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A Plague of Locusts · Nebraska History Podcast

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The following episode features a historic article from the
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Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
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language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
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valuable insight into the past, may contend expressions or
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viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
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Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
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perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
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I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles
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written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
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It was a plague of biblical proportions.
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Swarms of locusts assaulted crops, tools, and clothing.
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The events not only devastated farmers, but it also
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foreshadowed today's expectations about the
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government's role during natural disasters.
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Today, we dive into the 2008 Nebraska History Magazine
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article, Grasshopper. America's Response to the 1874
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Rocky Mountain Locust Invasion Written by Alexandra Wagner
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During a severe drought in the summer of 1874, a plague of
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Rocky Mountain locusts, popularly called grasshoppers,
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denuded the fields and crushed the spirits of thousands of
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settlers in the Great Plains and Midwest.
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Reports of the infestation and destruction circulated
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throughout the nation and produced a widespread relief
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effort despite conflicting accounts of the damage the
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invasion caused. The event prompted new
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discussions on the merits of charity and whether States and
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the federal government should provide disaster assistance to
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the American farmer. The grasshoppers traveled in a
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perfect swarm from July 20th to July 30th, 1874.
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An estimated 12.5 trillion insects flew over an area
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encompassing 198,000 square miles between Minnesota and the
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Rio Grande and feasted on the crops of unsuspecting farmers.
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In the hardest hit areas. The red legged creatures
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devoured entire fields of wheat, corn, potatoes, turnips, tobacco
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and fruit. The Hoppers also gnawed on
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curtains and clothing hung up to dry or still being worn by the
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farmers who frantically tried to bat the hungry swarms away from
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their crops. Attracted to the salt from
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perspiration, the oversized insects chewed on the wooden
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handles of Rakes, hoes and pitchforks and on the leather of
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saddles and harnesses. Locusts apparently liked onions.
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Farmers reported smelling A faint odor of the vegetable as
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the unwelcome visitors neared. Newspaper stories, along with
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the letters and Diaries of Western farmers reported that
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the locusts blackened the sky and their jaws crackled like a
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deadly fire as the 8 fields bear.
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According to Nebraska historian Addison E Sheldon, who witnessed
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the invasion, The insects filled the air in every direction, he
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said. Quote In a clear, hot July day,
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a haze came over the sun. The haze deepened into a Gray
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cloud. Suddenly the cloud resolved
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itself into billions of Gray grasshoppers sweeping down upon
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the earth. The vibration of their wings
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filled the ear with a roaring sound like a rushing storm.
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As far as the eye could reach in every direction, the air was
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filled with them. Where they alighted, they
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covered the ground like a heavy crawling carpet.
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End Quote. There were reports of hordes of
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grasshoppers so thick they halted a Union Pacific train at
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Stevenson Station near Kearney, NE.
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Crushed insect bodies left an oily residue on the tracks that
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caused the wheels to spin and prevented the locomotive from
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moving forward. Locusts not only stopped trains
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and destroyed vegetation, but they also rendered poultry, an
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important food source on Western farms, inedible during such
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raids. Chickens and turkeys feasted on
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the grasshoppers. The digested insects tainted the
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meat and the eggs with this reddish brown oil.
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The insect bodies also polluted water supplies.
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Cattle and horses refused to drink from streams stained brown
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from the grasshoppers, excrement and putrefied bodies.
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Farmers in affected regions constantly had to remove locust
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carcasses from their wells to avoid contaminating their
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drinking water. Eaten directly, however,
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grasshoppers were not poisonous to humans and, according to
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some, were quite tasty. Missouri's state entomologist
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Charles Riley claimed grasshoppers were as nutritious
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as oysters and could be used to make a variety of dishes,
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including soup or prepared John the Baptist style fried with
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honey. Few farmers, however, were
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inclined to appreciate the grasshopper for their putative
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food value. The settlers used a variety of
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unsuccessful methods to kill or drive off the locusts and save
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their crops. Some tried covering their fields
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with sheets. Others burned fires to smoke
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grasshoppers away from their crops and into surrounding
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ditches filled with water and oil.
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To drown them, farmers built a variety of grasshopper traps and
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crushers. Some states enacted legislation
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to encourage the construction of grasshopper extermination
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devices by offering tax breaks and subsidies.
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Other states supported the protection of native grasshopper
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eating birds such as quail, Prairie chickens, and snipe.
