Good Things Come in Threes

Linda Burton posting from Bismarck, North Dakota – A field of corn caught my eye, just outside the gates. It was framed against the backdrop of a gently rounded hill, the shape the same as the rounded earth houses I’d just been inside. I’m at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, on the edge of the Missouri River, where re-creations allow a glimpse of the Mandan Village that Lewis and Clark came upon in 1805. The rounded homes in On-A-Slant Village gather in a cluster, each facing the center; solid built; earth packed tightly against the weather and the wind. Inside, beds and benches show a daily way of life; a stone circle for the fire; animal skins for blanket warmth; clay pots, a rake, a hoe, a stack of squash in brilliant orange. These were farmers, who cultivated corn and squash and beans in gardens along the riverbanks. Their crops were bred to flourish here; the modern field corn I see today traces its roots to native stock; their legacy continues. » read more