45º25'37.9"N, 102º17'10.7"W. 113 miles from the nearest McDonald's. The Arneson family and their employee Riley Cihak ride their horses through thick morning fog on their ranch in the old town of Chance, SD. The Arnesons family moved from Montana to South Dakota due to rising land prices and slowly accumulated the entirety of what was once a small town in South Dakota until the late 1950s.
45°38'23.3"N 102°02'21.7"W. 121 miles from the nearest McDonald's.A group of friends round up cattle on land owned by a grazing association west of Meadow, SD. The association land was ravaged by one of the region's largest wildfires in 2005, burning down much of the grassland and the old homestead but Cam Miles, son of one of the owners, spent days camped by the corrals and barn in an effort to save them.
45–31'48.6"N 102º48'17.6"W. 107 miles from the nearest McDonald's. A McDonalds trailer sits in a field outside in the small town of Prairie City, SD on July 31, 2017. Not far from the former McFarthest point in America, a local rancher bought two semi trailers for storage and left them in a field, one of which now acts as a reminder of the ubiquitous nature of corporate America.
A branding at the Hall ranch in Bison, SD on April 2019.
An abandoned homestead outside Bison, SD.
45º19'04.0"N, 102º10'43.9"W. 120 miles from the nearest McDonald's. A small number of America Plains Bison are seen through the cracked windshield of rancher Jamie Hepper's pickup truck in Meadow, SD on April 12, 2018. Hepper is a third-generation bison rancher, starting her own business with the help of her father, following in the footsteps of her grandfather who was one of the first to commercially ranch bison on a large scale, helping to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.
45º29'43.2"N 102º19'59.6"W. 120 miles from the nearest McDonald's. A group of men sit down around the dinner table for a meal of soup and sandwiches as they take a break from shearing sheep in the 20 degree weather and substantial winds at the Kronberg ranch in Meadow, SD on April 7, 2018. Sheep need to be sheared yearly for their health, but the cold weather caused issues, forcing the delay of shearing some of the herd, putting the rest in a barn, and for all the work, wool is worth hardly any money to working ranchers.
Sion Hanson drives the perimeter of his ranch land’s border with National Grassland outside Bison, SD.
45º44'23.0"N, 102º13'06.9"W, 109 miles from the nearest McDonald's. A deer crosses the road at the Shadehill Recreation Area near the spot where frontiersman Hugh Glass was mauled, inspiring the movie “The Revenant," south of Lemmon, SD on October 6, 2017.
45º33'14.2"N, 102º30'36.1"W. 114 miles from the nearest McDonald's. Eliza Blue holds her daughter Emmy as her son Wesley closes his eyes and feels the coming storm winds on his face as they stand near an abandoned farmhouse on their leased land in Bison, SD. Ranchers and farmers have spent much of the droughty summer watching clouds on the horizon, hoping storms would hit, but most pass by without rain.
Bales of harvested wheat sit in a field in the old former town of Indian Creek, SD.
45º31'58.9"N, 102º15'19.0"W. 121 miles from the nearest McDonald's. Scott Storm swings a rope as he practices team roping with his friend Kenny Kocer at Kocer's ranch in Meadow, SD. Storm was known as a great roper on teams years ago but stopped after he was married; he didn't rope again until his son was old enough to start.
45°18'29.7"N 102°11'30.3"W. 117 miles from the nearest McDonald's. A herd of American plains bison, or buffalo, run across the rolling landscape of Jamie Hepper's ranch between the towns of Meadow and Faith, SD in 2017. Buffalo, which were historically endemic to the plains states, were hunted to near-extinction causing massive repercussions to the indigenous communities who relied on them for food.
People relax, drink, and eat dinner after a branding on land leased by Cam and Norman Miles in Glad Valley, SD.
45º30'35.5"N 102º13'48.2"W. 124 miles from the nearest McDonald's. Jessica Lawson holds the war bridle on Fred the horse as her boyfriend Shane Yalowizer goes to get ready for a swim on his ranch in Meadow, SD in July, 2017.
45º24'42.3"N 102º16'54.3"W. 112 miles from the nearest McDonald's. Randy Hapney holds the neck of a horse while doing chiropractic work on a ranch on the old abandoned town of Chance, SD. Equine chiropractic work was generally looked at with suspicion for years but more ranchers have begun to use their services to fix issues with horses to keep them healthy and working longer, a sign of adaptations in a world that often looks nostalgically unchanged over the century.
45º18'43.5"N 101º43'09.8"W. 144 miles from the nearest McDonald's. Todd Lundberg drinks a Busch Light to celebrate starting his 1949 Willys Jeep at his home in Glad Valley, SD, just a few miles from what was the farthest point in the continental in the U.S. from a McDonald's, on April 11, 2018. Lundberg and his family work very hard on their ranch and at a local school but live below the poverty line. During the brutal winters, far from the main road and many supplies that most people need to get through the winter, often chop wood to burn in a wood stove that they gather around for heat to save money on burning precious propane.
