TEACHER’S GUIDE
©2012 KBYU ELEVEN
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Dear Educator,
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and the Great Depression, a 30-minute
television documentary produced by KBYU-TV, channel Eleven, follows a team
of high school students as they learn how Utahans in the 1930s overcame
challenges similar to our own—ongoing drought, debilitating debt, and a
struggling economy.
The program covers the following topics as they relate specifically to Utah:
U.S. Senator Reed Smoot and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff
The Civilian Conservation Corps
The Navajo Livestock Reduction Program
Depression era artists Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange
Demise of Widtsoe, Utah
Dust storms in Grantsville, Utah
National role of Utah businessman Marriner S. Eccles
The film is cleared for educational use at no charge and may be accessed a number
of ways including online at kbyueleven.org, YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq6o1fqs_2Y or on the Utah Education
Network. Copies of the film on DVD were provided to Utah public libraries.
This teacher’s guide provides additional background information for instructors on
the topics covered in the film, as well as several student activities and quizzes,
which may be duplicated at your discretion. We hope that you find Utah’s Perfect
Storm: Drought, Debt, and the Great Depression and the related supporting
materials useful in teaching your students about this important era in Utah history.
Please contact us for any additional information.
KBYU Eleven
701 East University Parkway
Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah 84602
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Additional Background Information for Instructors
Senator Reed Smoot
Source: David Gessel, Utah History Encyclopedia
Reed Smoot represented Utah in the United States Senate for thirty years. He was the first native-born
Utahan to establish a national political reputation and was also the only Mormon apostle to serve in the
U.S. Senate.
He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 10 January 1862 to Abraham Owen and Anne Kristina
(Morrison) Smoot. He attended public schools and the University of Utah, and graduated from Brigham
Young Academy (now Brigham Young University) in 1879. He served as a Mormon missionary in
England and later married Alpha M. Eldredge of Salt Lake City on 17 September 1884. They were the
parents of six children: Harold Reed, Chloe, Harlow Eldredge, Annie K., Zella Esther, and Ernest Winder.
Alpha died on 7 November 1928 and Smoot later married Mrs. Alice Taylor Sheets on 2 July 1930. Her
daughter, also named Alice, married J. Willard Marriott, founder of the Marriott Hotel chain.
Before his election to the Senate, Reed Smoot engaged in a number of business enterprises, including
banking, mining, livestock, and the manufacture of woolen goods. He was president of both Provo
Commercial & Savings Bank and the Smoot Investment Company. He also served as a director of ZCMI
and of the Deseret Savings Bank in Salt Lake City.
Reed Smoot was elected to the United States Senate as Republican in 1902. His election sparked a bitter
four-year battle in the Senate over whether he should be allowed to serve due to his position as a Mormon
apostle and the Mormon Church's policy regarding plural marriage, among other concerns. During these
four years, the Mormon Church was on trial as much as was Reed Smoot. Smoot was finally allowed to
take his seat in the Senate on 20 February 1907 partly because of the support of President Theodore
Roosevelt. He was re-elected in 1908, 1914, 1920, and 1926, and served from 4 March 1903 to 3 March
1933. Because of the Senate seniority system, Smoot served as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance
Committee from 1923 to 1933, as well as on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Smoot was
recognized as an expert on government finance and public land issues. He was known for his discipline,
hard work, integrity, and thorough preparation. His politics were conservative and pro-business. He is
perhaps best known as the joint author of the famous if often criticized Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
Senator Smoot was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1932. He moved back to Salt Lake City in
1933 and retired from active business and political pursuits to devote his full-time efforts to his apostolic
calling until his death on 9 February 1941. While serving as an apostle and Senator, Reed Smoot helped
to improve the public image of both the state of Utah and the Mormon Church in the eyes of the rest of
the nation.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
The Civilian Conservation Corps
Source: Kenneth W. Baldridge, Utah History Encyclopedia
When Franklin D. Roosevelt took over as president in March 1933, the country was in the midst of the
worst depression ever experienced in the United States. Among the organizations established to help
relieve the situation was the Civilian Conservation Corps, not only one of the first to begin operations
across the country but also one of the most successful of the various "alphabetical agencies" of the New
Deal period. The CCC was designed to simultaneously solve two of the major problems facing the
country: provide financial relief and help implement conservation projects.
