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Meadowlarks, Cottonwoods, Honey Bees, Oh My! · Rooted in the Plains

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Rooted in the Plains, a podcast about the people, places, and moments that shape the Great Plains.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Nicole, and in each episode, I take you back to a time when sodhouses lined the prairie, railroads carved through the tall grass, and community meant survival.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: For photos, maps, and glimpses of Plains life, be sure to follow along on Instagram at Rooted in the Plains.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Here we are, starting season two already.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Why not start off with a little fun?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: I have a special guest in the studio with me, my daughter Katie.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Hi.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Aw, thanks everybody for making her feel welcome.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of my usual format, we're gonna take a peek into what almost any conversation between us sounds like.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, so like when you pick the topic of historical things, love it.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mean, uh, love it.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know the state symbols and their origins?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: The stuff that nobody really talks about?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, no, I mean, but okay, these symbols have some really cool stories, especially in the Great Plains.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: But before we start, I have three questions for you.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-oh.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, we're asking everyone who's listening to play along too.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Ready?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, question one.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Which state has three different official flower-related symbols?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: What?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's a lot for one state.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, question number two.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: How many of the eight Great Plains states do you think share the same state bird?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, maybe three.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are the states next to each other?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, you'll have to wait.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And here's question number three.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: What insect is so popular that four of the Great Plains states have chosen it as their state insect?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you've seen the Midwest in the summer.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, mosquito?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, really good guess.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Keep those answers in your head.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: We'll reveal the answers as we go.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So before we get into all of these state symbols, we need to talk about where this whole thing started.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: It goes back to 1893.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: 1893?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty specific.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it is.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's when Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a massive state fair, but for the world.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thousands of people would come every day to see new technology and ideas being shared.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was held from May 1st to October 31st.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Just over 27 million people had attended.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, uh what's the World's Fair got to do with State Flowers?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so for the first time, Congress authorized something called the Board of Lady Managers to oversee a woman's building at the fair.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was led by a Chicago woman named Bertha Honore Palmer.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Bertha.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, but it was like a big deal.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: These were the first women to serve in an official capacity at a world's fair.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: They held a weeklong meeting where hundreds of women from around the world came together to debate important issues in front of thousands.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of those was the National Garland of Flowers.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds so fancy.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Each state and territory was to select a flower to represent them.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then when the fair closed, women's clubs from around the country would take on the task of choosing and advocating that would represent their state's history, culture, and environment.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Who runs the world?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Girls! Yeah, they introduced the bills at state level, and then they got the school children involved in the selection process, which was a total grassroots movement.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you want a fun fact?
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Some states took decades to make it official.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Which states were the first to do it?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like Illinois, right?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's like where the fair was.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, actually, Washington beat everybody to it.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: They chose theirs the year before the fair.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Of the Great Plains states, Montana and Nebraska both adopted their flowers just two years after the fair.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then what?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: It just spread from there?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: By the early 1900s, most states had flowers.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then something interesting happened.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm intrigued.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: In the 1920s, the General Federation of Women's Clubs started this whole new campaign, this time for state birds.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so the famous women's club with the flowers went, let's add some birds.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: What then?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Trees?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, actually, yeah, that's what they did.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: They introduced state trees in the 30s and 40s, but then somewhere in the 40s, almost every state had a state bird.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then we added Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then they came up with these comprehensive packages of the city.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, okay, okay.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we like created a brand guide for them.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the US.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your state flower, bird, tree, insect model.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, yep.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then yeah, so that's what happened.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then they inspired other states to just keep adding categories.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So fossils in the 60s, insects in the 70s, and then they just kept going.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So drinks, soft drinks.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, what's Nebraska's state soft drink?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I should know that.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: You do.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: You probably just don't think of it as a soft drink.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: So on the count of three, one, two, three.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Dorothy Lynch! Kool-Aid.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, kid.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so here's the thing.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Even though some of it seems kind of silly, there's actually a good reason for them.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: They teach kids how the government works.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Students propose an idea, it goes through a legislative process, and then suddenly they're learning about bills and committees and votes.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: So now that I've explained the boring backstory, I'll tell you about the symbols the states picked.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Finally, are we starting with flowers?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're gonna go through them chronologically based on when they were adopted.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so who was first?