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These efforts and others failed to protect Western farms from
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the grasshoppers ravages. Entire crops were destroyed,
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some families starved, and thousands abandoned their
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homesteads for safer living. In the East, conservative
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estimates put the grasshopper damage to agriculture in 1874 at
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50 million, approximately 74% of the total value of US farm
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products. Western immigration suffered as
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a result of the invasion. In Dakota Territory, the number
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of homesteaders who left after the plague represented a
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significant portion of the total population that up.
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Farmers fleeing the devastation vented their frustration on
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wagon covers that proclaimed eaten out by grasshoppers going
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back east to live with the wife's folks and from Sodom,
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where it rains, grasshoppers, fire and destruction.
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For some victims, there was no escape.
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Mortgage debt, lack of transportation, or lack of an
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alternative destination tethered many settlers to their tattered
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farms. The Pawnee, Omaha, Otto, Panka,
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and other Indian tribes who had seceded most of their land to
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the federal government in exchange for small reservations
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also suffered without recourse. For centuries, the locust lived,
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bred, and destroyed vegetation in many countries on several
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continents. In the Bible, the locust was one
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of the 10 plagues of Egypt that brought famine and distress.
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The damage to agriculture and threat of famine caused by these
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locust invasions, especially in developing countries, had led
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the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United
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Nations to create and maintain a website, Locust Watch, to
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monitor the worldwide locust situation and keep affected
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countries and donors informed of expected developments.
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The bluish Gray Rocky Mountain locust that consumed $50 million
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worth of western crops and halted a Union Pacific train in
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1874 had red legs and ranged in length from 1/2 an inch to 4
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inches. Melanopolis spreadis, the locust
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binomial name, was a type of migratory grasshopper that lived
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and bred in the dry Rocky Mountain Plateau and bordered
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High Plains, which included parts of Colorado, Wyoming,
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Montana, and Canada until 19 O2, when the Rocky Mountain Locust
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disappeared from North America. Grasshopper raids occurred
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periodically, usually during warm summers and in the low
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rainfall. In 1874, increased reproduction
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and a shortage of food in their breeding grounds forced the
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locust to take flight in search of new resources.
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In addition to the unprecedented size, scope, and duration of the
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1874 grasshopper plague, drought and financial panic exasperated
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the destruction they caused. The July invasion coincided with
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one of the driest periods ever recorded in the Midwest and
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Great Plains. While the locusts thrived in dry
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weather, farmers fretted as they watched their crops wither in
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the sun or disappear at the jaws of the ravenous creatures.
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Losses from the plague and drought were harder to recoup.
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As the nation suffered from financial panic caused by the
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September 1873 collapse of the banking House of J Cook and
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Company. Prices for agricultural goods
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dropped and investments waned. Historian James C Olson
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explained that even before the grasshoppers arrived in the
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summer of 1874, many Nebraska farmers were having trouble
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finding markets for their wheat and their corn.
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In August 1874, after The Hoppers had filled their bellies
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and laid their eggs, many Western newspapers and
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government officials denied that the locusts had caused anything
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other than limited damage. Fearful that negative publicity
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about the region would deter settlement and suppress
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investment, editors downplayed the extent of suffering and
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destruction caused by the grasshoppers, they wrote.
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Quote. We hear many great exaggerated
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reports of the damages that grasshoppers have done in Polk,
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Hamilton, York and Butler counties, which are hardly
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credible and it is of no earthly benefit to give them currency.
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In fact, we believe it is damaging to the future prospects
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of the different localities for the citizens to start such
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stories. Although this plague may not
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come next year, still the impression will gain credence in
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the East that some of these sections of country are doomed
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to suffer from grasshopper visits continuously because
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people will not stop to think that this is just a chance
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occurrence. End Quote.
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Newspapers in the affected region resisted reporting
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negative details about the invasion, primarily as a result
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of their dual role as both local media and unofficial immigration
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agents promoting Western settlement.
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As historian Harold E Briggs explained, editors received
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quote thousands of letters from different parts of the country
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asking about land, climate and general conditions, End Quote
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and sent copies of their papers to eastern States and also
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printed boomer and immigration editions.
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Initially, governors and local officials also hesitated to
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admit the extent of the grasshopper damage for fear that
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negative publicity about the region would impede development
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and investment. To relieve suffering without
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attracting national attention, the governors of Kansas and
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Nebraska set up internal private relief agencies to collect and
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distribute food and supplies to those worst hit by the plague.
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On September 15th, 1874, Kansas Governor Thomas A Osborne called
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a special session of the legislature to establish a
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Central Relief Committee to chiefly secure aid within our
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own state and for the victims of the grasshopper plague.
