Dust Bowl
59749
226037013
2008-07-16T15:27:13Z
64.214.179.40
[[Image:Dust storm CimarronCounty OK.jpg|300px|thumb|A farmer and his two sons during a dust storm; [[Cimarron County, Oklahoma|Cimarron County]], [[Oklahoma]], 1936.]]
The '''Dust Bowl''', or the ''dirty thirties'', was a period of severe [[dust storm]]s causing major ecological and [[agriculture|agricultural]] damage to [[United States|American]] and [[Canada|Canadian]] [[prairie]] lands from 1930 to 1936 (in some areas until 1940), caused by severe [[drought]] coupled with decades of extensive farming without [[crop rotation]] or other techniques to prevent [[erosion]]. It was a manmade disaster caused by deep plowing of the virgin top [[soil]] of the [[Great Plains]], which killed the natural grasses. Such grasses normally kept the soil in place and moisture trapped, even during periods of drought and high winds.
During the drought of the 1930s, with the grasses destroyed, the soil dried, turned to [[dust]], and blew away eastwards and southwards in large dark clouds. At times the clouds blackened the sky, reaching all the way to [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] cities like New York and Washington D.C. Much of the soil ended up deposited in the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The Dust Bowl affected {{convert|100000000|acre|km2}}, centered on the panhandles of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Hakim
| first = Joy
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| date = 1995
| location = New York
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| isbn = 0-19-509514-6 }}</ref>
The storms of the Dust Bowl were given names such as Black Blizzard and Black Roller because visibility was reduced to a few feet. The Dust Bowl was an ecological and human disaster. It was caused by misuse of land and years of sustained drought. Millions of acres of farmland became useless, and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. Degradation of dry lands claimed peoples' cultural heritage and livelihoods. Hundreds of thousands of families from the Dust Bowl (often known as "Okies," since so many came from Oklahoma) traveled to California and other states, where they found conditions little better than those they had left. Owning no land, many traveled from farm to farm picking fruit and other crops at starvation wages. [[John Steinbeck]] later wrote the classic [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning novel ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' and also ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' about such people.
There was more than one cause of the Dust Bowl. The major one was the expansion of agriculture and inappropriate methods of cultivation. The catastrophe, which began as the economic effects of the [[Great Depression]] were intensifying, caused an exodus from [[Texas]], [[Oklahoma Panhandle|Oklahoma]], and the surrounding Great Plains, with more than 500,000 Americans left homeless. One storm caused 356 houses to be torn down.<ref name=PBS>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/gregory.htm|title=First Missed Century:Interview:James Gregory|accessdate=2007-03-11|publisher=[[PBS]]}}</ref> Many Americans migrated west looking for work while many Canadians fled to urban areas like [[Toronto]]. Two-thirds of farmers in "[[Palliser's Triangle]]", in the Canadian province of [[Saskatchewan]], had to rely on government aid. This was due mainly to drought, [[hail]]storms, and erratic weather rather than to dust storms such as those occurring on the U.S. Great Plains.<ref name=CBC>{{cite web |url=http://history.cbc.ca/history/?MIval=EpisContent.html&lang=E&series_id=1&episode_id=13&chapter_id=1&page_id=2 |title="The Dust Bowl" |accessdate=2007-03-11 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]}}</ref> Some residents of the Plains, especially in [[Kansas]] and Oklahoma, fell ill and died from [[dust pneumonia]] and [[malnutrition]].
The Dust Bowl is closely associated with the [[Great Depression]], as the two events were [[wikt:contemporaneous|contemporaneous]].
