Ryan Fischer October 21, 2014 The Dust Bowl

Table of Contents 3: What was the Dust bowl? 4: Where did it take place? 5-6: What caused the Dust bowl? 7: Black Blizzard 8-9: Devastation 10: Government Response 11: Cultural Response 12: Long-term impact 13-16: Timeline of the Dust bowl 17: Reference Page

What Was the Dust Bowl? The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms during the 1930’s. These dust storms greatly damaged the agriculture and ecology of the prairies in the United States. The drought came in three main waves: 1934, 1936, and 1939-40. But a few regions in the High Plains (A sub region of the Great Plains in the Western US) suffered through drought conditions for as many as 8 years.

Where did it take place? The Dust Bowl was the name given to the Great Plains region devastated by drought in the 1930’s. The Dust Bowl encompassed a 150,000-square-mile area. It spanned from the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas, to the neighboring sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico.

What Caused the Dust Bowl? The main contributors to the Dust Bowl were poor agricultural practices and years of severe, sustained drought. The farmers at the time and during the previous decade didn’t have enough understanding of the ecology of the plains. Most early settlers simply used their land for livestock grazing, but agricultural mechanization combined with high grain prices during WW1 enticed farmers to plow up millions of acres of natural grass cover to plant wheat.

What Caused the Dust Bowl (Cont.) During the years with adequate rainfall, the land produced bountiful crops. But when the sever droughts came, the ground cover that held the soil in place was gone. The unanchored soil turned to dust, and heavy winds blew away in huge clouds that would blacken the sky, creating “black blizzards”. The plain grasslands (virgin topsoil) had been deeply plowed, displacing the native, deep-rooted grasses that would normally trap soil and moisture even during long periods of drought.

Black Blizzard http://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl/videos/black-blizzard

Devastation Many families were forced to flee from their homes. John Steinback wrote in his novel The Grapes of Wrath, “The dispossessed were drawn west – from Kansas, Oklohoma, Texas, New Mexico; from Nevada and Arkansas, families, tribes, dusted out, tractored out. Car-loads, caravans, homeless and hungry; 20 thouand and 50 thosuand and 100 thousand and 200 thousand.”

Devastation (Cont.) Over 500,000 Americans were left homeless. Tens of thousands left their homes and migrated to California only to find that the Great Depression had rendered economic conditions there little better than those they had left. On April 14, 1935, a day known as “Black Sunday”, 20 of the worst black blizzards occurred across the Great Plains all the way from Canada to Texas. The storms cause extensive damages and turned day to night. Witnesses reported not being able to see 5 feet in front of them.

Government Response The federal government implemented several New Deal policies, the main one being the Soil Conservation service. On the local level, the gov instructed farmers to plant trees and grass to anchor the soil. The government also purchased 11.3 million acres of sub marginal land to keep it out of production.

Cultural Response The crisis was documented by photographers, musicians, and authors, many hired during the great depression by the government. The work of independent artists such as John Steinbeck (Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath) and Woody Guthrie (Folk singer) were influenced by the Dust Bowl and Great Depression.

Long-Term Impact In many regions, more than 75% of the topsoil was swept away by the end of the decade. By 1940, areas that had experienced the worst levels of erosion had a larger decline in agricultural land values. In high-erosion counties, the per-acre value decreased by 28%; in median-erosion counties, the per-acre value decreased by 17%. Even over the long term, the agricultural value of land often failed to recover to pre-Dust Bowl levels.

Timeline of the Dust Bowl 1931: Harsh drought strikes the Midwestern and southern plains. Crops start to die and the “black blizzards” begin. Dust from the over-plowed and over-grazed land begins to blow. 1932: The number of dust storms across the country increases. 14 are reported in this year.

Timeline of the Dust Bowl (Cont.) 1933: The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act allotted $200 million for refinancing mortgages to help farmers who were faced with foreclosure. The Farm Credit Act of 1933 established a local bank and set up local credit associations. In the San Joaquin Valley of California, the largest agricultural strike in history took place after many farmers fled from the plains, seeking migrant farm work. 1934: Great dust storms spread from the Dust Bowl area. The drought was the worst in US history, covering more than 75% of the country and severely affecting 27 states.

Timeline of the Dust Bowl (Cont.) 1935: The federal government formed a Drought Relief Service and FDR approves the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, which provides $525 million for drought relief, and authorizes the creation of the Works Progress Administration, which employed 8.5 million people. Black Sunday. 1937: Roosevelt addresses the Dust Bowl in his 2nd inaugural address. FDR’s Shelterbelt Project begins which called for a large-scale planting of trees in a 100-mile wide zone to protect the land from erosion.

Timeline of the Dustbowl (cont.) 1938: With the help of the extensive work in re-plowing and the conservation methods, there was a 65% reduction in the amount of soil blowing, but the drought continues. 1939: Rain falls!

Reference Page "Dust Bowl." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. "About The Dust Bowl." About The Dust Bowl. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. "Dust Bowl During the Great Depression - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress." Dust Bowl During the Great Depression - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. "The Dust Bowl of the 1930s." The Dust Bowl of the 1930s. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. "Dust Bowl." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Oct. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.