PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 53 



The region under consideration is similar from Hamburg to Sioux 

 City, the steep hills, narrow valleys rising from the wide flood plains of 

 the Missouri with its alluvial deposits and here and there sand dunes and 

 small ancient channels of the stream, all of these a peculiar part of the 

 region. The width of the flood plain varies from a little over two miles 

 near Buckingham lake to more than ten miles in some places in the 

 great valley. For much of the region the bottoms are located on the 

 Iowa side of the river. No similar expanse in the United States con- 

 tains so large an area of flat and extremely fertile agricultural soil. It 

 is the only part of the southwestern part of Iowa where the corn crop 

 was good this year. These bottoms, originally, contained a large num- 

 ber of wild grasses like slough grass, tall blue stem, switch grass, etc. 

 In the early days the whole region was a waving mass of wild grasses, 

 as high as a horse, the paradise of the stockman. It was here where, 

 in yet earlier days, previous to white settlements that the buffalo occurred 

 in vast herds feeding on these nutritious grasses. 



The region between Hamburg and Sioux City presents a series of 

 bluffs which are unique in the topography of the country. They occur to 

 the south in Missouri, gradually becoming less marked. They are also 

 quite conspicuous in Nebraska, but in many cases less marked. There 

 are only a few places in the world where this typical Missouri loess is 

 so developed. Its value for agricultural purposes has long been recog- 

 nized. The apples and grapes grown in the region are famous and these 

 crops have given fame to the region. The typical deposit of the region 

 is known as Missouri loess which geologists like Calvin, Shimek and 

 others tell us is a wind borne soil, the fine material coming from the 

 west. This region is a classic one in the study of the fauna found in the 

 loess. Certainly from a scientific standpoint some of this area should 

 be set aside for future generations. There is no better place to be found 

 for a study of the fauna and of the soil than the Buckingham area in 

 Fremont and Mills counties. 



The plants of the tops of these loess bluffs are unique. They belong 

 to the region west of the one hundredth meridian. Let me enumerate a 

 few; the wiry drop seed grass, mesquite grass, Rocky mountain bee plant, 

 small blue stem, snow on the mountain, stemless loco weed, the large 

 blue flowered beard tongue, the Spanish bayonet or yucca, gum weed or 

 grindelia, aplopappus, perennial ragweed, rush milkweed, milk vetch, 

 two species of dalea, false mallow and the callirhoe. 



From the standpoint of the geographical distribution of plants there 

 is no region in Iowa that presents such a sharp contrast between plains 

 and prairie plants as this region. Standing on the tops of these hills a 

 person feels that he is in the region of North Platte or McCook, Nebraska. 

 You are surrounded by the fauna and flora of that region. There are 

 comparatively few areas in the region in which there is any considerable 

 body of timber. The dry winds of the summer greatly influence the 

 growth of trees. The west and southwest slopes of the hills are entirely 

 devoid of timber, while the east and north slopes contain the following 

 trees: Basswood, red oak and black oak, honey locust, slippery elm, 

 hackberry, cotton wood, iron wood, American elm, red bud, coffee bean, 



