Boys! Girls! kill the flies
Creator: Kansas State Board of Health
Date: September, 1914
This advertisement encourages boys and girls to kill flies for a prize. The contest was sponsored by the Board of Health of Hutchinson. The ad was in a publication from the Kansas State Board of Health.

Clearing a field of grasshoppers
Creator: Harpers Weekly
Date: 1875
An illustration showing people clearing a field of grasshoppers, copied from Harper's Weekly, July 3, 1875.

D. C. Haskell to Governor Thomas Osborne
Creator: Haskell, D. C. (Dudley Chase), 1842-1883
Date: November 11, 1874
A letter written by D. [Dudley] C. [Chase] Haskell introducing Governor Thomas Osborne to Rev. W. M. Wellman. Wellman was appointed to the Kansas Relief Committee and worked on behalf of The Smith County Aid Society to obtain funds to help settlers effected by the grasshopper plague.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, Entomological Commission
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1930
This file includes subject correspondence relating to the State Entomological Commission which is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence, state law
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1929-1931 : Reed)
Date: 1929-1931
This file includes subject correspondence relating to state law. Topics included in the correspondence but is not limited to is smoking in public eating houses, law enforcement and environmental health. This file is part of a bigger collection of Governor Clyde M. Reed correspondence.

Governor George Anthony grasshoppers received correspondence
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1877-1879: Anthony)
Date: 1877
Governor George Anthony compiled this series of correspondence on grasshoppers from letters received while in office from 1877-1879. A complete transcription is available by clicking "Text Version" below.

Grangers versus hoppers
Creator: Henry Worrall, 1825-1902
Date: 1874-1875
This is a copy of a cartoon by Kansas artist Henry Worrall showing Kansas farmers (Grangers) battling grasshoppers. The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was originally founded with the idea of educating and connecting farmers within America. The first Grange was set up in Fredonia, New York. From there granges spread across the U.S., providing classes and social events to farmers. The first Kansas Grange was organized in 1872 at Hiawatha. Within a few years, more than 1,000 Granges claiming more than 30,000 members had been established across the state. Read more about the Grange in Kansapedia.

Grasshopper concert ticket
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1877-1879: Anthony)
Date: 1875
A concert ticket for a "grasshopper concert" stamped January 1, 1875 in Chicago, Illinois. The illustration on one side depicts an audience and orchestra of grasshoppers playing the "March through Kansas by G. Hopper." Kansas experienced the Grasshopper Plague of 1874 and received money and supplies from across the country to help aid farmers.

Grasshoppers
Creator: Root, George Allen, 1867-1949
Date: 1936
This account of grasshopper activity in Kansas, was compiled by George A. Root using information from Wilder's Annals and the Kansas Historical Collections, July 1936.

Grasshoppers
Date: 1875
Grasshoppers arranged to spell the words "Kansas Jayhawkers".

Grasshopper sweep, Finney County, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This photograph shows a man sweeping a field crop for grasshoppers on a farm in Finney County, Kansas. This appears to be an alfalfa field. Metal teeth went through the crop making the grasshoppers jump up, hit the back wall and drop into a container of some type.

Grasshopper sweep, Finney County, Kansas
Creator: Wolf, Henry L. 1850-1924
Date: Between 1890 and 1900
This photograph shows a man sweeping a field crop for grasshoppers on a farm in Finney County, Kansas. This appears to be an alfalfa field. Metal teeth went through the crop making the grasshoppers jump up, hit the back wall and drop into a container of some type.

His death or yours!
Creator: Kansas State Board of Health
Date: 1914
"His Death Or Yours" cartoon addressing the diseases transmitted by flies and encouraging people to install and use screen doors. This item was copied from the Kansas State Board of Health Bulletin.

J.W. Honey to George W. Martin
Creator: Honey, J.W.
Date: February 03, 1910
This is a letter from J.W. Honey to George W. Martin, Secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society. Honey writes of his experiences during the grasshopper invasion of 1874, focusing mostly on bringing corn in from the field before it was fully consumed by the insects.

Kansas. Resources, population, industries, opportunities and climate
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: 1909
This Union Pacific Railroad pamphlet highlights the natural and human resources found in Kansas at the time of publication.

Kansas Free Lecture by Jas. H. Lathrop
Date: 1874
A poster announcing a free lecture by Jas. H. Lathrop, Morgan City, Clay County, Kansas, at Union Hall, Cortland, New York. Lathrop was to speak of the suffering and depressed conditions caused by the grasshopper plague.

Kansas in 1875
Creator: Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company
Date: 1875
A pamphlet produced by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company to promote Kansas and its resources. It focuses on the Cottonwood and Arkansas Valleys of Kansas. Also included is a map of ATSF railroad connections with an advertisement of land for sale.

Ladie's day at the ranch
Creator: Harpers New Monthly Magazine
Date: June 1885
An account of one family's journey from New York to Kansas. Descriptions of sheep shearing, grasshopper swarms, tornadoes, and prairie fires, are described in the article.

"Mr. G. Hopper, Kansas"
Date: 1875
This humorous cartoon illustration depicts a grasshopper standing upright with a crutch, eye patch, and a sling holding his left arm. By his side is a small suitcase. The countryside in the background has been completely stripped of all greenery, with only tree trunks and twigs surviving. In 1874, Kansas was hit with a grasshopper plague that destroyed most of the farmers' crops.

My experiences with the grasshoppers in 1866-1867
Creator: Brown, Mary F.
Date: December 05, 1908
Reminiscences of Mary Brown during the grasshopper invasion for the years 1866 and1867. Mary writes of the grasshoppers devouring almost every bit of green vegetation in sight and her attempts to save her shrubs and flowers from being destroyed. She also writes of the grasshoppers laying eggs, the eggs hatching, and the young eating as much as the adults. This cycle happened several times that year. Once the grasshoppers left, the Brown's replanted with the help of seed sent by Senator Pomeroy.

Poultry and bees on farms
Creator: Union Pacific Railway Company
Date: May 20, 1912
This Union Pacific Railroad agricultural bulletin, number 102, shows statistical production of poultry and bee colonies for areas west of the Mississippi River, with a comparative evaluation for 1900 and 1910.

Relief!
Date: 1874
This poster announces Rev. W. M. Wellman's visit to Goshen, Indiana, and his work on behalf of the Kansas Relief Committee and the Smith County Aid Society. Wellman worked to obtain financial donations for settlers impacted by the grasshopper plague.

Results of operating a hopperdoser in Chase County, Kansas
Creator: Chase County Extension Office
Date: 1937
A photograph showing the results after one hour's work with a hopperdoser on A. J. McCabe's five acre farm in Chase County, Kansas. The pile contained nearly two bushels of grasshoppers. The photograph was copied from the Chase County Extension's annual report.

The drouth
Creator: Junction City Union
Date: August 1, 1874
This brief, unsigned article published in the Junction City Union presents the hardships Kansans faced during times of drought. Settlers looked to the skies for rain but were disappointed. According to the author, there had been storms that seemed likely to bring rain, but only a few scattered drops fell. Settlers' crops also suffered from the plague of grasshoppers that were eating what few crops had survived the drought.

The grasshoppers 1874
Creator: Mail and Breeze (Topeka)
Date: September 22, 1899
In this brief article, A. Bailey of Mankato, Jewell County, reminisces about the grasshoppers invasion of 1874. Although that year proved to be a trying one for Kansas farmers, Bailey still rates 1874 as "the good old days."