlers in 1906.</blockquote> n nThis is the same country my Great-Granddad settled in around the same time as mentioned. He came up from Missouri in a wagon with his wife and settled in the "ceded strip" as it's called around here and settled in the spring creek area. Later just before the Depression he moved <a href="http://www.nowherethoughts.net/pics/homestead.jpg" onclick="window.open('http://www.nowherethoughts.net/pics/homestead.jpg','popup','width=660,height=500,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false">here</a> and settled the ranch I now run on. n nThe other story is <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/05/30/build/state/30-less-is-more.inc">Less is more</a>. Now I live far enough away that I am not real familiar with the Hysham community but a whole lot of names ring a bell in the article and it is somewhat like reading about family. n nThe whole Unsettling Times set of stories in the Gazette as been interesting to read and absorb. What strikes me about the whole thing is that the perspective of the Gazette seems to be how sad it is how these places are losing population. Don't get me wrong, it is, but what strikes me more is the persistence and courage of those who stay and keep fighting against the odds to make it work. Now that takes a special person and should be applauded. n nCourage, determination, and hard work are all very nice, but not so nice as an oil well in the back yard. Mason Cooley