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, as I mentioned, Montana and Nebraska were actually tied in 1895.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Montana chose the bitter root.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's this little plant with pink and white flowers that grows in rocky areas.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard its Latin name translates to brought back to life, as it can survive really harsh, dry conditions.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: It can look completely dead, and then when it gets moisture, it comes back to life.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: And Nebraska is I got this.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Nebraska's a goldenrod.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's that bright yellow flower we have in our kitchen.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Between July and October, it blooms across the state and provides a late season nectar for pollinators.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, indigenous people used it medicinally, so it's been important to the state for a long time.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Next up is Texas in 1901 with blue bonnet.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: They were actually the first state to plant wildflowers along highways on purpose.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: For tourism?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, actually, smart, right?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Kansas adopted the sunflower in 1903.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: They can grow 16 feet tall and they track the sun across the sky.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Color me shocked.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Then South Dakota picked the Pasque flower.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Also in 1903, it blooms through the snow and is the only state flower with a motto.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Fun! What's its motto?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: I lead?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's the first to bloom.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: North Dakota chose the wild prairie rose in 1907, and Wyoming picked the Indian paintbrush in 1917.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: The paintbrush is parasitic.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: It attaches to other plant roots, so you can't cultivate it.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Weird.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: I guess I didn't think of flowers as parasites.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's flowers.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Let's move on to birds.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, I thought you said there were eight states.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: And didn't you ask me which state has three different flower symbols?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, right.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Question number one.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's Oklahoma.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is where it gets interesting.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: They have three flower-related symbols.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: They have a floral emblem, a wildflower, and a state flower.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: That seems like a little much.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: So in 1893, Oklahoma adopted the mistletoe as its floral emblem, which was 14 years before they became a state in 1907.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, wait, wait, wait.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: 1893.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: The World's Fair was in 1893, and then they became a state in 1907.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: So they picked their flower before they were a state.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: So did they get a second one when they became a state?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And like, how did the third one even come up?
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, slow, slow down.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: So they were a territory in 1893, but they were already establishing their identity.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then in 1986, they added the Indian blanket as their official wildflower.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Not the same thing.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Then in 2004, they added the Oklahoma rose as their official state flower.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So they replaced the mistletoe.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they have two, not three.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not exactly.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: The mistletoe is their floral emblem.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Indian blanket is their official wildflower, not the same thing.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then the Oklahoma rose is their state flower.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: They just added a category.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of flowers.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: The Oklahoma rose is known for being tough.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: It can survive both droughts and cold.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: That says something.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's the flowers.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk birds, which remember came from that General Federation of Women's Club campaign in the 20s.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: All right, hit me.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, but I want to mix this up.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Starting with Texas in 1927, can you guess their state bird?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like, no offense, Texas, but is it something like big and loud, maybe like a turkey?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, no, it's the northern mocking bird.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: They can sing up to 200 different songs, and they mimic other birds, insects, and even mechanical sounds.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're a little territorial too, and they'll swoop down at anything that gets too close to their nest.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on, did you say 200 songs?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's wild.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, South Dakota in 1943.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Guess theirs.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: South Dakota.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: That is that the one above or below North Dakota?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is it like a pheasant?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the bird, like the bird that you hunt.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's a ring-necked pheasant.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Good guess.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Pheasants aren't even native to South Dakota, they're from Asia.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Two guys named Cooper and Ebert successfully introduced them to Spink County in 1908.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And now they're everywhere.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Wait, really?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, I was just guessing, but an imported state bird?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Weird.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma, 1951.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Since I'm on a roll and you just said 1951, Oklahoma has Route 66, Sonic, I don't know, like maybe a chicken?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's the scissor-tailed flycatcher.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's actually the first one we've mentioned that's unique to just one state.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: All of the others we'll talk about are shared.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, what?
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So here's where we answer quiz question number two.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, I asked you how many states share the same state bird?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the five other states, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Kansas, and Nebraska, all share the same state bird.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: All five have the same bird.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: So the other four are copying Nebraska with the Western Meadowlark.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, five out of the eight Great Plains states all chose the Western Meadowlark.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: We also share it with Oregon.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's very common with the Plains states.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So between 1927 and 1947, all five states adopted it as their birds.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's talk trees.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: But first, pop quiz for you.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, this isn't one of the questions from the beginning.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: How many of the eight states do you think picked the cottonwood as their state tree?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like, is it the same five as the metal or no, but close.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming all pick the cottonwood.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So three out of the five, and it makes sense.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Cottonwoods grow along rivers and streams throughout the Great Plains.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Settlers would collect cottonwood shoots and plant them along their claims.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's just part of history out here.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, correction.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: In fourth grade, we learned that the American elm was the state tree until they all started dying because of a tree disease called Dutch Elm Disease.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: But then they picked the cottonwood.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: But nice try.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: So Kansas adopted the cottonwood in 1937, Wyoming in 1947, and Nebraska, I guess, replaced the elm in 1972 with the cottonwood.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Most states adopted trees in the 30s and 40s, but the cottonwood was already iconic here.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's some famous cottonwood landmarks.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what about the other states?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Texas was actually the first in 1919 with the pecan tree.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Fossil evidence shows pecan trees were in Texas long before humans even arrived.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Is that different than the pecan tree?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: These trees can live for thousands of years, and Texas is the global leader in pecan protection.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oklahoma adopted theirs in 1937, the red bud.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's important for early season pollinators, and indigenous tribes used it for food and medicine.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: So what about the Dakotas?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: They adopted theirs both in 1947.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: North Dakota with the American elm.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: These can grow up to 120 feet tall and can withstand temperatures as low as negative 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh negative 45?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, thank you.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect for North Dakota, right?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: South Dakota chose the Black Hill spruce, which is a variety of white spruce that can live over 150 years.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: In Montana?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Montana is my favorite story.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: In 1908, school children and Helena held the vote to pick the state tree.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Ponderosa Pine won easily.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Great story.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let me finish, but the legislature didn't actually make it official until 1949.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: It took a campaign by the Montana Federal Gardens Club to finally get the legislature to act on what the kids had chosen decades before.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, that's crazy.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: But the Ponderosa pine is pretty cool.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: It can grow over 150 feet tall.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the best part the bark smells like vanilla or butterscotch, especially on warm sunny days.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: The tree smells like a dessert.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, Lusa Clark even used the Ponderosa pines to build their dugout canoes.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: 30-foot-long canoes that could carry two to three tons.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Last category, insects.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: They did not become popular as a state symbol until the 1970s.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yay, bugs.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, quiz question number three.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: I asked, what insect is so popular that four Great Plains states picked it?
