/usr/web/www.marshallindependent.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/single.php
×

Grasshoppers brought disaster to Lyon County

Part II

When these Marshall people reached the Redwood River, at the farm place known as the Muzzy flat, the horses refused to approach the usual fording place, due to the fact that the ground before them, of about 20 rods wide and a large distance long, was covered with locusts that were piled up two inches deep — a moving mass of animation. They were piled up by the millions, covering the ground, stumps and brush — appearing to be several feet deep.

Obviously, the grasshoppers did a great deal of damage to crops and gardens alike. In the Saratoga settlement along the Cottonwood River in southeastern Lyon County they were particularly bad and left practically no grain. Along the Redwood River, they also brought destruction to crops, but surprisingly there were some parts of the county that were not affected. Most of the grasshoppers left after a few weeks, but enough were left and deposited their eggs during the months of August and September to make certain that the county would be infest the following year. The 1873 harvest was light, but good yields were reported in the few communities that had not been visited by the locusts.

The grasshopper devastation and panic that followed it in 1873 added to the hard times that followed. Many farm families were in desperate circumstances during the winter that followed.

The state government took action to relieve the suffering in the area. Petitions from the districted that were affected poured into the state Legislature, asking for relief. So, in late January, 1874 they appropriated $5,000 for relief and extended the time of payment of property taxes until Nov. 1 in the counties of Jackson, Cottonwood, Murray, Nobles, Rock, Watonwan, Lyon and Lac qui Parle. “The bill postponing the collection of taxes on personal property in Lyon and several other southwestern counties passed the Legislature a little too late to benefit many taxpayers of this county, as most of them paid all taxes against them prior to the first of this month, to prevent extra cost.” — Prairie Schooner, Feb. 19, 1874.

Due largely to local pride, Lyon County did not receive much benefit from the state aid. In accordance with the custom of pioneer journals to report nothing that would tend to delay settlement, the local newspaper reported fair crops. “A perusal of the files of the Prairie Schooner for 1873 discloses not a word of the grasshopper visitation of that year. Many people of the county denied the existence of destitution and denounced those who sent out requests for aid.”

(continued next week)

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today