Several government departments were included among the "technical agencies" which supervised the
work of the 116 camps that existed at one time or another in twenty-seven of Utah's twenty-nine counties
over the nine-year life of the CCC. The United States Forest Service supervised forty-seven camps; the
Division of Grazing—now Bureau of Land Management—had twenty-four camps working on erosion
control projects and building reservoirs. The six Bureau of Reclamation camps worked primarily on
irrigation schemes. Range reseeding was one of the main activities of the eight camps of the Soil
Conservation Service. The National Park Service had seven camps, primarily in Zion and Bryce National
Parks. In addition to these, there were also camps assigned to the state of Utah for erosion control and
work on state parks, as well as for the U.S. Biological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S.
Army. Work assignments for the camps were laid out and supervised by the technical agency in charge,
although each camp was under the command of a regular or reserve office of the U.S. Army, which
handled the logistics of supply and administration for the program.
The state of Utah enjoyed greater benefits from the CCC than other states because of the large amount of
government land and thus the great availability of projects. Based on its population, Utah generally had a
higher percentage of its manpower quota employed that did most of its neighbors. The corpsmen built
trails, phone lines, campground improvements, fences, bridges, cabins, and low-standard roads; they built
check and silt dams for flood control and the curbing of erosion; they dug out poisonous larkspur and
other noxious weeds and instituted insect and rodent control. Several of the Forest Service's CCC camps
began many of the loop roads through the canyons of the Wasatch Range. In addition to these jobs at
which they regularly worked, the CCC force constituted a 5,500-man fire brigade, units of which could be
mobilized any time for forest fire suppression.
In addition to regular work projects that benefited the mountains and deserts, the CCC also created good
public relations by participating in community work of a volunteer nature; this included projects at
Pleasant Grove Elementary School, St. George City Park, and a small earth-and-rock dam to create an
artificial lake 1,000 feet long for the Boy Scouts at Camp Kiesel near Ogden. Enrollees at the American
Fork camp worked with local Mormon youths preparing the grounds and planting lawns at Mutual Dell,
an LDS campground in American Fork Canyon. In cooperation with Brigham Young University,
enrollees installed 5,000 feet of pipe in a new sprinkling system at Aspen Grove. Opening a Forest
Service camp in Sheep Creek Canyon in Utah's northeast corner brought a new way of life to the residents
of Manila and the surrounding area; the camp had the only newspaper, telegraph, and doctor in the
county.
In addition to the fences, trails, phone lines, roads, and bridges that had been constructed; in addition to
the acres of land that had been replanted, terraced, or reseeded; and in addition to the fire-suppression and
rescue work that had been carried out by CCC crews, the CCC brought direct financial benefits to the
state. Enrollees received wages of thirty dollars monthly, of which twenty-five dollars was sent home to
their families, while the young men were allowed the remaining five dollars to spend on themselves
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
The Civilian Conservation Corps, continued
through the month. More than $125,000 a month thus was pumped into the state's economy through the
wages of the Utah enrollees.
With the beginning of World War II, the Great Depression came to an end and the CCC folded in July
1942. The army officers in charge of the camps were transferred to military assignments; most of the
camp personnel either entered the armed services or became involved in defense work. The Salt Lake
Tribune bade farewell to the CCC in an editorial of 3 July 1942 in which thanks were expressed for the
physical accomplishments and recognition granted for the human achievements as well: "More than all
else it aided youth to get a new grip on destiny and obtain a saner outlook on the needs of the nation. . . .
The CCC may be dead but the whole country is covered with lasting monuments to its timely service."
