The Dust Bowl
By: Hunter Rowray
- Between the 1930s and 1940s the southwestern part of the Great Plains region of the U.S. was having a severe drought. The once semi-arid grasslands had been taken over by people due to the passing of the Homestead act.
- Most of the land was first used for grazing by cattle, but because of the increasing demand for wheat, farmers used millions more acres for planting.
- The planting, even though made farmers become wealthy, destroyed the grassland in the area.
- Without the grass land natural things like rain and wind caused many disasters.
- Due to the drought and over-farming, that was happening in the 1930s the land and the dirt began to blow away. The dirt bellowed up and made dust clouds
- The clouds caused it to remain dark, and even well-sealed houses had a thick layer of dust on furniture and other things in the home.
- 19 states in the U.S. had been covered in dust causing what is now called "The Dust Bowl"
- These states had dust that drifted like snow
- The dust force people to leave their houses to find work
- Overall 400,000 people left the Great Plains because of the combination of drought and poor soil conservation
The Dust Bowl Episode | Uncovering the Dust Bowl | PBS