By 1874, the agricultural opportunities of the newly-founded state of Kansas had lured many settlers to the region, promising cheap land and abundant crops.  The spring's heavy rains only helped to further that notion, and by the first of July the state was eagerly looking ahead to a healthy harvest.  But this particular year, a stark change in weather patterns and an unwelcome guest would soon change these settlers' outlook.

As the month of July progressed, more and more counties began reporting an incredible invations of loocust, chinch bugs and cut worms, until finally nearly ever corner of the state had been touched.  It was described as looking out into a field of summer greenery one day and waking up to a wintery desert the next.  The locusts moved from field to field like a black storm cloud, devastating any hope for crops in its path.

The Downtown Augusta Inc. Grasshopper Festival celebrates the pioneer spirit in overcoming this and many other adversities.