Some of the landmarks have changed, but eight years ago, directions to the Rainbow Inn were easy: Stay on Highway 169, watch for Wigwam Bay and the Grain Belt beer sign. I found it, pulled in, and walked into the lodge. The light was comfortably dim, slanting in through the row of front windows. A […]
The Headless Bison Calf: An Archaeological Mystery
November 17, 2004 by
We first met about six years ago in a basement lab. I was a young archaeologist with a short attention span. The bison calf was in an old cardboard box, just bones now, and had been there for decades. If the calf was born alive, its very brief life was spent on the prairies of […]
Standing History
December 19, 2003 by
I am upstairs in a dilapidated building. The room is empty and exudes a sense of its age. Wood floorboards and cracked plaster are coated with dust. Late afternoon sun pours through windows that nearly fill one wall, while their grime casts odd shadows. Crouching low, I’m holding some loose cardboard-thin pieces of the floor. […]