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He said, Quote. The wishes of the people, so far
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as I've been informed, are entirely in favor of providing
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for the present emergency and for doing it at home.
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If you adhere to their wishes, the people of the whole nation
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will point to Kansas with pride as the state that never forgets
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the cry of the suffering and the destitute, and the state which
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steadily marches forward, made stronger by every adversity and
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more powerful by relying solely upon herself.
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End Quote. Nebraska Governor Robert W
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Furnace presided over a similar organization, the Nebraska
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Relief and Aid Association, which was formed on September
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18th, 1874 to, quote, collect money, provisions, clothing,
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fuel, seeds, and other necessary supplies from private sources.
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End Quote During the first stages of the relief effort in
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the fall of 1874, officials and promoters from Grasshopper to
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states insisted that local fundraisers, bond measures and
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donations would support plague victims without the need to
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appeal for assistance from other states or the federal
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government. They also opposed any effort to
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tap the state treasuries, which were already depleted due to the
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effects of drought and the economic slowdown caused by the
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Panic of 1873. In the inaugural address of the
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Kansas Central Relief Committee, members expressed confidence
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that people in wealthier positions of the state from
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firmly established communities quote are both able and willing
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to render assistance and quote to the grasshopper sufferers.
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The editor of the Omaha Bee stated with equal certainty that
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local and private efforts would provide relief for plague
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victims. Quote, We are confident that
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Nebraska will be able to take care of all the people who are
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really in want without legislative aid.
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End Quote. Although preferring locally
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based relief to state or federal assistance, some doubted the
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effectiveness and merits of private charity, as this note in
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the Omaha Daily Republican suggested.
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Quote. There is no fault to find with
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the committee working for the relief of the grasshopper
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sufferers, and donations have been liberal.
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But the history of all such cases shows that the virtuous
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and proud poor sufferer, while the improvident and vicious, are
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demanding an insolent some impunity people will get more
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than they ever had, and the worthy starve.
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As was the case in the Chicago Fire.
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Too much care cannot be observed in distribution.
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It is due alike to sufferers and contributors.
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End Quote. As the Grasshopper relief
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efforts increased toward the end of fall through the winter of
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1874 and 75 warnings of abuse and reports of maldistribution
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of supplies appeared more frequently in Western
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newspapers. The history of the Grasshopper
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relief effort illustrates the particular attitudes of local
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and federal officials, Western promoters, and Easterners toward
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charity during the 19th century. It is difficult to fully
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appreciate the responses to such natural disasters without
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understanding the ideological forces that directed them.
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Inherent skepticism of unrestricted charity and the
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belief that, with the exception of natural disaster victims, the
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poor were mainly to blame for their own situation influenced
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the Grasshopper relief effort of 1874, and 75 victims received
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public and private support because the nation viewed them
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as deserving poor, meaning that their condition had not resulted
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from their immorality, idleness, or individual failure.
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That many homesteaders were Union Civil War veterans also
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appeal to patriotic donors. Moreover, many Americans viewed
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the settlers as Trail Blazers who had willingly submitted
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themselves to the rigors of life on the frontier to advance the
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country's moral and material prosperity as the war Chester,
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Massachusetts, Daily Spy wrote. Quote.
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While we would remember the charity which begins at home, we
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ought not to forget that the duty presses upon us with
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paramount claim of doing our utmost to relieve from the
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horrors of starvation a community made-up largely of
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people of New England extraction, many of whom fought
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in our defense, who are advancing the material
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prosperity of our country by voluntarily submitting to the
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hardships of frontier life. End Quote The view expressed by
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the Daily Spy and other newspapers of Western farmers as
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deserving of aid served as the central justification of the
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187475 National Grasshopper Relief effort.
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Despite the willingness of individuals, banks and
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businesses from other states to send aid, not everyone welcomed
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the assistance. Land agents warned that too much
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relief would make farmers dependent on outside charity.
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The editor of the Vermilion Republican in Dakota Territory
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believe that pleas for help damage the reputation of western
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states. They wrote.
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Quote, there is not a county in Dakota but what is able and
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amply able to take care of its own poor.
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Had the Legislature giving county commissioners the power
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and authority to levy a direct tax on the respective counties
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to aid those in need of assistance within their limits,
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the whole work would have been done and well done and we should
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have been saved. The wretched humiliation of
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going before the country as beggars and poppers and the fair
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name and credit of Dakota from being dragged in the dust.
