%0 Journal Article
%T Were the Poppers Right? Outmigration and the Changing Economy of the Great Plains
%A J. Michael Hayden
%J Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy
%D 2008
%I New Prairie Press
%R 10.4148/ojrrp.v2i2.36
%X I was born and raised west of the 100th meridian and lived close to the land and people of western Kansas for more than 40 years. When I entered high school, I set a goal of knowing everyone in the school within two weeks and I accomplished that. I also knew the name of every street in town, thanks to my having a paper route. Within my lifetime, I have seen dramatic changes in both the land and people. When the Poppers first introduced their Buffalo Commons idea, I was governor and I came out guns blazing like Matt Dillon. Like many Kansans, I wondered what two East Coast academics could possibly know about the Great Plains. Seventeen years later, I must admit I was wrong. In some areas, from Alberta to the Rio Grande, the depopulation has been even greater than what the Poppers predicted. That was disappointing to me as my families¡¯ roots are deep in western Kansas. My mother and father built a house in Atwood and lived at that same address for 51 years. During that same time period, I¡¯ve had 29 different mailing addresses, exemplifying changing lifestyles.
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/ojrrp.v2i2.36