A History of Kansas

by Anna E. Arnold

A Timbered Stream, Common in the Eastern and Central Parts of the State.

Many Drouths in the Early Years. The task of turning the bare plains into fertile fields was a heavy one, and the brave people who began it endured many hardships and met many discouragements and disappointments. Severe drouths were of frequent occurrence in the early days, and hot winds often swept across the country. The year 1869 was dry, with a partial failure of crops, and in 1874 came a long dry spell, followed in the late summer by a scourge of grasshoppers.

State Governors. 1861-1877.

THOMAS CARNEY, CHARLES ROBINSON, SAMUEL J. CRAWFORD,
JAMES M. HARVEY, NEHEMIAH GREEN, THOMAS A. OSBORN

The Grasshopper Invasion, 1874. At different times there had been invasions of grasshoppers in the country west of the Mississippi River, but none of them was so disastrous as the one of 1874. The grasshoppers, which were a kind of locust, came into the State from the northwest and moved toward the southeast. The air was filled with them. They covered the fields and trees and destroyed everything green as they went. They left ruin and desolation in their pathway. In the western counties, where the settlements were new and the people had no crops laid by to depend upon, the result was much like that of the terrible years of 1859 and 1860. By the time of the invasion there were more people, more provisions, and more money, and the State was able to do much to help the thousands of its citizens who were left destitute. It became necessary, however, to accept aid from the East again, and thousands of dollars and many carloads of supplies were distributed to the needy. Never since has Kansas had to ask for help. In more recent years our State has given generously to sufferers in other states and in other lands.

This visit of the grasshoppers was prolonged into the next year, for they had deposited their eggs in the ground and the next spring large numbers of young grasshoppers hatched. These destroyed the early crops, but for some unaccountable reason they soon rose into the air and flew back toward the northwest whence the swarms of the year before had come. There was still time for late planting, and the crops of 1875 were abundant.

Prosperous Years Follow the Grasshopper Invasion. The coming of the grasshoppers had temporarily discouraged immigration, but prosperous years followed and people were again attracted to Kansas. More of the prairie was turned into farms; new towns sprang up; the country came to be more thickly settled; railroads, schools, and churches were built; new counties were organized; and the old stories of “The Great American Desert” were gradually forgotten. Kansas was taking her place among the states.

Life of the Early Settlers. In order that this great result might be accomplished, that the Kansas of to-day might be, a generation of men and women had to conquer these vast prairies that were swept by blizzards, parched by drouths, scorched by hot winds, and scourged by grasshoppers. A few of the pioneers gave up and returned to their old homes, but most of them were of the sturdy type and remained, always believing that the day of better things was to come. Though they had little money and few of the comforts and conveniences of life, and though they were often filled with homesickness for the friends and scenes they had left behind, they stayed and worked and hoped. Volumes could be filled with stories of the hardships and sorrows of those brave people; stories of mothers who died from overwork or exposure or lack of care, of children who sickened from want of proper food, of homes swept away by prairie fires, and of homesteads mortgaged and lost.

The Pleasures of Pioneer Life. But this is only one side. Pioneer life was not all dark. Most of the people were strong and healthy, and the out-door life with plenty of exercise and simple food kept them so. Although there was privation and hard work there was also much pleasure. Ask any old settler whether the people had good times in those days, and you will hear tales of spelling schools and of singing schools, of literary societies at which debating was an important feature, and of the country dance with its old-time music on the fiddle. These affairs were attended by young and old from miles around; a trip of from ten to fifteen or even twenty miles was not unusual. Buggies were scarce, and most of the settlers went on horseback, or in farm wagons that did not always have spring seats.