"Another experience, the memory of which is still fresh in our memory, was gone through one night in the summer of 1873. A few months before we left our sod house and I built a dugout in the bank of the creek for a dwelling, and a smaller one close by which we used as a store house, in order to be close to a supply of water. On the night in question there was a tremendous rainfall or waterspout in the vicinity of Lindsay, and all the ravines and small creeks leading into Shell Creek, and the creek itself, were overflowing in a short time. The first intimation we had of the flood was, when two feet of water rushed in on us. Luckily for us two men with horses had put up at my place for the night and only for their assistance some of the family might have been swept away by the flood. The men were Charley Wilson and Jeff Guyer who lived up the Cedar in Antelope County and were on their way home from Columbus. The men helped me get my family and some bedding and provisions up a ladder to a small loft I had constructed out of a few boards, and from there I got the little ones and the household goods out on horseback and the rest of us got through the water the best we could and with great difficulty reached the little sodhouse that we had deserted. Through the darkness we could hear Wm. Connelly call: "Walker!" He, with his family, had just made their escape and they were trying to find out, if we were still in the land of the living. They also barely escaped with their lives, the youngest daughter, the late Mrs. M. Mogan of Lindsay, being almost dead when rescued. The two families stayed in the old house till the water went down and left part of our homes behind. Those were days to try the souls of men however brave, and the hardships we had to go through would hardly be believed by the present generation. I had one thousand pounds of pork that was under water for three days in the small dugout, and I expected it would be unfit for use, but after it was well washed and salted again it was as appetizing as ever. Shell Creek looked quite harmless enough, when there was no heavy rain, but when, as it often happened, it went over its banks, it was over twenty feet deep with a fierce current, and everything in its path was taken, bridges, huge logs, and sometimes hogs, cattle and poultry were swept away by its turbulent waters."

"We had plenty of ups and downs for our portion the first few years. All of my first year's hay was burned in the stack by disastrous prairie fires, something of which I knew nothing and for which I was entirely unprepared. This fire probably started hundreds of miles away and came down upon us with the speed of the wind. The cattle saved themselves by getting into the creek until the fire went by, and the family took refuge in a forty acre field that I had plowed and from there we witnessed one of the most terrifying sights that one can imagine. The air was filled with clouds of smoke, and roaring flames as the fire swept by, and some of the children screamed in terror that the end of the world was coming."--Thus relates John Walker. We here subjoin a report:

Page 1. From The Columbus Journal, April 2, 1879. Prairie Fire--More Destruction--An Evidence that Something Is Needed to Prevent the Setting of Fires.

--To S. Davies we are indebted for the following facts: On Saturday last, at about six o'clock in the morning, Daniel Brooks of Humphrey Precinct, set fire to prairie grass on his farm. His neighbor, Julius Krueger, told him that if the wind should rise, the fire would jump his (Krueger's) guard and get away. The wind did rise about eleven o'clock, the fire did jump all guards and speed away on its mission of destruction. For Brooks, nothing was burned but prairie grass. The same for Krueger, who had time to defend himself. The fire took a southeasterly course, and striking Mr. Haschke's place, burned down his dwelling, stable, grain -about everything he had, in fact including 40 bushels of corn, 25 of rye, 6 of wheat, etc. Fortunately, he had sown his wheat, or that too, would have been lost. Out of ten feather beds, he saved two. His loss is estimated at $3,000, a large amount in those days. The heat was so intense at his place that the cooking stove, pots, etc., were run together as in a furnace. Mr. Martin Fox lost hay, hogs and one sheep -estimated of all, $90; Joseph Widhalm lost his dwelling, furniture, etc., besides 400-500 bushels of corn, 170 bushels of oats, etc. From other parties we learn that he lost everything in the shape of buildings, outside of his dwelling, also farm machinery and young trees. Rhode lost everything-house, stable, etc., saving nothing but his Sunday clothing. The fire ran faster than an ordinary horse.



"Troubles did not come singly then, but in droves, yet they were nothing compared to the voracious grasshopper. After the year the locusts came down upon us, the word 'grasshopper' was enough to make a sturdy settler turn pale. "The first of these pests that I ever saw was in the early part of September, 1873, when I was coming back from Grand Island, after filing on my timber claim. While passing through Clarks and Silver Creek, the passengers saw clouds of the insects hovering in the air and descending with lightning speed on gardens, flower beds and other green foliage. Some of the women tried to save their gardens from the grasshoppers by spreading sheets, shawls, etc., over the plants, but the hoppers, being about as shrewd as the coyotes, turned their attention to the dry goods and soon had them full of holes. Some men from California were highly amused by the antics of the hoppers and remarked that they wouldn't take the whole of Nebraska as a gift. When we reached Columbus that day, we heard that a Union Pacific train coming from Omaha had run into a reef of grasshoppers and was compelled to back up and take several starts before it could force its way through the heap. I had no idea that my turn was coming, but it was; for in a few days after returning from Grand Island, the air began to fill with billions of hoppers. The sun was darkened and the cloud of insects seemed to be about a mile thick. Soon they began to drop and as I had forty acres of fine corn, I planned to save it if possible. My two eldest boys got on horseback and with a long rope between them tried to dislodge the grasshoppers by galloping back and forth through the field; but we all might as well have been in bed, for no sooner was one hopper down than there was a million to take its place. When I saw the locusts even eat the rope till it broke, I saw that it was all done with me and the corn. The neighbors suffered in the same manner, and after the locusts took flight, the whole country looked like a desert, with only a green spot here and there that had been overlooked by the marauders." --John Walker. We insert here another report regarding this scourge.


