1. A BRIEF PUBLIC HISTORY OF WHEAT
Larry Cebula
Eastern Washington University

2. WHEAT IS AN ANCIENT CROP
 Domesticated in
Near East
 At least 8,500
years ago
 Grown by all
ancient
Mediterranean civs
 By 2000 years ago
spread through Old
World

3. WHEAT HAD A CENTRAL PLACE IN EUROPEAN LIFE
The Harvesters (1565) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

4. WHEAT IN NORTH AMERICA
 Middle colonies known
as the “bread colonies”
 sewn by hand,
harvested by scythe
 Major production shifts
to Ohio (1840s) and the
Great Plains (1890s)

5. THE VETERAN IN A NEW FIELD (1865), BY WINSLOW HOMER

6. DEATH = GRIM REAPER

7. WHEAT AS METAPHOR
 Bible full of wheat and bread metaphors
 “Staff of life,” The Parable of the Sower

8. CHANGES IN HARVESTING METHOD:
3000 BCE COMPARE TO 1865

9. MECHANIZATION
Roman Vallus, 77 A.D.

10. MCCORMICK TWINE BINDER, 1884
McCormick Reaper in Action Video

11. THRESHER
Video of thresher in action

12. COMBINES TAKE OVER AROUND 1900

13. STEAM SHIPPING ROUTES, 1895

14. PERILS OF WHEAT FARMING

16. POPULATION, LINCOLN COUNTY, WA
Year Total Population
1890 9,312
1900 11,969
1910 17,539
1920 15,141
1930 11,876
1940 11,361
1950 10,970
1960 10,919
1970 9,572
1980 9,604
1990 8,864
2000 10,184
2010 10,570

18. WINTER WHEAT
 Brought to US
1870s
 Plant in fall
 Makes the most
of our dry hot
summers
 Tumbleweeds

19. MODERN WHEAT HARVEST

20. SO WHERE DO THE OLD COMBINES GO?
Right here

22. WASHINGTON WHEAT TODAY

23. WHEAT ICONOGRAPHY & MONUMENTS