Weaning calves and giving fall shots on the Besler ranch in Bison, SD.
45º32'31.3"N 102º29'52.1"W. 110 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Sion Hanson sits in a neighbor's home and drinks coffee before dinner in Bison, SD on April 6, 2018. A maintenance worker for the city of Bison, he wakes up early every morning to drink coffee, smoke a cigarette, and play cribbage online, playing over 35,000 games on Yahoo, but at almost 60 years old, he still dreams of owning a small ranch with a herd of bison.
45°27'04.3"N 102°02'27.5"W. Exactly 134 miles from two separate McDonald's.
Lillian Flatmoe closes her eyes and listens to the singing of a hymn at Ranchers Camp worship service in a field between the towns of in Meadow and Glad Valley, SD on July 30, 2017. Flatmoe, like many other people of her age in the area, has lived in Perkins County her entire life.
45°31'54.3"N 102°15'32.6"W. 121 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Kenny Kocer pauses in a clearing of trees as he tracks a skunk he shot on his land in Meadow, SD. Kocer grew up on a local Cheyenne reservation, and despite being far below the blood quantum to qualify for membership was able to experience parts of the culture few others get to witness.
Braden Kopren, a rising high school senior committed to join the South Dakota National Guard, shears sheep on a ranch in Shadehill, SD on May 26, 2019. Kopren has been shearing sheep for four years, taking after his father who traveled the country shearing sheep.
The community gathers for a birthday part at Smoky's Bar in Meadow, SD, where the area population hovers around 30 people.
Pastor Tera Kossow leads worship at American Lutheran Church, an ELCA church, in Bison, SD.
Kids play during a twice daily recess at the two room school Maurine Elementary School in Maurine, SD.
An abandoned schoolhouse north of Hettinger, ND.
Children play on a swing set on the Lundberg ranch during Tallie Lundberg's graduation in Glad Valley, SD on May 11, 2019.
Family members relax after working all morning pregnancy checking cattle at the Besler family ranch in Bison, SD in October, 2018. The ranch has been in the family for over a century and encompasses around 22,500 acres.
A six hour road trip with the Bison Cardinals High School 9-man football team to face the Crazy Horse Chief in Wanblee, SD on the Pine Ridge Reservation on October 12, 2018. Bison, with 16 players on their roster, would beat Crazy Horse 78-0 at the half.
Graduates wait in a reception line as a large number of community members greet them after the Bison High School graduation ceremony in Bison, SD. Out of nine students graduating, two students are foreign students, including one who will have to return to France to finish her studies.
Dan Kvale, PA, performs a house call on James Wishard who was unable to make it into the office for a checkup and blood work due to water retention and pain in his feet in Bison, SD. Wishard is suffering from three different types of cancer, though recently had his bladder cancer surgery performed and will soon have a kidney removed.NGS Grant Number:
Pallbearers for Gregg Seim, 61, ride horses and lead a riderless horse to his internment at the Seim Family Cemetery in Shadehill, SD.
Mourners gather around the grave of Gregg Seim, 61, during his internment at the Seim Family Cemetery in Shadehill, SD.
Friends cover the grave of Gregg Seim, 61, during his internment at the Seim Family Cemetery in Shadehill, SD on October 13, 2018.
Branding on the Storm ranch in spring 2018.
Sion Hanson drinks coffee at his ranch before going to work outside Bison, SD. Hanson, 31 years sober, lives a live of chosen isolation outside of work, save for visiting his neighbors a mile away for weekly dinners.
Libby Gravning holds a photo of her husband Brian on the Gravning farm north of Hettinger, ND on October 14, 2018. Libby's husband Brian undertook suicide in February at the age of 52 after suffering under extreme depression since he was 12, one of a growing number of farmers and ranchers who have killed themselves in recent years as a part of an epidemic of rural suicides.
Portraits of Beth Hulm in her kitchen and the bedroom of her son Kyle Hulm in Bison, SD on October 20, 2018. Kyle Hulm, at 33 died of an assumed suicide in Dickinson, ND after a 21 year struggle with mental health issues.
45º23'03.5"N 102º34'14.8"W. 102 miles from the nearest McDonald's. Khayne Vanderpool relaxes after weaning calves on the five generation Besler family ranch east of Bison, SD. Ranching remains a job that requires a lot of help from a number of people during various points of the year which means work often has a family reunion or social component.
People share the peace during worship at American Lutheran Church, an ELCA church, in Bison, SD.
Eliza Loughlin and her daughter and Emmy in Bison, SD. The family was in the middle of lambing with unexpected lambs being born and nearly dying from being ignored by their mothers.
Driving along the Baake Road north of Bison, SD.