Widtsoe, UT
Located about 16 miles north of Bryce Canyon are the remains of the small community of Widtsoe. The
town came into being when Jedediah Adair bought land and began growing oats, wheat, and barley. The
area became known as Adairville and the settlement began to grow. A few years later the name was
changed to Houston in honor of the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ local
stake in Panguitch. Another name change came in 1912 to Winder after the recently deceased Latter-day
Saint leader John R. Winder. In 1917 the post office decided there were too many places in Utah named
Winder, and suggested yet another name change. The name Widtsoe was chosen to recognize John A.
Widtsoe, then president of the University of Utah and an agricultural scientist whose expertise in dry
farming had been very helpful to area farmers.
Widtsoe grew rapidly and prospered. A sawmill was built in the canyon east of town supplying lumber
for the hotels, homes and stores that were being built. Pine Lake was enlarged and a dam built to provide
water for irrigation. The United States Forest Service relocated its district office to Widtsoe in 1919 and
the town’s population reached 1,100 people.
In the early 1920s a drought began and Widtsoe began to decline. The population dropped to 210 by
1930, and by 1935 only a few families remained. During the Great Depression many families were too
poor to move. Without money they just had to stay where they were even though they could not support
themselves on the land. In 1936 the federal Resettlement Administration bought out local landowners,
freeing them from their unproductive land and delinquent taxes. The Resettlement Administration’s
purpose was to relocate the people to more productive areas and the government took over the land to use
as a public grazing area.
Dorothea Lange, the famous photographer, was commissioned by the Resettlement Administration to
document the move from Widtsoe. The series of photos are housed in the Library of Congress. A few
buildings remain in Widtsoe, and the cemetery is a reminder of the harsh conditions the people
experienced in the high desert valley of Southern Utah.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Navajo Livestock Reduction Program
By the mid-19th century the people of the Navajo Nation had flocks of sheep and heards of horses and
cattle numbering in the thousands. In 1864 the U.S. Government declared war on the Navajo people and
marched the people at gunpoint from their homeland to eastern New Mexico. This action became known
to the Navajos as The Long Walk. During this time most of their livestock were killed or taken.
With the signing of a treaty the U.S. Government and the Navajo people returned to their homeland in the
Four Corners area of the United States. As part of the treaty each family received a male and female
sheep. Over the next 60 years, these herds increased to about 500,000.
During the 1930s the federal government concluded that the flocks of Navajo sheep had led to
overgrazing of the land. They suggested that the herds be reduced dramatically. This did not sit well with
the people because of the strong cultural and economic importance of the livestock and because they
considered their animals sacred and no different from family. The federal government took action into
their own hands and exterminated over 80% of the livestock on the reservation. To the Navajo people this
became known as the Second Long Walk because of the horrible impact it had on their way of life. To this
day, many of the policies put into place under the Navajo Livestock Reduction Program in 1933 are still
in effect.
The Grantsville Dustbowl
Source: The Grantsville Dustbowl, Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Watch this 13-minute documentary at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWNJ3TX-SIM
Grantsville is located in Tooele County Utah. In the 1930s a large sheep shearing station was situated just
east of the town. Because there was no way to transport the sheep, farmers would lead their flocks right
through Grantsville, with the sheep grazing all the way through town. Upon arriving at the shearing
station, often the weather was too cold to shear the sheep right away, so the farmers would wait
sometimes up to a week or more before shearing their flocks. Meanwhile the sheep would continue to
graze in the fields around Grantsville, their numbers reaching 7,000 at times.
In the mid-1930s a drought started along with the strong winds, causing the overgrazed land and poorly
maintained soil to create enormous “black blizzards,” covering everything in dust and further damaging
the land to the point where it could no longer produce crops. Farmers and residents of Grantsville were
forced to pack up and leave the barren and mistreated land. The Soil Conservation Service, a special
branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, stepped in to help revive the land in 1938. Government
experts taught the people new ways to plant and plow in order to protect the soil. Eventually the
vegetation in Grantsville was restored and the land once again became useful. Today very little evidence
of the Grantsville Dustbowl and its effects on the land remains.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
The Migrant Mother
I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn
by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my
camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made
five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I
did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was
thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables
from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had
just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that leanto tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that
my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of
equality about it. (Dorothea Lange, Popular Photography, Feb. 1960).
