C. W. Post Rain Battles
Post, Garza County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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 "battles" 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. (1967)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the drought-stricken years of 1911-1914, cereal magnate C. W. Post waged what he called "rain battles" on the Texas Caprock, detonating dynamite in hopes of jolting moisture from the sky. Inspired by reports that downpours often followed Civil War cannonades, he first hoisted charges aloft on kites before switching to ground blasts along the escarpment. The costly experiments — some $50,000 spent — were later judged only partly effective, but Post kept at them until his death.
Why it matters
Post's rain-making campaign captures the audacious, sometimes fanciful, spirit of an era when self-made industrialists believed money and ingenuity could bend even the weather to the needs of American farms.
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Related people
- · C. W. Post
Related events
- · Post rain battles
Themes & tags
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