GOD & TEXAS: Windmills

What was painted cow patty green with buzzard blood red tips, and dotted the plains of West Texas?

This vivid description was given to the revolutionary 14-foot wood-wheeled Eclipse windmills that brought life-giving water to the pioneers of the ranching industry. But the story of the windmills started in the far northern reaches of Wisconsin. 

Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, was located off the coast of Bayfield. 17^th Century Jesuit priests named the 22-island archipelago the “Apostles” and built a mission outreach to the inhabitants. In the early 19th Century, it was home to the Ojibwe People and was the cultural and spiritual center of the tribe whose main income was through trading furs.

Born in 1811, Leonard H. Wheeler was reared by his Christian aunt, who led him into a deep devotion to God. After college, Wheeler graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1840. One year later, he married Harriet and they moved to Madeline Island to open a mission and school.

Because their house was on a high ridge, Leonard prayed for an answer to the need for a water supply and then invented a unique windmill that could pump water up from a very deep ravine. He then adapted it for grinding corn and other helpful uses for his beloved mission members. Later, he moved the mission to the mainland and named it the Odanah Manual Labor Boarding School.

In failing health, Wheeler retired from mission work in 1867 and moved to Beloit, Wisconsin. He obtained a patent for his Eclipse windmill and started mass production. By the time he died in 1872, some of his best clients were the farmers and ranchers of West Texas. The Eclipse windmill was favored because it was self-regulating and able to function as designed even in the strongest winds. No matter the conditions, the Eclipse kept pumping the life-giving water Texas needed. 

One of Wheeler's best customers was the 3-million-acre XIT Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. It spanned over 10 counties and at one time had approximately 150,000 head of cattle plus cowboys and staff. To meet their demand for fresh water, they installed 300 Eclipse windmills and were not disappointed. The old timers used to say that the Eclipse is “the only windmill that can get the deep water.”

Rev. Wheeler never came to Texas but would be gratified to know that one of his Eclipse windmills still stands proudly near the Conway Community Church in the town of Panhandle, Carson County. It is fully preserved and functional. A true example of answered prayer.

The main purpose of the windmill was to provide life-giving water to the thirsty. Though contrary winds blew against it, the windmill adjusted and kept on pumping. Like the windmill, may we stand strong and productive in our faith no matter which way the wind blows. As the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 16:13 NLT, “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”

And keep on pumping!

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