The dust bowl 1931 – 1939 What was it? What caused it? What were consequences?

What caused the Dust Bowl disaster? Severe drought Overgrazing by cattle Overplowing by farmers High winds

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl lasted about 10 years. Main area of impact = southern Great Plains STILL, effects seen and felt across the nation

Buffalo Grass: Before the Farmers Came Great Plains So for thousands of years the Great Plains region was covered by buffalo grass Buffalo grass = incredibly important to environment of Great Plains - helps keep moisture in the ground - very deep roots; 5 feet deep - protects the soil from erosion

Great Plains Wheat Fields During the first 2 decades of the 1900s farmers rushed to the Great Plains and the Great Plow-Up began = turned 5.2 million acres of thick native grassland into wheat fields Plowing destroyed the grasses that held the soil in place; soil just sitting on surface. ***Takes 2 months for roots to grow 8 INCHES deep When WWI broke out, demand for wheat rose, and the price of wheat rose to $2.00 a bushel. After the war, demand dropped and the price dropped to $1.00 a bushel.

Supply and Demand If an item is rare & people want or need it, price goes up World War I: wheat sold in Europe & US for $2.00 a bushel (demand high) If there is an abundance of an item, price drops After World War I: farmers sold wheat only in US; price dropped because there was less demand BUT: farmers still needed to pay their bills, so they plowed more land. When prices fell even further, "suitcase farmers" who had moved in for quick profits just abandoned their fields. Huge swaths of land in eight states lay exposed to the elements. Then the drought began - lasted 8 straight years - no rain to keep soil moist, no roots to keep it in place Then the winds picked up - Dust storms: 850 million tons of topsoil blew away in 1935 alone

Who did the drought hit the hardest? Migrant workers Poor farmers from Oklahoma & Arkansas headed west to escape Dust Bowl Many moved to west coast to find jobs on farms Not welcomed by locals Locals feared migrants would take local jobs Lived in terrible conditions (tents, no water or electricity)

The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck "And then the dispossessed were drawn west- from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Carloads, caravans, homeless and hungry; twenty thousand and fifty thousand and a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. They streamed over the mountains, hungry and restless - restless as ants, scurrying to find work to do - to lift, to push, to pull, to pick, to cut - anything, any burden to bear, for food. The kids are hungry. We got no place to live. Like ants scurrying for work, for food, and most of all for land.” Dispossessed: without property, wandering, displaced he Dust Bowl of the 1930s lasted about a decade. Its primary area of impact was on the southern Plains. The northern Plains were not so badly effected, but nonetheless, the drought, windblown dust and agricultural decline were no strangers to the north. In fact the agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Depression whose effects were felt worldwide. The movement of people on the Plains was also profound.

Already struggling because of the overproduction of crops How did the Dust Bowl make problems of the Depression worse for farmers? Already struggling because of the overproduction of crops Lack of rain and overuse of land Conditions forced farmers of the Great Plains to migrate west - unwelcome - even harder life Many were left displaced/homeless as farm land became useless

The Dust Bowl What is this?

Cimarron County, Oklahoma. 1936

Dust Bowl Farmer raising fence April 1936

Son of a farmer in Dust Bowl Area April 1936

The Lincoln Memorial 21 March 1935

Newspaper clippings 1930’s

Oklahoma dust bowl refugees. San Fernando, California June 1935

Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm Farmer and sons walking in the face of a dust storm. Cimarron County, Oklahoma April 1936

Destitute pea pickers in California. Mother of seven children. Age 32 March 1937