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End Quote. The boosters desire to
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facilitate economic development and maintain the perception of
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Westerners as rugged, self-sufficient, and independent
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collided with grasshopper victims desperate need for
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assistance. As a result, relief efforts
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stalled and many families suffered.
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The response to the Grasshopper plague OF187475 was similar to
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that following the 1871 Chicago Fire, which caused nearly $200
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million in damage. Both disasters, although local
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or regional in nature, drew national interest and the
17:28
sympathy of residents living in the East and Northeast. 45% of
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the $4 million of outside aid to the Chicago Fire victims came
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from Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.
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Grasshopper relief organizations also collected a large portion
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of their aid from Eastern States and cited the national response
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to the Chicago Fire to justify assisting the grasshopper
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victims. Similar to Western boosters who
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argue that too much aid might render farmers soft, many
17:59
prosperous Chicagoans had feared unfettered charity and the
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potential dark side of fire relief.
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In 1871, according to historian Karen Saw his lack.
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The Chicago Relief and Aid Society, an organization
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established by the mayor and composed primarily of wealthy
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citizens, was quote internally at war between a form of
18:19
humanitarianism and conservative impulses, between a commitment
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to aid the poor and a desire to preserve what they viewed as a
18:28
proper social order of their city.
18:30
End Quote. As a result of its schizophrenia
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of purpose, the Chicago Relief Society required a thorough
18:37
investigation of every person seeking assistance.
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The Nebraska Relief and Aid Association employed similar
18:44
tests for grasshopper victims to ensure that only worthy
18:47
residents received temporary aid to receive assistance.
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Nebraska farmers pledged an oath that they possessed nothing of
18:55
value that could be sold for food or clothing.
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In a letter published by the Worcester Daily Spy, a Nebraska
19:02
man described this process, it read.
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Quote, If a man wants help he must go to one of the officers
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of the Relief Society and make a sworn statement that he has got
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nothing that he can sell to get anything with.
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He must sell his last cow and team.
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He must not have any seed wheat or any money after which they
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will take his name for the committee to act upon.
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I have got a team yet, but I had to sell one horse the other day
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which I received $10.00 for worth 50 and quote.
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Similarly, in Minnesota, grasshopper ravaged families had
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to prove their destitution and sell their livestock to receive
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sucker, despite the means test dictating how public and private
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aid was distributed to grasshopper victims.
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In Nebraska, accusations of corruption and stories of
19:50
supplies going to undeserving homesteaders flooded the pages
19:54
of the local press. At times, those on the receiving
19:58
end of grasshopper relief also questioned the legitimacy of
20:02
charity and public assistance. Many settlers regretted the need
20:06
to appeal for outside help and believed charity should remain
20:10
local. Some farmers refused to accept
20:13
food, clothing, and other necessities except in the form
20:16
of a temporary loan. The original articles of
20:19
incorporation of the Nebraska Relief and Aid Association set
20:23
up a system of lending money to destitute farmers because, as
20:27
the Omaha Daily Republican explained, quote, people in the
20:30
suffering districts in many instances refused to accept
20:34
charity as a voluntary gift, alleging that they were not
20:37
beggars and that they would receive money only on the basis
20:41
of an ordinary business transaction.
20:44
End Quote. Although the aid association
20:47
eventually abandoned the loan idea, some Nebraska counties
20:51
sought ways to support individual farmers from the
20:54
local treasury. In Hamilton County,
20:56
commissioners discussed a special election to authorize
20:59
issuing 5100 a 150 and $200 loans at 10% interest to
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grasshopper sufferers who promised not to leave the county
21:08
prior to repaying the loan plus interest.
21:11
As winter approached and state and local relief agencies
21:14
struggle to supply food and clothing to the thousands of
21:18
grasshopper victims, the need to appeal for outside aid became
21:22
more apparent to Western officials.
21:24
The threat of starvation was becoming widespread.
21:28
Army officers stationed in the Plains region were among the
21:31
first to recognize the need. Moved by first hand encounters
21:35
with plague victims, Army officials stationed in the West
21:39
to protect the new settlements from Indians assumed leadership
21:42
of local relief associations and lobbied federal authorities for
21:46
approval to distribute blanks, boots and coats from the Army
21:49
stockpiles. In late October 1874, General
21:54
EOC Ord, commander of the Department of the Plat and
21:58
acting head of the Nebraska Relief and Aid Association,
22:01
asked his superiors in Washington, DC for permission to
22:04
distribute food and clothing to the quote famine stricken
22:08
families of southern and western Nebraska.
