At the confluence of the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers, Prophetstown certainly offered access to waterways. But it also boasted a diverse landscape of edible and medicinal plants, as well as the birds and animals that found their habitat there. The rich soil also proved fertile for planting crops, and when the prairie plants dried up, creating a thick, tangled mat, fire (either from lightning of from controlled burns) released nutrients into the soil and controlled the landscape for hunting. The Land and it's ecosystem are different now, after decards of mechanical farming, tile draining, and receding rivers. But the land is also the same, with a more complicated story now. The land has been ravaged and cared for; it's seen flooding and the gentle nurturing of hand-planted grasses and wildflowers. Fire still serves the land, primarily with controlled burns, and mostly, the land continues to produce good things for the world, good things you can see for yourself when you come. Let Poetry and Prose on the Prairie be your guide. -from back of book
|
