Roxane B. Salonen - P Is for Peace Garden: A North Dakota Alphabet

A North Dakota Alphabet

From the acres of agriculture to the many wildlife refuges, North Dakota is rich with history, famous people, and inviting landscapes. P is for Peace Garden: A North Dakota Alphabet offers readers of all ages a guided A-Z tour through this fascinating state.

Beginning readers will enjoy the simple rhymes while older children discover facts about each topic letter in the sidebar expository.

N is for Nokota
a horse with a neat history.
It also stands for Northern pike,
a big fish thats nifty to see!

Young readers will learn that this rare breed is thought to have descended from the war ponies of the most prominent leader among the Hunkpapa LakotaChief Sitting Bulland that some Nokota horses still run wild in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Illustrator Joanna Yardley brings the authors North Dakota prose and poetry to life with her graceful watercolor illustrations.

A North Dakota Alphabet

Written by Roxane B. Salonen and Illustrated by Joanna Yardley

For my grandmother, Elizabeth Foster Byrne, who watched the
North Dakota capitol burn in 1930 and inspired me through her vivid
memories; for my father, whose rhymes from my childhood still dance
in my head; and for all people of the prairie, young and old.

ROXANE

For the marvelous Meredith.

JOANNA

Agriculture, or farming, is North Dakotas top industry. In the 1300s some of the areas first agriculturalists, the Mandan people, made digging sticks and hoes from bison skulls and shoulder blades to raise corn, squash, beans, sunflowers and tobacco.

In the 1880s the United States government and railroad offered land to settlers through the Homestead Act, creating the Great Dakota Boom. These settlers used horse- and oxen-powered machinery to operate their small farms.

By the end of the 1950s machines had replaced animals for farm operation, and North Dakota had more tractors and trucks per farm than any other state. Today, nearly one-fourth of the states workers have farm-related jobs.

North Dakota farmland would cover 12 million city blocks. Its farmers produce enough wheat each year to make 16.2 billion loaves of bread, and enough beef to make 113 million hamburgers. There are approximately three times more cattle than people in North Dakota. Angus, another A word, is the most popular variety of cow.

Stoke the fire and pull up a chair.

Ill tell you bout North Dakota, land of wide spaces and friendly faces.

Get ready, get set, let me show ya!

Our alphabet journey begins with the alphabets first letter, A.

A is for Acres of Agriculture, Cows, and wheat, and hay.

Commonly referred to as buffalo, the scientific name for the large, hoofed beast that once freely roamed the Northern Plains is the American bison.

Both European settlers and Native Americans, or Indians, viewed the bison as a resource for food and other by-products. Eventually, however, military posts were built in the heart of Dakota Territory, towns replaced Indian villages, and plows buried the native buffalo grass.

Although nearly wiped out, bison have made a comeback thanks to revival efforts. North Dakota has helped lead the development of the American bison as an agricultural commodity, serving as home to the only certified bison-only processing facility in the United States.

The Buffalo City, Jamestown, claims the Worlds Largest Buffalo, a 60-ton statue that attracts passersby who can view it from Interstate 94 or close up. A live herd of bison grazes below the statue and includes a rare albino buffalo, Mahpiya Ska, Lakota for White Cloud.

The Bison befit letter B.

These beasts have been round a while.

After nearly dying out, theyre backbold, beautiful, and wild.

The states first capitol burned down in 1930. The fire was blamed on spontaneous combustion of oily rags in a janitors closet. Because this happened during the Great Depression, only $2 million was allowed for the new capitol. This stately, 242-foot-high structure is the tallest building in North Dakota and the third tallest capitol in the country.

Founded by the Northern Pacific Railroad, Bismarck originally was named Edwinton. It later was renamed after the German chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck to entice German investors into helping fund the railroad. The effort failed, and the railroad went bankrupt shortly after reaching Bismarck. This caused the Wall Street crash known as the Panic of 1872. After changing hands a few years later, the railroad continued westward.

C is also for canola, a relative of the mustard plant. North Dakota produces enough canola oil to fill the 19-story capitol tower 19 times. Another 19 of North Dakota is its status of 19th largest state. It became the 39th state in 1889.

C is for our Capitol.

Bismarck is where it lies.

Our Skyscraper of the Prairie rises 19 stories high.

In 1995 the state legislature named the square dance North Dakotas official American folk dance. Square dancing combines elements of various European dances, including the quadrille of France. A quadrille is a square of four couples that follows prompts of a caller. The caller is the only American contribution to the dance. The do-si-do, which means back to back, is among the many moves that might be called. Women square dancers wear colorful, full skirts with bouffant petticoats while men dress in Western shirts and cowboy boots.

Powwows are the Native American peoples way of coming together to dance, sing, and renew friendships. The Grand Entry opens each session, and includes a parade of dancers who dance sun-wise, or clockwise, around an eagle staff. The types of dances and dancers are as diverse as the costumes. When the master of ceremonies announces an intertribal dance, everyone is invited to participate. The United Tribes International Powwow in Bismarck is one of the largest powwows in the United States.

D is the way that we move.

Of our Dances we are quite proud.

So come do-si-do in a dance called square or take in a tribal powwow.

The legislature adopted the North Dakota state flag on March 3, 1911. Except for the addition of the name North Dakota on the scroll below the eagle, it conforms to the color, form, and size of the regimental flag carried by the North Dakota Infantry in the Spanish-American War in 1898 and Philippine Island Insurrection in 1899.