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh I had a good one.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: I had a good one.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Mosquito.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Good guess.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: But no, it's the honeybee.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yep.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Honeybees are crucial for pollinating crops, and honey production is a big industry in the Great Plains.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma all chose the honeybee.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So which state picked first?
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Nebraska.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: It was first in 1975, then Kansas in 76, South Dakota in 78, and Oklahoma in 1992.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: They all recognized how important bees are to agriculture, and South Dakota is actually the leader in honey production.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: What about the other states?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Montana went with the morning cloak butterfly in 2001.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what's interesting.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people were skeptical about this choice because the morning cloak isn't unique to Montana.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can find it all over the world.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: So people asked, why choose something that's not special to Montana?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, why?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because of what it represents.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: The morning cloak is often the first butterfly to emerge after winter, just like how Montanans are resilient after harsh winters.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was about symbolism.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: It got its name from the colors that resemble traditional morning cloaks that people wore after someone died.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Dark wings with lighter edges.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's actually like really interesting.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: So what did Wyoming do?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Wyoming picked Sheridan's green hair streak in 2009.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's another early spring butterfly.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's the first one to emerge in Wyoming, often while snow is still melting nearby.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the green hair streak isn't a fade?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's tiny, like less than an inch wingspan, but the bright green underside of the wings makes it really distinctive.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: North Dakota went with the convergent lady beetle in 2011.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: Aww a ladybug.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's cute.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was proposed by elementary students because ladybugs help farmers and gardeners by eating aphids, mites, and other pests.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're not harmful to humans or crops, and they're really important to North Dakota's ag industry.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: That makes sense.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: So what about Texas?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Texas chose the Marnark butterfly in 1995.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Some facts you just don't forget.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: They migrated from Mexico all the way to Canada and back twice a year, passing through Texas in the fall and spring.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: They're the only butterfly that does two-way migration, like birds.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty impressive for something so small.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: That covers all of our symbols.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Flowers, birds, trees, and insects for all of the Great Plains states.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, before we go, I do have some thoughts.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: I have entered quite the rabbit hole.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Bertha, the one we talked about in the beginning, who helped lead the push behind state symbols, had one of the most unhinged resumes of the Gilded Age.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, she was married to a Chicago millionaire, Potter Palmer.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, he's he's the guy who started Marshall Fields and then it turned into Macy's.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: But that is just the entry point.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: The Brownie was literally created at the Palmer House under her direction for the World's Fair.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: She also owned one of the largest collections of Monet paintings in the world at the time, and personally helped introduce impressionist art to the United States.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and her sister, married to the son of Ulysses S.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Grant, in the philanthropy, equally as unhinged, Bertha personally donated millions of dollars to charities, schools, cultural institutions, and women's causes at the turn of the 20th century, at a time when women couldn't even vote.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: They estimate that she put her lifetime giving of over$2 million, which roughly equals 65 to 7 million today.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: So when Bertha helped shape state symbols, she wasn't just picking pretty little emblems.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: She was using money, power, and cultural influence to decipher whose stories would be preserved.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Those were some great final thoughts.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you! Here in the Great Plains, we share an ecosystem, a history, and a stubborn resilience that shows up in everything from cottonwoods to metal arcs.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're proof that some of the roots run deeper than borders.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Rooted in the Plains.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you learned something new today.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: For photos, maps, and a little glimpse of prairie life, visit the Instagram page Rooted in the Plains.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoyed the episode and want to dig a little deeper, check out the show notes for additional readings and a full list of sources used in this episode.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks!
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Bye!