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The Great Plains As a Natural Region: the Basics

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The Great Plains As a Natural Region: the Basics Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science,Vol. 80 (2001) 259 THE GREAT PLAINS AS A NATURAL REGION: THE BASICS Richard A. Peterson Wewela, SD 57578 ABSTRACT The need for this paper became apparent during a review of articles in the Prairie Naturalist(1986-1995), where the term, Great Plains, was used to de- scribe many different areas/regions, most of which were outside of established natural boundaries. The Rocky Mountains have long been the agreed upon western boundary of the Great Plains and the primary factor in the develop- ment of the Great Plains; indeed, without the uplift of the Rocky Mountains there would not be a Great Plains region. Consistent natural boundaries for the Great Plains, were in general use after 1931, when Nevin M. Fenneman de- scribed the region in Physiography of the Western United States, and reaffirmed the eastern boundary as originally fixed by John Wesley Powell in 1895. Typ- ical Great Plains landforms (plains and buttes) have resulted from the moun- tain uplift and subsequent sediment deposits that increased the elevation of the Great Plains relative to the Central Lowlands. The Great Plains, in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains, have been characterized by a dry subhumid to semiarid climate. The potential natural vegetation of the Great Plains has been, since the last retreat of the continental glaciers 8,000-10,000 years ago, grass/forb vegetation - mostly a mix of mid and short grasses. True Prairie has been limited to the moist side of the dry/moist boundary. These differences between the grasslands of the Great Plains and the grasslands of the Central Lowlands have resulted in differences in occurrence and abundance of grass- land animal species, such as black-tailed prairie dog, black-footed ferret, swift fox, pronghorn, ferruginous hawk, prairie falcon and lark bunting. The east- ern limits of these species more or less coincides with the eastern boundary of the Great Plains physiographic region and the dry/moist boundary. Given the differences described here it would be more accurate and appropriate to limit the use of the term, Great Plains, to the western Interior Plains and divide the Midcontinent grasslands into eastern (True Prairie) and western (Great Plains) sections. Keywords Great Plains, natural, boundary INTRODUCTION The Great Plains! As part of an article title the term is a real eye catcher. Is the Great Plains a real place with distinctive characteristics and limits, or is 260 Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science,Vol. 80 (2001) it just a handy term useful to authors to convey an image? If it is a specific re- gion, what are the characteristics and where are the boundaries? If it is just an image, of what? Observant westbound travelers upon approaching the Great Plains may notice an abrupt rise in elevation as they encounter the escarpment of the Coteau du Missouri. Elsewhere, travelers may note the gradual change from landscapes of rolling surfaces, and hazy views of rounded hills, to land- scapes of broad flat plateaus and flat surface remnants, where the skyline is distant and clear—welcome to the wide open spaces—welcome to images of cowboys and Indians, wagon trains, immense buffalo herds, homesteaders, drought and hardship. The term Great Plains was not much used as a regional designation until 1857, when it was used in promotional articles and speeches synonymously with “pastoral region” by William Gilpin, who was appointed, in 1861, first gov- ernor of Colorado Territory. His purpose was to create a more positive image to promote settlement in the Great American Desert, as the area was general- ly known at the time (Lewis 1966). Since Gilpin, the Great Plains of North America have been recognized as both a natural and a cultural region by schol- ars in various disciplines (e.g. geology, biology, geography and history); how- ever, consistent boundaries for the area, and its name, Great Plains, were not in general use until after 1931, when Nevin M. Fenneman described the region in Physiography of the Western United States, and reaffirmed the eastern bound- ary as originally fixed by John Wesley Powell in 1895. Prior to this the region had most often been referred to as the High Plains to distinguish it from the lower Prairie Plains of the Midwest (Brown 1948). More recently it has become common to find the term, Great Plains, used by many natural science authors to refer to many different regions - both nat- ural and artificial, as was found from a review of articles in The Prairie Natu- ralist (1986-1995). As well, the Great Plains Research journal does not limit it- self to the Great Plains, but includes in its sphere most of central North Amer- ica: grasslands, savannahs, and some forest. Books, such as Flora of the Great