22:10
End Quote. Where the Nebraska Relief and
22:12
Aid Association lacked facilities, the War Department
22:16
initially denied Ord's request, but acquiesced after President
22:20
Ulysses S Grant, on November 13th, 1874, issued an executive
22:26
order authorizing distribution of surplus and condemned Army
22:30
clothing to grasshopper sufferers in Kansas and
22:33
Nebraska. Despite the limitation of
22:36
Grant's order to distribute only clothing, Ord and other Army
22:40
officers in grasshopper regions also supplied food and other
22:45
necessities to destitute farmers throughout most of the winter.
22:49
Major N AM Dudley, who had been sent on an inspection tour of
22:53
southwestern Nebraska, wrote General Ord in November of 1874
22:58
and urged federal assistance in preventing starvation.
23:01
He wrote, Quote, the destitution existing here is much greater
23:05
than I expected. Relief must be given to these
23:08
people or hundreds will starve before the winter is half over.
23:12
The government must assist these people.
23:15
The present aid they are receiving is only a drop in the
23:18
bucket toward relieving future wants.
23:20
End Quote. Kansas officials similarly began
23:24
to realize that they had underestimated the destruction
23:27
and that local relief agencies could not support all of the
23:31
victims through the winter. On December 1st, 1874, Kansas
23:35
Agricultural Secretary Alfred Gray reported to Governor
23:39
Osborne that as much as 70% of the population was impoverished
23:43
in the worst hit counties, saying, quote, destitution is
23:47
greater than has been supposed. Our people are not beggars, and
23:51
there have been many cases of suffering discovered where
23:55
delicacy has hidden it from the public view as long as possible.
23:59
End Quote. The time had come to advertise
24:02
the need for assistance, even if doing so threatened to tarnish
24:06
the reputation of western states or reduce the flow of eastern
24:10
investment. As winter edged closer, many
24:13
Western newspapers that had downplayed the extent of the
24:16
suffering now urged officials to appeal for outside assistance
24:21
and provided greater details on the plight of the grasshopper
24:25
victims. In late October 1874, the Omaha
24:28
Daily Republican printed a letter from George W Frost, who
24:32
described the destitute condition of plague victims and
24:35
pressed Nebraskans to come to their relief writing Quote.
24:40
The number of people to be helped are from the best
24:43
authority, believed to be at least 10,000.
24:47
They must be helped to keep them from actual starvation until
24:50
next year's harvest, a period of nine months.
24:53
We should appeal to the general public.
24:56
We must put aside all delicacy and pride and send out
24:59
throughout all of the land the Macedonian cry for their
25:03
starving. We may as well talk this matter
25:05
right out and say that with all that has been done and all that
25:09
we now have the power to do, that three weeks will not elapse
25:13
without actual freezing and starving of men, women and
25:16
children. Many of these families, if not
25:19
helped within two weeks, will die.
25:22
I repeat it. There is not a moment to be
25:24
lost. End Quote.
25:27
The decision to print Frost's letter indicated that Western
25:30
newspapers feared widespread starvation and the damage to the
25:34
reputation of Western states were such an event to occur even
25:38
more than the dreaded negative publicity.
25:42
The newspaper followed up with an excerpt from Major Dudley's
25:45
report of what he had seen in the Nebraskan Republican Valley,
25:49
an excerpt that reinforced the idea that the grasshopper
25:52
victims were indeed worthy of aid.
25:54
He wrote. Quote, Thrift, enterprise,
25:57
industry and economy was exhibited in and around nearly
26:01
every poor cabin I visited while traveling through the valley.
26:04
I often said to myself, how I wish some of our rich friends in
26:08
the East who are living so comfortable surrounded by so
26:12
many extravagant luxuries, could only spend one day in the
26:16
Republican Valley. I know the picture would touch
26:19
their hearts and loosen their purse strings and thereby assure
26:23
these brave people safety through the calamity which they
26:28
will in no way were responsible for.
26:30
End Quote Eastern newspapers, troubled by conflicting reports
26:34
of the damage and suffering caused by the plague, asked
26:37
residents of Grasshoppard regions for first hand accounts.
26:40
After receiving a letter from CG of Fort Hays, KS, claiming that
26:45
recent reports had exaggerated the extent of suffering, The
26:49
Worcester Daily Spy printed a rebuttal by Thomas H Vale, a
26:53
Bishop of Kansas, who claimed the suffering had not been
26:57
overstated. Quote There is severe suffering
27:01
and very extensive want not only in the newly settled counties
27:05
where it is really a question between starvation and
27:08
charitable relief, but also in the older counties with very few
27:12
exceptions. End Quote.