Photo Credit: United States Library of Congress
The photograph that has become known as "Migrant Mother" is one of a series of six photographs that
Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens and her children in March of 1936 in Nipomo, California, near
a pea-picking camp. Lange was concluding a month's trip photographing migratory farm labor around
California for what was then the Resettlement Administration. Lange's field notes of the images read:
Seven hungry children. Destitute in pea pickers’ camp . . . because of failure of the early pea
crop. These people had just sold their tires to buy food.
Lange sent the photographs to the San Francisco News as well as to the Resettlement Administration in
Washington, D.C. The News ran the pictures almost immediately, with an assertion that 2,500 to 3,500
migrant workers were starving in Nipomo, California. Within days, the pea-picker camp received 20,000
pounds of food from the federal government. However, Owens and her family had moved on by the time
the food arrived. While Owen's identity was not known for over forty years after the photos were taken,
the images became famous. It was only in the late 1970s that Owens’s (now known as Florence Owens
Thompson) identity was discovered. In 1978, acting on a tip, a reporter located Florence at her home in
Modesto and recognized her from the 40-year-old photograph.
While all six of the pictures in the series became the epitome of documentary photography, the sixth
image especially, which later became known as Migrant Mother, "has achieved near mythical status,
symbolizing, if not defining, an entire era in [United States] history." It has become the ultimate photo of
the Depression Era. Florence died of cancer and heart problems at Scotts Valley, CA on September 16,
1983. Her gravestone reads: "FLORENCE THOMPSON Migrant Mother—A Legend of the Strength of
American Motherhood."
The photograph of Florence Owens [Thompson] is often called, “The Mona Lisa of the Depression.”
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Marriner S. Eccles
Source: Leonard J. Arrington, Utah History Encyclopedia
Marriner Eccles was born in Logan, Utah, on 9 September 1890, the oldest of nine children born to David
and Ellen Stoddard Eccles. Marriner's father, who had migrated to Utah in 1863 at age fourteen, had
become a leading industrialist, with numerous enterprises in lumber, railroads, banking, construction,
livestock, sugar refineries, and food processing. Upon David's death in 1912, he left two families (and a
court settlement was required on a third). Marriner, then twenty-two, took over the leadership of the
businesses that were left to Ellen Eccles and her children. Marriner had worked in several of his father's
businesses, had served an LDS mission in Scotland, and had attended Brigham Young College in Logan.
He was a superb business analyst and bold administrator, and within eight years, through the medium of a
family holding company, the Eccles Investment Company, he had acquired control of many of his father's
paying enterprises.
In 1924 Marriner and his brother George, a graduate of Columbia University School of Business, joined
with the Browning family in Ogden to form the Eccles-Browning Affiliated Banks, which within three
years acquired control of banks at seventeen locations in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. In June 1928
Marriner and George Eccles and E.G. Bennett of Idaho Falls organized the First Security Corporation as a
holding company to manage the seventeen banks and a savings and loan institution. This is believed to be
the first multibank holding company in the United States. Marriner, as president, was now the leading
banker in the Intermountain West.
The onset of the Great Depression of the 1930s brought on a crisis in the banking industry. Under the
leadership of Marriner and George Eccles, First Security withstood serious runs on its parent bank in
Ogden and its bank in Boise. First Security also arranged a merger in 1932 to save the Deseret National
Bank in Salt Lake City, the oldest national bank in Utah. In the process of meeting depression-caused
problems, Marriner became converted to the need for a compensatory fiscal and monetary policy; he later
had the opportunity of setting forth his ideas to U.S. Senators and to leaders in the administration of
Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was called upon to help draft the Emergency Banking Act of 1933, the Federal
Housing Act of 1934, and the 1933 act creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In November
1934 Eccles was nominated to head the Federal Reserve System, and his appointment was ratified by the
Senate in April 1935.
