The devastation known as the Dust Bowl happened in large part because of ignorance and greed. Desperate homesteaders, anxious to succeed at prairie farming, unknowingly destroyed the very plants that were holding the soil in place. Trying to earn money and meet the demand for wheat, they planted crops that had shallow roots. Once the drought came, their crops, hopes and fortunes blew away in a massive prolonged series of dust storms.

1. The Dust Bowl
A man-made disaster of
epic proportions
Copyright by Kella
Randolph, B. S., M. Ed.
https://www.oftwominds.com/photos2012/dust-bowl3.jpg

2. The Dust Bowl
• This is the name given to a
period of severe drought that
lasted for about eight years
during the 1930s.
• This caused dust storms that
ravaged the prairies of the
United States and Canada
during the 1930s.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Dust_Bowl_in_Texas_County%2C_Oklahoma.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Dust_Bowl_in_Texas_County%2C_Oklahoma.jpg

3. Ecology and agriculture
• The high plains and prairie areas are subject
to regular periods with little to no rain. Because
this is grassland for the most part, there is little
to provide protection from the high winds that
sweep across the land.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Grasses_in_the_Valles_Caldera_2014-06-26.JPG/250px-
Grasses_in_the_Valles_Caldera_2014-06-26.JPG
https://bradmangas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/FHSU_76322.jpg

4. Way back in the day
• Before the settlers came from Europe and
began farming this area, it was a feeding ground
for millions of bison (buffalo) that freely roamed
the plains. The Native American tribes of this
vast area hunted these animals, using spears
and bows and arrows. They took only what was
needed to feed their families and used the hides
(skins) of the bison to make clothing and
moccasins (shoes).
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-
ZHZY2Umnavg/TnOa9PkRSYI/AAAAAAAAHOU/UntdPW2HcXk/s400/0909-05-
buffalo.jpg
http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/pcimages/PC/007/web/PC007473.jpg

5. As the invading settlers continued to move westward, the
Native Americans were forced to leave their native lands
and had to live on smaller areas reserved for them called
Reservations. The U.S. government became the “owner”
of all confiscated lands.
• President Abraham Lincoln’s
signing of the Homestead Act
on May 20, 1862 granted
Americans 160-acre plots of
public land for the price a small
filing fee. The Civil War-era act,
considered one of the United
States’ most important pieces
of legislation, led to Western
expansion and allowed citizens
of all walks of life—including
former slaves, women and
immigrants—to become
landowners.
(https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-
war/homestead-act)

6. Map of the
Plains Indians
before 1870

7. How they did it
• To make a claim, homesteaders paid a
filing fee of $18—$10 to make a temporary
claim on the land, $2 for commission to the
land agent and an additional $6 final
payment to receive an official patent on the
land. Land titles could also be purchased
from the government for $1.25 per acre
following six months of proven residency.
• Additional requirements included five
years of continuous residence on the land,
building a home on it, farming the land and
making improvements. Homesteaders, who
had to be the head of a household or 21
years of age and had to certify they had
never borne arms against the U.S., also
needed two neighbors or friends to attest to
the government that they had fulfilled the
requirements. Union soldiers could shave off
time served in the Civil War from the five-
year residency
requirement.(https://www.history.com/topi
cs/american-civil-war/homestead-act)
http://chnm.gmu.edu/tah-loudoun/wp-content/lessons/griffin/land-grant.3.jpeg

8. The native grasses of the prairie have adapted to the high winds and long droughts by becoming
strong enough to avoid breaking under pressure of wind and by developing very deep root
systems. As the surface becomes dryer, the water stored in the soil deeper down is still available to
those deep roots.
• The deep roots were able to keep the prairie
plants from drying out, and they also held the
soil in place.
https://healthylandethic.files.wordpress.com
/2013/10/prairierootsystems.jpg

