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Barbara Robins lamea Hoy Iwe lohnson

II: No.3

terly by the College of Liberal Arts 200 Commercial, Emporia, Kansas, of. Liberal Arts and Seienees. All

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MYTII AND IDSTORY: TIJRKEY RED '.\'HEAT AND TIlE "KANSAS MIRACLE"

by Norman E. Saul

In 1897, Henry King wrote an article on Kansas for the popular Scribner's MOnJhJy that began:

There is no more enticing scene than the KanS& prairie in spring. The eye wanders out over gracefully swerving and unmonotonous lines to what seems the very limit of things; you dare not conjecture where the earth ends and the sky begins.

Many today might second that thought after traveling we.~tward on 1-70, but perhaps, after three generations, we have lao;t some appreciation of lhm scene. This article will e:wmine the remaking of that landscape's lines by new seulcf1l and conjecture aroul where myth cnds and history begins.

In 1873 and 1874 a number of Mennonite familics in southern Russia commenced a long migration by train and steamship to America. There. after con.~idering several possil:llc locations, mao;t of thcm chose the virgin prairie of Kansas, where railroads like the Santa Fe had many sections of land..~tretching

in a checkerboard pattern across the slate-to sell cheap. The large.~1 group, from the Molcx:hna-Ukrainian village of Alexanderwohl, alone bought sixty.fIve of them from the santa Fc in Marion, McPherson. and Harvey counties and home.~teaded quite a few more. I When these ~ople left Russia, each family (it was later believed) brought a sack or crock of wheat, a hard red winter wheal which made Kansas famous and an economically pros~rous agricultural state. The Catholic and Lutheran Volga Germans who came to Ellis, Rush, and Russell counties a c:ouplc of years later

reinforced and helped spread the adaptation of "their" Russian wheat.

That is the story. It is a nia:, ncat one. And in 1974 the stale celebraled the centennial of this event in grand style; there were parades and celebrations in practically every town: a wheal queen was CTowned--Andrea Polansky of Belleville; and Highway 50 was appropriately renamed the "Wheat centennial Memorial Highway."2 A paperbac': novel was even pUblished with the title Twh:y Red.) A U.S. postal stamp commemorated the occasion. Pamphlets, artiCles, and l'loou; recounted the ~history" of this famous grain. One of the Male's best knavm conlribulion.~

to the bicentennial of the American Declaration of Independence WdS a liberty bell made of wheat straw. And today a wheat heritage mU!oeum in the Mennonite commumty of Goessel perpetuates the folk tradition.

The slory of Turkey Red wheat is ~rhaI'l\ second only to Dorothy and Toto in making Kansas famous in national a~ we!1 a~ local lore. Prominence was given to il in a 1985 ankle on KanS& in the NaJiolIlu Geographir, and in March of 1989 it was featured in The New Yorker in a three pan series on the Great Plains by Ian Frazier that latcr becamc a best-seller in book form. Quoting from the artide: "As it turned out, the Russian Mennonites made ideal plains farmers••lhey had been practicing on the steppes for nearly a hundred years." After relating some nonsense about so;)

houses (the first Mennonite settlers generally did nol oother with them) and an alleged ability 10 co~ with

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grnsshoppers, Frazier stated: Mosl important, the Menoonites knew what to planL Each Mennonite family bad brought a bushel or more of Crimean wheat from RU!l!lia. This wheal, a hard, red, short..,stemmed variety later called Turkey Red, was resistant to heat, cold, alld droughl. II was the right crop for the plains, and lhe Mennoniles knew 10 cullivate i\ ... ~

And so lhe idea conlinues in the popular imagination today, but whal dDe5 hislOl'y--lhe search for and telling of what actually happened.~y about all of Ihis? In short, the 8tOl')' m largely a myth, as historian lames Malin of the University of Kansas demonstrated in the 19405, but like all myths it h811 &Orne factual basis, more perhapl> than Malin was willing 10 grant. The truth about Turkey Red and lhe Kansas. wheal miracle is more complex 10 unravel bul in its way is as intriguing and exciting as tbe myth.5

The silualion in Russia in the 1870s mu"t fiDt be examined. Dubbed "Rooshians~ when they arrived in Kansas, the Ukrainian Dutch.speating Mennonites, the Volynian (Polish) Swiss-spealing Mennonites, and lhe Volga German Lutherans and calholics, who spoke a variety of German dialects, were concentrated, respectively, in "ubstantial and relatively prosperous colonial seUlemenlS almost a thousand miles apart, where tbey had settled about a hundred yean; earlier. Many of them were unhappy and resUess because of population growth alld reslrieted opportunities for apansion 10 new lands. Moreover, lhere were increased RuMian nalionalisl pressures that threaleoed their cullural idenliLies, and the liberal reforms of AlO3llder II's government also lhreateoed the Special privileges thal had been granted to

!hem wilen they firlll moved inlo RuMia. 1be cbief of tbc::sc was aemption from recruitment into tbe Russian army. 1be Menoonites were naturally concerned because of !heir pacifist religiOUll beliefs, but even tbe Catbolic and Lutheran Germanll were afraid lhal military senioc woukl mean conven;ion to the RuMian Dnhodar. church. Even more, ttli.1 and other actually progressive steps bf the Russian government meant greater interference bf Ihe central gcwernmenl in the historic autonomy of these foreign agricultural colonies.6

~[jberal· refonns--treating everyone more equal--were thus a cause of dwenl, much as among Soviet nationalities in recent yean;.

There is a certain irony that significanl eoonomic progress in Russia and rechnological change encouraged oulmigralion. The lelegraph and newspapen; carried advertisements of cheap land in America, and the extension of Russian railroads to their areas pruo.;ded accesli to relatively cheap and easy IraMponatioo. Other facton; prodding movemenl were religious controversy and growmg dis\inetions between rich and poor in the communities. 1be Mennonites were, in fact, able to 'WOrk out with the Russian governmenl a rather progressive system of alternative servke and thus avoided military conscription. Yet, quile a few of them did leave RUSllia, and most of these inilial emigranlS came 10 Kansas.

Why Kansas? lalld agenlS of the Kansas Pacific and the Santa Fe, 8Ueh 811 C B. Schmidt, certainly had something to do with Iheir chOCl'iing Kansas. TIle Mennonites were also guided bf co-religiooislS from Illinoito and Indiana (8Ueh 811 the Funk.!l, the Krehbie1s, and the Wiebes) who knew good agricultural opportunities when tbey saw them. And officials of Kansas, wbo bad seen tbeir state crippled bf

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ID wbcD !bey fint roaved into RuS5ia. : chief of tbe.ae WIll czemplion from rultmenl into me RuMian army. "[be

DDOIIitc:l were DBlurally ooncemed 8UIC of tbeir pacifist religious beliefs, ~ me Catbolic and Lutheran

lDIIDlI were afraid thai military rice 'li'(KI1d mean a:moersion [0 the IliaD. 0rtb0d0I church. Even more, i and Olher actually progressive steps the Russian gcyemmenl meant

Iter interference by the renlral anmeot in tile historic auLOnomy of lie foreign agricultunll roIonies.' beraI" refonns-lreating everyone re equal-wcr'C lhus a cause oC leJJt., mucb as Bmong seMet imaljljes in retenl year&.

