Imagine being on the plains of the Midwest with sun shining and a slight, warm

breeze coming from the west. Then a giant cloud of black dust suddenly appears in the

blink of an eye and is moving dangerously fast. They can try to run but cannot escape the

wrath of the dust cloud. In seconds one will be engulfed in its opaque, blinding maze,

unable to escape. The Dust Bowl was a tragic event that affected the lives of millions of

people and left many homeless. Even so, many hardened farmers stayed in the new

desert of dust hoping to come out on top. The dust made even the simplest of tasks

laborious and exhausting, even blinking and simply breathing was not done without some

discomfort. Farmers could only watch helplessly as their whole livelihood blew away

with the wind. The Midwest was a failing community with many dreams of the hopeful

crushed.

When the Midwest was a thriving community, people as far from New York came

in hope of a better life. The vast majority of the residents came when the land first

opened for homesteading. During the years there was sufficient rainfall, the land

produced abundant crops. But as the droughts worsened, the farmers continued plowing

and planting but nothing would grow. (Dust 1) The “black blizzards” started to appear as

early as 1931. (Dust 1) The dust bowl was mostly the result of years of extreme farming

without the use of techniques to prevent erosion. (wiki 1) Deep plowing of the topsoil on

the great planes killed the natural grasses that kept the soil in place. (wiki 1) The sod was

destroyed to make farms in order to grow wheat and get cash. (Southern Planes 18) The

grasses trapped moisture even in periods of drought and prevented the blowing of dust by

high winds. Since these natural anchors were gone, the soil eventually turned to dust
during droughts and blew away with the wind. (wiki 1) Most people did hang on through

those hard times refusing to abandon their hope and give in to nature’s wrath.

(Depression 9)

The Dust Bowl’s occurrence had a huge impact on the American society and

produced many effects that pushed human existence to a breaking point. One of the

biggest and most obvious direct results of the Dust Bowl was the mass movement of one

third of a million “Okies” fleeing the cycle of drought for new opportunities in

California. (California 22) Those who stayed in the Great Plains learned to live with

droughts, cold, and heat that visited like plagues. (23) Those who fled to California

found little opportunity. California held fourteen percent of the nation’s homeless

population and it was not unusual to see “Okies” camped on ditch banks. (24) Many had

to survive a year in this situation until they could be eligible for residence, state relief,

and for federal aid. (24) California agriculture, dominated by large irrigated, intensive

farms had little to offer newcomers so they ended up as agricultural laborers in

California’s factories and fields. (24) Many settled in “Little Oklahoma’s” on the

outskirts of cities and the cost of maintaining the destitute Okies during slack seasons fell

upon the countrie’s taxpayers and older Californians. (25) It was hard for anyone to

escape the never-ending cycle of despair. The situation of those in the heartland of the

Dust Bowl was no worse and in some ways better than those of others. (Depression 11)

The United States government made many attempts to help those in dire need and

to restore the barren land to its former state. The Dust Bowl affected one-hundred

million acres of land that all needed to be restored. (Wiki 1) Of all the government

programs, the drought cattle purchase program was the most successful in terms of
providing immediate relief and placing recipients on the road to recovery. (Depression

14) In a personal diary of a women affected by the Dust Bowl, she claims that cows only

bring in one cent a pound. (Diary 3) The cattle purchase program helped farmers because

they were able to sell their cattle for a better price to the government. They had trouble

feeding themselves let alone their cattle. The cattle purchased then were made into food

for the starving citizens. (Diary13) Another attempt to restore the Midwest was the

Emergency Relief Approbation Act, which provided 525 million dollars for drought

relief. It also authorized creation of the Works Progress Administration, which would

employ 8.5 million people. (About 45) By 1938 the extensive work replowing the land,

planting trees, and other conservation methods resulted in a 65% reduction in the amount

of soil blowing. (47) However, the overall view of the government actives was woeful

due to procrastination and deception. (Depression 15) If the government had not

attempted to change the basis of the region’s economy from wheat back to grass, people

would not have had to abandon their farms and move on. (16)

The dust made many simple tasks extremely difficult and it even claimed the lives

of many innocent people. With the dust also came an epidemic of respiratory infections

called “dust pneumonia” that broke out across the plains. (Southern Plains 21) Four

small hospitals in Kansas found that 52% of their April admissions were acute respiratory

cases and 33% died. (21) Children wore dust masks to school and women had to hang

wet sheets over windows attempting to stop the dirt. (About 1) Newspapers reported that

the deaths of many babies and the elderly were strongly attributed to breathing in so

much dirt. (Diary 16) In Ann Marie’s personal diary she stated, “After we wash dishes

and put them away, so much dust sifts into the cupboards we must wash them again
before the next meal. Clothes in the closets are covered in dust.” (20) People had to

laterally shovel dirt from their front yards. One man’s ceiling collapsed from the dust

that had collected in the attic. Not even the Great Depression was more devastating

economically. (Southern Plains 27)

There were many signs to the Dust Bowls coming but they were overshadowed by

farmers rejoicing in their own profits. Weather stations reported a few small dust storms

throughout 1932, with as many as 179 in April 1933. In November of 1933 a large dust

storm carried all the way to Georgia and New York. (Southern Planes 32) The Dust

Bowl itself lasted from 1931 to 1936 and in some areas until 1940. (Wiki 1) If farmers

would have seen the slow increase in droughts and caught on to the very small dust

storms occurring in the beginning, the Dust Bowl could have been prevented. In Ann

Marie’s personal diary she even says that they have slowly been having quite a bit more

blowing dirt every year since the drought started. (Diary 18)

The effects of the Dust Bowl will always be remembered throughout history.

Many new farming techniques are now standard in the farming industry to prevent

another catastrophe like the Dust Bowl from occurring. The story of the Dust Bowl was

the story of people who had the courage and fortitude to endure the stress and strain of

the “Dirty Thirties,” and emerge scarred but victorious. The hardy men, women, and

children who lived through the dust bowl had a rich culture to assist them in their struggle

to build a better tomorrow. Still many wanted to escape the barren land but were

restricted by the lack of meaningful places to migrate to. Many realized that times were

tough all over with no one escaping the downward economic spiral. With government
aid, the once barren land finally returned to grassland. The dust finally settled back to the

earth and ceased blowing.