Pawnee Buttes, Colorado
August '92
On the border of northern Colorado and Nebraska's Panhandle is a
high, flat area called the Peetz Table. It is bordered by breaks in
the basins of two eastward-flowing streams - Lodgepole Creek in
Nebraska and the South Platte River in Colorado. Its edges are
defined in places by some magnificent chalk bluffs. I think the
Pawnee Buttes are remnants of the Table which, unlike the surrounding
area, never eroded. Today these two landmarks are a rather
locally-famous symbol of the beauty which can be found in the Plains.
(The Pawnee Buttes and the chalk bluffs were the inspirations for a
couple fictional landforms referenced in Michener's
Centennial: the "Rattlesnake Buttes" and the "Chalk Cliff".)
They are in the middle of a quite large, sparsely-populated area,
covered with a patchwork of tracts managed by the Pawnee National
Grassland.
August '92
The photo above was actually taken in the dark of night - see the
star trails? I left the shutter open for 15 minutes or so - the
lighting was provided courtesy of the moon.
Page last updated 09 January 2000.
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