June 3, 1875
Fasting and prayer begin to stop the grasshopper invasion. The “Year of the Locust” took on biblical proportions for two straight years. Trillions of Rocky Mountain locusts descended on the Great Plains and devoured everything in their path, even blacking out the sky at times. Churches reported having daylong prayer services to stop the plague. Laura Ingalls Wilder described the invasion in On the Banks of Plum Creek.
Based upon content from the book Missouri 365: This Day in Missouri History by John W. Brown, broadcaster and Missouri historian. Get your copy at Reedy Press.
Photo—Vladimir Wrangel
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