To The National Geographic: regarding the January 2008 article: The Emptied Prairie.

Many of us are disaapointed at the January issue of the National Geographic Magazine article" The Emptied Prairie" showing North Dakota in a series of abandoned farm buildings, schools and cars languishing in an empty, snowy grassland. The article was written by Charles Bowden and there is no way of knowing what objective or agenda he had in mind, but it is clearly single-minded in its theme--this part of the country is dying--no, it's already dead. I sent the following comment to NG at their e-mail address: ngsforum@nationalgeographic.com.

The Emptied Prairie piece in the National Geographic of Jan. 2008 hits one mark and misses so many others--yes, there are lots of ghosts here--farms, small towns, immigrants, and people who passed through. Is our landscape open and nearly devoid of man's work? Yes, some of it is. The stories you missed are those of thousands of immigrants who came here from an oppressed Europe at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. Some of the poorest of the poor from middle-Europe, Ukraine, Norway and Sweden, all seeking a chance for a better life, not necessarily for themselves, but for their sons and daughters some not yet born. Not told in your story was the success that came out of the first generation's struggle. Their sons and daughters not only survived and prospered, but they became educated and moved into the so-called American Dream--vindicating the hardship and fulfilling the dreams of their grandparents. I am one of those. I've lived and worked in a dozen of our great states, and I have chosen to live here. I am home. The photography of The Emptied Prairie is superb, but you missed the real story.
Hal Neff Bismarck, ND