Calling coyotes on Sion Hanson's land in Bison, SD.
45°31'30.0"N 102°28'11.9"W. 111 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
People stand for the national anthem before the start of the Perkins County Rodeo in Bison, SD.
People stand for the national anthem at the Bison Cardinals varsity volleyball game against Mott-Regent High School in Bison, SD.
Buyers and ranchers gather for the selling of approximately 6,000 calves at the Faith Sale Barn in Faith, SD.
Players take a break in a high school locker room during the Bison Cardinals’ game versus northern rivals, the Lemmon-McIntosh Cowboys in Bison, SD.
45º31'48.9"N 102º12'59.8"W. 123 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
A derelict ranch, neglected for 7 months after it's owner died last July, is seen through the icy window of a car after an early-spring snowstorm in Meadow, SD on April 8, 2018. Perkins County has lost 74% of its population since 1910 and in the past 7 months, four residents of Meadow have died, lowering the population by 11% in less than a year.
Dinner after a hard day’s work branding cattle at the Storm ranch in spring, 2019.
Pat Dinkins empties a snake trap of prairie rattlesnakes and Eastern Yellowbellied Racers (known locally as blue racers) near the top of a butte on a rancher's land east of Glad Valley, SD on May 16, 2019. Dinkins spent 39 years and nearly 6 months as a trapper, mainly killing coyotes and other predators, for the state of South Dakota.NGS Grant Number: EC-45011S
45°32'31.2"N 102°29'52.2"W. 110 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Eliza Loughlin cleans the table as her husband Max works on bills and taxes and their son Wesley pretends to do the same.
Taking a break for a drink during a hard day’s work branding cattle at the Storm ranch in 2019.
45°32'31.2"N 102°29'52.2"W. 110 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Eliza Loughlin blows a hairdryer over the cold and wet fur of an hour-old calf born in the middle of a blizzard and brought in to the family bathtub by her husband Max Loughlin in Bison, SD on April 13, 2018. It was the second time during calving that a calf ended up in the bath tub, the third calf brought into the house to be saved, and fourth animal including a baby lamb that Eliza nursed back to health from being unable to stand.
45°29'05.8"N 102°40'44.5"W. 108 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Harvesters from a major area farm work a wheat field outside of Bison, SD on August 1, 2017. Due to the drought, many area farmers have taken a complete loss on their crops and winter feed for cattle was at an extreme shortage.
An abandoned prairie home north of Hettinger, ND.
45°31'27.4"N 102°28'11.2"W. 111 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Cowboys compete in a ranch rodeo at the Perkins County Fairgrounds in Bison, SD. Ranch rodeos, unlike rodeos shown on television or seen around much of the country, are team events where four riders show their skills as horsemen and ranch hands in activities that would actually be performed on a ranch like trailer loading.
Family and friends gather in the Lundberg home during Tallie Lundberg's graduation in Glad Valley, SD.
45º31'48.9"N, 102º12'59.8"W. 123 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Men drink at Smoky's Bar and Grill during an uncommon break during the spring calving season in Meadow, SD on April 15, 2018. Winter has dragged on into mid-April in South Dakota and ranchers spent many days preparing for an incoming winter storm that brought back memories of storms in 2013 and 1997 that killed hundreds of thousands of cattle and drove some to suicide.
45°26'49.9"N 102°10'07.6"W. 127 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Parishioners pray while worshiping at Coal Springs church in Meadow, SD. While many old prairie churches have closed over the years, many other small congregations still struggle to survive, or have multi-point parishes with one pastor serving a large area.
Coffee hour at the Bison Implement, a shop for mechanical supplies and repairs, run by second and third generation owners Allen Palmer and his son Conner in Bison, SD.
45°31'52.6"N 102°07'55.2"W. 123 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
A bone pile is stacked high on Audrey Lorius' family ranch about 5 miles outside of Meadow, SD. Lorius has 150 head of cattle, numbers built up through hard work to build up her family's ranch to a sizable number matching their 8,000 acres after she cared for both parents until their recent deaths. Part of the trials of owning a ranch, however, means that animals die not just of old age but lightning strikes or even freak snowstorms like winter storm Atlas that devastated herds in 2013.
45º31'59.1"N, 102º15'20.5"W. 121 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Scott Storm and his son Travis, 12, relax after practicing team roping as Kenny Kocer puts away a saddle in his saddle shop on his ranch in Meadow, SD. Kenny built his own arena for practicing roping and invites a select group of locals to rope almost every night, teaching many young or beginning riders the skills to become both a good competitor and ranch hand.
45°32'45.9"N 102°07'41.0"W. 123 miles from the nearest McDonald's.
Rain runs down a dirt road on the Lorius ranch in Meadow, SD on July 28, 2017. An extreme summer drought caused a state of emergency in both North and South Dakota which meant that any small rain was a cause for celebration for ranchers.