9. Looking back to
causes of the
dust bowl
• Prior to the 1870's, the area of the Great
Plains was known as the "Great American
Desert" due to its arid climate and land that
was difficult to cultivate. But at the end of
the 19th century, a coincidental (and
impermanent) climate change began to
change people's view of the area.
• But for a while, plentiful rain began to
fall on the plains causing the land to
become fertile. All through the 1920s, the
land seemed to be a perfect place to begin
a new life as a farmer. So the US
government began forcing the Native
American tribes, the High Plains Indians, off
their land and onto reservations.
http://www.americanyawp.com/text/wp-
content/uploads/TrackingTheBuffalo_Map.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Kane_Assi
niboine_hunting_buffalo.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Llano_Estacado_Ca
prock_Escarpment_south_of_Ralls_TX_2009.jpg/1200px-
Llano_Estacado_Caprock_Escarpment_south_of_Ralls_TX_2009.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/
df/Tipi01.jpg

10. The Homestead Act
• In a July 4, 1861 speech, Lincoln told the
nation the purpose of America’s government
was "to elevate the condition of men, to lift
artificial burdens from all shoulders and to
give everyone an unfettered start and a fair
chance in the race of life." He followed
through with the passage of the Homestead
Act, which remained active for 124 years
until it was repealed in 1976. This caused 10
percent of U.S. land—or 270 million acres—
to be claimed and settled.
• The incentive to move and settle on
western territory was open to all U.S.
citizens, or intended citizens, and resulted in
4 million homestead claims, although 1.6
million deeds in 30 states were actually
officially obtained. Montana, followed by
North Dakota, Colorado and Nebraska had
the most successful claims. Native
Americans were forced from their lands and
onto reservations to make way for
homesteaders. (https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-
war/homestead-act)
https://www.history.com/.image/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_700/MTY2NjU3OTIyODA4NDIzODgw/homestead-act-gettyimages-
2668096.webp

11. Prairie farming was lonely and difficult.
https://forgottenalberta.com/wp-content/uploads/2015-FA-Trip-Homestead-Banner-672x350.jpg

12. Not as easy as it seemed
• Unpredictable weather,
water shortages, and the
loneliness of such remote
areas led many homesteaders
to abandon their claims well
before the five years required
to become full owners.https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3269/2636868849_a74ef77b8e_b.jpg

13. Traditional farming
• Originally, prairie farmers
used plows pulled by a team of
mules. They plowed up the
native grasses and planted
wheat along with vegetables to
feed their families. For a
decade or so, enough rain fell
on the prairie to allow
successful farming of wheat.

14. Mechanized farming
• In the 1930s, farmers were
able to buy tractors that could
plow up more acreage. The
price of wheat was high and
they plowed as much as they
could so that they could grow
and sell more wheat.https://maudestandard.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/800px-tractor_at_work_on_a_field_in_idaho2009-sarn-beebe-
wc.jpg?w=360&h=238

15. A short time of prosperity
• Prairie farmers grew
thousands of acres of wheat
and sold it for a good price.
But the market became less
profitable, and the drought
came, ruining their wheat
farms.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8878/28625143612_b40461d8e1.jpg

16. What could possibly go
wrong?
• Wheat root systems grow to a shallow
depth, compared to the longer prairie grass
roots. Farmers never thought about what
could happen once the prairie grass was gone.
So they plowed it up, let the plants die with
their roots in the air and sunlight. Then they
planted wheat as far as the eye could see.
• For a while, this was working well. But then
the rains stopped. The wheat, with its shallow
roots, could not access the water deep below
the surface.

