When pioneers headed west in the late 19th century, many couldn’t resist the tall grassy land in the semiarid midwestern and southern plains of the United States. During early exploration of the Great Plains, many thought the area was unsuitable for European-style agriculture. The area lacked surface water and timber making the region less attractive for settlement and agriculture. A period of unusually wet weather mistakenly led more and more settlers to the plains believing that the climate of the region had changed and more pioneers settled here to farm.
A post World War I recession led farmers to try new mechanized farming techniques in order to increase profits. Farmers bought plows and other farming equipment and plowed an additional 5 million acres of land in just 5 years. In 1930 and early 1931 farmers produced record crops, but an overproduction of wheat along with the Great Depression resulted in reduced market prices. With the wheat market flooded, farmers expanded their fields in the hopes of returning a profit and covered the prairie with wheat in place of the drought-resistant grasses and left unused fields bare.
The deep plowing methods and other soil preparation methods began to take their toll on the plains. The native grasses which helped retain moisture during dry seasons were gone. Bare fields over the windy winter months the soil would erode and blow away. Cotton farmers who burned fields to reduce weed growth prior to planting deprived the soil of organic nutrients and surface vegetation.
By summer of 1931…………..the rain stopped. The water levels of lakes dropped by five feet or more. The wind picked up the dry soil creating black clouds of dust in the sky, blocking out the sun and covering everything with a layer of dust. In 1932, the national weather bureau reported 14 dust storms. The next year, there were 38; by 1934 an estimated 100 million acres of farmland had lost all or most of topsoil to the winds. Beginning May 9, 1934, a strong two day storm deposited 12 million pounds of dust stripped from the plains in Chicago and reached Buffalo, Cleveland, Boston, and Washington D.C. two days later. That winter, red snow fell in New England.
Sunday, April 14, 1935 (now known as Black Sunday), after weeds of dust storms, the one which appeared on the horizon was going to be the worst with winds clocked at 60 mph. With little to no visibility, little to no light, life came to a standstill. That storm on Black Sunday was the last major dust storm of the year, but the hardships continued until 1939 when the rains finally returned and relief came.
This era in history is an amazing story fueled by economic depression, extended drought, unusually high temperatures, poor agricultural practices, and resulting wind erosion all contributed to the making of the dust bowl. While this blog is factual it doesn’t begin to explain what life was like during these events. The stories are heartbreaking, incredible, and powerful.
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