Plains and Birds of the Great Plains, include portions of other natural regions and exclude portions of the Great Plains natural region. The term, Great Plains, is also used to designate artificial regions with no apparent natural pa- rameters, as in “Great Plains states.” Is it appropriate in natural science writ- ing to use the term, Great Plains, that has been previously recognized as the name of a specific natural region and apply it to artifical regions? It would be simpler if the so-called Great Plains states were entirely within the Great Plains natural region, unfortunately no state is entirely within the Great Plains. Many of these Great Plains states could just as easily be called Central Lowland states, or True Prairie states, and others could be included as Rocky Mountain states. The problem (in my opinion) that has developed by applying the term, Great Plains, to many different areas, is that now when it is used without ex- planation or a map, no one can be certain as to what area or region the au- thor is referring. The following presentation describes the Great Plains as a natural region with unifying characteristics: physiographic, climatic, and veg- etative. Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science,Vol. 80 (2001) 261 GREAT PLAINS PHYSIOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS The Great Plains physiographic province is located in the western portion of the Interior Plains Physical Division of North America (see Fig. 1). It is dif- ferent from the eastern portion of the Interior Plains (the Central Lowlands) mostly because of the development and continued presence of the Rocky Mountains which are the western boundary of the Great Plains. The marine sediments of the upper Cretaceous strata underlying the Great Plains were tilt- ed by the uplift of the Rocky Mountains and then covered by sediments (Ter- tiary strata) that eroded from the mountains. Subsequent uplifts caused the streams that had been depositing sediment on the plains for more than 60 mil- lion years to cut down into these sediments, more or less beginning the cre- ation of the current land- scape with its streams, buttes, badlands, breaks and occasional broad plateaus (e.g., Staked Plains) left between the streams, according to Trim- ble (1980). More recently in geo- logic time an area unique to the northern Great Plains was created by a dead-ice moraine that covers a high- land area called the Coteau du Missouri. This coteau is the eastern limit of the sed- iments brought by rivers Figure 1. North American Interior Plains physio- from the Rocky Mountains. graphic region divided into the Great Plains and An escarpment, several the Central Lowlands, adapted from Trimble hundred feet high separates (1980). the Coteau du Missouri from the lower, nearly flat, drift-covered plains of the Central Lowland physiographic province to the east. This glaciated portion of the Great Plains includes the area north and east of the Missouri River. Continental ice sheets did cover some areas south and west of the current Missouri River, but only scattered boulders remain to indi- cate the glaciers former presence, and current conditions there are more simi- lar to the unglaciated portions of the Great Plains than to the glaciated areas east of the river. The areas of the Great Plains regions covered by glaciers and other nontypical conditions are shown in Figure 1. Summary of Great Plains physiographic characteristics: 1. The mountain uplift tilted the upper Cretaceous strata and this, along with sediment deposits from the mountains increased the elevation of the Great Plains relative to the Central Lowlands. 262 Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science,Vol. 80 (2001) 2. Most of the Great Plains were not glaciated. 3. Typical landforms include: large flat surfaced remnants (plains) and small flat surfaced remnants (buttes). GREAT PLAINS CLIMATE CHARACTERISTICS The distinguishing climatic characteristic of the Great Plains environment is a deficiency of water. “This deficiency accounts for many of the ways of life in the West. In this deficiency is found the key to what may be called the plains civilization. It is the feature that makes the whole aspect of life west of the 98th meridian such a contrast to life east of that line (Webb 1931: 17).” And again: The Great Plains has a climate which distinguishes it from neighboring regions, and according to Borchert (1971) the most distinctive characteristics are the great droughts that have temporarily extended the arid climate of the Southwest into the Great Plains, and pushed the semiarid climate of the Great Plains eastward into the Prairie region. Average annual precipitation in the Great Plains decreases from east to west, being least, approx. 12 inches (30cm), at the base of the Rocky Moun- tains. This is the result of the rain shadow effect of the mountains and in- creasing distance from the main moisture source, the Gulf of Mexico.
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