'There is B ccnain irony that ID6canI economic progress in Russia I ~I chang\': encouragedtnJiIralioo.. The lelegraph and IIpBpcnI c::anied adver1isements of :ap land in America, and the coMan of RUMian railroads to their • ~ ac:c:eM 10 relalively cheap I easy uansponation. Other factors ldding IDlJYCIDent were religious ltnMIrSy aDd growing distinctions :ween ridJ. and poor in the nmunilic:s. The Mennonites were, in t, BNc to work oul lNith the RUs,Wn l'tI'DIIlCnl a I'Btber progres&iYe system B1lemaliYe service and thus avoided IiWy cmsaiption. Yet, quitt a few lbcm did IcaYe Russia, and tnlW of K initial emigrants came 10 Kansas..

Why Xans8s1 lmld agents or the IDI8I Pacific aDd the santa Fe, such

C. B. Schmidt, certainly had Delhing to do wiOl their choosing iDIA The Nennoniles were also ided '" Cl:H'eligionists from Illinois 11 IDdiIma (lUcb as tbe Funks, lbe ebbieh, and lbe Wiebes) who knew 00 19icultural opportunities when '11Bw lbcm. And officials of 'Ka1Wl&, o bad teen their stale crippled by

drought and Ihe worst graMhopper plague in history in 1874, bent <M::r backwards to satisfy these new, peaceM, and agriculturally-experienct:d setllcrs; flexible conscription laws and welcome mats greeled them at every depot. The drought and grasshopper devastatiOn also meant that the railroad directors were desperate to sell the land received from Congressional grant8 in order to meet payrolls and pay back loans obtained 10 build track:.~ across a thinly populated Slate.

Most settlers from Russia arrived in July and August and were naturally anxious to get started on their new farms. They were accustomed to growing grain, but never com, in Russia, 50 the new settlers planted wheat-·probably as much as 50,000 acres in the fall of 1874. One can now see a problem with the story oullined at the beginning. If each family sowed forty acres that faJ[ and each brOUght one small sack of wheat-·well, it just does not compute_

A number of contemporary descriptions exist of the early seUlers getting off trairu; in Kansas, packed several f.amilies to a car. Local ne'Mipapers printed detailed accounts of their appearance, even their sounds and smells, and the goods they broughl with them: clothing, blanket8, pots and pans and always a lea kettle, perhaps a straw mattress or two, some furniture and small tools, bibles. There is no mention of bags or crcx:k:.~ of wheal, which should have been of sp&ial interest to Kansans. If Turkey Red wheat came to Kansas in 1874, it was qUite successfully smuggled in. The new immjgran~

brought what they could caTT)'..for 10,000 miles through several stopovers, aboard crowded trains and ships.

Most had one Olher essential wilh them-money from the sale of their farms-which they used 10 greal effect

by purchasing goods in quantity and through hard bargaining: horses, wagons, cattle, chickens, plows, etc., all reIDted in detail by happy, economically-minded and Kansas-conscious ne'Mipapers. Some even contracted wilh local carpenters to build bouses and barns and very quickly had flourishing fauns.; this too was glowingly reIDted by lbe press. They brought f1O'i11Cr, melon, and olher garden seeds, but nol a word can be found aooul any wheat. In fact, in &Orne of the SUrviving lestimony of settlers, it is clearly stated that seed wheat was among the items purchased thal first year.?

When and how did the story of Mennonites carrying wheat to Kansas g<ain currency'! The first public references to the 1874 Mennonites bringing Turkey Red dale to the early 19OCls, especially in a Sa/W'day EveflUtg Post article of 1910 by F. D. Coburn, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. There is much confusion and many contradictions, however, in these accounts. Finally, early in 1927, Bliss lsely, an edilor of the Wichita Beacon, set out 10 trace the origins of Turkey Red for a Sunday fealure article.s As recounted several years later, he first wrote 10 Carl Warkentin, the son of a prominent miller of Ukrainian Mennonile background, bul Warkentin proved uncooperative. Isely then enlisted the aid of David Richert, a mathematics professor al Belhel College, who asked his students 10 enquire in their communities when lhey went home for the weekend 85 to the origin of Turkey Red wheal.9

One or these Bethel undergraduates found an elderly Vo'Oman living in Hilbboro, Anna Barkman Wohlgemuth, who recalled al age eight obeying her father's iru;tructions back in lheir Crimean village of Annenfeld

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(Which happen.~ to mean Anna':! field), to pick out, quoting lsely, "[t\e best seed\ from Iheir bins·-ONE GRAIN AT A TIME." Intrigued by ber recollection thaI this amounted to two gallolJS, Iscly then determined thai the young Anna had selected exactly 259,862 grail18, disregarding the fact that a gaUon measurement did nol exist in Russia. lU

The Anna Barkman story thus became an important part of the Turkey Red myth. Unfortunatcly. il i.'i rather unscientifically doeumenled, and Mrs. Wohlgemuth died shortly afterwards without apparently writing anything down. It is weakest in identifying what kind of grain was in that Crimean granary and in relating what aClual1y happened to it in Kansas, if it ever completed the long journey from Odes.~, through Hreslau, Hamburg, New York, and a lengthy stopover near Elkhart, Indiana. Moreover, characteristic of myths, this story from one family of a paTlicular Mennonite sect in the Crimea was quicJc.ly expanded to include every Mennonite family whO emigrated from various plaees in RUMia.

A question also arise.\ over what kind of grain was likely 10 be in a Crimean Mennonite granary in 1874, since in that year four limes as much rye as wheat was produced in Rus.~ia,

oats yield:! doubled tnose of wheat, and barley, millet, bucP,heat, and other grains nearly equalled wheat. All kind:! of wneat rcpresenled only twelve per cent of IOwl Russian grain productiO\1 in 1870Y Russia, like Karu>as, ....-as simply not a major wheal area in 1874. Mennonite agriculture in Russia was also quite diversified wilh emphases upon dairying and sheep raising as much as grain production.

The Southern Rus..'ian steppe, where the Molochna and Crimean

Mennonites 1M:d, however, 'N3S the only sUbregion of Rus.'Wl where the production of wheat exceeded rye, barley, and (Xher graw, and reliable contemporary evidence supports the recent development there of a hard, red winter wheat, called aT7'IOJl1/w, which wm rising in imponance for expon to Soulhem Europe.1.2

But even if we admit Ihat lWO

gallons and perhaps a few other sacks or crcx:k.~ of hard Russian wheal came to Kansas with the Krimmer Mennonitf$ who scttl«1 GnadenauY ju&1 south of Hillsboro, in August 1874, problems still exist: were these grains actually planted? And. if so, how wm this variety--or these varicties--kept separate and distinct from the great many olher acres of wheat planted by the Mennonite immigranls that fall? Or did the "gallons" end up as chicken feed or the first loaf of bread?

