Minnesota

Grasshoppers swarmed in 1870s, leaving Minnesota farmers destitute

Published

3 years ago

May 21, 2022

Grasshoppers swarmed in 1870s, leaving Minnesota farmers destitute

Hardship was nothing new to Eddie Gillam, who was simply turning 5 when his household moved from Wisconsin to Cottonwood Lake close to Windom in southern Minnesota.

“As soon as our oxcart was swept away whereas we have been crossing a stream,” he recalled many years later. “And one other time my father strapped me round his neck and shoulders and swam a stream.”

4 years later, 9-year-old Eddie headed to high school in Windom together with his youthful brother, Bertie, on June 12, 1873 — “a shiny, sunshiny day,” he mentioned.

“At midday folks have been all wanting up on the solar because it was being clouded.” They did not know what was blotting out the daylight.

By 2 p.m., that they had their reply.

“The nice clouds of grasshoppers started to return down,” Gillam mentioned.

“They got here in a swarm that darkened the sky and settled on the homes and floor so thick it seemed like a plastering of cement.”

Minnesota’s grasshopper plague would devastate the state for the following 4 years, gobbling up a half-million acres of wheat, corn, oats and barley. The variety of counties affected tripled from 13 in 1873 to 40 in 1876. All instructed, greater than 5.8 million bushels of wheat have been misplaced, which might fetch $68 million in at the moment’s {dollars}.

Eddie and Bertie Gillam ran dwelling from faculty when grasshoppers descended.

“We needed to maintain our palms over our faces to maintain the grasshoppers from hitting us within the eyes,” he mentioned.

Ladies yanked drying laundry from clotheslines earlier than the grasshoppers snarfed it down.

“They have been very hungry,” Gillam mentioned, “and you could possibly hear a peculiar sound as they have been consuming.”

Technically, the grasshoppers have been Rocky Mountain locusts, and this wasn’t their first foray into the realm. Pre-statehood swarms have been reported in 1819, 1856 and 1857.

“Because the settlers affected then have been comparatively few in quantity, the early plagues didn’t entice huge consideration,” based on a 1958 article in Minnesota Historical past journal, detailing legislative makes an attempt to curb the hoppers (https://tinyurl.com/1958Hopper).

Within the 1870s, state leaders tried every little thing from paying bounties to dragging molasses-covered sheet steel by way of fields to drafting able-bodied males to stem the scourge. None of it did a lot good.

The 1877 Legislature earmarked $100,000 to foot the bounty invoice — providing 50 cents for a gallon of grasshopper eggs or a greenback a bushel for hoppers caught earlier than Could 25. Costs dropped as summer season rolled on.

Townships throughout the state named grasshopper “measurers” to trace the bounties. In the meantime, so-called hopper-dozers have been employed, dragging tar- and molasses-coated steel throughout fields in hopes of destroying grasshopper eggs. Ditches have been dug and stuffed with burning coal in failed makes an attempt to smoke out the pests.

In 1877, laws referred to as for a draft of all Minnesota males aged 21-60 in affected areas, requiring them to volunteer as grasshopper catchers for in the future every week in June. Grasshopper draft dodgers might face misdemeanor prices.

However that very same summer season 145 years in the past, “the grasshoppers left simply as shortly as that they had arrived,” based on MNopedia.com.

An April snowstorm and farmers’ anti-hopper vigilance have been credited for wrecking grasshopper eggs. By August, the surviving locusts flew off. Ed Gillam, amongst others, believed divine intervention may need performed a task within the nineteenth century sequel to a Biblical plague.

Gov. John Pillsbury, the third governor to grapple with the hopper disaster, referred to as for a statewide day of prayer on April 26, 1877. Companies have been closed and church buildings crammed as Pillsbury referred to as on “residents of the state … forgetting all variations of non secular perception, to ask for religious assist, and safety in opposition to this nice enemy which was ravaging the nation and inflicting a lot struggling,” Gillam recalled. “God heard the fervent attraction.”

Swarms of grasshoppers returned a decade later to Otter Tail County and through the Nice Melancholy of the Nineteen Thirties, however the 1870s plague outlined Eddie Gillam’s childhood. Hoppers highlighted his public lectures nicely into his 80s, when he was mentioned to be Cottonwood County’s oldest resident.

In a single 1949 handle, Gillam referred to as Pillsbury a “grand, good governor” — remembering the time the New Hampshire-born flour-milling pioneer got here to Windom on a chilly January day in 1876 simply after taking workplace.

For a first-hand glimpse of the struggling, Pillsbury walked out alone into the nation to go to with farmers. Gillam mentioned the governor met a person driving an ox staff and sled with out an overcoat. He instructed the governor he could not afford a jacket. Pillsbury gave him his personal overcoat, walked to city with out one and shortly despatched provisions for the county’s needy.