THE GRASSHOPPERS--COLUMBUS JOURNAL, JULY 29, 1874
"On Thursday last (July 23, 1874), the grasshoppers made their appearance in the greatest numbers that we have ever witnessed. They were to human calculation, literally innumerable. As far as the eye could reach, they were visible, and still they kept coming or going for three or four hours,--an exodus, it seems, of all the grasshoppers that had been devastating the country northeast of Nebraska. There was a lively breeze from that direction, and these swarming clouds of destruction were riding on the wind to their southern home. Along the northern horizon could be seen black, streaming clouds stretching towards the zenith and moving with the 'breeze, and many were slow to believe that they could be grasshoppers, but, watching the approaching columns, they soon made themselves individually visible to the eye, the river of insect life passing about a hundred feet above our heads, with myriads dropping down, like a shower, to dine before they go. A similar sight reversed, was visible in the south, and there was no point of the compass where they were not to be seen. There seemed enough, if they had tarried, to destroy every living thing in the vegetable world. It is truly awful, the destruction by these pests. "A west wind brought us (at least to some neighborhoods) more than ever before, leaving little prospect from crops not already gathered in."


GRASSHOPPERS
(In History of Nebraska, 1882--The Andreas Co.)
Since the settlement of the county in 1857 the grasshoppers have appeared no less than eight times. In August, 1862, they committed their first ravages. Considerable damage was done, though there was nothing like a complete destruction of crops. Again, on August 1, 1864, they appeared in large numbers, but little damage was done.
On July 8, 1866, grasshoppers again visited the county, though they did but little injury. Again, in 1868, there were a few, but no damage was done. In 1869, myriads of them came down and nearly all the corn in the county was destroyed, but the yield of the small grain was good. On May 22, 1873, they came with a heavy southwest wind, in immense numbers, though little damage was done. Again on July 20, 21 and 22, 1874, they came in swarms, forming clouds so thick that the light of the sun was darkened. They remained for several days and everything that was yet green was completely devoured. Many of the settlers had relied on the corn crop alone and this was entirely destroyed. Those who had in a variety of crops were successful in saving most of their small grain, which was, with the exception of a few late fields, already ripe and was not touched by the grasshoppers. But the new settlers, who but recently had come here and as yet had secured no crops, and, of course, were the least able to lose, had nearly, if not quite all of their crop destroyed. Great suffering was the consequence. With a long winter before them and without food, without clothing and without money, starvation and death stared many families in the face. However, Congress and the state legislature made appropriations, and aid societies were promptly formed, and assistance in shape of grain, provisions and clothing were sent hither, in liberal quantities, from all parts of the United States and though many privations were endured, the settlers managed with this aid to live through the winter and the next summer until another crop could be raised.

Again on June 24, 1875, a few grasshoppers appeared and did some damage. From August 8 to 10, of the same year, they again visited the county and considerable damage was done, but yet there were sufficient crops to keep the settlers from suffering. This year some disease seemed to have been contracted by the grasshoppers, and they were to be seen scattered all over the ground, where they had fallen dead when flying. On examination it was found that small maggots had bored into their vitals, thus killing them. Though there was no suffering among the settlers this year, times were hard, and the strictest economy had to be practiced by the farmers. In 1876, there was still another visitation by the grasshoppers, but they were not very numerous and little damage was done. Since the last named year, the grasshoppers have never again appeared in numbers sufficient to do any damage, and as with the cultivation of the soil, moisture increases, and as the grasshopper naturally shuns a moist climate, the settlers have little or no fear of another visitation by the ravenous pests.
L. C., P. 933, Hist. of Neb.



"In spite of all our hardships we remained strong and healthy. There were many laughable occurences during those early days which helped to relieve the monotony. One diversion was to witness Mat Farrell racing his team of mules on moonlit nights against John Gogan's team of stage horses. The races were always run on the level stretch between Mike O'Boyle's place and Tom McPhillips'. Possibly because his mules had better eyesight, Matt usually came out ahead. One day, while Mike Morissey and Wm. Connelly were breaking prairie with a team of half-broken steers belonging to Connelly, Mike had hold of the plow and Connelly held the reins, and it was a sight to see the cattle cavort about. They finally stampeded and the men held on as they thought safe, but the cattle got away and that night both steers were found in Millslagel's pond hole.



I will close by saying that I was the first settler in the north range of townships, the township called "Walker", and when a postoffice was established there, I was appointed postmaster and named the office Lindsay after my old home in Canada. The settlers, who took claims in Walker Township shortly after my arrival, were Wm. Connelly, Pat Ducey, John Gogan, Jim Collins, Dan Holleran, James Walker, M. Morrissey, Peter Galligan, Thomas Thomazin and several others. As the country filled up, the early trials became a thing of the past, and prosperity followed."
--So far "Uncle John Walker".

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