l4c9lj6

Prairie Postings
A Thistle Flower
from the Prairie
New English Translation of Book Published;
Proceeds to Benefit MPF
A Danish immigrant
couple with two children
face harsh conditions
on their late
19th-century Nebraska
prairie farm. Peter is
stubborn and contrary.
Ellen Marie is sweet,
congenial, and patient.
Neighbors, craftsmen,
and a pastor reach out
to help the struggling
family. But Peter persists in his self-reliance.
Will they survive blizzards, tornados, plagues
of insects, arduous hauls for water, and long
journeys to town for farm and household
supplies?
The 34-page A Thistle Flower from the
Prairie, a light-hearted allegory, was originally
published in Danish in 1953. Now in
this new edition, it has been faithfully translated
into modern English by Lindy Falk
van Rooyen. Its author, Jens Christian Bay,
was a librarian, botanist, and an authority on
books on the exploration and settlement of
the American West. His extensive collection
of Americana is available in his namesake
room at the Missouri State Historical Library
in Columbia. He contributed extensively to
the promotion of his native country’s literature
and folklore. Bay was knighted in 1947
by King Frederick IX of Denmark.
This novelette, edited by Jens Christian
Bay’s son, MPF member John Bay of
Carthage, MO, is illustrated with color
photos of prairie wildflowers, prairie
restoration efforts in Missouri, the author,
the original 1953 Danish edition, and the
author’s handwritten manuscript.
Proceeds from sales of the book will help
support MPF’s prairie preservation and
restoration efforts. Further information and
orders may be placed through www.amazon.
com or local book dealers.
MPF Board Member Bonnie Teel and her newly designated Prairie View Farm Natural Area.
Prairie View Farm Now a Designated State Natural Area
Congratulations to MPF board member Bonnie Teel on the designation of 184 acres of her
and her family’s nearly 1,000-acre Prairie View Farm as a Missouri Natural Area.
“Mrs. Teel’s prairie is one of fewer than a dozen high quality limestone prairie remnants left
in Missouri. Most remnant prairies in Missouri are overlying sandstone bedrock,” said Mike
Leahy, natural areas coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation and MPF
technical advisor.
The Missouri Natural Areas program recognizes the best remaining forests, prairies, wetlands,
and other natural communities in the state for their superlative geologic formations or
other outstanding natural features. Missouri Natural Areas are critical components of the effort
to conserve Missouri’s natural heritage by focusing restoration and conservation efforts on
these sites. There are a total of 185 designated Missouri Natural Areas, on both private land,
like Mrs. Teel’s, and on land open to the public, including MPF’s La Petite Gemme Prairie.
In May 2013, members of the Missouri Natural Areas Committee, made up of professional
biologists from conservation agencies and The Nature Conservancy, approved of the nomination.
This past winter a cooperative agreement was completed with the Missouri Department
of Conservation, and joint approval from the directors of the Missouri Departments of
Conservation and Natural Resources was obtained to finalize the designation.
“I’m so proud of this prairie and honored to steward this land, which has been in my late
husband’s family since the 1880s,” said Mrs. Teel. “I’m grateful to Mike Leahy, who worked
hard on the nomination process, and to Scott Sudkamp, also of the Missouri Department of
Conservation, who created a management plan for my prairie.”
For the past several years, Mrs. Teel has had trees cut from draws in the prairie, conducted
prescribed burns, and also reduced the portion of the 184-acre tract that in the past had been
annually hayed.
Dickcissels and grasshopper sparrows, which nest on the prairie, are among the wildlife
species noted from Prairie View Farm Natural Area. A total of 212 native plant species are documented
from the prairie, including stunning displays of shooting stars, prairie phlox, Indian
paintbrush, and other spring prairie wildflowers. These low-growing plants bloom while prairie
grasses are still short; indiangrass, big bluestem, and other warm-season prairie grasses grow
taller as the growing season progresses. In addition, blazing star, asters, and other wildflowers
bloom over the summer and into the fall.
“Mrs. Teel is to be commended for her hard work to protect and improve her prairie,”
Leahy said. “Natural Area status is a feather in the cap for Prairie View Farm.”
For more information on Missouri’s Natural Areas Program and a directory of designated
natural areas open to the public visit http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places-go/naturalareas.
carol davit
30 Missouri Prairie Journal Vol. 35 No. 1