Pea would surely have stopped for this marker if she’d made it this far! It’s located on the caprock of the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains) near Post, Texas, and the notion that the venerable C . W. Post (Post Toasties, anyone?) battled drought with dynamite…well, I cannot imagine that this wouldn’t have tickled her fancy!
I really, really wanted to include this in the book, but there just wasn’t an appropriate spot. In case you can’t read the text, here it is:
- W. POST RAIN BATTLES (US 84, 3 mi northwest of Post, near Lubbock)
Site of 1911-1914 dynamiting to produce rain. Carried on by C.W. Post, Texas farm colonizer and cereal foods millionaire.
After reading that rain often accompanies cannonading in war, Post planned “battle” to relieve droughts. He thought vertical air currents would condense vapor in atmosphere and cause rain. He first used dynamite airborne by kites, but soon replaced this dangerous method by setting off explosions on edge of caprock.
Post’s experiments were said to have been 40% effective and cost $50,000. He battled drought on farms until his death, 1914.
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