High Plains History
Tuesdays: during Morning Edition (6:45 & 8:45 AM CT) & All Things Considered (4:44 & 6:44 PM CT).
Take a few minutes to step back in time and explore the historical events, places, persons, social movements, and humorous incidents from the centuries of human settlement on the High Plains. High Plains History is written by Skip Mancini with the assistance of historians, historical societies, and museums from across the region. It's produced by Skip Mancini, Lynn Boitano, and High Plains Public Radio.
Have a historical event you'd like to hear about on this show? Contact Lynn Boitano at lboitano@hppr.org, or call (800) 678-7444 to get in touch!
Fall 2025
-
The first settlers on the Great Plains had little time for fun amidst the hardscrabble toil that made up their daily existence. Yet out of this era came some of our most precious, and now fading, traditions. Box suppers, church socials, spelling bees, and barn dances each held the common essentials of food, music and neighbors that made life on the plains not only bearable, but also downright enjoyable. And of those events, none was more anticipated than the dances. -
In the Sherman County Depot Museum in Stratford, Texas there hangs a plaque which honors a citizen who literally ‘went the second mile’ in his attempt to save the lives of a stranded family during the terrible snow storm of February 11 and 12, 1948. -
The great trail drives that brought Texas cattle north to Dodge City were generally considered a thing of the past by 1890. But a half century later an event in Dodge City brought world-wide attention to the cowtown once known as “Babylon of the Plains”. -
On this Veterans' Day holiday, we remember those who served, as well as their families, who also share in the sacrifice of military service, with this archived conversation from Storycorps' One Small Step project. -
Early day practitioners of the healing arts were in short supply and great demand on the Great High Plains -
What began as an act of kindness to provide a final resting place for a pioneer child has become the Llano Cemetery in Amarillo, Texas. -
Today we’ll take you out to the ball game. Though we won’t buy you some peanuts and crackerjack, we’ll have another type of treat. We’ll tell you the story of a tiny town in Haskell County, Kansas that had a semi-pro baseball team in the 1950s, and of the top-notch uniforms they wore. -
Historic Lake Scott State Park is considered a recreational gem of western Kansas. -
Virginia Kerns Frantz was born near Granada, Colorado on February 28, 1924. She remembers her childhood as a hand-to-mouth existence. -
A list of the movers and shakers who helped develop the city of Amarillo would have to include Guy Anton Carlander.
Archives (ALL episodes)
Latest Episodes
-
The first settlers on the Great Plains had little time for fun amidst the hardscrabble toil that made up their daily existence. Yet out of this era came some of our most precious, and now fading, traditions. Box suppers, church socials, spelling bees, and barn dances each held the common essentials of food, music and neighbors that made life on the plains not only bearable, but also downright enjoyable. And of those events, none was more anticipated than the dances. -
In the Sherman County Depot Museum in Stratford, Texas there hangs a plaque which honors a citizen who literally ‘went the second mile’ in his attempt to save the lives of a stranded family during the terrible snow storm of February 11 and 12, 1948. -
The great trail drives that brought Texas cattle north to Dodge City were generally considered a thing of the past by 1890. But a half century later an event in Dodge City brought world-wide attention to the cowtown once known as “Babylon of the Plains”. -
On this Veterans' Day holiday, we remember those who served, as well as their families, who also share in the sacrifice of military service, with this archived conversation from Storycorps' One Small Step project. -
Early day practitioners of the healing arts were in short supply and great demand on the Great High Plains -
What began as an act of kindness to provide a final resting place for a pioneer child has become the Llano Cemetery in Amarillo, Texas. -
Today we’ll take you out to the ball game. Though we won’t buy you some peanuts and crackerjack, we’ll have another type of treat. We’ll tell you the story of a tiny town in Haskell County, Kansas that had a semi-pro baseball team in the 1950s, and of the top-notch uniforms they wore. -
-
Virginia Kerns Frantz was born near Granada, Colorado on February 28, 1924. She remembers her childhood as a hand-to-mouth existence. -
A list of the movers and shakers who helped develop the city of Amarillo would have to include Guy Anton Carlander.
