﻿GENERAL 
  EEPOET 
  FOR 
  1881. 
  23 
  

  

  would 
  a 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  swarms 
  of 
  " 
  grasshoppers" 
  reach 
  

   the 
  public 
  through 
  some 
  newspaper 
  or 
  magazine 
  account 
  of 
  travels 
  in 
  

   these 
  wild 
  and 
  unsettled 
  regions. 
  These, 
  as 
  would 
  be 
  imagined, 
  were 
  

   mere 
  notices 
  of 
  their 
  having 
  been 
  seen^ 
  without 
  any 
  attempt 
  at 
  a 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  them 
  or 
  anything 
  relating 
  to 
  their 
  movements. 
  It 
  is 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  

   years 
  since 
  that 
  they 
  even 
  so 
  much 
  as 
  had 
  a 
  name 
  of 
  their 
  own. 
  (Walsh 
  

   in 
  1866.) 
  But, 
  as 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  the 
  then 
  Territories 
  above 
  mentioned 
  

   began 
  to 
  be 
  settled 
  they 
  became 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  known, 
  as 
  swarms 
  made 
  

   their 
  appearance 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  and 
  occasionally 
  alighted 
  upon 
  and 
  

   destroyed 
  fields 
  of 
  grain 
  and 
  gardens. 
  It 
  was 
  not, 
  however, 
  until 
  with- 
  

   in 
  the 
  past 
  fifteen 
  years 
  that 
  they 
  began 
  to 
  attract 
  much 
  attention 
  by 
  

   their 
  ravages. 
  I 
  now 
  refer 
  more 
  particularly 
  to 
  Kansas 
  and 
  Nebraska, 
  

   with 
  adjoining 
  portions 
  of 
  Iowa 
  and 
  Missouri. 
  Minnesota, 
  too, 
  was 
  but 
  

   thinly 
  settled 
  in 
  those 
  parts 
  frequently 
  visited, 
  while 
  Dakota 
  was 
  but 
  

   little 
  known. 
  True, 
  locusts 
  had 
  several 
  times 
  been 
  kitown 
  to 
  do 
  damage 
  

   to 
  vegetation 
  in 
  Manitoba 
  and 
  Minnesota 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  1819, 
  when 
  they 
  

   were 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  very 
  numerous. 
  

  

  Whether 
  swarms 
  of 
  locusts 
  visited 
  these 
  districts 
  as 
  often 
  prior 
  to 
  

   their 
  settlement 
  as 
  they 
  have 
  since, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  gslsj 
  to 
  ascertain 
  ; 
  but 
  that 
  

   they 
  did 
  so 
  occasionally 
  is 
  quite 
  certain, 
  and 
  that, 
  too, 
  in 
  numbers 
  

   equally 
  as 
  great 
  or 
  even 
  greater 
  than 
  in 
  our 
  time. 
  In 
  speaking 
  with 
  

   an 
  old 
  Omaha 
  Indian 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1876 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  grass- 
  

   hoppers, 
  he 
  said 
  that 
  about 
  twenty-five 
  years 
  previously 
  he 
  had 
  seen 
  

   them 
  so 
  numerous 
  in 
  the 
  Eikhorn 
  Valley 
  and 
  adjoining 
  parts 
  that 
  they 
  

   ate 
  nearly 
  all 
  the 
  grass 
  for 
  many 
  miles 
  around. 
  In 
  fact, 
  the 
  Indians 
  

   could 
  scarcely 
  find 
  enough 
  grass 
  for 
  their 
  ponies. 
  This 
  was 
  while 
  they 
  

   were 
  out 
  on 
  a 
  buffalo 
  hunt. 
  He 
  also 
  stated 
  that 
  at 
  other 
  times 
  they 
  had 
  

   met 
  with 
  the 
  locusts 
  while 
  out 
  on 
  their 
  hunts, 
  but 
  never 
  in 
  such 
  great 
  

   numbers 
  as 
  at 
  this 
  one 
  particular 
  time. 
  He 
  said 
  they 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  

   mountains 
  "far 
  off," 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  pointing 
  up 
  the 
  valley 
  to 
  the 
  north- 
  

   west. 
  Last 
  year 
  while 
  in 
  Montana 
  I 
  also 
  learned 
  from 
  Indians 
  that 
  at 
  

   times, 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  the 
  locusts 
  were 
  exceedingly 
  numerous 
  in 
  the 
  val- 
  

   leys 
  of 
  the 
  Yellowstone 
  Eiver 
  and 
  its 
  tributaries 
  j 
  and 
  that 
  on 
  several 
  oc- 
  

   casions 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  to 
  devour 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  vegetation, 
  

   and 
  thereby 
  to 
  cause 
  the 
  buffalo 
  to 
  seek 
  food 
  in 
  other 
  parts. 
  When 
  asked 
  

   about 
  their 
  flights, 
  one 
  old 
  fellow 
  (Indian) 
  intimated 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  seen 
  

   them 
  fly 
  in 
  numbers 
  sufficiently 
  great 
  to 
  obscure 
  the 
  sun. 
  It 
  might 
  be 
  

   questioned 
  whether 
  this 
  information 
  obtained 
  from 
  Indians 
  can 
  be 
  relied 
  

   upon 
  as 
  of 
  value. 
  To 
  this 
  I 
  will 
  answer 
  '' 
  yes," 
  for 
  all 
  Indians 
  are 
  very 
  

   close 
  observers 
  and 
  remember 
  quite 
  accurately 
  all 
  incidents 
  that 
  are 
  in 
  

   any 
  way 
  connected 
  with 
  their 
  modes 
  of 
  life, 
  and 
  particularly 
  is 
  this 
  trne 
  

   while 
  out 
  on 
  their 
  hunts. 
  A 
  few 
  had 
  even 
  noticed 
  that 
  the 
  locusts 
  were 
  

   attacked 
  by 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  flj', 
  Avhich 
  deposited 
  its 
  eggs 
  between 
  their 
  wings. 
  

  

  Does 
  the 
  settlement 
  of 
  a 
  country 
  and 
  the 
  planting 
  of 
  new 
  species 
  of 
  

   vegetation 
  ever 
  have 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  drawing 
  to 
  it 
  insect 
  enemies 
  from 
  

   afar 
  5 
  and, 
  if 
  so, 
  to 
  what 
  extent 
  is 
  this 
  true? 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  question 
  that 
  

  

  