The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 425
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE
SOUTHWESTERN HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
VOL. XLIII APRIL, 1940 No. 4
CHARLES WILLIAM POST, THE RAINMAKER
CHARLEs DUDLEY EAVES
In a, recent issue of the Quarterly, the writer traced, in brief
outline, the career of Charles William Post as a colonizer in West
Texas, and the founder of Post City.' Post's colonizing activities
are replete with experimentation. His elaborate experimental
farm, his experimental orchard and garden, his pursuit of water
supply, and more especially his "rain-battles" afford abundant evi-
dence of the scientific bent of this restless genius. In fact, his
entire colonial enterprise in West Texas may be seen as a giant
experiment to verify a cherished theory, that "Individualism,"
in contrast with "Socialism," if given a proper trial in the free
atmosphere of a new and undeveloped country, can alone produce
a healthy citizenship "in wealth, comfort, peace, and content-
ment." It is the purpose here to trace Post's great adventure in
the role of "rainmaker," the last and greatest experiment of his
life and the most famous of its kind in history.
Post had observed the efforts of various "rainmakers" during
his years of travel about the semi-arid West, and also in the East
in times of drouth. He had also read of rains that are said to
have accompanied battles of the Napoleonic wars, and had lis-
tened to stories of rains that had fallen at Shiloh, Gettysburg, and
other great battles of our own Civil War. These accounts had led
the colonizer to believe that the explosions of battle had pro-
duced these downpours.
Through the early years of his colony, settlers were often
plagued with drouth. Post had often talked to his resident man-
1C. D. Eaves, "Colonization Activities of Charles William Post," South-
weetern Historical Quarterly, July, 19390, 72 et seq.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/461/?rotate=270: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.