Windmills

Windmills can be seen all over the American midwest and west. The Shattuck Windmill Museum in Shattuck, Oklahoma, has collected 37 different windmills and some related equipment. They range in diameter from five to eighteen feet. The windmills are all in working order and have served on a farm or ranch. This American-style windmill was invented in 1854, and it played an essential role in the settlement of the American high plains. The electrically powered pump gradually replaced many of the windmills beginning in the 1930s, but windmills saw a resurgence in the 1970s when electricity prices increased sharply. Many functioning windmills can be seen today watering gardens and providing a favorite meeting place for cows. I took these photographs in 2021.