The climate was one of extremes, bitterly cold in the winter and blazing hot in the summer. It was relatively dry so trees were limited to the river banks, leaving the plains themselves for other colonizers. Several species of plants moved in to fill the ecological void, bushy stands of big bluestem grass nine feet high towered over the spear grass, cord grass and blue gramma, among them growing countless species of wild flowers. In the spring thaw, prairie crocus bloomed in the waning snow and, as the season progressed, countless bees worked the blossoms of wild rose and gallardia. Herds of bison would graze the fertile plains and the occasional wild fire would clean out the old growth, clearing the way for fresh growth.
Perennial grasses are the dominant plants and they support huge herds of grazing mammals.
Precipitation is low but productivity is high. Around the turn of the century the Red River Valley became a grassland of a different kind. They also found the rich black lake clays of the Valley to their liking and they were actively cultivated in huge lots by a new breed of farmer. Four square kilometres are all that remain of the original six thousand the settlers cleared. The Red River Valley ceased to be a wild ecosystem and became the Canadian bread basket.