Mexico weekly ledger., 1901-07-18
rHR 0 OF 1854.
A Pioneer Missourian Tell of the
Great Priyations Endured by the
People From June Till Winter.

Il NN4
Mo, tells some interesting incidents
Of the only drought within half a cen.
tury that has approached this present
one:
1.-THE present drought Ia Missouri
recalls to many pioneers the n that
existed In the West and South during
the year 1854, " said MrlJ. H. Wright,
president Of the Callao Bank, to-day.
81 don't think, however, there are any
indications that we win be called upon
Go endure as great privations as the
farmers had to put up with that year.
! wa about 10 years old. A large
party OF us left Missouri for Texas in
April. On the 10th or 18th OF June,
while in camp on Red river, near Pres
ton, a heavy rain fell, which was
general through the country, but IL
was the last one that year. Up to that
time the weather had been unusually
favorable, and there never had been
better prospects for crops.
"As the summer went ON without
rain we began to get discouraged, and
most Of III decided to return to Mis-
souri,. There were seven covered
wagons in our caravan, containing as
many families. AS we slowly drove up
through the Indian Territory the
scarcity Of water became a serious
problem. | remember one day we
Travelled forty miles with only five
gallons, the heat and dust were awful,
and toward the afternoon our thirst
became intolerable. At nightfall in
stead Of camping, we resolved to press
on to a place where a spring was said
TO exist, Some Of the teamsters were
in an ugly mood and nearly delirious.
Ny heart nearly failed me in thinking
what would happen should we not find
the spring, or II it should be played
out. But we reached 1t at 10 O'Clock in
the night, and such a yell and scram-
BILE for it you never saw. Men, women
and children fought for places, and
accidents were only ayerted by the
men in charge taking their stations
between the crowd and the spring,
and passing the water out in moderate
quantities. They were so thirsty they
would have killed themselves had they
been allowed unrestrained liberty at
the water.
'All along u route was the dreary
picture OF the drought. Fields Of stub
BILE, leafess treesand dust-white roads.
There were no birds singing In the
trees and very little sign OF animal
life anywhere. There was M relieving
spectacle anywhere along the whole
700 miles Of our homeward journey,
which showed the absence Of rainfall
had been general.
1--WE reached Missouri about the
middle OF August and found vegeta-
tion on every farm burned up. The
corn crop that looked 50 promising In
the early summer was cut for fodder,
and that was all that saved the stock.
There were no railroads, and II was
impossible to get anything in the way
of vegetables, fruit or cereals. Corn
meal cost sl.50 a bushel when brought
In from Glasgow or Hannibal. We lived
on bacon, corn bread, coffee and mo
lasses purchased at these places.
Farmers moved their stock over to the
Charlton river, which ran until late in
the fall. The stock too far back in the
country to reach the river persisted.
There was nothing to be done on the
farm, and people just sat around and
looked at the sky. Some OF the emil
grants who had taken up large tracts
Of land abandoned it and returned
East, under the impression that al
drought was a regular thing in Mis-
souri,.
Toward the latter part Of the sum
mer a great meeting was held at
Antioch Church, and three ministers,
who had come a long way for the pur-
pose, prayed for rain. 1t was on this
occasion that Uncle Jimps Dysart
made use of the expression which has
since become famous. He said: Broth
ers, / tell you there amt a bit Of use
praying for rain, because the wind Is
In the wrong direction
81 guess he was right, for the rain
never came. At last winter set In, and
it was hoped early snowfalls would
furnish water, and one right good
storm came up. But the snow was dry
and It blew away with the dust, with
out even dampening the earth.
"The dust on the pixies was frightful
on a windy day. You could hardly see
a vehicle just ahead Of you. The old
Glasgow stage coach would roll into
Callao with everything about it,
passengers, driver, horses, harness and
all-nearly as white as snow. Some
times travellers threats would become
so badly choked that they couldn't
talk until they took a drink Of water.
| guess in those days most Of us ate
our allotted peck of dirt or more.
1.-THE spring Of 1855 was seasonable
and crops sprang from the ground with
renewed vigor. l can keerly remember
our first meal with homegrown vege-
tables on the table, and I've never
tasted anything since that that was SO.
eood.''