The Traveler Invades the Classroom

The Unwanted TravelerThe Unwanted TravelerMeets the Six Essential Elements of GeographyMeets the Six Essential Elements of Geography

Heather WagnerBogle Junior High School

The Journey Begins Here The Traveler Turns Ugly

Russian Mennonite Settlement in South Dakota

FLAXSEEDUnknowingly tainted with Russian thistle seed and

was brought over by the Russian immigrants.

The background of the movie is the U.S. Civil War 1861-1865, a mere 12 years before the traveler

arrived.

Scene from the movie where Hollywood romanticizes the traveler, adding to the allure

and regional acceptance of the weed.

Ural Mountains

Russian thistle (Tumbleweed) traveled to America in 1877.

The Traveler is Culturally Embraced

Tumbleweed celebrated in Chandler, Arizona used to create

the annual display.

The Russian thistle is adapt at invading ecosystems, depleting water supplies and

aiding to soil erosion. Photograph taken during Dust Bowl.

The unwanted traveler encroaching upon a peanut farm.

This shows a house after a windstorm where the traveler

was forced to stay.

 

 

 

 

 

References

1. Tellman, Barbara, 2002.  Invasive Exotic Species in the Sonoran Region, The University of Arizona Press Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum.

2. Schrag, Dale R., Theisen, John D., Haury, A. David. 1997. Prepared for the Historical Committees of the Mennonite Church, and the Western District Conference of the General Conference Mennonite Church, Bethel College North Newton, Kansas 67117

3. Russian Thistle Management under Conservation Systems in Pacific Northwest Crop-Fallow Regions.  Pacific Northwest Conservation Tillage Handbook Series No. 16 Weed Control Strategies, July 1995. 

4. Willoughby, Susan The American West copyright, 1996. Heinemann Library, Halley Court, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8EJ. 

5. Hurt, Douglas R.  1985 The National Grasslands:  Origin and Development in the Dust Bowl.  Agricultural History, 59 (2): 246-259. 

6. Schwinning, Susanne, Starr, Benjamin I., Wojcik, Nathan J., Miller, Mark E., Ehleringer, James E., Sanford, Robert L. Jr. 2005.  Effects of Nitrogen Deposition on an Arid Grassland in the Colorado Plateau Cold Desert. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 58 (6):  565-574 

7. ARS Crop Protection & Quarantine National Program, 2002. USDA FY Annual Report. 

8. Drought Management on Range and Pastureland:  A handbook for Nebraska and South Dakota, Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service EC 91-123.

I am tumbleweed.

I wonder when I will complete my mission to conquer the world.

I hear the sound of the wind as she comes to unknowingly become my accomplice.

I see the terrified faces as I smash into their windshields.

I want to travel back to my origins in the Ural Mountains.

I am tumbleweed.

I pretend that I can dive deep into the ocean so I can rob it of all her treasures.

I feel immortal as I float across the Earth.

I touch the rich soils where I make my precious deposits.

I worry one day they will find a way to end my existence.

I cry when I see my friends set sail in a direction that I do not follow.

I am tumbleweed.

I understand I bring great destruction to ecosystems as I travel.

I say move over for I am here to stay.

I dream of a wind that will carry me to the depths of outer space.

I try to release all of my powers each time I tumble.

I hope my seedlings will join my mission.

I am tumbleweed.

T Traveled from the steppes of the Ural Mountains.

U Unable to be eradicated or deported.

M Mennonites brought me to America as I hid in their flaxseed.

B Blows and dances with the wind.

L Leaves up to 200,000 seeds as I travel.

E Ecosystems I like to invade.

W Western lands were the first I conquered.

E Everywhere I try to roam.

E Every year I am celebrated, for I create a Christmas tree.

D Disturbed areas and overgrazed lands are my first choice.

S So just accept me because I will not be eradicated.