Unfortunate Spring Weather, May 12, 1907

All of Sherd Goff’s Audubon County crops had been planted the spring of 1907.

But the Audubon newspaper an the unfortunate story: “We have had all kinds of weather the past week. Sunday [May 12] was very warm but exceedingly unpleasant because of the wind that blew the dust in all directions. One man put it the wind blew corn rows crooked. In fact, it was one of the worst we have ever seen of the kind. Monday was cooler and Tuesday was cold and Wednesday cooler still, with a little snow. . . The whole country is suffering more or less from the unusual cold and drought we are having this spring.”

Decades later, Sherd’s oldest daughter Leora remembered that the wind blew all day and most of one night, and the dust in the air was terrible. A lot of seed was exposed and some blew away. It was a little late in the season to replant field corn, so Pa decided to plant popcorn since it has a shorter growing season.

That popcorn crop did so well that he continued raising it, along with field corn, oats, and hay. For several years, he contracted with a popcorn company each spring, in Chicago or Odebolt, to grow so many acres, the company furnishing the seed. 

Sherd Goff’s crib of popcorn

They did so well from marketing his popcorn crops to buy a farm in neighboring Guthrie County four years later. He was even called the Popcorn King of Guthrie County.

Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots