In 1936, in the midst of the "dirty thirties," August was just one in a long line of drought-stricken months. North and South Dakota were the only states that had designated all of their counties as emergency drought areas. From Stark County alone, 236 emergency grant applications had been made to the Federal Resettlement Administration.
Crops were doing so poorly that the state corn show was cancelled. And in addition to drought, grasshoppers were all around the state. Even the "much-feared" Mormon cricket was spotted in Stark County. The insect looks like a grasshopper, and it had demolished "every speck of vegetation" in southern Montana.
On this date, it was reported that Ed Brown, formerly of North Dakota, sent a sample of a bug from Sheridan, Wyoming, where he was managing the Montana-Dakota Utilities Company. The bug had a four-inch body and a wingspread of seven inches, and four variously-colored wings. The creature was, he said, one of a swarm that had been devouring the company’s pipes in areas of drought.
Even when it rained, it came late, and the accumulation of several days was less than an inch. And twice, "freakish lightning" struck a transformer near the farm of Ray Schnell, shocking a cow and the hired help.
But amidst all the grief, there was hope. Robert Hunke, a “true pioneer” of Richardton said “This country can and will come back, better than ever.”
There was also an uplifting visit from President Franklin Roosevelt, who had arrived in Bismarck to be filled in on the situation. FDR was accompanied by federal agents and a swarm of newspapermen, here to view “the effects of drought and blistering sun on a parched land.”
The drought was far-reaching, but some smaller, local crops survived. F. W. Braun brought in some corn and melons. Thanks to Braun’s ability to water the crop, the corn was “near to average” in height, and of good color.
And Robert Stading, from Antelope, had grown about two dozen nice melons, but everything else on his 800-acre farm had been destroyed by grasshoppers, though a second planting was doing well.
Also, John Lish, the sheriff in Dickinson, had a bumper crop of cucumbers – fine future dill pickles. However, the local newspaper cautioned, “Anyone having designs on a dozen or so by way of the back fence, will do well to remember that the grower is also sheriff.”
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Killdeer Herald, Thursday, August 27, 1936, p.1
The Dickinson Press, Thursday, August 13, 1936, p.1
The Dickinson Press, Thursday, August 20, 1936, p.1
The Dickinson Press, Thursday, August 6, 1936, p.1
The Dickinson Press, Thursday, August 27, 1936, p.1, 2