The an5Wers, unfortunately, are elusive, but during the first couple of years, Gnadenau and other Mcnnonite settlemenls in that area attracted many v:isito~ and press reports. Nothing can be found from them about any new wheal. From newspapers it appears that the Sanla Fe Railroad, anxious that an their Mennonite customers havc a succ.es..\ful start, provided discounted seed wheal from local stocks. Mcr;1 likely il was Early Red May, a soft red spring wheal best adaptcd to surviving a winler in south central Kansas, though several other soft varieties--lancaster, Gypsey, and White Gennesee--were ~ in Marion County that fall, while nen door in Harvey County, While Walker and Gold Drop were popular.H

We need to ask two more questions: When does Turkey Red really come into the picture? Artd what aClually were Ihe contributions of these German-speaking immigrants from Rus.~ia? The answers can be found in

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enncnilcs lived, h~r, was tbe only bregioo. of RUSoliia where the odl.W:tion of wbeal exceeded rye, 1Itcy. and other grains, and reliable otemporary evidence supports the I:Cnt developmr.nL there of a bard, red Dter wheal, called anlOU1ka, which was ing in importance for export to ulbem EUrope.12

But eYen if we admit thai rwo iIIcm and perhaps a few other sacn crocks of hard RuS&ian wheat came

Kansas with the Krimmer ennonites who settled Gnadcnau,u It south of Hillsboro, in AuguSt 1874, obIems still exist: were rhese grains LuaU)' pIaJ'lled? And, if so, how was is variety-or these variclies__kcpt par8Le and distinct from the great any other acres of wheat planted by e MeMOnitc immjgrant.~ that fall? Or d the. "gallons" end up as chickenfeed , the first loaf of bread?

The answers, unfortunately, are 1ISiYe, but during the (in;;t couple of an, Gnadenau and otber Mennonite tuemenls in that area altractcd many Iilors and press reports. Nothing can ~ found from them aboul any new 1X:8t. From newspapers it appe<lfs Ihm e Sanla Fe Railroad, anxious that all eir Mennonite customers ha....e a lara'lSful slart, provided discounted ed wheat from local stocks. Mast ;ely it was Em'1y Red May, a soft red ring Ilrbeal best adapted to SUrviving winter in south central Kansas, tbough 'WCTBI other soft varieties••umca~ler,

)1IlCY, llIld White Gennesee--were OMI ic Marion County that fall, while :zt door in Harvey County, White 'alker and Gokl Drop were popular. 14

We need 10 ask two more le8tions: When does Turkey Red ally come into the piclure? And what :roally were tbe contributions of these cnnan-speaking immigran15 from ussia'! The answen can be found in

the time and complexities invotved in the triumph of wintcr wheat over spring wheal, of bard wbeal oyer soft, and of wheal oyer corn. 13

In 1873, before the Mennonites arrived, Kansas was primarily a com state and mast of thc wheat was planted in thc spring. But a few had followed an earlier Indian praclice--around Shawnee Mili.~ion (Jobnson County)--()C planting wheal in the fall. In fact, one oC the first documentcd commercial fields of wheat in Kansas, thai on Judge Spicer's farm four miles west of Lawrence, wa~ .<nINr1 in the fall oC 1856.16 What the.se fall sowings suffered in the way of winter kill wa5 oftcn made up by better yiclds in a dry summer than that planted in thc spring, as thc winter wheat would benefit more from early spring moisture and escape summer rust damage. The main ob6tacles were lhe absence oC a local markel Cor wheat and cheap transportation to distant markets, wheat being deemcd unsatisfactory for feeding liveslock and hor~s, and the prevalence oC corn, which was usually harvested too late to allow Cor fall wheat plaming in lhose fielw. Winter wheat, moreover, was vulnerable to Ihe winter and spring cattle drives coming up from Texas and Oldaboma, hut once these were better contlOlied and fenced off, it had greater possibilities on the plains.

Then, after the CMI War came the railroads, and they brought more sclLlcrn--and distant market possibilities. Finally, T. C. Henry, an ambilioU5 real estate agent and promoter, planled about 500 acres of wheat in a field just east of Abilene in the Call of 1873 and expanded it to 1,200 acres the following year. He used six oxen teams pulling Moline gang plows on a stretch along the railroad three miles long. Everyone travelling along the Kansas PaciClc (now the Union Pacific) marvelled at the

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scene, especia1Jy when his Marsh cutterl and sleam threshers yielded golden piles of grain, wtilie the still immature spring wbcat lind rom was being devastated tl'j droUght and grassboppers in 1874.11 TIle IewxI was learned, and Henry made much of lhe publicity and his recommendation of Early Red May (the soft spring wbcat which he considered mo&t suitab'c for fall sowing). In 1875, Kansas farmer.;, inclUding the new Mcnnonite jmmjgrant.~ from Russia, increased their wheal iJOWings substantially to 750,000 acres., two thirds of it in winter wheal.

The acreage of spring wheat continued 10 decline in proportion, especially wbcn more dry land prairie was brought under cultMtion. Thc Catholic and Luthcran Volga Gennan immigrants, coming into Ellis, Rush, and RUliIiell counties in 1876 and later, made quite an impact, quic~ changing this Kansas landscape from cattle ranching to fanning on Ihis drier land, similar to thc Volga region. BUI in Kansas they had the advantage of a milder winter and the possibility, that never exisLed in Russia, of planting in the fall LO tat.e best advantage of snow mell and spring rains. In Russia they always had planted spring wheat, predominantly a hard· grained variety known as White Turkey (be/oturka) a durum type wheat, becau~ the severity of the wimer [here wa5 similar to Canada or Nonh Dakota.

So the ~lIlern from Russia adapted to Kansas and shifted from spring to fall planting and initially to soft wheat. A Hays City newspaper reported in 1~3,

"Our Russian frienw are on the high road to fonune, rnising wheat again.~l all odds [!] is making them rich." But ample proof exists of the endurance of spring wheat and com: in 1884 ClIIer in Russell County, Christian Anschutz, the Volga-Gennan Lutheran founder of a

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Kansas family lhal was laler to achieve considerable economic prominence, cullivaled 70 acres of winter wheal, 60 acres of spring wheat, and SO acres of turn, along with smaller fields of barky, oats, poLaIDeS, and tobaCCO.18 No doubt a major reason for this was lhe nec:es.sity for £amity farmers, unlike promOlen> such as Henry, La be diversified.

In fact, in these years after the Volga Germans arrived, one third of Ihe cultivated land in Ellis County was in com. Oearly, lh.at crop was by no means beaten in Kansas and could still grow as high as an <elephant's eye in summer. The Topeka Daily Commonwealth reported in October 1879, ~Com is k.ing in Kansas, 5{) far as &pace is concerned. They plant it by the square mile.~ Even the Mennonites around Newton and Marion grew this fann staple loo--and still do. They also experimented with collon, tobacco, flax, and even rice in their quest to find the best return. The Winfield CouriLr reponed (March 23, 1876) lhal for the year after the great grasshopper plague, MKansas prcduced more com La the acre ... tban any other state in lbe union." Il would 5till be many years berore Kansas would become the wheat Slale.

When did "Red Turkey," it5 RUMian name becBuse the grains were ~redder~ Ihan otber wheat and was tbougbt to bave come from the Baltan part of tbe DlIoman (Turkisb) Empire, or "Turkey Red~ in KalUan, actually come into the picture? While most fannel'll simply planted wbat they bad grown, lhe search for beUer wrielies of grain bad been going on for many yeaB in both Russia and the United States, tbe two primary grain exporting countries.

