Gail Wawrzyniak
  • Home
  • History
  • Art
  • Intersections - Blog
  • Publications
  • Home
  • History
  • Art
  • Intersections - Blog
  • Publications

Locust Swarms Devoured, Until Stalks No Longer Whispered

5/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Locust

Work never ended for settlers in the late 1800's.  They fought to claim the land.  Looking at a tree-filled plot, they imagined a blank canvas they could fill with full-grown crops, planted in straight lines packed to the horizon.  It was optimism to see it in that landscape.  They cleared it, planted and cared for the crops, and built their dreams upon the land.

Their optimism was tested in 1873 when Rocky Mountain locusts descended upon Minnesota fields.  Commonly called grasshoppers or hoppers, with their first appearance they devastated crops.  In Mary Vance Carney's book, "Minnesota, The Star of the North," the old farmers later recalled the locusts' arrival, saying, "Sunlight, shining on the outspread wings of the insects as they flew through the air, made the swarm look like a white cloud."  

Read More
0 Comments

    Gail Wawrzyniak

    Gail Wawrzyniak is a North Carolina writer bringing together her love of art, history and writing.

    Intersections is a series of occasional articles about the things that have inspired my writing.

    Archives

    October 2017
    September 2016
    May 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All
    Budapest
    Civilian Conservation Corps
    Grasshopper Chapel
    Locust Plague
    McLeod County
    Minnesota
    Orphan Train
    The Homestead Act

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2023 Gail Wawrzyniak. All rights reserved.