Governor Pillsbury's Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Locusts

In April 1877, following a proclamation by Governor Pillsbury of Minnesota, the people gathered in their churches to pray for deliverance from a plague of locusts. The day following the fast and prayer, the sun warmed the earth, and the young locusts emerged, leading to their subsequent destruction or disappearance after the community's collective appeal to God.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in The Churchman, Vol. 31, No. 1 (January 1927)):

In parts of America, on several occasions, there have been plagues of grasshoppers-Rocky Mountain locusts. Farms were devastated, and ruin was widespread. Perhaps the worst visitation of this character was in the years 1873 to 1877. In 1873 a few Minnesota counties were affected. In 1874 it seemed to observers as if there were a discussion of the situation, Governor Pillsbury, of Minnesota, invited a conference of the governors of adjoining and nearby States. Accordingly, in October, 1876, the Governors of Iowa, Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota assembled at Omaha. When the conference was drawing to a close the Governor of Dakota suggested that a Day of Prayer be appointed, for possibly relief to the stricken State would come from a higher power than had yet been invoked. This thought was received lightly by some, though it found lodgment in the mind of Governor Pillsbury. The wonderful story of what followed is given in the words of the writer already quoted, who wrote after refreshing his memory by conference with the Hon. John S. Pillsbury, Governor of Minnesota at the time. 'And,' to quote Governor Pillsbury, 'we have never seen any grasshoppers since.'

Following Governor Pillsbury's proclamation of April 26, 1877, as a statewide day of prayer, additional local efforts were undertaken to secure divine intervention. In the community of Cold Spring, Minnesota, Catholics acting at the urging of their local priest, Father Leo Winter, constructed a chapel in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary to petition for relief. Originally named Maria Hilf (Mary's Help), the structure was completed by August 1877. The first Mass was celebrated there on August 15, 1877, and the local community vowed to offer Masses of thanksgiving every Saturday thereafter. According to local records, by the time the second Mass was offered, the locusts had vanished, and the plague did not return in 1878.