/\:> early as 1862 tbe Department of Agriculture was seeking wheat

sample& from Russia as well as other rounlries., BDd a hard spring wbeat, Scotch HIe, spread rapidly from Canada into ~ in the 18705." A wriety of hard red wheat called Ostery, brought from RuSllia in 1877, produced impressive result5 for lbe M~uri

AgriculiUral College in 1882. But even earlier, in 1881, 8 bard red winter wheat from Russia w& definitely establisbed in Kansas, though probably not from Anna Barkman's two gallons, as something called "Turki!;h" was lisled as a local variety and as bard wheat in the KaMaS City market reporu;.20 Il had reached Ellis County lhe next year, acrording 10 the Hays City StOl'-Sentilul (July 13, 1882): "The lurkey-belIrd wbeal proved il:s£lf a valuable quality beyond expectation. People who attended Ihe fair last Ie8SOCI will remember tbe sample of seed emibiled.~ This report also provides a elue as to how it spread. 10 1883, lhe Marion Record compared the color of "Turkey" 10 Red May and roncluded, ~Bul then the COnl(ast will disappear when the Russian wheal entirely supercedes the softer varieties, as II seems destined 10 do."!l But it would still Lake lime.

The wbeat experiment5 in Kansa5 were promoted by large farm eotrepreneul1J such as Henry, by millel1J, exporters, and railroads, by stale officials, and by cereal grain specialist5. In 1887 tbe Kansas Agrieullural College's experimental fann near Manhattan w& testing 51 dislinct varieties under the supervision of Edward Mason Shelton, who, interdlingly, was originally from. England. lbough somc of these were hard wbealS wilh Russian, Turkish, and Bulgarian labels, Shelton still recommended Early Red May or Zimmerman, both soft wheats, tor Kansas, but he noted lbat a Turkey wheat, which he referred to as "amber"

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II1I*I fm:D RUSIia 811 well as other aoarica, 8bd 8 bard &pring wheat, mb F1k, &pre8d rapKIly from. Canada 10 NinrM'NU in the 1870s.19 A variety

bard red wheal called Ostery, OOgbl fm:D RuaaiIi in 1871, produced lpl'CIllIve raultB for the Missouri pil:uJlUrW College in 1882. But even 1I'Iicr, in 1881, B hard red \Violer wheat :m Russia was definitely established in IID8lII, lhwgb probably nol from Anna utman's two gallollS, 3J something iIIed "Turtish" was Iisled as It local lliety and as bard wheat in the Kan.w IIy markel reports.20 It had reached iIiI County the next year, attOrding 10 e ~ Gty Star-S~1IliN1 (July 13, 182): "The turkey-beard wheat proved re1f a valuable quail!} beyond :pectalion. People who allendtd the Ir last season will remember the mple of seed emibited.· This repo" 10 provides a due M to how it ~pread.

I 1883, tbe Manon Rn:orrI compared Ie oolor of "Turkey" (0 Red May and mc!.uded, "Bu! then the almfSSI win sappcar when the Rus.~i8n wheat _ly superoedes the softer varieli~,

I It seems destined to dO."21 But it wid still take time.

1bc wbcal experiments in Kansali ere promoted by large rann Itn:preoeurs sueb as Henry, by millen, quters, and railroads, by state I'ficials, and by cereal grain specialists. I 1887 the Kansali Agricultural oDege's experimental funn near lanhaltan was tc:lling 51 dislinct Irietic:& under the supervision of dward Mason Shellon, who, ltereslingly, was originally from ng\aDd. Though some of these were IIfd wbcalS with Russlan, Turkish, and ,ulgarian labels, Shelton sUll :a:xDmended Early Red May or :immerman, bolb soft wheats, for :anau. but he noled thai a Turkey :heat, which he referred to 811 ~amber~

in color, was being grown iJUCOCSllfu11y in McPherson Counly--Ihat is, in Mennonite territory.12

Shelton also reported thai lJJe advantages of some of lhese new Russian wrieties of wheat were greater hardiness, and therefore leIlA winter tin, and, for at leasl one Turki8h wriely, resistance to black rost, which was a special problem encountered by an summer wrieties that ripened late in the season. But a major disadwntage remained--milling--although this is a mad of chicken and egg problem: which comes first, the mill or the wheat? These hard varieties were generally classified at the time as "macaroni" Wheats, and indeed the primary !>timulus for growing hard wheal in southern Russia was for export to Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean. One other important adwntage of hard wheat was that it is richer in gluten (protein) and would produce more flour (and thus more bread) per bushel. In the United Slates., there was yel less demand for this tind of flour and consequenlly a lack of milling facilities that could handle hard wheat. But the spread of hard spring wheal in Minnesola led to the establishment of new milling processes in Minneapolis, using steel rol1ers instead of millstones and an air-forced middling prDCe1i5 to separate the bran.Zl

Also, a vastly increased immigratim from Soulhern and Eastern Europe to American urban areas was changing the American flour markel. By the mid-188Os., some of this new demand was met by a Newton miller of Ukrainian Mennonite origin (tbough he converted to the Presbyterian faith at marriage).;Bemhard Warkentin. In 1885 and 1886 in quest of wheat wrieties he, in faet, made two trips back 10 Russia, where his father was slilI in the milling busin~.Zol [n the crimea and in the

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Berdianst. (sea of Azov) aportinB area, with which be W8!I mo8l familiar, was grown a geoeral class of bard, red spring wheat known 811 amautka, Alra..ins of wtllcb bad localized D8me3 such 811

KrimkD and Kra.moia Turlca or Red Turkey. He brought back a carload of amautka-wtUctl means •Albanian~ in RI.lMian....-KI pioneered the further tc:lltiDg of aampk:s in Kansas with the help of Sheltoo and bill lUa:e8IlOI', Mart CArletoo_Zl

Warkentin also contributed in another way; he adapted milling machinery in Kansa'l to steel roIkn; of the Minneapoli8 tind that could grind hard wheat more effectively. In 1886 be bought the Monarch Steam Mill in Newlon and modernized and expanded il the following year 811 the Newtoo Milling Company. Soon his "Cream of Kansas" flour was being produced by !ieVeral mills and !Old Ilationally. By 1888 he had broken into lhe European market. That year JanMeM and Company of Antwerp (Belgium) informed Warkentin that ~Kansas flour of Turkey wheat is alway5 welcome in this country. It is the only flour that 8Il6Wen; well tbe purpose."lIJ Thai fall acreage devoted to hard winter wheat in Kansas and surrrn:uxJing SlBtes soared.

It is important 10 note that Q{her modem steel roller milling operations., employ;ng 8 "middlint purifying process, spread rapidly acrou the ute at that very time. I.n McPhel'tlOll the Queen Bee Mill was remooeled and refitted in 1894 and produced flour that was reponed to rompete wen with Pillsbury of Minneapolis. The Pearl Milling Company abo commenced operations there in 1894, while the Smoky Valley Roller Mills nearby in Lindsborg, now a museum (as is Warkentin's Neowum mill), began producing its hard wheal ~Golden

Patent~ flour in 1888. Responding 10

• market demaJIds, fbe Inman mill began operation in 1892 and Wdl'l subsequently expanded into one of the area's largest and longest lasting.%7 These v.rheat processing mills Ihat soon replaced sloclcy.!.rd.s 35 the economic b<lckbQnes of !omal! t~ Kansas had advanlages O\'Cr the larger centralized flOUr mill:l in COt'llroJling quality of supply and of having cheaper lran.o;portation ca;ts.

