Norma's Windmill - Nebraska Windmills

Credits: Nebraska Game & Parks Commission,
Article from NEBRASKAland Magazine, August 1984

Harvesting The Wind
by Don Cunningham

Letter of Transmittal,
Department of the Interior,
United States Geological Survey,
Division of Hydography
Washington, D.C. February 15, 1899

"Throughout the Great Plains region the supply of water is so scanty and so widely disseminated that as a rule it will be impractical to provide great storage reservoirs or other works of considerable magnitude. On the other hand, for the utilization of resources there must be innumerable attempts to employ the small amount of water almost everywhere available; and this can be done most economically through the use of the ever-present force of the wind. Thus windmills throughout at least 1/4 of the United States must ever be inseparably connected with the utilization of wells and with the development of the country."

Born out of need, windmills began to crop up on the treeless North American plains in the latter part of the 19th century. As the western population grew, so too, did the demand for fresh water. To quench the pioneers' demanding thirst, a steady stream of new manufacturing plants sprung forth creating a vast assortment of the wooden and/or steel structures. They were given descriptive names like "merry-go-round," "battle-ax," or "baby-jumbo."

Today, most of the lone guards we see standing tall against the vacant Nebraska skies are no more different than the windmills from the days of early settlement.

"From the loft of the barn, or from the little platform on top of the windmill, I could look north into the Great Plains and do some serious daydreaming."

Larry McMurtry
Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen