Cereal Magnate C.W. Post Launched Unconventional War to Control the Skies and Make Rain in Post, Texas

If your route through Texas to Abilene or Austin has taken you through a small city called Post, then you have driven through a small town with a big history.

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First of all, let's just get this out of the way.  Post, Texas is also home to some of the best beef jerky in the world.  There is something about the way Jackson Brothers Meat makes it, if you ever have it, you'll crave it for the rest of your life and make a special trip to Post for it.

Now the real history of Post, Texas.  Post, Texas used to be land that was a part of the U Lazy S Ranch owned by John Bunyan Slaughter.   In 1906, Slaughter sold the land to cereal magnate, C.W. Post.  Yes, that Post, that brought us Grape Nuts Cereal.   Post City as it was called then, was a model city that started in 1907.   Trim houses, a hotel, a gin, and a textile plant were built.  The city's post office began in a tent a year later, and by 1909, the city had a school, bank, and newspaper and the railroad finally came in 1910.  The town was officially named Post in 1914, the year C.W. Post died.

Now the namesake of the town is interesting in itself, however, CW Post did some crazy thing to bring rain to the city of Post.  Most people that would have done what Post did would have been considered crazy.

C.W. Rain Battles

After colonizing Post, there was no rain.  No rain means, no crops.  In an effort to end the drought in Post, Texas, C.W. Post planned battles to bring the rain.  Looking at the histories of wars at the time, Post found that rain usually followed cannon fire in a war.

According to a historical marker that stands in Post, Texas:

He thought vertical air currents would condense vapor in atmosphere and cause rain. He first used dynamite airborne by kites, but soon replaced this dangerous method by setting off explosions on edge of Caprock.

The experiments were 40% effective, however, it cost $50,000 to bring the rain.  That was a lot of money at that time.

You can see the area and historical marker where C.W. Post conducted his rain battles, located on the east side of town at the rest area.

If it worked for C.W. Post, why don't more people shoot cannons in the air during a drought?