==Geographic characteristics Of Dust Bowls==
The Dust Bowl area lies principally west of the [[100th meridian]] on the [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]], characterized by plains which vary from rolling in the north to flat in the [[Llano Estacado]]. Elevation ranges from {{convert|2500|ft|m}} in the east to {{convert|6000|ft|m}} at the base of the [[Rocky Mountains]]. The area is [[semi-arid]], receiving less than {{convert|20|in|mm}} of rain annually; this rainfall supports the [[Shortgrass prairie]] biome originally present in the area. The region is also prone to extended drought, alternating with unusual wetness of equivalent duration.<ref>{{cite web | year = February 2000 | url = http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu/pdfs/ahistoryofdrought.pdf | title = A History of Drought in Colorado: lessons learned and what lies ahead | format = [[PDF]] | publisher = Colorado Water Resources Research Institute | accessmonthday = December 6 |accessyear = 2007}}</ref> During wet years, the rich soil provides bountiful agricultural output, but crops fail during dry years. Furthermore, the region is subject to winds higher than any region except coastal regions.<ref>{{cite web | year = [[August 27]] [[1936]] | url = http://newdeal.feri.org/hopkins/hop27.htm | title = A Report of the Great Plains Area Drought Committee | format = [[HTML]] | publisher = Hopkins Papers, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library | accessmonthday = December 6 |accessyear = 2007}}</ref>
==Agricultural and settlement history==
During early exploration of the [[Great Plains]], the region in which the Dust Bowl occurred was thought unsuitable for agriculture; indeed, the region was known as the [[Great American Desert]]. The lack of surface water and timber made the region less attractive for settlement and agriculture. However, following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], settlement in the area increased, encouraged by the [[Homestead Act]] and westward expansion<ref>{{cite web | year = December 1987 | url = http://www.planning.org/25anniversary/planning/1987dec.htm | title = The Great Plains: from dust to dust | format = [[HTML]] | publisher = Planning Magazine | accessmonthday = December 6 |accessyear = 2007}}</ref><ref> {{cite book | year = 1995 | url = http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu14re/uu14re00.htm | title = Regions at Risk: a comparison of threatened environments | format = [[HTML]] | publisher = United Nations University Press | accessmonthday = December 6 |accessyear = 2007}}</ref> An unusually wet period in the Great Plains led settlers to believe that "[[rain follows the plow]]" and the climate of the region had changed permanently.<ref>{{cite book | year = 2006 | url = http://www.drought.unl.edu/whatis/dustbowl.htm | title = Drought in the Dust Bowl Years | format = [[HTML]] | publisher = National Drought Mitigation Center | accessmonthday = December 6 |accessyear = 2007}}</ref> The initial agricultural endeavors were primarily cattle ranching with some cultivation; however, a series of harsh winters beginning in 1886 coupled with overgrazing followed by a short drought in 1890 led to an expansion of land under cultivation.
Immigration began again at the beginning of the 20th century, with a return of unusually wet weather which confirmed the previously held attitude that the "formerly" semi-arid area could support large-scale agriculture. Technological improvements led to increased automation, which allowed for cultivation on an ever greater scale. [[World War I]] increased agricultural prices, which encouraged farmers to drastically increase cultivation. In the [[Llano Estacado]], farmland area doubled between 1900 and 1920, and land under cultivation more than tripled between 1925 and 1930.<ref>{{cite book | year = 1995 | url = http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu14re/uu14re0n.htm#6.%20the%20ilano%20estacado%20of%20the%20american%20southern%20high%20plains | title = Regions at Risk: a comparison of threatened environments | format = [[HTML]] | publisher = United Nations University Press | accessmonthday = December 6 |accessyear = 2008}}</ref> Finally, farmers used agricultural practices which encouraged erosion; for example, cotton farmers left fields bare over winter months, when winds in the High Plains are highest, and burned their wheat stubble, which deprived the soil of organic matter and increased exposure to erosion.
==Drought and Dust Storms==
[[Image:Wea01422.jpg|thumb|right|A [[dust storm]]; [[Spearman, Texas|Spearman]], [[Texas]], April 14 1935.]]
The unusually wet period, which encouraged increased settlement and cultivation in the Great Plains, ended in 1930. This was the year in which an extended and severe drought began. The drought caused crops to fail, leaving the plowed fields exposed to wind erosion. The fine soil of the Great Plains was easily eroded and carried east by strong continental winds.
On [[November 11]] [[1933]], a very strong dust storm stripped [[topsoil]] from desiccated [[South Dakota]] farmlands in just one of a series of bad dust storms that year. Then on [[May 11]] [[1934]], a strong two-day dust storm removed massive amounts of [[Great Plains]] topsoil in one of the worst such storms of the Dust Bowl. The dust clouds blew all the way to [[Chicago]] where dirt fell like snow. Several days later, the same storm reached cities in the east, such as [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], [[New York City]], and [[Washington, D.C.]] That winter, red snow fell on [[New England]].
On [[April 14]] [[1935]], known as "[[Black Sunday]]", twenty of the worst "Black Blizzards" occurred throughout the Dust Bowl, causing extensive damage and turning the day to night. Witnesses reported that they could not see five feet in front of them at certain points. The dust storms were so bad that often roosters thought that it was night instead of day and went to sleep during them.
==Migrations==
[[Image:Dust Bowl - Dallas, South Dakota 1936.jpg|thumb|right|Buried machinery in a barn lot; [[Dallas, South Dakota|Dallas]], [[South Dakota]], May 1936.]]
