The Buffalo Commons
Julie is taking a virtual walk to Moab, UT, to see her nieces and nephew. John and Ben are tagging along. As they pass Smallwander towns, John has a stream of consciousness. Read the origin story.
After a week’s worth of walking, Ben has settled into the High Plains near McCook, NE. This place has an interesting story. According to their visitor’s page, back in the 1980s, a couple ‘east coast academics’ had suggested that this area was so depopulated and was going to continue to lose people that the town should be returned to its original prairie state and given back to the buffalo. The re-wilded area would be called Buffalo Commons. The residents were piqued by this suggestion, so they claimed the term as their own and rallied behind a tourism plan that included Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival. Perhaps as reminder to themselves, they continue to post the original article that prompted the uproar. Nothing like us east coasters writing articles to stir the pot. Meanwhile, Julie made it to Wall, SD, which is the gateway to Badlands National Park. I landed in Fuita, CO, just beyond the Utah border. I’ll ask Julie’s brother to start preparing my room.