American Midwest 1974


American Midwest 1974

TGR Staff - 09/05/2024

Photographer Patricia D. Duncan traveled to Kansas in 1974 to document life on the prairies for the Environmental Protection Agency. This collection of photos is a fantastic snapshot of life in the Midwest in the 1970s. She published the book 'Tallgrass Prairie: The Inland Sea' in 1979.

American Midwest 1974

American Midwest 1974

American Midwest 1974

Ron Mckinney, 22, Whose Indian Name Is Mahkuk, Is Standing in a Virgin Tallgrass Prairie Area near White Cloud and Troy, Kansas in Doniphan County in the Extreme Northeast Corner of the State; the Young Man, a Potawatomie-Kickapoo, Lives near White Cloud Which Was Named for the Last Great Chief of the Iowa Indian Tribe the Indians Were Given the Area Land by Treaty in 1836. The Small Town Is Located at the Edge of the Iowa-Sac-Fox Indian Reservation 10/1974

American Midwest 1974

The Sun Sets on a Cornfield and Farm near Troy, Kansas, in Doniphan County in the Extreme Northeast Corner of the State. Much of this area was once covered by Tallgrass Prairie, which now exists only in isolated areas of the Plains States. This Area Is Unique Because It Contains the Only Hardwood Forest in the State 10/1974

American Midwest 1974

Rusted Iron Hand Pump on Land Which Used to Be Covered by Tallgrass Prairie in Johnson County, Kansas, near Kansas City. The Wave of Pioneer Farmers Cleared the Native Grasses and Planted Crops in the Fertile Soil. As a Result, Only Isolated Patches of Native Tallgrass Prairie Survive. There Is a Bill in Congress Which Would Make an Area of Kansas a Tallgrass Prairie National Park, But It Has Been Stalled in Committee for Several Years 09/1974

American Midwest 1974

Group of Cowboys Gathered Around the Chutes at the Annual Flint Hills Rodeo, a Major Cultural Event of the Area at Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, near Emporia. It Is a 19th Century "Cowboy" Town in the Heart of the Kansas Flint Hills Region and near an Area Designated as a Possible Site for a Tallgrass Prairie National Park. Festivities Also Include a Parade through the Town 06/1974

American Midwest 1974

Rear Window of a Car Shows a "Save the Tallgrass Prairie" Sticker. The Driver Was Attending the Second Annual Tallgrass Prairie National Park Conference Held at a Ywca Camp at Elmdale, Kansas, near Emporia in the Flint Hills Region. Attending Were Members of Save the Tallgrass Prairie, Inc., Kansas Chapter of the Sierra Club and National Audubon Society 09/1974