SO, perhaps the true centennial of Turkey Red should be celebraled in 1990. This appro:limilte date is suppol1ed by a RUMian agricultural dictionary, published in 1895, Which, in ils deLailed definition of wheat, noted thaI lD'1IlJUlkiJ, 35 reponed by a Rus.sjan cereal expert visiting the Chicago Columbian ExpositiOll in 1892, "is called reCl lurkey in America and is grOWTl as a 'olrinler wheal."211 C..erlainly the Clramatic expansion of agriculture and ranching across Kansas was attracting world allention by then. Henry 'Gng quipped for a naiiona\ audience in 1891, ~It has been asserled lhat the Kan<.3n would not care to go 10 heaven unless he COuld be guaramew an ample range to the weSt of (~."~

But thaI is not Ihe end of the story, and a true L1:ntennlal is further ob5cured by historical complexities. Wheat in Ihe 189(k was sHU sccond<try to corn in Kansas, partly, in fact, because of its V\Jlnerability 10 winter kill, disease, and Ihe Hessian fly, and to market uncertainlies and persisling milling problems, but also because of the coineidence of increasing demand for feed grain \0 {<lUCri caltle ana pigs for the growing urban market. Marion and McPheTYIn e(lUnties produced fIve lime.\ as much corn as wheat in 1889, and even in Russell County more acreage was devOled to COrn than wheaL''I& Perhaps even Mennonites ilnd VQlga Germans were $hifling f1elm; from wheal to cern at chat time. Moreover,

the wheat tbat Warkentin ground into flour at lhB time was lisled in lite market reports as No.2 Red, wIlich ~

probably some "TurkWI" or arntJUIka variety but Il'I3y not have been the classic Turkey Red that made Kansas famous. And the miller hiJruielf recommended to others and planted "Oregon May" on his OWTI farm near HaLstead in the fall of 1888; Carleton later n:flected that g~ quality Turltty wheat was nOl appreciated umit the lare 1890s.~1 The search was not over.

Several more years of teMing followed. In 1898, as al'l "agricultural explorer" for the Departmcnl of Agrieul1ure, Carlclon toured Russia enen.sively and brought back a very hard durum whent from the vOlga region called "Kubanka,' which was initially tried in Kansa.~. Two years later, Warken\in, n:praenting lhe Ka~

Millers' Associalion, and Carleton vi.~itcd

South RUMla together and pinpointed a Mennonite village in the Crimea whieh h.ad been prdclicing ad'lanced seea selection, Warkentin apparently bOught the crop, for the next year 15,000 busheb were ~hippelj from OdeMa to Kansas CiIY (like carrying coal co Newcastle) and from there by carload lot to various points in Kansas. This was no aourn. Turkey Red, but other amaulkiJ or 'TlJrkey" S[fain.~ of hard red wheat, one labc:\[ed "Kharkov" from ils place of origin, were intrOduced from Ru~ia by Carleton about the same time. J2

The Kan.'iJlI Agricultural College finally realizro the importance of having iln eKperimenta! farm in prime wheat rountry and established one near Ha}'li in 1902. Thanks 10 the success there of Kharkov and ~ub/;ocquenl agricultural CItension promolion, by 1909 it had swept ](ansas-, and corn dcfmitely anu permanently into seoond rank. The Wichila EAgle repol1ed in 1'lO9 ibat

•

•

: wbeal thai Warkentin ground into Ill' at LbiI lime WWl listed in lhe

utet reports as No.2 Red, which was DbIy some "TurDsh- or Cl17tllUlka icty but may not have been the I&ic Turkey Red that made Kansas IlOUI. And the miller himllelf :ommended 10 others and planted rep May" on his own farm near lIItead ill Ibe rau of 1888; carleton er relJed:ed tbal good quality TurKey ICat WlI& not appreciafed until the late §Q..11 The !le8rch \W.~ not oYer.

SeYel'B1 mOfe yeaD of I~ling

lowed. )0 1898, as an "agricultural *'re," fur tbe Depanmenl of :rit'ulture, carleton toured RUliSia 'ensively and brought back a very I'd durum wtJeal from the Volga pen called "Kubanka,· which was Lially tried in Kansas. Two years later, utenlin, representing the Kansas IIenl' Association, and carleton vi.~iled

ulh RuB&ia together and pinpointed a mrxWle village in the Crimea which j been practicing advanced seed cction. Warkentin apparently bought : crop, for the next year 15,000 shcJs were shipped from Odessa [0 DI&.' aty (like canying coal 10 weastle) and from there by carload to wrious points in Kansas. This was

doubt Turkey Red, bUI other llDUk.a or "Turkey" srrnins of hard red eat, one labelled ~KharWv" from its ce of origin, wen: introduced from asia by Carleton aboul the same •.n

The Kansas Agricultural College !lily realized the importance of having Clperimemal farm in prime wheal

!fitry and established one near Hay.; 1902. Thanks 10 the success there of arkov and subsequent agricultural eDlioD. promotion, by 1909 it had :pi 1Camas, and com definitely and 'D'Il!lI1enUy into second rnnk. The t:tLita &gIe re}Xlrted in 1909 that

wbeal growe~ were highly interested in Kharkoy wheal, and the not year Ibe Kmuas Farmer prai6ed hard "'heat of the- "Turltish type" and advised all wtreal growers 10 obtain good seed of "hard red winter wheat of Ibe Turkey type,' preferably KharkOY or Turkey," as if Ihis wa~ Ihe firsl lime it bad made such a reoommendation.ll Perhaps then, 1910 maries the achievement of the Kansas miracle.

Then from one mutanl head or Turkey Red carne what W3lI firsl kn<:rtIm as "Crimean wheat pedigree number 762," more familiarly known as "Kanred." It was for many years the major competilor of KharkOY, followed by other improved Turk:ey varieties--Blacthull, Kanvale, Tenmarq, Pawnee, and others--through the great expansion of wheat acreage during and following World War I, when grain exports from Ru:r.sia were CUI off by war, revolution, and civil war, and Kansa5 farmers (and Eastern speculators) responded to a government patriotic drive to increase wheal production.='"

Wilh the state's tOlal wheat yields dOUbling between 1915 and 1925, by 1924 Ihe KaIl.'iaS governor could confidently claim that "Kansas gJ'ow.i the best wheat in the world,' and about ninety per cenl of il was Turk:ey.J~ The following year Kansas crowned ilJl fi~t

"wheat girl," Vada Wal5On-- perhaps a clear sign thai somclhing major was happening--and il was reponed proudly thaI she drew the biggest crowd of the year al the state capilOI.lol

In the len-year period from 1917 to 1927, Kansas produced, on average, 14.7%, or one §eYenth of the world's prodUCtion of wheal. It would never reach that percentage again, because of the spread of cullivation of wheat throughout lhe world. Bul between 19t9 and 1954, Turkey wheat varieties

dominated tbe American market, acrounling for twice as much acreage as the not higbesl wheat dassification.l7

Aboul 1927, tberefore, the time of BIi55 I&Iey's revelation of the Anna Barkman story, we can proI)ably conclUde that the Kansas miracle had occurred, that history had caught up with myth, and that thanb 10 "'heat, Kansas had become lhe- nation's bread baslc.eL 1llis image wouk1 IIOOn be tarnished by Depres.~ion and !K)i1ed by Ihe Dust Bowl that the massive colMrsion of rangeland to wheat helped create, but it endures to this day.

