Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/41

 It was in August of this year that myriads of grasshoppers first appeared in western Iowa. They seemed to come from the region of the Rocky Mountains where they breed in vast numbers. When large enough to fly, they rise in the air to a great height usually moving in a northeasterly direction. They seem to know in what direction they wish to migrate and when on the wing, if overtaken by adverse winds, frequently settle to the earth and alight until the wind changes or subsides. While upon the ground they feed ravenously upon tender vegetation, devouring growing crops and garden vegetables. In 1867 they were traced from the mountain regions west of Kansas, alighting in that State at various points and doing serious damage to growing crops. Moving in a northeasterly direction they crossed the Missouri River and invaded the western counties of Iowa. Their ravages were most serious in the counties of Woodbury, Ida, Sac, Calhoun, Page, Adams, Ringgold, Clarke, Adair, Warren, Polk, Madison, Cherokee, Carroll, Greene, Dallas, Boone and Webster.

Small grain was harvested before their appearance and escaped damage while corn and vegetables were freely devoured by the millions which literally shadowed the sun like a cloud, as they pursued their onward flight. On a bright day they first attracted the attention of persons looking toward the sun, when they had the appearance of snow flakes, their gauzy wings glistening in the sunlight at a great height above the earth. When wishing to feed they slowly settled to the earth until the ground was covered with a moving swarm of the insects, devouring every green, growing thing within the line of their march. They often remained for weeks in the same region, at night crawling up corn stalks, large weeds, fences and the sides of buildings and when daylight appeared, descending again to the ground to feed. In some localities they remained until November, depositing millions of eggs just beneath the surface before they resumed their travels in