For twenty years, Dan O’Brien battled drought, overgrazed pastures, and falling cattle prices as he struggled to maintain his cattle ranch, The Broken Heart, nestled at the foot of South Dakota's Black Hills. Having to take stints as an endangered species biologist, English teacher, and handyman to help pay off his accumulating debts, he questioned the logic of this losing enterprise, but never lost his fierce love of the Great Plains. So when a neighboring buffalo rancher invites him to lend a hand at the annual buffalo roundup, O’Brien comes face to face with these mammoth, impressive creatures, and the seeds are planted for converting his own ranch from cattle to buffalo. Starting with thirteen calves, "short-necked, golden balls of wool," O’Brien embarks on a journey that returns buffalo to his land for the first time in more than a century and a half.
That is a synopsis of one of 2 books O'Brien has written about buffalo ranching. Here's a synopsis on the other one:
Wild Idea is a book about how good food choices can influence federal policies and the integrity of our food system, and about the dignity and strength of a legendary American animal. It is also a book about people: the daughter coming to womanhood in a hard landscape, the friend and ranch hand who suffers great tragedy, the venture capitalist who sees hope and opportunity in a struggling buffalo business, and the husband and wife behind the ranch who struggle daily, wondering if what they are doing will ever be enough to make a difference. At its center, Wild Idea is about a family and the people and animals that surround them—all trying to build a healthy life in a big, beautiful, and sometimes dangerous land.
The books are "A Wild Idea," and "Buffalo for the Broken Heart." I haven't read either one of them yet but I want to. Idk, I'm just mentioning these books in case you might be interested.
I think it is awesome you are exploring different ideas, Big Jim.
Sorry for the derail Ray, I shoulda put this in Jim's thread.
I LIVE in Indian Country.
