WINDMILLS...THE SYMBOL OF THE HIGH PLAINS.
The high plains region is synonymous with windmills. Usually depicted as a silhouette against a blazing sunset, they are often solitary landmarks in an otherwise flat landscape.
Andy and I travelled north of Amarillo for an hour and a half to the town of Spearman in search of this windmill park.
Texans love collecting, so it came as no surprise that a certain Mr Buchanan had made it his lifes work to collect and display.......well, windmills!!
He said, "If it hadn't been for the windmill, this country (the panhandle) wouldnt have been settled yet.....they played a more important part in settling the plains than the barbed wire fence or the six-shooter because people couldnt have gotten along without water."



So there you have it. Incase you were wondering, the windmills purpose is to pump water up from the Ogallala Aquifer (try saying that when youve had a few! ha), which is the primary, but otherwise inaccessible water supply that lies beneath the plains. Mills pump water for domestic supply in rural areas, but mainly for water tanks on ranch land so the cattle can drink.











Nowadays, there are really only 2 manufacturers of windmills (Aermotor and Dempster) but this collection has examples of rare and extinct breeds such as Eclipse, Currie, Samson, American West, Star Zephyr, Giant, Kirkwood, Duplex, Freeman, Parish, Hummer (not just a baseball term then!)....... Oh, my god, im a 'windmill-spotter'!!! Move over Don Quixote!!!


There is never a shortage of wind on the plains.....indeed, there is often so much that the mills are designed in various ways to cut out if the wind is so strong as to risk damaging the wheel. One method, is that some fold in on themselves, as with the 'umbrella-mill' (above), while others simply have a vane to turn the wheel out of the wind as it gets too strong.



Well, i hope that was of some interest to someone!! im pretty fond of wndmills myself, as you can tell.