The Yellow Flag Irises of Agate Springs Ranch
The endless grasslands of Sioux
County can leave you feeling like you’re alone in the world. Heading north
to Harrison along Highway 29, the terrain’s vastness is both awesome and
unnerving. Out here, even the grass seems to struggle for its existence.
Story and photography by Bobbi and Steve Olson
But for a week or two each spring,
the land rolls out a bright yellow carpet, as if Dorothy’s yellow brick
road was winding its way to Oz through the Nebraska Panhandle. It happens usually
in mid- to late May. Thousands upon thousands of yellow flag irises follow the
young Niobrara River downstream around treeless hills. It’s an unexpected
sight that leaves you wondering, Where did they all come from?
The answer begins with a love story.
Captain James Henry Cook was 12 years
old when he left his native Michigan to explore the world. His inquisitive nature
led him to many adventures as a sailor, cowboy, ranch owner, game hunter and
trapper, military scout and courier. On a hunting trip to Cheyenne, Wyo., he
met and fell in love with Kate Graham, the daughter of a local doctor. Graham
and her family usually summered at their ranch along the Niobrara in Sioux County,
Neb.
James and Kate married in 1886, and eventually moved to the Grahams’ ranch in Nebraska, which they renamed “Agate Springs Ranch” after the native moss agates and natural springs of the Niobrara River Valley. They built a new ranch house and made their home a high plains oasis, planted hundreds of cottonwoods and willows.
On a furniture-buying expedition,
James bought some yellow flag iris bulbs to plant along the banks of the Niobrara
in front of their new home. For the past century, the seeds and root systems
of these original plants have been working their way through the Niobrara wetlands
and into Nebraska history.
Yellow flag iris is native to Europe;
it was first sold in the United States as an ornamental plant in the early 1900s.
Prior to that, French fur traders brought the flowers with them, calling them
the fleur de lis, or “flower of life.”
But under the right conditions, the
iris can spread out of control. It spreads quickly via rhizomes and seeds, forming
a thick mat that chokes out native plants and upsets the natural ecosystem of
a prairie wetland.
“It’s the quintessential dilemma,” said park ranger Scott Campbell. “On the one hand, they’re a non-native, very invasive plant. On the other, they have significant historical value.”
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
occupies approximately 3,000 acres of the original ranch. A paved pedestrian
trail crosses the narrow Niobrara and passes through fields of wildflowers and
native grasses on its way to the fossil beds on University Hill. At the walkway
bridge, the wetlands back up to the west, and stretch wide from the highway
to the hills to the south. The river itself is only a few feet wide.
“The Niobrara is just a baby
here – only 50 miles old,” said Lil Morava, our tour guide. Downstream
from the bridge, the trail of butter-yellow blooms leads away east along the
willow-lined banks as the river works its helter-skelter path east.