Marriner Eccles was the principal sponsor of the Banking Act of 1935, which restructured the Federal
Reserve System into its present form. He was appointed chairman of the Board of Governors of the newly
organized system in 1935 and served for seventeen years. As an advocate of a compensatory fiscal and
monetary policy, Eccles spoke before business groups, appeared on national talk shows, and gave
interviews to journalists. His attempts to persuade Roosevelt were sometimes countered by Secretary
Morgenthau, who was a stubborn advocate of a balanced budget, even in times of depression and
recession. Eccles's talents and policies were particularly effective in countering the recession crisis of
1937–38, thus helping to build America's economic strength prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor that
launched World War II.
At the end of the war, Eccles helped to lay out the agreements that created the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund in 1946. He was a strong advocate of the Marshall Plan for European
Reconstruction in 1948–1949 and was on the Advisory Board of the Export-Import Bank. President Harry
S. Truman failed to reappoint Eccles as chairman of the Board of Governors in 1948 but retained him as
vice chairman until 1951, when Marriner resigned. In 1982, the Federal Reserve Building in Washington,
D.C., was named for him. He died in Salt Lake City on 18 December 1977; he was eighty-seven.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Additional Background Information for Students
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC Boys)
An organization of young men ages 18–23 and the most successful program of Roosevelt’s New
Deal. The CCC was designed to solve two major problems: provide financial help to poor
families and implement conservation projects like building trails, planting trees, reseeding the
land, and constructing phone lines, camp grounds, fences, bridges, cabins, and gravel roads. Utah
reaped the most benefits from this program because of the large amount of government land
within the state. In total, 40,000 individuals worked on thousands of projects from the 116 camps
around Utah.
Dixon, Maynard
A Western artist who painted a series of pieces showing the lives of those affected by the Great
Depression.
Dustbowl (1934–1936)
The supply and demand on farming and agriculture in the Midwest resulted in over-farming.
Farmers ended up growing more food than they could sell to try to make ends meet. The
depletion of the soil from this over-farming and an untimely drought created a period of severe
dust storms. Millions of acres of farmland were damaged and hundreds of thousands of people
were forced to leave their homes behind in search of better conditions.
Eccles, Marriner S.
In 1929, founded First Security bank in Utah. When there was a “run” on his bank during the
depression, he assured his depositors their money would be backed by his personal fortune. He
was invited to Washington, D.C., to offer his ideas for curing the Great Depression. He believed
that if the government spent more money, it would put people to work, stimulate business, and
begin a cycle of recovery. He helped begin the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which insures deposits in banks. Served as
Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., is named
in his honor.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
A government corporation that provides deposit insurance. Today the FDIC guarantees the safety
of deposits in member banks up to $250,000 per depositor per bank.
Hoover, Herbert
President of the United States of America (1929–1933). The Wall Street Crash of 1929 hit less
than eight months after he took office. His failure to stop the economic downturn was the
primary reason he lost the 1932 election.
Lange, Dorothea
Photojournalist who took iconic photographs during the Great Depression (such as Migrant
Mother).
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Navajo Livestock Reduction Program
Not all government interference was welcomed during the Depression era. At the time, the
Navajo people owned large herds of goats, sheep, cattle, and horses. During the depression the
government feared that the large herds were overgrazing and would further deplete the soil. The
government determined specific quotas limiting the number of livestock on the reservation.
Without Navajo permission, government officials entered the reservation and slaughtered nearly
80% of the livestock. Furthermore, across the country, farmers were being instructed to plow
over their crops, grow less, and destroy their animals in order to regulate cost of goods and
services.
New Deal
A series of economic programs instituted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and
1936. The New Deal focused on three areas—relief, recovery, and reform. It was the beginning
of social programs in America and contributed to the growth of labor unions.
