Life in the Dust Bowl

Before the drought… The Great Plains had been some of the richest farmland in the U.S. The first great dust storm occurred in 1934.

Where was the Dust Bowl?

What was life REALLY like? Dry! Very little rain fell after 1932. The first great dust storm was in 1934. Dust storms continued until 1941.

Was there food? “We haven’t had a good crop in three years, not since the bounty of ’31, and we’re all whittled down to the bone these days…” (Hesse 16)

Was there food? People could not raise crops in the dust. Chickens died, choking on dust, and cattle starved to death. Vegetables could not grow. Wells ran dry.

Were there jobs? “Now Livie’s gone west, Out of the dust, On her way to California, Where the wind takes a rest sometimes.” (Hesse 9)

Were there jobs? Tenant farmers and share croppers, unable to pay rent, were turned out by landlords. Family farms vanished. Farm families became migrants. People lived in tents just to survive.

How did people survive? “Where would we be without somewhere to live? Without some work to do? Without something to eat?” (Hesse 22)

How did people survive? People migrated to towns (where they were called “hicks” or “hayseeds”) to look for work People migrated West, where they were called “okies” Those farmers who stayed received help from the federal government through the Farm Security Administration.

Works Cited: Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic, 1997. “Humanities Interactive - Dustbowl.” 27 September 2005.http://www.humanities-interactive.org/texas/dustbowl/ “Documenting America – from the Great Depression to World War.” 27 September 2005.<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html>