On Sunday, November 26, the buffalo went back out on the Big Corral Draw unit of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. Erney and I took them to what we call the main gate,” which I had already opened. We watched them go through, proceed to the river, cross it, and head almost at a lope up the slope to the top of Zebell Table. We watched them disappearing into the hills and draws of the government ground. I was glad to see them go. Not because I was tired of them, but rather to have them off the hard-pressed pastures on the “private ground” of this ranch. These pastures need a rest; even during the winter’s dormant period, they generate and replenish themselves. Like people, the pastures, too, can stand a vacation.
A few days before we put the buffalo out, Erney and I went to the southeast corner of the ranch to check the last stretch of fence (about 3-4 miles). It’s a piece that runs north/south near and along the base of Sheep Mountain which is part of Badlands National Park, and turns west along the Pine Ridge Reservation fence. It’s fairly rough country and a long ways away; so we drove around the property on the highway and came to it through the reservation on a gravel road. That part of the reservation was once used (W.W.II era) as a bombing and gunnery range; so it is still possible to come upon ordinance parts. It takes an hour and a half to arrive at the gate that leads to the US Forest Service ground and to the fence we have to check. The going is slow because we are hauling two ATV’s.
Once through the gate, Erney heads out along the east/west portion; I take off on the north/south stretch. Three to four hours later we met back at the pickup truck–both of us pretty much beat. The country is rough — badlands type country–steep draws with flat grassy areas between them. The landscape is broken and repetitious, no trees, a lot of chalcedony (a kind of quartz with a waxy luster that tinkles like breaking glass when two pieces strike one another). That country is very porous ground that, under a thin, dry crust, absorbs water like a sponge, making walking a little difficult, especially on the slopes. There are usually a few antelope to be seen as well as an occasional jack rabbit or prairie falcon.
Much of the plant life is dormant now; so it is difficult to distinguish readily what grasses and flowers there are. The land now has a kind of bland sameness to it that I find interesting. Erney sees it as boring, but I have also seen it green and blooming; and I don’t think he has. There is a surprising amount of moisture retained in the soil from the melting of am early, light snowfall. The moisture trickles from where we are, in the basin that forms Indian Creek, down the hills into the creek proper and eventually to the Cheyenne River.
The fence is now secure; the buffalo are inside it on their huge government pasture until Spring. Thanksgiving has come and gone; the weather has been holding very nicely thus far, and it is time to relax briefly, knowing the animals are where they need to be, our pastures are getting a much needed rest. Everything is as it should be on the ranch, dozing, safe and secure.