October 4, 2001

Plains Folk: Great Plains Adjectives

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

As a person of ritual, I observe many ceremonies in the autumn besides open duck season (although, admittedly, that’s an important one). One is the annual poll of students in History 431, "The North American Plains," requesting each provide three adjectives to describe the Great Plains of North America.

I used to ask the students simply to define "Great Plains," but that was no good; they kept saying where the plains are, not what they are. The adjectives, though, are revealing.

Walter P. Webb led the way in characterizing this land with adjectives in "The Great Plains" (1931). The plains, he said, are level, treeless, and semiarid--admitting that the adjectives are perceived as negatives (absence of mountains, absence of tress, absence of adequate rainfall). They also emphasize environmental circumstances, rather than the traits of the people.

Young people today are aware of the same characteristics. My current group describes the plains as flat (12 mentions), rolling (5 times), hilly, low-lying, mountain-less, windy (five times), grassy (four), dry (three), cold, warm, hot, snowy and severe. In this catalog I can only quarrel with the label "flat." The word connotes a lack of flavor, and so I prefer "level," which conveys the sense of an even keel -- but hey, maybe they really meant "flat."

Many of my writers employ descriptors freighted with emotion and values. A common theme is that of wide open spaces. The students see the plains as vast (mentioned six times), open (four times), grand (twice), expansive, spectacular, big, large and wide. I see the general sense of these words as positive, having to do with freedom and opportunity more than with absence of features.

Another common theme is abundance, both as to agricultural productivity and also in a more general, vital sense. The adjectives are productive (two times), fertile (also twice), life-giving, hearty, bountiful, arable, breadbasket, farmland, agricultural and abundance of animals.

Only a few recorders express simple admiration for the scenery of the region. They term the plains beautiful (two mentions), golden and colorful. More of them find the plains a place where they can find peace and quiet -- perhaps a bit too much peace and quiet. They offer the adjectives peaceful (three times), relaxing, subdued, endless, dull--and desolate.

Now I come to a category of descriptors that utterly contradicts the one just previous. This is a body of description that I find intriguing, and one that has been growing in strength in responses over recent years. More and more young people are coming to value the plains as a place where things happen, unexpected things, wild things. They describe the plains as diverse (two), ephemeral, unsure, ever-changing, interesting, fascinating, diversified, eventful, untamed, free, unpredictable, unexplored, mysterious, dangerous.

These adjectives have their down sides, sure, but overall they carry admiration and the possibility of renewal -- a hope that by giving ourselves over to this place, we might rediscover something, be revitalized. The people offering these adjectives know how it feels to wade into a cattail marsh or snowshoe into a blizzard. They like things elemental.

So do I. And in these sentiments lies a great hope for this place. Our efforts in economic development are necessary but not sufficient measures to build our future; too often money poured into the region runs right back out again. We need people who want to be here. More and more they want to be here in order to feel free. Mysterious. Unexplored. Untamed.

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Source: Tom Isern, (701) 799-2941, tom@plainsfolk.com 
Editor: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865, gmoran@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

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