The Dust Bowl exodus was the largest migration in American history. By 1940, 2.5 million people had moved out of the Plains states; of those, 200,000 moved to [[California]].<ref>{{cite book
| last = Worster
| first = Donald
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930's
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| date = 1979
}}</ref> With their land barren and homes seized in [[foreclosure]], many farm families were forced to leave. Migrants left farms in Kansas, Texas, and [[New Mexico]], but all were generally referred to as "[[Okie]]s". The plight of Dust Bowl migrants became widely known from the novel ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' by [[John Steinbeck]].
==Government response==
During [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s first 100 days in 1933, governmental programs designed to restore the ecologic balance of the nation were implemented. The U.S. Government formed the Soil Conservation Service, which is now the [[Natural Resources Conservation Service]] (NRCS).
==Influence on the arts==
The human crisis was documented by [[photographer]]s, [[musician]]s, and [[author]]s. Photographer [[Dorothea Lange]] made a name for herself while working as a photographer with the [[Farm Security Administration]] and capturing the impact of the storms. Independent artists like [[folk singer]] [[Woody Guthrie]] and [[novelist]] [[John Steinbeck]] both became famous for their depictions of life during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*''The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl'', Timothy Egan, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 2006, hardcover. ISBN 0-618-34697-X.
*''The Dust Bowl: Men, Dirt, and Depression'', Paul Bonnifield, [[University of New Mexico]] Press, [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[New Mexico]], 1978, hardcover. ISBN 0-8263-0485-0.
*''Survival in the Storm: The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards, Dalhart, Texas, 1935'', Katelan Janke, Scholastic (September 2002). ISBN 0-439-21599-4.
*''[[Out of the Dust]]'', [[Karen Hesse]], Scholastic Signature. [[New York City|New York]] First Edition, 1997, hardcover (paperback January 1999). ISBN 0-590-37125-8.
==Bibliography==
*Woody Guthrie, The (Nearly) Complete Collection of Woody Guthrie Folk Songs, [[Ludlow]] Music,[[New York]] (1963).
*[[Alan Lomax]], Woody Guthrie, [[Pete Seeger]], Hard-Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People, Oak Publications, New York (1967).
*C.Vann Woodward, The Origins of the New South, Louisiana State University Press (1967).
==See also==
{{commonscat|Dust Bowl}}
*[[1936 North American heat wave]]
*[[Woody Guthrie]]
*[[Rain follows the plow]]
*''[[The Plow That Broke the Plains]]''
*[[Timeline of environmental events]]
*[[Natural disaster]]
*[[Desertification]]
*[[Ogallala Aquifer]]
==External links==
*[http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2004/0319dustbowl.html NASA Explains "Dust Bowl" Drought]
*[http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html ''The Dust Bowl'' photo collection]
*[http://eh.net/encyclopedia/?article=Cunfer.DustBowl The Dust Bowl] (EH.Net Encyclopedia)
*[http://www.kansashistory.us/dustbowl.html Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, Dodge City, KS]
*[http://www.lbk.ars.usda.gov/wewc/biblio/bar.htm The Bibliography of Aeolian Research]
*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/peopleevents/pandeAMEX07.html Surviving the Dust Bowl, Black Sunday (April 14, 1935)]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/PlowThatBrokethePlains1 The Plow That Broke The Plains]
* Youtube Video: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jvbTwxdbvE "The Great Depression, Displaced Mountaineers in Shenandoah National Park, and the Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.)"]
* [http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/water_02.html Farming in the 1930s] (Wessels Living History Farm)
* [http://www.usd.edu/anth/epa/dust.html The Dust Bowl] (University of South Dakota)
{{GreatDepr nav}}
[[Category:Great Depression in the United States]]
[[Category:Agriculture in the United States]]
[[Category:Forced migrations in the United States]]
[[Category:History of the American West]]
[[Category:Environmental disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:History of the United States (1918–1945)]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Kansas]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Natural disasters in Texas]]
[[Category:Droughts]]
[[Category:Environment of Kansas]]
[[Category:Environment of Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Environment of Texas]]
[[cv:Тусан Пырши]]
[[cs:Dust Bowl]]
[[de:Dust Bowl]]
[[es:Dust Bowl]]
[[fr:Dust Bowl]]
[[it:Dust Bowl]]
[[he:קערת האבק]]
[[nl:Dust Bowl]]
[[ja:ダストボウル]]
[[ru:Пыльный котёл]]
[[sl:Dust Bowl]]
[[sv:Dust Bowl]]
[[zh:黑色风暴事件]]