Jim McNeill
Silver Bluff High School
64 DeSoto Drive
Aiken, SC
For NCHE
There was no
single cause
for one of the
greatest
environmental
disasters in the
history of the
United States.
However, the natural
vegetation of the plains,
a combination of deeprooted grasses
Including buffalo
grass, were able to
withstand the
dry periods when
they occurred.
“Wheat was the preferred crop for many farmers, especially
when World War I broke out in Europe in 1914. The demand for
grain overseas was high, and prices rose from less than a
dollar a bushel to over two dollars a bushel in 1917.”
“Not everyone believed
that such a narrow focus
was sensible. ‘Wisely or
other-wisely, this region
has permitted wheat
growing to become its
main concern,’ said
author
Caroline A. Henderson,
a farm wife from Eva,
Oklahoma.” Farmers
purchased tractors, disc
harrows and combine
harvesters to expand
their tilled fields and
continue reaping large
profits from their crops.
“The lands were planted to
wheat year after year
without a thought as to
the damage that was
being done. Grasslands
that should have never been
plowed were plowed up.
Millions of acres of farm
land in the great plains were
broken.
1930 was dry but most of the
farmers made a wheat crop.
In 1931 the wheat crop was
considered a bumper crop
with over twelve million
bushels of wheat. Wheat was
everywhere, in the elevators,
on the ground and in the road.
The wheat supply forced the
price down from sixty-eight
cents/bushel in July 1930 to
twenty-five cents/bushel in
July 1931. Many farmers went
broke and others abandoned
their fields. “
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html
“With prices low, money tight, and drought affecting more
than half of the nation, all it took was one more factor – wind
– to create disaster on the plains . . .As historian Vance
Johnson writes, ‘Every wind was destructive, and the wind blew
almost every day. . .Acre by acre, the crops were torn out by their
roots and carried away.’”
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html
Many farmers who stayed on their land switched to
raising cattle. That met with, at best, limited success
since the animals required large amounts of range
land for feed.
Droughts began in 1930 –
1931.
Planting was delayed in
1932 and winds destroyed
much of the crops.
1933 saw over 100 “dirty
Days.”
1934 was a calmer year, but
did see wind storms that
carried dirt all the way to
New
York City and beyond.
1935 was a severe year with
early storms lashing the
region. On April 14, a dust
storm so large arose that it
had an impact on Washington
D.C. This day was called
“Black Sunday.”
Wheat production continued to decline.
“During 1936, the number of
dirt storms increased and the
temperature broke the 1934
record high by soaring above
120 degrees in parts of
Kansas.
1937 was another year of
unprecedented dirt storms.
Day after day, Dust Bowl
farmers unwillingly traded
farms as the land moved back
and forth between Texas and
Kansas.
1938 was the year of the
"snuster". The snuster was a
mixture of dirt and snow
Reaching blizzard
proportions.”
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html
“When the wind blew in the dust bowl, something as ordinary as
breathing became a challenge. . .it (dust) would just coat the inside of
your nose literally. And sometimes your mouth would just get cottony
dry because . . .you spit out dirt. . .It looked like tobacco juice. . .But
just thought that was part of livin.’ ”
http://www.ppld.org/AboutYourLibrary/Events/appr2008/curriculumguideLifeDuringTheDustBowl.pdf
“The blowing dirt made daily
routines burdensome and
depressing. Whether one was
trying to keep house, run a
small business, go to school,
or go to church, the impact of
The dust was serious.”
“Everything that had a
surface became dusty.
Clothes hanging on the line to
dry ended up stiff with dirt.
Families went to sleep on
clean sheets and pillowcases
and awoke to find everything
dirty but the spots where they
had lain.”
Many of the migrants struggled to reach their destinations and met
obstacles along the way. The experiences of these “Okies” and “Arkies”
became the basis for John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath.
“The Dust Bowl taught
farmers new farming
methods and techniques.
The 1930's fostered a
whole new era of soil
conservation. Perhaps
the most valuable lesson
learned form the Dust
Bowl - take care of the
land.”
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html
http://www.newint.org/issue378/earth.htm
The Soil Conservation Service (SCS)—now
The Natural Resources Conservation Service
began to stress soil conservation
measures. Through their efforts, the first
soil conservation districts came into being,
and demonstration projects were carried
out to show the benefits of practices such
as terracing, contour plowing, conservation
tillage and the reintroduction of windbreaks.
http://drought.unl.edu/whatis/dustbowl.htm#coping
Wind Break or Shelter Belt
http://www.forestry.ok.gov/windbreaks-shelterbelts
Contour Plowing
http://www.cottoninc.com/Soil-Resources/Controlling-Soil-Erosion/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/dustbowl/
http://www.ccccok.org/museum/dustbowl.html
http://www.english.illinois.edu/Maps/depression/dustbowl.htm
http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html
http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html
http://www.humanities-interactive.org/texas/dustbowl/
http://drought.unl.edu/whatis/dustbowl.htm
http://www.shorpy.com/
http://www.woodyguthrie.org/
http://newdeal.feri.org/hopkins/hop27.htm
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tsme.html
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/div/ocp/drought/dust_storms.shtml
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/D/DU012.html