Across The Fence: The Heartland plague of 1874-75

One hundred and thirty-eight years ago, in late July, there occurred one of the most devastating natural disasters to ever hit the Heartland. From the central regions of Canada, out of the Rocky Mountains, the path of destruction swept ever south and eastward.

The eastern slope of the Rocky Mountain Range was its western boundary as it stretched across Montana, the Dakotas and into the western parts of Minnesota. The destruction continued south into Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa, then marched further southward to Colorado, Kansas and Missouri, New Mexico, the Indian territories of Oklahoma and fi...