27:14
Vails letter went on to explain that the strong interest in the
27:18
value of our real estate held by wealthy easterners and
27:21
corporations quote which naturally desire to prevent
27:24
influences which may retard immigration, and quote accounted
27:28
for the incomplete reporting of the conditions of plague victims
27:32
in soliciting help. Grasshopper counties also sent
27:35
representatives to eastern states to lecture on the plague,
27:38
collect donations, and print appeals for aid in the local
27:42
newspapers. The representatives described
27:45
sufferers as being worthy of aid and sometimes compare them with
27:48
the victims of the Chicago Fire. Delegates expressed confidence
27:52
that they could obtain donations by educating Easterners about
27:56
the destitution hard working families were suffering as a
27:59
result of the plague. Similarly, in a statement to the
28:03
charitable people of the eastern states, the Clay County Central
28:07
Relief Committee of Kansas described how the hopes of its
28:10
industrious residents had been crushed by the grasshoppers.
28:14
They wrote Quote. The four part for the past year
28:18
was one of great prospect. Everything looked as though our
28:21
county was on the High Road to fortune, and under these
28:24
delusive prospects our farmers entered into contracts for farm
28:28
machinery, repairing their houses and an extra credit at
28:32
stores. But alas, the plague reached us
28:35
and everything was swept away in 24 hours.
28:39
The labor of the year was nothing.
28:42
End Quote. Grasshoppers, not idleness, the
28:45
commissioners explained, were to blame for the misfortunes of
28:48
Clay County farmers. The Jewel County Relief
28:51
Committee of Kansas also sought to paint grasshopper victims as
28:55
deserving poor. In an appeal to the American
28:58
people, the committee issued the following statement, accompanied
29:02
by a poem from the committee's chair.
29:04
A Hardy quote. Shall we appeal to you in vain
29:09
in this, our day of trial? We believe not.
29:12
We shall not. You have always responded to the
29:15
call of humanity when the ravages of war have filled our
29:18
country with widows and orphans. In your great heart they had a
29:22
place. When Chicago smoldered in ruins,
29:25
the city that sat in splendor along the Atlantic sea replying
29:29
called to the dwellers where the proud magnolias be from slumber.
29:34
The nation started at the far resounding call, Food for the
29:38
hungry thousands they shouted, and clothes for them all.
29:42
Let the press spread o'er the nation our wail and hungry cry,
29:46
For we look unto you. By thousands shall we now hunger
29:50
and die We famish is the call that hungry throng must give.
29:55
Till 1,000,000 of hearts respond.
29:56
Oh, look unto us and live. End Quote.
30:00
Given the prevailing view that only the worthy poor deserved
30:03
short term assistance, Jewel County and other Grasshopper
30:06
districts stressed the similarities between the victims
30:09
of the Grasshoppers and those of the Chicago Fire.
30:12
Individuals, banks, corporations, and cities from
30:15
several eastern states sent aid Throughout the winter of 1874
30:20
and 75. The Nebraska Relief and Aid
30:22
Association recorded both monetary and material support
30:26
from several eastern States and at least two foreign countries.
30:30
In January 1875, Governor Furnace reported a total of
30:34
$68,080.46 in cash and in kind donations to Grasshopper Relief.
30:41
A partial list included $1000 from the Indiana Grange, 100
30:46
tons of coal from Cleveland's leading coal company, $500 from
30:50
H Garrison Second National Bank of Cleveland, $1200 from the
30:55
people of Philadelphia, $50 from IN field of Manchester, England,
30:59
and $25 from EG Washburn, Paris. 6 year old Robbie Caulifant of
31:05
Orange, NJ donated quote half of my money to help the poor people
31:10
in Nebraska. End Quote Railroads contributed
31:14
to the relief effort by transporting donations free of
31:17
charge. Between November 19th, 1874 and
31:20
January 25th of 1875, the Kansas Central Relief Committee
31:24
received 124 carloads of donations, including 12,160
31:29
boxes, barrels, and other packages of supplies.
31:33
In addition to lending material support, some Easterners
31:37
participated directly in the relief effort.
31:40
After witnessing the destruction in Nebraska during a recent
31:43
visit, Robert Hollingworth of Somerville, MA enlisted as an
31:48
agent of Relief Society of Knuckles County.