17. Dry times
• Months, and then years passed with so little rain that the fields of wheat all
dried up. Then the prairie winds did what they had always done. Wind swept
across the prairie and because there was no prairie grass holding down the
soil, the wind picked up the dry dirt and carried it miles away. The thin topsoil
was gone quickly, but the dirt beneath that was dry and with each blast of
wind, more soil was picked up and sent flying into the air.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Dust_Bowl_-_Dallas%2C_South_Dakota_1936.jpg

18. It wasn’t just the farmers who suffered through the dust storms.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Dust-storm-Texas-1935.png

19. The dust
storms
suffocated
thousands of
cattle.
https://maudestandard.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/745px-haskell_county_kansas-_in_the_fall_when_the_wheat_comes_up_and_the_fields_are_green_carloads_of_w_-_-_-_-_nara_-_522121-irving-
rusinow.jpg

20. Soon, the farmhouses were
half buried in loose dirt.
• Humans, cows, horses, dogs, chickens and
anything that breathed began to sicken and die
of pneumonia caused by inhaling dirt.
Top: a home partially buried in the windblown soil:
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3405/3549661880_36a355fb5c.jpg
Bottom: a farmer and his son proudly display their new tractor:
https://cdn4.picryl.com/photo/1938/01/01/dust-bowl-farmer-with-tractor-and-young-son-near-cland-
new-mexico-640.jpg

21. Devastation
Many farmers had borrowed money from banks to
buy tractors and wheat seed. They had hoped to be
able to repay their loans after selling the next crop.
After the crops failed, were not able to sell their
farms, and had no horses left to pull a wagon.
Broke, hungry and on foot, they set out to find
work wherever they thought they might. Many
headed to California, where they were not
welcome. During this time, The great Depression
was on and Californians worried about the
newcomers taking the precious few paying jobs
available.
Photos: top right: abandoned farm: http://www.daburna.de/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2010/03/dust_bowl.jpg
Photo bottom right a family walking to California in hopes of finding work and a new home:
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange/dor12-106.jpg

22. Government
response
• President Roosevelt knew he had to act in
some capacity, and hoped that his actions
could at least shorten the misery caused by the
Dust Bowl or prevent future episodes from
occurring. He implemented programs to teach
farmers soil conservation practices and
educate them on sustainable agriculture.
Farmers were paid a dollar per acre to adopt
these new techniques.
• Perhaps most helpful was the Civilian
Conservation Corps, which employed
thousands of Americans. Roosevelt directed
this group to plant over 200 million trees in the
Great Plains to lessen the wind, hold water and
keep the soil in place.
https://www.findmypast.com/blog/history/19
39-the-year-the-dust-bowl-settled
https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1930-1939/2-fdr/1-newdeal/CCC_Men_at_Work.jpg

23. 1939: The year the dust
settled
• Rain finally falls, but the damage is done.
• Although to many it seemed like the drought would never end, it finally did.
In the fall of 1939, rain finally returned in significant amounts to many areas of
the Great Plains, signaling the end of the Dust Bowl.
• 1939 was the year that a decade-long period of dust storms finally ceased
ravaging the midwestern United States. Once the dust had settled, Americans
were able to look back at the disastrous decade of the 1930's, taking stock of
the damage the Dust Bowl had caused, while considering how to ensure
something like this never happened again.
https://www.findmypast.com/blog/history/1939-the-year-the-dust-bowl-
settled
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/100000/velka/pra
irie-grass-shrubs.jpg
https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/CarringtonREC/center-
points/ShelterBeltWide.png

24. Finally over?
• Conservation efforts were
helping, but the drought
continued until the fall of
1939. Finally rain returned to
the Great Plains in significant
amounts. The area was
severely damaged by that
time. Many regions had lost
over 75% of their topsoil to
erosion. Land value decreased
by about 30% in the worst
areas. Only a few farmers
returned. Better farming
techniques, and crop rotation
helped to restore the land to
some degree.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5505/9336341529_d9beb32565_b.jpg

