HISTORY IMAGINED

Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota

It’s hard to believe that when someone travels across the fields, grasslands, and prairie here in the Midwest that there was only one valuable photo opportunity during the whole week. Sometimes things just don’t line up the way we photographers like…

Coming from Nebraska I crossed the Missouri River into South Dakota yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess it was photographers ”luck”, with not a single cloud in the sky (sigh!!!).

While standing there I imagined the time before the mass slaughtering of bison during the 1870s, long before this modern bridge was built, and bison crossed the shallow river at this place. Maybe the people that owned the land, the Native Americans who depended on hunting bison and lived along the Missouri River, may have enjoyed the same view from this hill above the river banks. Who knows?

Another historical moment happened already in late summer of 1804, when the famous Lewis and Clarke Expedition came up the river by boats during their journey to the Pacific Northwest. Their over 8000-mile expedition trip for the US government took two years, four month and ten days. When this expedition moved upstream, most of the difficulties were still laying ahead of them.

RACCOON MOON

Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa

I left the Green Island Wetlands in the Mississippi Valley late last Sunday evening. My hope was to spot maybe a Short-eared Owl, which I had seen in this area before some years ago. This didn’t happen but instead the call from a Great Horned Owl echoed from the rocky bluffs that line the edge of the valley after sunset. I enjoyed it for a few minutes while sitting in the car with the windows down. Just as I was ready to leave I looked to the east and realized that I had missed the moonrise over the Mississippi River. It was still gorgeous and since the Sigma 150-600 S was still on camera, I used the long end of the lens for a compressed view across the wetlands.

I finished the book “Saga of the Sioux” just recently and learned that many civilizations, including native Americans, used a calendar based on the cycles of the moon. Some would call the one we see here “Moon of the Dark Red Calves”, others call it “Racoon Moon”. It makes sense, raccoons mate in February and amorous raccoons become especially raucous. Yep, let’s call this photo ‘Raccoon Moon’!

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S,….@ 600 mm

MEDICINE ROCKS - AFTER SUNSET

One of the numerous rock formations in the state park that are sacred to Native Americans, September 2020

It’s election day here in the US and most people have probably other things to do than browsing through photography and nature websites tonight. But if your blood pressure needs some adjustment, stop right here and have a look at this peaceful scene, shot after sunset in Medicine Rocks State Park, Montana. 😉

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,   @70 mm, 1/160s, f/5.6, ISO100

CANNONBALL CONCRETIONS

Cannonball Concretions, Theodore Roosevelt NP, North Dakota

There are many stunning geological features in the badland areas of Montana, South and North Dakota. One that nobody should miss while visiting the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is Cannonball Concretions.

Here is my tip: If you visit the National Park, go to the Cannonball Concretions pull-out any time during the day. Explore the area, read and learn about the cannonball concretions on educational displays, take your selfie pictures or try to find a critter, and just have fun being there. However, come back for your serious photography of these fascinating geological features about an hour before sunset, when the slope and concretions reveal their colors and shades become almost horizontal.

You’ll find endless photo opportunities and even after several visits you probably discover shapes and structures you may have missed before. It is quiet, it is peaceful, and if you are able to disconnect for a moment from the rush of the modern world , you may start to understand why places like this had always a special meaning for Native people, long before the land was taken away from them.

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #2

Winniwissa Falls, Pipestone Creek, Pipestone National Monument, Minnesota

Back from another trip to Dallas, TX I finally find some time to work on my photos from our travel through Minnesota.

Long before I moved to the US the life, traditions, and history of the native people has always interested me. I read many books about the Indians of North America in my younger years. Pipestone National Monument has been on the list to visit since quite some time. This location was the preferred source of pipestone among Plains tribes. The soft stone (catlinite) was quarried by Indians since a long time, possibly 2000 years. Still today Indians quarry the pipestone during late summer and fall. This is done by hard manual labor with sledge hammers and wedges. The red stone is under a very hard layer of quartzite that needs to be removed first. The sheets of catlinite are lifted from the pit and cut into smaller blocks, from which the pipes are carved.

A trail leads the visitor through the park, to old and active quarries, to quartzite cliffs, along Pipestone Creek, and to a waterfall. We visited Pipestone NM on a sunny and very windy day. Dealing with harsh light and high contrast was the challenge for anyone using a camera.

Pipestone is a sacred place and quarrying is accomplished with respect for the Earth. Prayer flags can be found at many locations.

Detail of quartzite cliffs

The Three Maidens boulders, American Indians traditionally leave food and tobacco beside these stones in return for this land’s gift of stone.

(source used: Pipestone National Monument brochure)

 

OUT WEST #5

Wallowing bison, Badlands, South Dakota

Back in “basecamp” at home and after a few days of business related travel, I like to continue my little photo series about our trip to South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana in September.

There are pictures in my mind I would like to shoot and I know some ideas may never materialize, for some others we may come close to our ideas, and ones in a while things unfold in front of us, just the way we have imagined a long time ago. This is one of those shots for me, an American Bison wallowing in the dust of the Badlands, South Dakota. When bisons roamed by the million in the prairies of the west and midwest a scene like this was surely nothing worth noting, it happened all the time. The dust clouds were probably a good indicator where single male bison were located and helped the native people of the region to hunt them.

The dust, the flying grass, and most important the sharp eye and horn as an anchor in this photo, make for great story telling. The photo was made about mid morning, the light was still decent, and the colors are warm. I still decided to make this photo monochrome, better said black & white. Why? Well, I had this picture in my mind a very long time ago….

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @390 mm, 1/2000 s, f/6.3, ISO 320