An Urn of Native Soil

Close-knit rural communities once flourished throughout America. They were the main source of social life, assistance, and entertainment for farm and ranch families who lived far from town. These communities were often anchored by a country school or church, and most of them survived into the second half of the twentieth century. But prosperity, mobility, and rising expectations eventually lured the people into the towns and cities, and the communities died. This transformation has been particularly dramatic on the Great Plains, where two-thirds of the counties now have fewer people than they had a hundred years ago. Agribusiness has replaced self-sufficient farms, the one-room schools have closed, and little remains of the communities except their graveyards. This book gives a face to that depopulation. It is the memoir of a country boy who long ago left the rural Nebraska community of his boyhood but still lives there in his heart. It lovingly depicts the rich life of one plains community just before it vanished.