Tumbleweeds have taken over the High Plains. They thrive so well that they are part of the culture of the West. But this ample supply of blowing weeds can hurt farm yields, wreak havoc on neighborhoods and cause fire dangers. A minor but significant character in old western movies: the tumbleweed. In the midst of the gunslinging, often a lonely tumbleweed will roll across the screen. Today, if you drive across western Kansas on a windy day, you will often see not a lonely tumbleweed, but a swarm of them crossing the highway or congregating along a fence by the road. In western Kansas, it comes with the territory. In fact, ask people in town and they will tell stories with annoyance or amazement of tumbleweeds blocking their driveways or stacked against their homes. People in urban areas may be surprised by just how prominent this plant is on the frontier today. But it wasn’t always like that. In fact, tumbleweeds are a relatively new phenomenon on the Plains where they have claimed a new home. They weren’t even established in the U.S. in the early days of the cowboy.
Read more: Garden City Telegram
