THE PARADOX OF WATER

While enjoying hours of delay at my O'Hare gate recently, I cracked open my book "Homesteading in the Badlands-1912." Attempting to fly somewhere these days and homesteading in the badlands of South Dakota seemed to have a great deal in common.

Water, of course, had and continues to have great involvement in the formation of the badlands. Originally the product of sea, river and stream deposits, then the carving and erosion by water and wind.

In 1912, the author of my book, Earnest Bormann, began homesteading at the age of 21 on a quarter section of land about 12 miles southwest of what is now Wall Drug, still the home of 5 cent coffee. Under the law at the time, a homesteader could acquire title to such a parcel if the person lived on the land and cultivated it.

The author's parcel comprised 80 acres of flat ground, which he cultivated with the help of his horse "Ike." The other 80 acres were badlands-peaks and gulches of moonscape that today help to make up the Badlands National Park. His house was an 8 foot by 12 foot tar paper shack.

Water in the badlands is an extremely scarce commodity. When found, generally it is alkali in nature and unfit to drink. The author found a good water spring in his 80 acre badlands in a deep crevice, one-half mile from his shack. He had to haul water containers up a steep peak by holding on to Ike's tail as the horse tried to scramble up the slippery slope. He then hauled the water on foot the one-half mile to his shack-in all sorts of weather.

Sometimes, water came to close, as in the form of three day blizzards in the winter. In fact, a late blizzard came in May that killed many cattle in the area, wiping out several local ranchers.

After homesteading for 18 months, the author acquired title to his 160 acres. He then rented his land and returned to his parents in eastern South Dakota. In 1948, he sold his homestead to an adjoining neighbor. With the money, he bought a 1949 Ford.

Water helped to make the badlands, helped to enable living there and helped to make that living difficult. For most in the United States today, drinking water is readily available by a twist of a faucet. But for millions in the world, water still is hauled on foot from great distances, and for everyone everywhere, water in the form of floods, snow and ice still can be difficult.

As I finished my book, my flight began boarding. On the last page, the author quoted a sign he saw in 1912: "Please do not ask any questions. If we knew anything we would not be here." Guess where I was going-the Badlands!