While !TIO!It Kansans adhere to the idea of Turkey Red arriving in the baggage of Mennoniles in 1874 as pan oC the lore of the state, "academics" such as Malin, arguing on the basis of logic and evidence, gave Ihe major credit to millertl and agronomists (especially Warkentin and Carleton) and a long period of scientific experimentation. Turkey Red may, in fact, have been planted in the Barkman backyard in Gnadenau in the fall of 1874, but it was certainly unreoogni1.ed and had little effect on the state's agricUlture for §eYera] more years. By 1880, earlier than scholars of the subject have allowed, a hard red winter wheat of Ru:r.sian origin, perhaps firsl brought by new Mennonite seu/en or those Woiting their Ulaainian homeland, and al I~t altin to Turkey Red, W8lI beCOming established in Kansas in Mennonite ar~. It 5(X){I spread to

other quane~ but did nOl become dominant for many years because of milling, storage, and marketing problems. The SUCceM of Turkey Red and hard wheat W8lI clearly dependent on milling lechnology and market expansion.

This miracle of Kansas wheat, and it certainly can still be called one, W3lI thus a combination of Ihings.:

9

10

determined, hatd working immigranlS tecboology wbiIe also packing citieS with arriving from areas of Europe where pcopIe hungry for apaJheUi and rom was unknown; clever land macaroni and good, cbeap tread; and promoUoo by pcopk like Henry and perhaps, bul DOl yel fouoded OIl SChmidl; cheap and conveniem railroad historical fact, Illat week or 1'10 of and homesteading land; the drought and painstaking seed picking by Anna gntSShoppel'll wiping out spring wheat Barkman that at leasl provided a and rom in 1874; experimerlt8tion and cokxful and appropriale folk image for seed &election over a number of deCades agric:ulturul cbange; but above all, by by millers and agricultural specialiJlS sOO and c!.inlolile rondilions and the such ali Warkentin, Krehbiel, Shelton, MXial, eronomic, and politieal and carleton; the industrial revolution environmenl of a vt:ry unique part or thai perfected milling and transportation the world.

NOTES

1. Purchase records are in Land Department Rerords, 1873-75, RR n:13, santa Fe Railroad Papers, Kansas State Historical Society [hereafter KSHSj. I am very much indebled to the colleetions and helpful staff DC the society fur much of the content of this paper, and to the Kansas Commirree for the Humanities, whO'le ~Speakel'll Bureau" inspired an earlier version of Ihis paper, the first audience being a county extension group in Cimarron (Gray County). Jt was also presented in 1989 to annual meetings of the Kansas History Teachel'll ~tion and the Kansas Folklore Society, and benefited from audience feedbaek and enrouragement for subsequenl revi&ions.

2. For the 1974 version of the Turkey Red story, see Harley Stucky, "The Wheat Centennial Year in Review," December 16, 1974, ~pt of news release, XSHS; HBC 1014, Jounwl of I~ Howe of t~ Kansas LegislalU1'e, January 22, 1973: 61-61; "Golden Grows the Grain,~ Kansas (no. 1, 1974): 13-18; Jane Hogan, ~US·50

Designaled Wheat Centennial Memorial Highway," Highway Highligfw (June 1974): 8-9; Herben F. Friesen, ~Hi:>tory of Turkey Hard Wheat! in U.S.A~ (Dcx:lge City: High Plains PUbl.., n. d.); and··for [he next generation: 1M Story of Wh£at Coloring Book, as played by the Anna BarUnan Road Company, Hillsboro, Kansas (Hillsboro: TC·AV Productions, 1974). The best, scholarly accounl is x.. S. Quisenberry and 1­P. Reitz, "Turkey Wheal: the Cornerstones of Empire,· Agrieultwa/ History, voI.. 48, no. I (January 1974): 98-llO.

3. Esther Loewen VOgi, Turkey Red (Elgin, III.: David C. Cook Publ.. Co., 1975). 4. Ian Frazier, ~A Reporter allarge: Great Plain8 III,· 1M New Yorlrrr, March

6, 1989: 54-55. 5. For lIJl excellent essay on the imerrelations of myth and hil;lOry aod the

historian's role, see Austin E. Fife, "Folklore and Local History," ehapler four of his Exploring Wesrem Americana (Ann Arbor and london: UMI Research Press, 1988), pp. 4)-54.

6. A elaMi.e account of the Mennonite migration-and &till useful-oil; C. Henry Smith, 1he Coming of the Russian Mennoni/es: All Episode in the Sen/ing of the Lost Fron1ier, 1874-1884 (Berne, Indiana: Mennonite BocIk Concern, 1927). For paniculars

:bDoIogy wb1Je aI80 pacting citieS Wltb cpIe hutlSf)' fa' spagbelti and IC8I'CG and good, c:beap bread; alld :tb8pI, ~t DOl yet founded ()[\ llOricaI r.:t. tbat ~k or so of mstaml IICCd pickinl by Anna !Il1m:IatI tbat at Iea5l: provided a 0fuI and appropriate folk image for ;ricultural cbaD,gti but abaYe all, by (l and climate cooditiooa alld the cial, ooooomic, and political wirooment of a very unique pan of • wor1d.

IDCDt Rea:Jrd5, 1873-7$, RR 308: 13, hal SCdety [hereafter kSHSj. I am fulaaff of the society lor much of the ;mmiUec for the Humanities, wtI08e of this paper, Ole fint audience being :nanty). JL 'MIll also presented in 1989 'eacbm Aaaocialion and the Ka~

~ feedback and encouragement for

lItOl'y,l!lCC Harley Stucky, "lbe Wheat 74, typeacript of ~ release, KSHS; 'LqisltlJlft, January 22, 1973: 61~lj

1974): 13-18; Jane Hogan, ~US-50

~," H"aghtwry fflghJigIw (June 1974): lard Wheats in U.sA· (Dodge City: K!r8tiat 1M Story of Wheal' Coloring [JIDpaD)', lfllisboro, Ka~ (Hillsboro: , aettlUnl .ill K. S. Quisenberry and L. Empire," AgriadturaJ Hu/ory, 'Yol. 48,

,m.: David C. Cook Pub!. Co., 1975). II. PIain5 III," 1M New Yorh.-F, March

IatiDDs of myth and hi5tory and tile :ld Local Hisl~," chapter tour of his London: UM1 Research PteMi, 1988),

iption-and Iltill \Deful-is C. Henry AIr EJi30de in 1M ~nling of IN Last ,Book. CclDl%m, 1927). For poniculan

11

as to KaIWlS, see my aniele, 7he Migralion of Ibt Russian-Gennans to Kansas.: 1M f(ansos Historical Quarterly, '101. 40, no. 1 (Spring 1974): 38-62

7. Wicllila Engle, AlIgust 27, 1874; Albena Pantle, citing ekler Jacob Wiebe, ~Selliement of lhe Krimmer Mennonite Brethren at Gnadc[l8U, Marion County,~ 1M Kansas Hu/oril;Q/ Quarterly, '101. 13, no. 5 (February 1945): 269. For rich de8cripti0n5 of Mennonile arrivals, see Topeka Doily COfffIftOnweahh, capecially the articles by Noble Prentis.., July 26 and October 15, 1874, and April 15, 1875.

