For millions of years, the prairie changed as grasses grew, soil built up, rocks eroded, hillsides fell, rain gave way to drought and returned again, and fire blackened the land before renewed color and life followed. Native Americans camped and hunted here for thousands of years, living on waterfowl, game, and edible plants, and pottery shards in the earth affirm tribal memory. When homesteaders arrived, they drained wetlands, plowed the prairie, planted trees and familiar flowers, and replaced wild grasses with corn and wheat as prime grassland became prime farmland and part of a wild heritage slipped away. In less than a hundred years, the prairie was changed forever. Tallgrass prairies grew where rainfall was greatest along the eastern reaches of the Great Plains, and the grasses once reached 5, 6, even 7 feet high. National Wildlife Refuges protect pieces of the landscape and wild heritage, while understanding and appreciation of the tall grass prairie and other natural habitats are still growing, and stewardship of these unique lands remains important because they sustain both wildlife and people.