31:50
Quote For the sole purpose of obtaining relief from the
31:53
benevolent people of the Eastern States.
31:55
End Quote. Newton, MA Mayor Honorable JFC
32:00
Hyde joined Hollingsworth as the treasurer of the society.
32:04
At the height of the national response, the federal government
32:07
acted to relieve suffering in the grasshopper states.
32:10
On December 28th, 1874, Congress passed a homestead extension to
32:15
allow farmers who could prove that they suffered A crop loss a
32:19
leave of absence from their claims until July 1st of 1875.
32:23
While homesteaders were absent, ideally seeking relief outside
32:27
the state, no contest could be made upon their claims.
32:31
On January 25th, 1875, Congress passed legislation directing the
32:36
Secretary of Agriculture to distribute $30,000 worth of
32:40
seeds to the grasshoppered regions.
32:42
On February 10th of 1875, legislation introduced by
32:46
Representative Steven A Cobb of Kansas and Senator Phineas W
32:50
Hitchcock of Nebraska was passed by Congress and approved by the
32:54
President to appropriate $150,000 through the proper
32:59
offices of the Army to distribute surplus army blankets
33:03
and clothing to all destitute and helpless persons living on
33:06
the western frontier. Together, these acts signified
33:10
the federal government's new commitment to the aid and
33:13
support of western farmers. At first, grasshopper states
33:17
refused or were unable to open their own treasuries to provide
33:20
assistance to the needy, opting instead to solicit and collect
33:24
private donations. By the winter of 1874 and 75,
33:28
however, many state and local officials began calling for
33:31
public assistance in addition to private aid.
33:35
Since Nebraska's treasury was nearly empty, Governor Robert W
33:38
Furnace in January of 1875 recommended and the state
33:43
legislature authorized issuing $50,000 in state bonds to
33:47
purchase seed for grasshopper victims.
33:50
According to historian Sam S Kepfield quote, to use funds
33:54
from the public treasury for disaster relief was almost
33:57
unheard of. Public funds were for public
34:00
uses only, and allowing farmers to carry on at their normal
34:04
laborers did not qualify as public use.
34:06
End Quote. The grasshopper relief effort
34:09
decreased in the spring of 1875 after farmers had planted new
34:13
crops with donated seed. The economic and psychological
34:17
effects of the invasion, however, lingered for several
34:20
years. According to Stephen R Kinsella,
34:23
the grasshopper invasions of the 1870s quote started a
34:27
relationship between agricultural producers and the
34:30
government that continues to this day and quote.
34:33
Similarly, historian and entomologist Jeffrey Lockwood
34:36
wrote quote. The federal programs associated
34:39
with the Rocky Mountain locust and its victims in the 1870s set
34:43
the stage for the next 125 years of agricultural practices in the
34:48
United States and quote. Although another invasion had
34:51
not occurred along the magnitude of 1874, locusts visited the
34:56
Great Plains during the next two years in large enough numbers,
34:59
an estimated 3.5 trillion in June of 1875, to cause fear that
35:05
a repeat of the 1874 disaster was imminent.
35:09
Each spring since the 1874 invasion, farmers had turned up
35:13
millions of grasshopper eggs while plowing their fields.
35:17
Each tiny ovum served as an ominous reminder of the
35:20
devastation and hardship that the locust caused.
35:23
In 1876, Governor John S Pillsbury of Minnesota organized
35:28
and chaired a conference in Omaha on October 25th and 26th
35:32
for the governors and scientists from grasshopper states.
35:36
It's main goal was to discuss ways to combat the grasshoppers
35:40
and to enlist the help of the federal government to prepare
35:42
for and prevent future invasions.
35:45
In his opening remarks, Pillsbury argued that
35:48
cooperation between grasshopper States and support from federal
35:52
government was essential, stating quote.
35:55
Considering the sudden and fitful movements of the locusts,
35:58
the limitless field of their operations, and the mysterious
36:02
and predatory nature of their inroads, they constitute A
36:06
formidable enemy with which no single state or community can
36:10
expect to cope successfully. And it is my profound conviction
36:14
that an evil witch, by threatening our agriculture,
36:17
threatens the source of productive industry, deserves
36:20
the prompt and thorough consideration of the general
36:24
Government. End Quote.
36:26
The conference achieved 3 important outcomes.
