Figure 1.-- The response of the people on the souther plains varied. Some fled--these were the Oakies because so many came from Oklahoma, perhaps the worst hit state. some stayed put and tried to weather it out. The Grapes of Wrath is about the Oakies, the ones who left, often in their cars. Many struck out for California hearing the jobs were available there. Will Rogers got down to the heart of it. "America was the first country to go to th poor house in the automobile."

The response of the people on the souther plains varied. Some fled--these were the Oakies because so many came from Oklahoma, perhaps the worst hit state. some stayed put and tried to weather it out. The Grapes of Wrath is about the Oakies, the ones who left, often in their cars. Many struck out for California hearing the jobs were available there. Actually most in the affected areas stayed. Incredibkly, some farmers attempted to fight the dust and wind. This included both prarie farmers and people in the small towns scattered throughout the Plains. This was more possible in the towns than on the farms. People were attached to their farms and remained and for several years prayed for rain. Many only left when unable to pay their mortgages, they lost ther farms. It was not at first understood that the Dust Bowl was not entiely a natural event, but a man-made disaster. Many families found ways to survive and hold on to heir land. Government programs, especially the New Deal, kept hungary families alive and on their land. [Duncan and Burns] And the Government also developed a range of new farming and conservation methods designed to permit sustanable farming on the soutghern Plains. The prolonged drought and the meteorological phenomena of the 1930s was rare, but not unique. There were undountedly droughts before. It was, however, the first time since farnmers began intensive cultivation that they the weather conditions occurred with such intensity. The conservation measures and improved farming practices meant that future periods of low precipitation could be better dealt with.

The People

Tons of topsoil were blown off barren fields and dtiven in massivev storm clouds for hundreds of miles. The driest region of the Plains � southeastern Colorado, southwest Kansas and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas � became known as the Dust Bowl. Many dust storms started there. "The impact is like a shovelful of fine sand flung against the face. People caught in their own yards grope for the doorstep. Cars come to a standstill, for no light in the world can penetrate that swirling murk... We live with the dust, eat it, sleep with it, watch it strip us of possessions and the hope of possessions. It is becoming Real." [Carlson] The response of the people on the southern plains varied. Most tried to stick it out at first. Farmers kept on plowing despite the storms that began. Most hoped that the rains would return shortly. In the spring of 1934, the massive drought impacted 27 states severely and affected more than 75 percent of the country. The Dust Bowl was result of the worst drought ever recorded in U.S. history. Families survived as best they could on cornbread, beans, and milk if they could get it. Slowly as the drought continued. People slowly began to to lose hope. Than Black Sunday struck (April 1935). People could no longer hold out. Farmers flling the drought became a mass exodus. It would become the largest migration in American history from the plains. Farm families packed their belongings, piled them on their cars, and headed west. They fled from the dust and developing desert. They headed for Washington, Oregon and California hoping to find migrant labor jobs, working on other people`s lands. These were the Oakies because so many came from Oklahoma, perhaps the worst hit state. They were not well received because the Dust Bowl developed in the middle of the Depression and large numbers of people in those states were out of work themselves. some stayed put and tried to weather it out. The Grapes of Wrath is about the Oakies, the ones who left, often in their cars. Many struck out for California hearing the jobs were available there. Actually most in the affected areas stayed. Incredibkly, some farmers attempted to fight the dust and wind. This included both prarie farmers and people in the small towns scattered throughout the Plains. This was more possible in the towns than on the farms. People were attached to their farms and remained and for several years prayed for rain. Many only left when unable to pay their mortgages, they lost ther farms. It was not at first understood that the Dust Bowl was not entiely a natural event, but a man-made disaster. Many families found ways to survive and hold on to heir land.

The Government

Government programs, especially the New Deal, kept hungary families alive and on their land. [Duncan and Burns] And the Government also developed a range of new farming and conservation methods designed to permit sustanable farming on the soutghern Plains. The prolonged drought and the meteorological phenomena of the 1930s was rare, but not unique. There were undountedly droughts before. It was, however, the first time since farnmers began intensive cultivation that they the weather conditions occurred with such intensity. President Roosevelt's New Deal had put some emphasis on agriculture from the beginning of the New Deal. Aot of the early effort was on farm prices. Increasingly, the Roosevelt administration focused on improving farming methods to prevent another Dust Bowl. The President used the Civilian Conservation Corps to plant a huge belt of more than 200 million trees from Canada to Abilene, Texas. This would help break the wind, hold water in the soil, and hold the soil firmly in place. The Administration also set out to Midwestern farmers on soil conservation and anti-erosion techniques (1937). This included crop rotation, strip farming, contour plowing, terracing and other beneficial farming practices. Agronomists report that the massive conservation effort had reduced the quantity of blowing soil by 65 percent. And slowly the land began regaining it caopability to support farming. The conservation measures and improved farming practices meant that future periods of low precipitation could be better dealt with.

Sources

Carlson, Avis D. New Republic. "The impact is like a shovelful of fine sand flung against the face," wrote in a New Republic article. "People caught in their own yards grope for the doorstep. Cars come to a standstill, for no light in the world can penetrate that swirling murk... We live with the dust, eat it, sleep with it, watch it strip us of possessions and the hope of possessions. It is becoming Real."

Created: 7:36 AM 11/10/2013
Last updated: 8:46 AM 11/10/2013