8. Bliss Isely, "Why ~ is a Greal 'Wheat SUite," WiehiUl Beacon, May 15, 1927, in Wheat Clippings, '101. 1, 1870-1930, KSHS. 1bi5 was repeated by a number of newspapers., nOlabty by the KaIWlS City Star, June 5, 1927, uDder the beading, "Mennonile Children Selected the 'Wheat Seed Lhal Hu Made Kansas Famous..· F. D. Coburn gave the credit to Warkentin: "Fighting a Bread Famine," 1M SaJurday Ewning Post, 'Yol. 182, no. 45 (May 7, 1910): 34.

9. Carroll K. Mil:hener, ·Sruffed Straigh15: from tile Managing Editor Sifter," 1M Northwestern Miller, June 28, 1944.

10. Wil:hila Beacon, May 15, 1927; Ka~ Dty S/ar, June 5, 1927; "Highlights of Gnadenau,· Parrnew Centennial C.ommirtee (Canton: 1be Sterling Press, 1974), pp. 7-9. One other SlOry of wheat being brought directly from Russia in 1875 surfaced in 1949, when a trunk belonging to Abraham Seibert, who settled near Dundee in Barton County, returned to KaIWlS along with the daim that it had contained Turkey Red wheat. "Tr~ure Chest 1bal BroUght KaIWlA Slan in Wheat Goes to Great Bend as Its 'Home'," Topeka Daily CapiJol, November 1, 1949, Sanla Fe Clippings, KSHS.

11. A S. Nifontov, ZemoYOe proizvodsrvo Ronii 110 vtoroi poloviJv XlX veka [Th.e Grain ProdlUlion of Russia in the Second Half of the 19th Cenlury] (Moscow:: Nauka, 1974), pp. 184-86.

12. Ibid., pp. 171-75. One of the best contemporary sources is an Englishman who was selling agriCUltural machinery lO the Mennoniles in Russia: George Hume, 1hirry Five Years in Russia (London: Simpkin, Marsllall, Hamilton, kent & Co., 1914), pp. 50-55. He notes that a hard Wheat prodUced by Mennonites in the 1860s was mUch in demand in lIaly for macaroni.

13. For the history of this unique Mennonite village see David V. Wiebe, Grace Meadow: IN! SIO/)' of GTUUleNlU and In Firs' Elder, Mariolt County, Kansas (Hillsboro: Mennonile Brethren Publishing House, 19(7), and Prantle, 1M Kansas HUlori4:Q/ Qumr~rly (February 1945): 259-8.~.

14. On varietiC5 of wheat: Harvey County News, October 6 and NO'o'ember 24, 1875; and Marion C..ounty Record, January 24, 1878. On the seed wheat for the Mennonites, see Glenn Danford Bradley, 1M Story of IN SaNa F~ (8c5t:on: Richard G. Badger, 1920), p. 123. On the Mennonite special c:oocentralion on wheat: "'The Russian settlers make a great spectalty of wheat, and are largely incr~ing its production in Marion County every year. Our Americans raise immense quantities of it, but do nOl make il so much of a specialty--ralher prefening a variety of crops." Peabody Gazer/e, July 29, 1881; and "Wheat around Gnadenau 1oo1l:s well, of wtIich there is corL'iiderable." Marion County Record, April 13, 1879. But on the continuing dominance of com: Topeka Daily CommonweQ/lh, OClober 26, 1879.

15. For gocxl outlines of wheat history, see Homer E. SocoIOfsky, "History of Wheal,~ in WheN-Field to Mark£t: 1M SIOry of I~ Golden Crop (HUlchinson: X.a~

Wheat Commission, 2d ed., 19(9), pp. 7-24; James L CoIYr'eIl, "American Wheat

12

Varielies: Our History in Microc:osm: SocitJ/ Sde7JCe Jounwl, vol. 16, DO. 3 (October 1979): 67.78; and Quisenbeny aDd Reitz, oiled aboYe.

16. Topeka Capital, FebrulU)' to, 1910, in Wheat Clippings, 't'OI. I, KSHS. 17. James Malin.. WUller Wheat ill the Golden &It of Kma.ws: A Study ill

Adaptatiolf 10 SubhuJrUd ~aJ EnviroMtelll (~lXt:: Unrversity of Kansas Press, 1944), pp. 30, 66-67; Stuart Henry [broiDer DC T. C. Henry), Kmuaf Wuuer Wheal: Wuuer J+1aeat in the Golden &11 of Kmuas: A Reply and Critit'{ue by (J/I

Eyewitness, by Bulhar, n.d..~ Kansas City JoumaJ, D. d. (19041), 'Wheal Clippings, KSHS.

18. RusseU County Censw;, 1885. At. late 81 1882 the North Topeta Farmel'To Oub debated the topic: "can wheal be &l.Ia::e86fu1ly railed in Kan.vu.?" The Topeta Times, June 30, 1882.

19. Isaac Newton, Departmenl of Agriculture, WashingLOn, to Bayard Taylor, SecreLary of I.egalion, St. Pelenburg, October 6, IB62, Diplomatic Pav: Records, RuS(,ia, vol. 4501, p. 20, Record Group 84, Nalional Archives; Hennan Steen, flour MiJJing in America (Westpor1, Conn.: Greenwood Reprint, 1973), p. 44.

20. "1be WheAt Harvesl,· Topeta Daily Commonwealth, lune 22, 1880; "Experiments in Wheal Raising,· Newton KoMan, NlJYember 9, 1882.; Mart: A Carleton, "Hard Wheats Winning Their Way," Yearboo.k of the U"ued StD/d Departmefll ofApu1tun 1914 (Washington: GoYemmen! Printing Office, 1915). p. 402. Around the village of Catherine in Ellis County lhat summer were grown 1,730 acres of \\'inter wheat, 738 aCf~ of com, 140 of millet, 138 of oats., 40 of sorghum, 36 of potatoes, and 8 acres of tobaCCO. H8)'S City The Suu-SenJinel, luly 13, 1882.

21. North Topek.a Moil, quoling Ole Marton Record, October 25, 1883; Malin, p. tB1.

22. Hays ory German-American Advoeale, luly 18, 1883. 23. Sleen, pp. 49-51. 24. On Warkentin. see M. E. Schmldl, MBemhard and Wilhelmine Warkenlin,M

~P(. Manuscript Department, KSHS; Davkl A Haury, MBemhard Warkentin and the Kansas Mennonite Pioneers," MerrnoniJe Ufe, vol. 27, 00. 3 (september 1974): 70-76; and Ian Pr~ton, "TIle Warkentin Legacy,M Kmuas!, 1987, no. 1.

