A Spiritual Geography From Dutch landscapes to the farms of rural America, windmills bring many things to mind. But with the advent of PrairieWinds, a new generation of wind turbines will soon paint a picture of South Dakota's open prairies.
Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the world.
But it has been a long road from humble beginnings. Windmills were first used in Persia as early as the 7th century for irrigation and milling grain. In Europe, windmills were not known before the 12th century. They then became the chief source of power until the invention of the steam engine during the Industrial Revolution. Besides milling grain and irrigating farmland, windmills developed between the 15th and 19th centuries were adapted to pump seawater from land below sea level, saw wood, make paper, press oil from seeds, and grind many different materials.