25. Environmental effects
of the Dust Bowl
• Unfortunately, the lush period of the late 19th and early 20th century in
the Great Plains was nothing more than the results of climate fluctuations.
Beginning in 1930, a series of massive droughts struck the Great Plains, which
resulted in erosion of the topsoil.
• The heavy winds of the great plains easily lifted up this unanchored dirt
and carried it eastward. Throughout the decade, monumental dust storms
roamed America. These dust storms would last days and oftentimes black out
the sun. One particular storm dropped 12 million pounds of dust on Chicago,
and continued on to ravage cities as far east as New York and Washington,
D.C.
• The effect was so bad that in the winter of that 1934, red snow fell on
New England.
http://media.salon.com/2011/02/snow_tires.jpeg

26. Never again?
• Sadly beginning in 2009, a new drought in Oklahoma caused a
smaller version of the Dust Bowl.
• According to The National Geographic in an article by Lauren
Parker (May17, 2014), four years into a mean, hot drought that
showed no sign of relenting, a new Dust Bowl was indeed engulfing
the same region that was the geographic heart of the original. The
undulating frontier where Kansas, Colorado, and the panhandles of
Texas and Oklahoma meet was as dry as toast. The National Weather
Service, measuring rain over 42 months, reported that parts of all five
states have had less rain than what fell during a similar period in the
1930s.
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140516-dust-bowl-drought-oklahoma-panhandle-food/
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/
1/1/e1400082/F1.medium.gif
https://www.clim-past.net/14/1195/2018/cp-
14-1195-2018-f02-thumb.png
https://62e528761d0685343e1c-
f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/68671/article/width668/pzrnd92w-1421041895.jpg

27. A temporary solution
• Beneath the area lies the Ogallala Aquifer, an ancient underground
source of fresh water. The Ogallala is recharged primarily by rainwater, but only
about one inch of precipitation actually reaches the aquifer annually. Rainfall in
most of the Texas High Plains is minimal, evaporation is high, and infiltration
rates are slow.
https://theparagraph.com/wp-content/articles/post109/arkansa.jpg
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images-archive-read-only/wp-content/uploads/sites/667/2015/06/22204248/aquifersandwells.gif

28. Water is being taken from the aquifer at an
unsustainable rate. The natural recharge cannot keep
up with the amount of water being taken out.
• https://images.app.
https://images.app.goo.gl/DXMpsEzZriV7RrpS9
https://images.app.goo.gl/AS3shqFeFshKeK31A
goo.gl/7TV4C7ZEpwjPL3SG8
https://images.app.goo.gl/vtj9sV
HZEhLEvpVj9

29. It was just out of
reach in the 1930s
• One of the misconceptions about the
Dust Bowl is that it could have been
prevented if farmers had known what lay
beneath their feet. They did. Most farms
had shallow wells with windmill-driven
pumps. What Plains residents lacked was
the ability to drill deep and the
horsepower to bring water to the surface
in the volumes needed to irrigate more
than a family farm. It took rural
electrification and the diesel-powered
centrifugal pump to launch large-scale
pumping in the 1950s. After that, the
invention of the center-pivot sprinkler
remade agriculture. Irrigated acres on the
Plains increased from 2.1 million in 1949
to 15.5 million in 2005. The change
recolored dry earth into thousands of
lush, green crop circles that can be seen
from space. National Geographic, Aug.,
2016.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ma
gazine/2016/08/vanishing-midwest-
ogallala-aquifer-
drought/?utm_source=reddit.com

30. High Plains aquifer water-level
changes, predevelopment (about
1950) to 2015. Figure 1 from USGS SIR 2017-5040.(Public domain.)
• The Ogallala Aquifer is huge, but still it is being drained and
will run out at some point.
• https://images.app.goo.gl/fq1ipBJW13jGekTM7

31. Can there
ever be
another Dust
Bowl?
That depends on two things:
1. natural conditions that determine rainfall
2. human interference in the aquifers
Will humans act responsibly and sustainably?
By taking out more water each year than the aquifer can get from
recharging with groundwater, the aquifer is going to go dry. The farms
that sit above the Ogallala Aquifer will dry up just as the farms of the
1930s did.