307] The Condition of the Western Farmer. 29 



important influence; for the new settler could, in conse- 

 quence, find near at hand the grain and other supplies which 

 he needed during his first year's residence until he could 

 raise crops for himself; and as the cost of transportation of 

 such commodities was avoided, the amount which he would 

 have to expend for support in these years was much less than 

 would otherwise have been the case. 



Another thing of very great importance, in many cases, was 

 the simultaneous settlement of former neighbors or acquaint- 

 ances in one locality, for they could render many mutual ser- 

 vices which the lone settler was precluded, to a great extent, 

 from receiving. Especially was this true when several 

 brothers or a father and his sons came together and took 

 " claims " side by side ; and where the father had well-grown 

 minor sons whose continuous services he could require, his 

 possibility for prosperity was still more enhanced. 



There were certain hardships to which the first settlers on 

 the prairies were peculiarly liable, one of the most dreaded 

 being the prairie fires, which, during some seasons of the year, 

 frequently threatened certain destruction of house and home 

 as well as crops. Another thing which caused much suffer- 

 ing and loss in the early times one that has repeatedly been 

 brought to the writer's notice was the fact of residence at 

 long distance from a physician. The disadvantage in this 

 was twofold: first, the inability to get medical attendance 

 promptly, and secondly, the great cost of it when obtained; 

 a heavy bill was speedily incurred and bore a discouragingly 

 large proportion to the scanty cash income during the first 

 years of settlement. 



But by all means the greatest hindrance during the early 

 years, and one that affected all settlers alike, was the grass- 

 hopper pest. Though the harm done by these insects will be 

 considered in detail when we come to examine the financial 

 history of the settlers year by year, yet the grasshoppers were 

 such an important economic factor in Nebraska that a brief 

 sketch of their history there seems advisable. The calopteni 

 spreti, or "mountain locusts," were first seen in small num- 