Resettlement Administration
A government program designed to help struggling Americans by moving them to new locations.
It was this administration that assisted poor residents of Widtsoe, Utah, and helped them find
new homes.
Roosevelt, Franklin D.
President of the United States of America (1933–1945). Replaced Herbert Hoover as president.
Instituted the New Deal.
Smoot, Reed
U.S. Senator for Utah (1903–1933) who helped to create the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. Also served
as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Smoot-Hawley Tariff
A tariff is a fee or tax placed on goods imported into the country. This tariff penalized European
goods to encourage consumption of American goods. In response, Europeans did the same for
American goods leading to the collapse of foreign trade.
Utah Dustbowl
During the 1930s, Utah experienced its own dustbowl near Grantsville, Utah, a small town
outside of Tooele. While Midwesterners over-farmed their land, Utahans overgrazed theirs. Like
in the Midwest, the dustbowl in Grantsville was also spurred by drought.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Widtsoe, Utah
Ghost town about two hours east of Cedar City, Utah, near Bryce Canyon National Park. Many
people began to move to the area because of the success of dry farming, a technique where
farmers grow crops without irrigation and with very little rainfall. The city grew to 1,100 people,
but when the droughts of the dustbowl came, only a handful of citizens stayed behind while
everyone else left in search of better conditions.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
The largest New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works
projects like constructing buildings, roads, and dams, as well as operating arts, drama, media,
and literacy projects. Especially benefitted rural and western areas of the U.S. In 1939 renamed
the Works Projects Administration.
World War I
1914–1918. The financial expenses left from the war and the damages done to industries and
economies worldwide were catalysts for the Great Depression.
World War II
1941–1945. Many experts believe that government spending during World War II is what
ultimately brought America out of the depression. The war created jobs for Americans, lowering
the unemployment rate and placing more revenue into the economy for growth.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Timeline of Important Events
1914–
1918
World War I
1929
Great Depression begins with the stock market crash
1930
Severe drought spurs the Dust Bowl; Smoot-Hawley Tariff is passed
1931
Food riots break out in parts of the U.S.
1933
Herbert Hoover is succeeded as president by Franklin Roosevelt who
implements the New Deal; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) are formed; Navajo
Livestock Reduction Program put in place
1934–
1936
Worst storms of the Dust Bowl
1935
Works Progress Administration (WPA) is formed
1936
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints establishes the
Church Security Plan which included the formation of Deseret
Industries (a thrift store) in many communities throughout Utah,
Idaho, and Arizona; Dorothea Lange takes photographs of harvest
workers now known as the Migrant Mother Series; Roosevelt is reelected president.
1939–
1945
World War II; Men leave for war in Europe and the Pacific Theater;
Unemployment in the United States is low as women enter the
workforce in record numbers
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
SAMPLE Fill in the Blank and Short Answer Questions
1. How was World War I a catalyst for the Great Depression?
2. The Great Depression lasted from about 1929 to the beginning of _______.
3. From 1903–1930 ________ _______ was a U.S. Senator for the State of Utah.
4. What caused the Dust Bowl?
5. Where did the Dust Bowl hit the United States the hardest?
6. A tariff is a ____ placed on goods imported into the country.
7. What was the result of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff?
8. President Herbert Hoover lost his bid for re-election in 1932 to _____ ____.
9. The ______ ______ _____ was a government program that employed young men to
improve public lands.
10. What did the Navajo Livestock Reduction Program do and why?
11. Who was Maynard Dixon?
12. Dorothea Lange’s iconic photograph of the Depression Era is titled, ________
________.
13. What is dry farming?
14. What was the Resettlement Administration and why was it needed in Widtsoe, Utah?
15. How were the causes of the Dust Bowl in Utah the same as the Dust Bowl
in other parts of the country? How were they different?
16. What was the solution to the Great Depression that Utah businessman Marriner S. Eccles
presented in Washington, D.C.?
