  I know the Alexander ranch well, I have had wonderful times there. It is located on the Oahe Reservoir (Missouri River), is still undeveloped and it is beautiful! Animals still roam free, sunsets are not filtered through pollutants and it changes with the seasons. In the winter the white snow filled hills are blinding, nothing but animal prints disrupt the snowy mounds. It shimmers under the bright sun, blizzards are a common occurrence. Spring brings life, baby geese, deer, cows, horses, chickens, prairie dogs, rattlesnakes, and antelope.
A rebirth from the ground – up. By summer the rain has stopped and the dust begins to blow. Cacti are common and by August fields of sunflowers watch the suns cycle. When fall arrives everything begins to prepare for winter. Movement is everywhere, crops are being brought it, animals are storing food, shelters are being reinforced, winters are always hard and preparation increases the chances of survival. My great-great-grandfathers land was acquired through the government.
He was stationed at Fort Sumpter in Pierre and received land on the Missouri river as a reward or possibly incentive for serving his country. The cattle that would roam the land were also gotten out of an arrangement with the government, this time for marrying a member of the Sioux Indian Tribe. How many cows, I will never know. This was the start of the Ounken and Alexanders intermixing with the Indians. Every member of both families lived a horse ride away from one another and all of their entertainment came from the land. My Mother grew up with pet goats, cats, chickens, raccoons, and I have even seen a picture of her playing with a pet beaver.
Yes, a beaver. In the picture it sits in a highchair with a doll and my mother (roughly age 8) is feeding it. Her grandparents lived on the other side of the bull cage. Jay & Glades – Jay was a rancher complete with handlebar mustache, card shuffler and cigar. Granny Gladys took care of the cooking, sewing, cleaning, and well being. She is said to have been my mother’s best friend.
My interactions with her usually involved eating and gathering eggs, except one day. Long after my mother had left the ranch to have her own family, and Grandpa Jay had died, my father drove me 3.5 hours for an Odyssey of the Mind state tournament. We arrived 1 day early to give my dad plenty of fishing time. At 9:00am my father pulled onto the dirt road that led to the main house, but stopped first at Rocky’s, (my mother’s younger brother by some 20 years) trailer. They were going to go fishing for the day while I hung out with Granny. I hiked to the house, knock knock, when she answered the door she was convinced that I was her grand-daughter Jacque.
She became very upset and was talking very fast. She told me I had gone to Europe and to college and married that John-boy. She would not let me enter the house, and said I shouldn’t be there because I had left the Alexander family when I married John. Than at the age of 12 I had the opportunity to spend a spring morning and afternoon alone on a ??? ?acre ranch. 
