I have this fairly new idea for a project about Badlands National Park that would involve relating the park to its surrounding community, setting it in its context historically, socially, and visually. I've been lucky enough to become friends with some amazing people here at the park who work in a variety of different fields. Some are locals, some have been here long enough to have had time to explore and learn in depth, and others are newer to the area but possess an interest in exploration. These people have offered opportunities to know this place with a breadth and depth I would have never imagined. I am still an outsider, and have merely surface knowledge of most things. Yet I'm in something of a unique position, crossing social boundaries and seeing multiple sides to many of the stories and issues that the park is wrapped up in. I find all this most fascinating and illuminating. Anyhow, I'm looking to increase some of my knowledge about the other ranching families around here that originally arrived as pioneers. I have ties to a couple of them already, and have made plans to explore and learn with them. And so today instead of heading back home right away, I spent the day with my friend and her dad and uncle on the family ranch. We took a long ATV ride along a "new" road they've been working on through some of the scenic formations on the property. They have been working to fix one of their windmills and replace the trough. We headed there to put up a couple bits of fencing, level the new trough, and try to remove the old one without damaging it. Right near this windmill is the collapsed dugout where an old rodeo clown lived many decades ago. On the ride home, we rode along the badlands ridge and enjoyed the views, many of which feature the outline of Badlands NP in the distance. Back at the house we spent some time in the wooded area behind looking for an old still that was operated by ancestors and buried when the feds caught on. We did not find it today. I also took many sunset photographs from the house of the view that I'm being commissioned to paint.
Looking out over the white river with Badlands NP in the distance.
A dead Cedar that my friend's dad loves.
Badlands formations on Johnston Ranch.
Riding through the ups and downs.
The badlands wall, part of the national park, is in the distance.
A mare and her very new colt, my friend's dad said she had him just the last night or two.
The windmill and support vehicles.
I do really love windmills.
Cattle, Johnston Ranch, and Badlands National Park.
View from by the house: White River and Badlands NP.
