Desperate times call for desperate measures

This case contains examples of measures Texans took during extreme droughts.

The rainmaker referenced in the 1891 letter, General Robert St. George Dyrenforth, was bankrolled by the federal government for experiments with explosives and balloons in Midland, El Paso, the King Ranch in South Texas, and Camp Farwell near San Antonio.

To alleviate the possibility of fraud, the Texas Weather Modification Act of 1967 requires individuals or companies claiming to carry out cloud seeding or other rain enhancement attempts to obtain a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation permit.

Rainmaker image, Harper’s Weekly, July 4, 1891. Prints and Photographs Collection.