Gillam went on to marry Mary Adkins in 1891. They’d a daughter named Edna, and Ed offered furnishings, sang in his church choir, performed guitar and mandolin and ran his personal music retailer. He died at 91 in 1956 and is buried in Windom’s Lakeview Cemetery in Cottonwood County.

To be taught extra about Minnesota’s 1870s grasshopper plague, take a look at Annette Atkins’ 2003 ebook, “Harvest of Grief: Grasshopper Plagues and Public Help in Minnesota, 1873-78” (https://store.mnhs.org/merchandise/harvest-grief).

Grasshoppers is perhaps small bugs, Walter Trenerry wrote in that 1958 Minnesota Historical past article, however “his working combat with Minnesota farmers and legislators occupied a big period of time and used huge sums of the state’s revenues,” and he looms massive in “his skill to create fear and trigger destitution.”

Curt Brown’s tales about Minnesota’s historical past seem every Sunday. Readers can ship him concepts and recommendations at mnhistory@startribune.com. His newest ebook seems to be at 1918 Minnesota, when flu, struggle and fires converged: strib.mn/MN1918.

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Minnesota

NCAA Division II and III football playoffs: Minnesota State Mankato stuns Augustana in final minutes

Published

5 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

NCAA Division II and III football playoffs: Minnesota State Mankato stuns Augustana in final minutes

Matthew Jaeger kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired as Minnesota State Mankato scored 10 points in the final three minutes to rally for a 20-19 victory over Augustana on Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Mavericks had lost to NSIC rival Augustana three times in the past two seasons. It looked glum again Saturday as the Vikings took a 19-10 lead with 3 minutes, 11 seconds remaining on Jake Pecina’s fourth field goal of the game.

Minnesota State started its next possession at its 12-yard line but drove 88 yards in seven plays, capped by Grant Guyett’s 33-yard TD catch from Hayden Ekern and Jaeger’s PAT to pull within 19-17 with 1:35 to play.

The Mavericks’ Lorenzo Jones then recovered an onside kick near midfield. On third-and-4 from the Vikings 39-yard line, Ekern ran 16 yards for a first down at the Vikings 23 with 21 seconds to go. The Mavericks reached the 17-yard line before Jaeger’s final kick.

Ekern passed for 175 yards and two TDs for the Mavericks, who lost to Augustana 34-16 on Oct. 26 in Mankato.

Richard Agyekum and Joey Goettl each had interceptions which led to 10 points for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks (9-3) will play at Colorado State Pueblo, which had a first-round bye, next week.

Bemidji State 24, Angelo State 14: Connor Carver’s 59-yard TD run with just over two minutes remaining and Isaiah John’s interception with 51 seconds remaining helped the Beavers earn a first-round victory in San Angelo, Texas.

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Minnesota

Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild

Published

13 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild

Last Season on Wild vs. Flames

Minnesota went 2-1-0 against Calgary.

Minnesota won the series-opening contest, 5-2, at Scotiabank Saddledome (12/5), earned a 3-2 shootout victory at Xcel Energy Center in the second matchup (12/14) and fell to the Flames, 3-1, in the series finale in St. Paul (1/2).

LW Matt Boldy led the Wild with four points (3-1=4). C Marco Rossi (1-2=3) had three points and LW Marcus Johansson (0-2=2) had two points. G Filip Gustavsson went 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .940 SV% in two starts. G Marc-Andre Fleury was 0-1-0, stopping 30-of-32 shots in the third meeting.

D MacKenzie Weeger led Calgary with four points (0-4=4). LW Yegor Sharangovich had three points (1-2=3). G Dan Vladar went 0-1-1 with a 3.47 GAA and a .896 SV% in two starts. G Jacob Markstrom won his lone start, stopping 28-of-29 shots faced. G Dustin Wolf entered in the second period of the first contest and stopped 11-of-13 shots faced for Calgary.

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Minnesota

Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game

Published

21 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

Penn State Vs. Minnesota: Keys to the Game

Penn State is entering its penultimate game of the 2024 regular season, a final away matchup at Minnesota to face P.J. Fleck’s Golden Gophers. Minnesota (6-4) stands in the way of a potential 11-1 finish for the Nittany Lions. And while Fleck’s squad is unranked and a 12-point underdog, according to DraftKings, it has enough talent to cause fits for Penn State.

The Nittany Lions (9-1) have excelled this season when favored to win, avoiding letdowns against unranked opponents. A 33-30 overtime victory over USC is the closest call that James Franklin’s group has had. To maintain that success, Penn State will need some strong execution against a rested and well-prepared Minnesota squad.

