By Dwight Hunter
James Locklear manages to combine history, geology, biology, and sociology topics all in one well-written book. In the Country of the Kaw: A Personal Natural History of the American Plains.
There are so many reasons I enjoyed reading this book. I am a huge fan of history and telling the history of the Kaw and its tributaries was a continual learning lesson while reading the book. I am an enthusiastic fan of sociology and telling the human lessons wrought from living in the Plains were lifelong learning lessons. Learning about the biology and the flowers of the Plains and the Kaw brought me new learning. And there's geology. Erosion, wind-carried dirt and rocks, and limestone. I learned so many different layers of limestone. A lot of reasons to like this book.
So, what is the Kaw? Most people know it as the Kansas River, about 170 miles long. But people who live there know better than to call it the Kansas River. It is the Kaw.
Locklear not only covers the Kaw but all the tributaries that feed into the Kaw. The Kaw is truly a prairie river - the only Plains river whose headwaters do not begin in the Rockies. Instead, the Kaw headwaters rise up from the eastern Colorado plains.
The tributaries of the Kaw once teemed with bison, fish, and unique plants. A narrative of how people affected those things. Bison hunted to near extinction. The Ogallala Aquifer is becoming depleted to the point causing some of the western ends of the Kaw tributaries to be decoupled from ground source water.
But Locklear brings about hope and continued resilience of the land and of the Kaw.
Take a dive into an eBook that weaves history, biology, geology, and sociology into learning lessons about life. In the Country of the Kaw.
