The “Dust Bowl” "Dust Bowl" was a term born in the hard times from the people who lived in the drought- stricken region during the great depression.

The Dust Bowl The Southern Great Plains suffered an environmental disaster during the 1930’s known as the “Dust Bowl”. The hardest hit were western Kansas and Oklahoma, northern Texas, and eastern Colorado and New Mexico. Causes of the Dust Bowl included drought, high winds, and careless farming techniques.

Farming in the Panhandle Wheat farmers with tractors began plowing and planting wheat as never before. The lands were planted with 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.

Results As a result thousands of farmers went bankrupt and had to give up their farms. Many migrated to California and became migrant workers, moving from place to place to harvest fruits and vegetables. John Steinbeck’s novel, “The Grapes of Wrath”, portrayed the difficulties of Dust Bowl farmers.

Visual History “Farmers went broke by the thousands and had to abandon land”.