The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that damaged the environment and agriculture in the central United States and Canada from the 1930s. Farmers had plowed up the native grasses and over-planted crops, leaving the topsoil exposed and vulnerable to wind erosion when a prolonged drought hit. Without vegetation and during sustained high winds, the topsoil was blown away, creating massive dust storms that killed crops and exposed the land, which could no longer support agriculture. Millions were displaced as the land became unusable. The federal government later created programs to encourage sustainable farming practices to help rehabilitation.

1. The Dust Bowl, was a dry period during the 1930s also known as the dirty thirties. During this
time the dry conditions caused dust storms and damage to the environment in the US and
Canada throughout the Great Plains region prairies that were once grass and shrubs.

2. Farmers did not use the farming methods needed for dry land areas (dryland agriculture) so the grass
and shrubs were tilled up, and without their roots, or wind breaks, the wind was able to erode the land
and left no place for water to be held for the land to remain moist and able to grow plants.

3. The 150,000-square-mile area, encompassing the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and
neighboring sections of Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, has little rainfall, light soil, and high
winds. These things combined gave rise to an ecological and agricultural disaster that turned
the Great Plains into a bowl of dust unable to grow any crops.

4. The land was once used as grazing area for livestock, but the high grain prices and mechanical farming
equipment made it more profitable for farmers to plow the grass under and plant wheat and other
grains.

5. A three year drought struck between 1934 and 1937 causing dry conditions that killed the crops
and did not allow for new growth. Dust storms and lack of water killed the livestock. Most of
the people living in the area moved away and left everything to start over.

6. The federal government created agencies like the Soil Conservation Service, to promote farm
rehabilitation. The government instructed farmers to plant trees and grass to anchor the soil, to
plow and terrace in contour patterns to hold rainwater, and to allow portions of farmland to lie
fallow each year so the soil could regenerate.

7. Some people feel that the reason for the disaster is the American economic
ethos (Greed) Money above all else that had created the disaster. In looking
at the other problems during the same period, it may be true, at least during
that time. The Dust bowl drought and conditions that created it happened
during the same time as the great depression and both events affected each
other.

8. North Canadian River Oklahoma 1991
Pictures like the one above show that the effects of disaster can last and be seen for many years. The
now Oklahoma River used to be the North Canadian River and was left to dry after the dust bowl
remaining unrecovered until the 2000s.

9. 2007 rowing event in the same location re-named, The Oklahoma River
There is hope. The picture above is from the same location on the Oklahoma River in 2007 during a
boating event. The land and river have recovered from the disaster. Seeing the pictures from then and
now can show the hope of recovery and the lessons learned from history.