36:29
The Governor's unanimously concluded that the locust
36:32
problem was too sweeping in its scale and complexity for any
36:35
state to solve, and federal assistance was desperately
36:38
needed. The Governor's provided funds to
36:40
publish 10,000 copies of a pamphlet outlining methods for
36:44
controlling the locusts, and they called on the federal
36:47
government to form and fund an entomological Commission of
36:51
skilled scientists to address the lack of knowledge about the
36:54
locust. In concluding that the Rocky
36:57
Mountain locust presented a problem too great for anyone
37:00
state to handle, the Governor's recognized and justified federal
37:03
assistance to farmers. Quote If it be within the
37:07
legitimate Providence of the federal government to improve
37:09
our rivers and harbors in order to facilitate the movement of
37:13
crops, surely the rescue of those crops from destruction is
37:16
no less an object of its rightful care.
37:18
End Quote. In 1874, the protection and
37:21
support of Western farmers and their crops represented an
37:24
internal issue. By 1876, Grasshopper governors
37:28
accepted and justified a federal government role.
37:32
Despite this new found acceptance of federal
37:34
assistance, the Grasshopper states did not depend wholly on
37:38
the government for support in the event of another invasion.
37:41
In 1877, for example, the Nebraska Legislature passed the
37:45
Grasshopper Act, which labeled the insect as a Public Enemy and
37:50
required all able bodied citizens to assemble and fight
37:54
the past, calling for a sort of grasshopper army.
37:58
The law mandated that all male residents between the ages of 16
38:02
and 60 performed 2 days labor eradicating grasshoppers after
38:07
they had hatched. Non compliance brought a $10
38:10
fine. Similarly, when a warm spring in
38:13
1877 caused thousands of grasshopper eggs to hatch
38:16
prematurely in Dakota Territory, Governor John L Pennington
38:20
proclaimed May 4th a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer
38:24
and ordered fields with eggs to be burned immediately.
38:28
Banks, businesses, and schools closed to allow Dakota citizens
38:32
to observe the proclamation and help ward off a possible
38:36
invasion. The greatest defense against
38:39
grasshopper raids did not include conscripted citizen
38:43
armies, days of fasting, or federal intervention.
38:47
Settlement moving W proved most effective at preventing future
38:50
invasions, according to Lockwood.
38:52
Residential, commercial, and agricultural development
38:56
ultimately caused the extinction of the Rocky Mountain locust in
38:59
the early 1900s. As settlers pushed W into the
39:03
Rocky Mountain Plateau, farmers cultivated and irrigated the
39:06
locusts. Breeding grounds.
39:08
Quote Western agriculture and the Rocky Mountain locust
39:11
collided in time and space through one of the most
39:15
spectacular coincidences in agricultural history.
39:19
Early agriculture basically destroyed the permanent breeding
39:22
grounds of the locusts. End Quote The West could not
39:26
support both locusts and farmer, and the farmer prevailed.
39:30
The grasshopper relief effort of 1874 and 75 reflected 19th
39:35
century notions of charity and strengthened government
39:38
involvement in promoting the settlement of the West by aiding
39:42
agricultural producers. By the time the Army stopped
39:45
distributing federally issued supplies on September 1st of
39:48
1875, more than 1,000,000 food rations have been provided to
39:53
nearly 30,000 adults and children in the Department of
39:56
the Plat. Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri and
39:59
Kansas also received generous amounts of federal aid.
40:03
The initial reactions by Western newspaper editors and officials
40:07
to deny the need for outside assistance reflected the
40:10
widespread belief that welfare should be local and limited.
40:14
Later, when soliciting donations from other states, Western
40:18
delegates tried to maintain the public perception of Western
40:21
farmers as brave, patriotic, and resilient.
40:25
They also described grasshopper victims as worthy of aid and
40:29
compared them to the victims of the Chicago Fire, which the
40:32
nation had liberally supported. Skepticism of unfettered
40:36
charity, a willingness to provide assistance to deserving
40:39
poor, and the need to exhaust local resources before appealing
40:43
for outside assistance guided the response to the worst locust
40:47
invasion in the nation's history.
40:49
In the end, however, the federal government had to step in an
40:53
early example of what is now a typical response to large scale
40:57
natural disasters. Thank you for listening to the
41:01
Nebraska History Podcast. To learn more about Nebraska
41:04
History Magazine, to listen to more podcasts, or to support our
41:07
podcast by becoming a member of the Nebraska State Historical
41:10
Society, go to history.nebraska.gov/podcast.
41:14
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and get notified
41:17
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41:20
Until next time, I'm Chris Goforth.