A shared sense of place on the American prairie in Montana – The American Prairie Reserve

Walking along a ridgeline in eastern Montana this fall — the expanse of prairie surrounding me, setting moon behind, rising sun before, a flock of geese passing overhead — I thought of Willa Cather’s words, “Anyone can love the mountains, but it takes a soul to love the prairie.”

I have not lived on the prairie, nor ranched here nor homesteaded, yet over a lifetime of living in the West, it is the place to which I am continually drawn to replenish my soul and sense of well-being. I hold that in common with anyone who has ever loved this land and called it home.