25. The RuMian chapter of Turkey Red has yel 10 be \Witten, and sources are nol easily anamable. Since 0I7'IIlUlkn was apparently a TurkiMI term for special Albanian (terroristic?) tall: collectlm in the Balkans., one possible !.Ct:nario is lhal wheat collected in Bulgaria found illl way to the Tata~ in the Crimea. where it was discovered by the Mennoniles moving there just after lhe Crimean War. But it was known 10 Russians as early as 1840. V. I. Dal', TolJwvyi slovar' zhivago VeliJc.orosskago iazyko [F~lanatory Dictionary or the LMng Great Russian Language}. vol. 1 (M05OOW, 1863), p. 20; I. Demol'& ankle of 1842 in I. PalimpsestCN, ed. Sbomik stale; 0 :rel':rkom IcJIoziaisM' wga Rossii-_isvlecheMykh iz ZapUok Imperalonkogo Obschtsrva .•. s 1830 po 1868 god [A Collection of Articles alx>ul Ihe AgriCUlture of South RUll8ia--Ertracted from the Notes of the Imperial Society ..• from 1830 lO 1868] (Odessa: P. Frantsov, 1868), pp. 271-73.

26. Malin, p. 196; Reporr of the Kmuas Stale IJoanf ofAgrit::uJturr f« the Qumter EndUag Man::h, 1920 (Topek.a: Kansas SUite Printing Plant, 1920), p. 219. Another source reports that Kansas hard wheal flour reached Paris as early as 1884. C. B. Hoffman, "Milling in lhe xansas Wheat Belt," ThirteeNh BimnitJJ Repon of the

._._._-------­

',0t

, ,,,'-'

/

imct JOWNJI, wl. 16, DO. 3 (October I above. Wheat aippiDp. vot. 1, KSHS.

10IJm &Il of Xmws· A Study "' teI'U (I..awrencc:: Uftiveni[)' of Kansas tbcr of T. C Henryj, Kamas Wuuer r.w.u.. A Rqly aNI CriIique '" ~ l1li. D. d. (19041), Wheat Qippings,

• 1882 the Ncrth Topeta Fanners tully nUlled in Kansas?" The Topeta

lure, Wasbington, to Bayard Taylor, r 6, 1862, Diplomatic Post Reoords, JonaJ. An::bNcs; Herman Steen, flour od Reprint, 1973), p. 44. ~ COfMIOfIwr4M, June 22, 1880; PUIIlI, Na.ember 9, 1882; Mark A. ry," yl!triook of the UNJed Stales ~mment Printing Office, 1915), p. JUDry that summer -ere grown 1,730 ,millet, 138 of oats, 40 of !IOrghum, ::tty ~ Slar-SmJiNl, July 13, 1882 :JD R«onf, October 25, 1883; Malin,

• July 18, 1883.

mlIwd and Wilhelmine Warkentin," w:I A Haury, "Bernhard Warkentin IiIr I..ife, vol. V, 110. 3 (September J Legacy," !VJnsas!, 1987, no. 1. 81 yet to be Millen, and !oDurces are lBreIJtty a Turkish term for special dtans, me FlJIIoibk ~nario is that e Tatan in the Crimea, where it was II after the Crimean War. But it was L Da!', Tolkovyi slOVfJT' zhivago

rUle lMng Great Ru~an language], itic: of 1842 in I. PalimpseslOY, ed.

Rouii-islJli!chennykh iz Zapisok god [A CoIleclion of Articler; about

m the Notes of the Imperial Sodery 1868), pp. 271-73. t Board ofAgr1cuJlJIn for the Quarter mtiDg P\ant, 1920), p. 219. Anolber cached Paris 8lI early as 1884. C B. ," '11&i7mfllll ~ Rl!pon of the

Kansar StaJe Board of Agriculture [01' the Years 1901 and 1902 (fopeta: Kansas Department of Agriculture, 19(3), pp. 538-39.

27. W. J. Krehbiel, The McPMnon ReJU!lit:tut MagruiM SupplenvllJ, Mareh I, ]901; and Krebbiel, McPherson COWfIy, May 23, 1902; Paul R. I...av.Tence, ~Newtoo

Mil1.§ and the Santa Fe," The SaItIa Fe Magazine, voI.. 26, DO. 7 (June 1932): 22-24; Allen Pauls, "'The Milling Indu~lry in Inman, Kansas," He:riu1ge orIN ~QJ Plains, vol. 21, no. 3 (Summer 1988): 32-37; Steen, pp. 49-54.

28. S. M_ Bogdanov, llliustriroYaJVryi Sel'sJcokJwziaisrvrttnyi Slovar' {Illustrated Agricultural DiC1ionary] (Kiev: BarUii, 1895), p. 1087.

29. Henry KinS, "Picturesque Featuf'e\ or KaIlS88 Fanning,· Soumer'j MonJhJy, vol. 19, no. I (November 1879): 132

30. Seveflth Biennial Repon of the Kmtsas Slate Board of Agriculture. . lor the YelUJ" 1889-1890 (fopeka: Kansas Publ. House, 1891), pan 11, pp. 5-9.

31. Carleton, "Hard Wheats," p. 401; Malin, p. 205; NC'Nton Re~licart, October 22, 188B.

32. Carleton, "Wheat Improvement in Kansas," Thinee"'h BieNJiaJ Rl!port, pp. 514-15; Malin, p. 206; Greal Bend Tribune, AUgust 12, 1936, in Yfbeat Oippings, KSHS; Paul de Kruif, "1be Wheat Dream: CarleLOn," in HlUJgrr fighJm (New York..: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1928), p_ 14.

33. H. A. Fltz, "Wheat As tbe Kansas Miller Wanl!; II," Kansas Farmer, August 20, 1910, in Wheat Clippings, '0'01. 1, KSHS, p. 47; De Kruif, pp. 17- 24; "Wheal Growen; are Highly Interesled in l(harlw'I' Yfbeat," Wicbila Eagfl!, June 25, 1909, in Wheal Clippings, vol. 1, KSHS, p. 41.

34. Malin, p. 206; Repon of lhe Kamtl1 Stall! Board ofAgriculrure, 1920, p. 213; Colwell, Socw ScierK'1! JoumaJ, '0'01. 16, no. 3: 75-76.

35. Topeka JOW71ll1, April 2, 1928, in Wheal Oippings, vol. l, KSHS; Raymond L. Aory, Historical Alias of McPherson Cowtty (McPberson: McPhel'5On Coumy Historical Sociery, 1983), p. 47.

36. Yfbeat Clippings, 'o'OJ. 1, KSHS, p. 65. 37. For lite nen cbapter, on baw the pure Turkey wrielies were supplanted by

sborter, stronger slemmed hybrids, such as Marquit., Triumpb, and Seout, that were e&ier 10 combine and more drought and ditoeafie resistant, see Dana G. Dalrymple, "Changes in Yfbeat Varieties and Yields in the United States., 1919-1984," AgricultJJro1 HislOry, '0'01. 62, no. 4 (fall 1988): 20-36.

13