The same year the first “flying machine” was patented by the Wright Brothers, 1906, Ott Talkington brought his family to west central North Dakota to establish a cattle ranch. He and his family made the long trek from Indiana to make their home on the North Dakota grasslands butted up against the heavily eroded, barren plateaus known as the Badlands. Four generations later, Shane and Amanda Talkington are carrying on the family’s ranching legacy Shane’s great-grandfather began 107 years ago. “Amanda and I had the opportunity to come back to the ranch 11 years ago,” Shane said. “We live on the ranch my grandfather purchased in 1950. Over the years my grandfather and father have purchased additional land that now makes up our entire ranch. That land is spread out between our home and the home where my parents live and I grew up.” North Dakota’s grasslands have challenged each