17. What is the FDIC?
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
KEY to SAMPLE Fill in the Blank and Short Answer
Questions
1. How was World War I a catalyst for the Great Depression? The financial expenses left
from the war and the damages done to industries and economies worldwide were
catalysts for the Great Depression.
2. The Great Depression lasted from about 1929 to the beginning of WWII.
3. From 1903–1930 Reed Smoot was a U.S. Senator for the State of Utah.
4. What caused the Dustbowl? over-farming, drought
5. Where did the Dust Bowl hit the United States the hardest? Midwestern United States
or the Great Plains or Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas,
Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.
6. A tariff is a tax or fee placed on goods imported into the country.
7. What was the result of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff? Reduced American exports and
imports by half, worsened the economy, etc.
8. President Herbert Hoover lost his bid for re-election in 1932 to Franklin Roosevelt.
9. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a government program that employed young men
to improve public lands.
10. What did the Navajo Livestock Reduction Program do and why? Ordered that 80% of
Navajo livestock be killed to prevent overgrazing on the reservation.
11. Who was Maynard Dixon? A Western artist who painted a series of pieces showing
the lives of those affected by the Great Depression.
12. Dorothea Lange’s iconic photograph of the Depression Era is titled Migrant Mother.
13. What is dry farming? Techniques used to cultivate arid land without the use of
irrigation
14. What was the Resettlement Administration and why was it needed in Widtsoe, Utah? An
agency that helped displaced farmers find new residences; Widtsoe was hit with a
severe drought, and no crops could be grown.
15. How were the causes of the Dust Bowl in Utah the same as the Dust Bowl
in other parts of the country? drought and agricultural practices How were they
different? Utah—overgrazing; Midwest—over-farming
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
16. What was the solution to the Great Depression that Utah businessman Marriner S. Eccles
presented in Washington, D.C.? Eccles believed that if the government spent more
money it would put people to work, stimulate business and begin a cycle of recovery.
17. What is the FDIC? Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; A government
corporation that provides deposit insurance. Today the FDIC guarantees deposits in
member banks up to $250,000 per depositor per bank.
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Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Matching Questions
Dry Farming
Marriner S. Eccles
Navajo Livestock Reduction Program
Franklin D. Roosevelt
CCC
Resettlement Administration
Tariff
Dust Bowl
New Deal
FDIC
Ecological and agricultural disaster
Tax on imported goods
Employment project for young men
No irrigation agriculture
Bank deposit insurance
Federal Reserve Chairman
Government economic and aid programs
Controversial solution to overgrazing
U.S. President
Government relocation program
KEY - Matching Questions
Dry Farming
Marriner S. Eccles
Navajo Livestock Reduction Program
Franklin D. Roosevelt
CCC
Resettlement Administration
Tariff
Dust Bowl
New Deal
FDIC
No irrigation agriculture
Federal Reserve Chairman
Controversial solution to overgrazing
U.S. President
Employment project for young men
Government relocation program
Tax on imported goods
Ecological and agricultural disaster
Government economic and aid programs
Bank deposit insurance
15
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Word Search Activity
Civilian
Conservation
Corps
Deal
Depression
Dixon
Dorothea
Dry
Dustbowl
Eccles
Farming
FDIC
Franklin
Herbert
Hoover
Lange
Marriner
Maynard
New
Reed
Resettlement
Roosevelt
Smoot
Tariff
Widtsoe
WWI
WWII
16
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
KEY – Word Search Activity
17
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
18
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Crossword Puzzle
19
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
True or False Questions
• T / F President Hoover replaced President Roosevelt.
• T / F Similar events led to the Dust Bowl in the Midwest and the Dust Bowl
in Utah.
• T / F Maynard Dixon created the iconic photograph, Migrant Mother.
• T / F The Smoot-Hawley Tariff had a negative effect on the nation’s
economy.
• T / F A tariff is a tax on imported goods.
• T / F Marriner S. Eccles believed the government should spend more
money to stimulate the economy.
