UND 1909: L to R: University Station Depot, Carnegie Library, Babcock Hall, Budge Hall, Old Main.
UND 1909: L to R: University Station Depot, Carnegie Library, Babcock Hall, Budge Hall, Old Main.
Beginnings
Founded in 1883, the University of North Dakota (UND) was set amid a vast tallgrass prairie sea. Those buildings, some of which we know so well today and others with which we are unfamiliar, were surrounded by prairie grasses and flowers under the great dome of the sky. Those early graduates saw a kind of nature which is only a distant memory today, because as the University grew and our world around it, we altered that landscape a bit and sometimes a chunk at a time until almost all is gone.
Now, less than 1% of the tallgrass prairie remains nationally making tallgrass prairie among the most threatened of all North American ecosystems. Few in our region know where we might find this landscape. With eradication of prairie, we have lost a sense of heritage and connection to the land. Worse yet, many find that those very elements missing now (grasses, flowers, birds, butterflies) provide a kind of peace especially important in our lives in these very busy, distracted and stressful times.
Out of this yearning, seeds for Soaring Eagle Prairie were found and planted in the middle of the UND campus. This is its story.
The prairie rose (Rosa arkansana) became North Dakota's state flower. Its blooming time is mid summer. You will find it just north of the statue.
Nature's powerful normal cycles in this region produce severe cold and heat, wet and dry. prairie plants and creatures adapted perfectly to these dramatic changes. Above, the flood of 1897 was noted as the highest on record since settlement began.
The prairie rose (Rosa arkansana) became North Dakota's state flower. Its blooming time is mid summer. You will find the prairie rose just north of the statue on Soaring Eagle Prairie. Nature's powerful normal cycles in this region produce severe cold and heat, floods and drought. Prairie plants and creatures adapted perfectly to these dramatic changes. Above, the 1897 flood was noted as the highest on record since settlement began.