Penn State vs. Minnesota predictions

Protecting the ball

Minnesota’s defense feasts on turnovers. While they’ve mostly come through 16 interceptions, the Golden Gophers also have forced seven fumbles, recovering four. Ball security, of course, is key in every game but will become especially important for Penn State when facing an opportunistic defense that tends to end up with the ball one way or another.

“They do have some ball hawks in their secondary, but they make plays when the plays come to them,” Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. “I can’t just give them opportunities, because they’ll capitalize on it. And you know, a decent amount of their picks have actually been forced by their D-line, whether it’s like, a tipped pass that just falls into a linebacker or the quarterback getting hit and the ball … just finds a way to their hands.”

One mistake from Allar or Beau Pribula through the air could easily become a wasted possession for Penn State. With the Nittany Lions ranked fourth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, they can’t afford to give Minnesota’s offense extra scoring chances and find fuel for a potential home upset. The turnover battle could wind up telling the story of Saturday’s game, especially if it happens to swing in Minnesota’s favor.

“We’ve always preached about ball security, no matter what, who we’re going against, and it’s definitely a talking point for us every week, so we’re going to take great pride in that,” Allar said. “Obviously, with a team like this, the way they’re built, they’re similar to us in the fact that they want to control the ball and they want to force turnovers. So we’re just going to have to be disciplined and stick to our game plan.”

An efficient offensive ground game

Going back to its success in favorable matchups, Penn State is 66-3 against unranked teams since 2016, when factoring out the 2020 season. For as much criticism as Franklin and the Nittany Lions faced for losing to Ohio State a few weeks ago, and for losses against other top-5 opponents in past seasons, they almost always take care of business when they’re “supposed” to win. And one key in avoiding potential upsets is keeping the opposing team’s offense off the field.

Against unranked, but certainly capable opponents in West Virginia, USC, Wisconsin and Washington, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen racked up a combined 494 rushing yards on 99 attempts, nearly 5 yards per carry. As Penn State faces a similar opponent this week, controlling the clock and letting two of the top backs in the Big Ten go to work can help the Nittany Lions diminish any momentum Minnesota finds.

With Fleck’s secondary also being one of the conference’s best, Penn State would be wise to avoid risking any big-shot throws and attack the defense where it’s most vulnerable. The Golden Gophers allow 119.8 rushing yards per game — and in each of its conference losses to Iowa, Michigan and Rutgers, Minnesota allowed at least 109 rushing yards.

“I would say where we need to get better at is just being able to strain a little bit more in the run game, and get more finishes and more movement against teams to create more running lanes for Nick [Singleton] and Kaytron [Allen],” offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh said Wednesday. “I feel like going into [practice] and going into this game, we’re going to have a really good plan to be able to combat [Minnesota’s takeaways].”

Andy Kotelnicki brings his Minnesota roots to Penn State’s offense

Make Darius Taylor’s day a rough one

Minnesota starting back Darius Taylor has three games this season with at least 120 rushing yards. Minnesota won each game, including a 25-17 victory over ranked Illinois. In the Golden Gophers’ three conference losses, Taylor managed just 32.7 rushing yards per game and ran for 3.0 yards per carry.

Taylor adds some complexity as a strong receiving back (312 receiving yards), but when he’s running well out of the backfield, Minnesota’s offense has clicked much more. Quarterback Max Brosmer, completing 67.1 percent of his passes this season, is also at his best when he has a strong ground game to lean on, focusing on his efficiency and avoiding turnovers rather than having to do the heavy lifting offensively.

In 2022, Penn State successfully slowed Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis in a blowout win. But when the Golden Gophers pulled off a 31-26 upset in 2019, the Nittany Lions’ defense let quarterback Tanner Morgan do whatever he wanted, racking up 339 yards and three touchdowns on 18-for-20 passing. That type of production from Brosmer would be disastrous this time around. But should the Nittany Lions handle Taylor and Minnesota’s run game well, containing the Golden Gophers’ senior quarterback should become simpler.

“[Brosmer] I think is playing really well. … In the last three or four games he’s done a really good job of protecting the football. Their running back, No. 1, Darius Taylor, is a big back and has been playing really well for the last two years,” Franklin said. “… We’re going to have to go and play well to find a way to get a win on the road here in the Big Ten.”

The Nittany Lions will take on Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS.

More Penn State Football

Is Penn State’s defense getting overlooked this season?

For James Franklin, another pivotal moment at Minnesota

James Franklin weighs in on the Big Ten, SEC and the College Football Playoff

Daniel Mader, a May 2024 graduate of Penn State, is an Editorial Intern with The Sporting News. As a student journalist with The Daily Collegian, he served as a sports editor and covered Nittany Lions women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and more. He has also covered Penn State football for NBC Sports and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with additional work in the Centre Daily Times, Lancaster Online and more. Follow him on X @DanielMader_ or Instagram @dmadersports.

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