Dakota In Summer: An Idyll

At the hard edge of the badlands of North Dakota, an impressionable eight-year-old boy finds himself on the Friesen family cattle ranch for the summer of 1949. The lessons of how to live often come unbidden, but when they do, they must be cherished and shared. This memoir is a timeless idyll to the people who chose to "stick" to a place many Americans imagine as "the last frontier." What was it like to live on a ranch on the High Plains of North America after the "Dirty Thirties" and World War II? For many readers who have an impression of the Dakotas, it means ceaseless wind, barren landscapes devoid of water, harsh winters, and unbearable summer heat. Through the fresh eyes of a "summer boy" on holiday, however, one sees the beauty of the land and the grit of the families who endure and stick no matter the challenges. Dakota In Summer reveals itself in so many ways-the feel of well-worn saddle leather, blue jeans, and cowboy boots; the tastes of Sunday fried chicken, chokecherry jam, and boiled coffee made over an open camp fire. Dakota In Summer is a boundless expanse of wind-swept grasslands dotted with pronghorn and white-faced cattle. It is the groan of lone windmills churning in the ceaseless wind and the rustle of rolled-up barbed wire hanging on weathered fence posts. Dakota In Summer is the smell of fresh cut hay drying in the sun. It is all these things and much more. Above all, it is about the people who settled the land and endure the endless demands of life, dealing with both grief and joy and hoping for rain, good harvests, and good cattle prices. It is a wonder that so many choose to "stick." Those of us whose lives are far from the endless wind know little of life on the hard edge of America's last frontier.