Richmond Chapter 9: The Frontier is Settled

This chapter was about the hardships people faced during the settlement of Kansas. I found the information about the grasshopper invasion of 1874. We always hear about the dust bowl, but very little about this is taught.

I think a great activity for this would be to have students read personal accounts of this experience. I am interested to know if there are any pictures of this available. After looking at these and reading the accounts, a great discussion could be had. I would have the students ponder what the settlers must have been thinking. What was the cause? Could they have wondered if it was a punishment by God because of the religious background and the 'plague of the locusts' in biblical Egypt. Finally, I would have the class speculate as to whether or not this could happen again in Kansas. What would we do about it today?