THE GRASSHOPPER INVASION 345 was going on would be from noticing along one side of his field a narrow strip where the grain was missing. At first perhaps he would attribute it to a balk in sowing, but each day it grew wider and a closer examination would reveal the presence of myriads of young grasshoppers. As spring advanced it became evident that comparatively few eggs had been deposited in the territory that had suffered the worst in 1873. They had been laid further east. In Kossuth, Emmet, Dickinson and Palo Alto Counties in Iowa, and in Martin and Jackson Counties, Minnesota, the young ones were hatched out in far greater numbers than elsewhere. The young middle of The pros "The early part of the season was extremely dry; no rain fell until the middle of June. Grain did not grow, but the grasshoppers did, and before the drouth ended the crops in the counties named were eaten and parched beyond all hope of recovery. About the middle of June, however, a considerable rain fell and, outside of the before mentioned counties, the prospects were generally favorable for good crops. grasshoppers commenced to get wings about the June and in a few days they began to rise and fly. pect seemed good for a speedy riddance of the pests, but Providence had ordained otherwise. The perverse insects were waiting for an easterly wind and the perverse wind blew from the southwest for nearly three weeks, a phenomenon of rare occurrence in this region, as it very seldom blows from one quarter more than three days at a time. During this time the grasshoppers were almost constantly on the move. Straggling swarms found their way to central Iowa doing, however, but little damage. "About the tenth or twelfth of July the wind changed to the east and as by common consent the countless multitude took their departure westward. Up to this time the crops had been damaged but slightly in the western counties but during the two or three days of their flight the grain fields in these counties were injured to quite an extent. After the date above mentioned, with one or two unimportant exceptions, no grasshoppers were seen. "There is no evidence that this region was visited in 1874 by foreign swarms, though it has been stated that such was the fact. On the contrary there is every reason for believing they were all hatched here. According to the most reliable information the grasshoppers hatched here produced no eggs and the inference is that they were incapable of so doing. They were much smaller than their predecessors and besides they were covered with parasites in the shape of little red bugs which made sad havoc in their ranks. What became of them after leaving here seems a mystery, but probably their enfeebled constitutions succumbed to the attacks of the parasites and the depleting effects of general debility." This grasshopper raid was very discouraging to the country and interfered materially with its progress. It will be remembered that during the four years previous to 1874, a heavy tide of emigration had been constantly pouring in. During that time all of the vacant government land in the county had been taken by settlers mostly under the homestead act. This land was principally prairie, the timber land having been previously taken. Like the pioneers of all new countries these later comers were mostly poor men and the best of them had barely enough to tide them over from the time of taking their homesteads to such time as they would be able to open up their claims and raise a crop. They had just commenced to open their farms and were dependent upon their crops for subsistence. What would have been in older localities a serious misfortune was to them absolute ruin. The result was great destitution and the necessity in the more recently settled neighborhoods of asking for outside assistance. The situation, however, was not so desperate in this county as it was in the counties to the west of here and most of the outside aid sent to this portion of the state went to O'Brien, Osceola, Sioux and Lyon Counties. One of the serious aspects of the case was the seed grain question. The legislature being in session an appeal was made to them for state assistance in the matter of securing the neces sary seed. In answer to this appeal a bill was passed and became a law appropriating fifty thousand dollars to aid in that matter. STATE APPROPRIATION FOR SEED GRAIN 347 Under the provisions of the bill a commission was appointed whose duty it was to make a thorough investigation of all of the conditions and circumstances of the case and then take such action as the exigencies demanded. The names of the commissioners so appointed were Hon. Tasker of Jones County, Dr. Levi Fuller of Fayette and Hon. O. B. Brown of Van Buren. After a thorough investigation of the matter, they decided to purchase and distribute seed directly to the settlers. Local committees were appointed to assist the commission in their work. The distribution for Dickinson and Osceola Counties was made at Sibley. They adopted a list of questions that each applicant was required to answer in writing and from these answers the commissioners decided whether the applicant was entitled to relief or not, and if so his portion was dealt out to him. Each applicant received about fifteen bushels of seed wheat, besides some seed corn and garden seeds. A considerable quantity of garden seeds was also distributed by the general government through the Interior Department. About one hundred applications for seed grain were answered from this county. A good many who would have been entitled to aid under the provisions of the law were too proud to make the application. They had passed through hard times before and the same selfdenial would take them through again. There was about fifteen thousand dollars of the appropriation left after the distribution was completed and this was covered back into the state treasury. But the well meant efforts of the state to relieve the situation were unavailing. As has been before stated the growing crops were destroyed by the myriads of young grasshoppers as fast as they made their appearance above the surface. After the departure of the grasshoppers in 1874 our people experienced a sense of relief and hoped that they would not again be visited by the plague for years, if ever. The loss of the greater portion of their crops for two years in succession imposed a burden upon them heavy to be borne, but they had passed the ordeal and now with fortune favoring them in the future they hoped to recover a portion of what they had lost. Many had been obliged to mortgage their farms to keep their families from suffering while all were compelled to practice a degree of economy and self-denial to which they had formerly been strangers. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE SECOND INVASION-THE DESTRUCTION GREATER THAN EVER WHOLE NEIGHBORHOODS TER'S ARTICLE IN "THE ANNALS"-GRASSHOPPERS BLOCK RAILROAD TRAINS-GENERAL N. B. BAKER HE YEAR 1875 was marked by no event worthy of particular mention. The farms that year proved remarkably productive, and excepting a portion of the crops that were badly damaged by the long-continued rains in the months of August and September, the season would have proved a remarkably prosperous one. The people were beginning to look once more with hope to the future. But they were again doomed to disappointment. The grasshopper scourge through which they had just passed such a dreadful experience, and which they fondly hoped had left them forever, again made its appearance in the summer of 1876 in greater numbers than ever, this time coming from the northwest instead of the south west. The details of this invasion are so similar to the one of three years before that they need not be repeated. The grasshoppers came in greater numbers than ever and their devastations were more general. This time no effort was made to secure outside relief. Many of the settlers who had been obliged to mortgage their homes to tide them over the first period of destitution now gave up the struggle and disposed of their places for what they could get, which was not much. Many realized nothing in |