Could you picture any western American town without a tumbleweed or two rolling around it?
Tumble Weed (Salsola Tragus) a.k.a. “Russian thistle” or “wind witch”.
As the name implies, tumbleweeds aren’t native to North America. So just how long ago did these Russian invaders arrive to have been so strongly associated with all things American western?
Up until 1873, North America didn’t have tumbleweeds. Seriously? I would have thought they would have been here long before that to be such a Wild West icon. It is believed that they snuck into the country with some Ukrainian farmers’ flax seed. Another theory is they hitch a ride in wool. The first report of the tumbling pests in the United States was in Bon Homme County, South Dakota. Within two decades, these nuisances were in a dozen of states and by 1900 had reached the Pacific Coast.
In an 1894 report by government botanist Lyster Hoxie Dewey, he wrote this about the effected areas in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, “…this makes one almost continuous area of about 35,000 square miles which has become more or less covered with the Russian thistle in the comparatively brief period of twenty years.” Nearly every state is now home to the Russian thistle. They are an agricultural nuisance and fire hazard.
There is something mystical about this ball of dried up plant that comes from somewhere yonder and heads to places unknown. So much so, that tumbleweeds have become sort of a legend in themselves. They have been immortalized in movies, TV, books, poems, and songs. Here’s one song by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.
They survive and thrive at almost any elevation from below sea level to over 8500 feet and in most inhospitable environments. They are drought resistant and spread like wild fire. They grow from a few inches to three feet, even some the size a VW Bug. Each winter when they dry out, the whole plant above ground dries out, breaks off, and goes wherever the wind takes it. Literally. Each tumbling ball has around 250,000 seeds. No wonder they are so invasive and took over so quickly.
But things are not all bad concerning this invasive plant. Navaho found some medicinal uses for the plant for treating influenza and small pox. Frontiers-people burned them to make soap. Recipes using tumbleweed were created in areas where little else was available. Several animals, including mule deer, pronghorn, prairie dogs and birds, feed on the succulent, tender young shoots of the plant. During the severe drought of the 1930s, some farmers saved their livestock from starvation by feeding their livestock tumbleweeds when other food wasn’t available.
Even tumbleweeds as play things!
Tumbleweed have been both a blessing and a curse.
Did you know you can buy tumbleweeds from many places online? It goes to prove that some people will buy just about anything.
I may just have to git me one. =0)
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THIMBLES AND THREADS: 4 Love Stories Are Quilted Into Broken Lives
Love Stitched into Four Women’s Lives
Enjoy four historical romances that celebrate the arts of sewing and quilting. When four women put needle and thread to fabric, will their talents lead to love? #thimblesandthreadscollection
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“Bygones” by Mary Davis
Texas, 1884
Drawn to the new orphan boy in town, Tilly Rockford soon became the unfortunate victim of a lot of Orion Dunbar’s mischievous deeds in school. Can Tilly figure out how to truly forgive the one who made her childhood unbearable? Now she doesn’t even know she holds his heart. Can this deviant orphan-train boy turned man make up for the misdeeds of his youth and win Tilly’s heart before another man steals her away?
Other stories in this collection:
“The Bridal Shop” by Grace Hitchcock, “Mending Sarah’s Heart” by Suzanne Norquist, and “Binding Up Wounds” by Liz Tolsma
THE DAUGHTER'S PREDICAMENT (Book 2 in the Quilting Circle series)
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Can a patient love win her heart?
As Isabelle Atwood’s romance prospects are turning in her favor, a family scandal derails her dreams. While making a quilt for her own hope chest, Isabelle’s half-sister becomes pregnant out of wedlock and Isabelle--always the unfavored daughter--becomes the family sacrifice to save face. Despite gaining the attention of a handsome rancher, her parents are pressuring her to marry a man of their choosing to rescue her sister’s reputation. A third suitor waits silently in the wings, hoping for his own chance at love. Isabelle ends up with three marriage proposals, but this only further confuses her decision.
A handsome rancher, a stranger, and an unseen suitor are all waiting for an answer. Isabelle loves her sister, but will she really allow herself to be manipulated into a marriage without love? Will Isabelle capitulate and marry the man her parents wish her to, or will she rebel and marry the man they don’t approve of? Or will the man leaving her secret love poems sweep her off her feet?
HEARTBEATS IN TIME – 5 books of Old West Christian Romance (4 novels and 4
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FREE PreviewThe Widow’s Plight (Book 1 in the Quilting Circle series) by Mary Davis
A single mother steps out of the shadows of abuse and into the sunshine. But will a secret clouding her past cost her the man she loves?
Finding Love In Last Chance, California by Miralee Ferrell
Dreams of My Heart by Barbara Scott
Hills of Nevermore by Janalyn Voigt
Heart of a Cowboy Novella Collection--four Old West romances by Susan Page Davis, Miralee Ferrell, Yvonne Lehman, and Vickie McDonough
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance
MARY DAVIS s a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her 2018 titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection (January), Courting Her Amish Heart (March), The Widow’s Plight (July), Courting Her Secret Heart (September), “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection (December), and Courting Her Prodigal Heart (January 2019). Coming in 2019, The Daughter's Predicament (May) and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads (July). She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-four years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:
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