• T / F The New Deal focused on three areas: relief, recovery, and reform.
• T / F The FDIC insures bank deposits up to a certain amount.
• T / F The Navajo Livestock Reduction Program was popular with Native
Americans.
• T / F World War II was detrimental to the U.S. economic recovery.
KEY - True or False Questions
• False President Hoover replaced President Roosevelt.
• True Similar events led to the Dust Bowl in the Midwest and the Dust Bowl
in Utah.
• False Maynard Dixon created the iconic photograph, Migrant Mother.
• True The Smoot-Hawley Tariff had a negative effect on the nation’s
economy.
• True A tariff is a tax on imported goods.
• True Marriner S. Eccles believed the government should spend more
money to stimulate the economy.
• True The New Deal focused on three areas: relief, recovery, and reform.
• True The FDIC insures bank deposits up to a certain amount.
• False The Navajo Livestock Reduction Program was popular with Native
Americans.
• False World War II was detrimental to the U.S. economic recovery.
20
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
Worksheet
(to be completed while watching the film)
1. The Great Depression lasted from about ________ to the beginning of
___________.
2. ___________________ came up with New Deal, sometimes called the
______________ programs, because they were known by their initials.
3. _______________ was a U.S. Senator for Utah in the early twentieth
century.
4. Farmers were so determined to increase their harvest that the land was
_____________ and the _________ was ruined.
5. Reed Smoot, along with Congressmen ____________, authored the
_____________________________.
6. A tariff is a _____________ placed on goods imported into the country.
7. The CCC stands for _____________________________
_____________________________________________.
8. Utah enjoyed greater CCC benefits than most states because it contains a
large amount of ____________________________.
9. In 1868 when the ____________________ returned to their homeland,
the government provided each family with __________________.
10.The ____________________________________ program resulted in the
killing of almost _______________ of Navajo livestock.
11.Dorothea Lange’s iconic Depression Era photograph is titled
__________________.
12.People moved to Widtsoe, Utah, because of its success with
___________________.
13.The ______________________ was a government program designed to
help people who were struggling by moving them to new locations.
14.Utah had its own Dust Bowl in _______________, Utah.
15.Utah businessman ________________ suggested that if the government
spent enough money it would put people to work, stimulate business, and
begin a cycle of recovery.”
16.The _____________________________________________ insures
people’s deposits in banks.
17.In Utah, joblessness reached ______ percent at one point during the
Great Depression.
21
Utah’s Perfect Storm: Drought, Debt, and The Great Depression
KEY - Worksheet
1. The Great Depression lasted from about 1929 to the beginning of WWII.
2. President Roosevelt came up with New Deal, sometimes called the
alphabet soup programs, because they were known by their initials.
3. Reed Smoot was a U.S. Senator for Utah in the early twentieth century.
4. Farmers were so determined to increase their harvest that the land was
over-plowed and the topsoil was ruined.
5. Reed Smoot, along with Congressmen Willis Hawley, authored the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act.
6. A tariff is a fee or tax placed on goods imported into the country.
7. The CCC stands for Civilian Conservation Corps.
8. Utah enjoyed greater CCC benefits than most states because it contains a
large amount of government land or public land.
9. In 1868 when the Navajo people returned to their homeland, the
government provided each family with two sheep.
10.The Navajo Livestock Reduction Act resulted in the killing of almost
80% of Navajo livestock.
11.Dorothea Lange’s iconic Depression Era photograph is titled Migrant
Mother.
12.People moved to Widtsoe, Utah, because of its success with dry
farming.
13.The Resettlement Administration was a government program designed
to help people who were struggling by moving them to new locations.
14.Utah had its own Dust Bowl in Grantsville, Utah.
15. Utah businessman Marriner S. Eccles suggested that if the government
spent enough money, it would put people to work, stimulate business,and
begin a cycle of recovery.
16.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ensures people’s
deposits in banks.
17.In Utah, joblessness reached 36 percent at one point during the Great
Depression.
22