"The Emptied Prairie"

Have you ever driven around rural North Dakota or Minnesota and noticed that there are a lot of abandoned houses in the area? I know that I've often wondered what kind of people lived there or what could have happened to them to make them leave. There is a great article in the January 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine titled "The Emptied Prairie" that addresses this very issue.
The article starts, "In the early 20th century, railroads lured settlers into North Dakota with promises of homesteads. Towns were planted everywhere. Houses rose from the sweep of the plains, many... with a story no one can trace. People believed rain would follow the plow. But they were wrong."
Stop by our library to read this fascinating piece of local news.