The Dust Bowl
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History: North American Series
- Categories: Economics, Disasters, Natural Phenomena
- Subcategories: Farms, Farming, Rural Life, Weather, Immigration, Immigrants
- Curriculum: American History 1901-1950
- Geographical Location: Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana
- Date: Peaked April 14, 1934
Article abstract: A massive drought exacerbates the Great Depression in the plains states and prompts migration westward.
Summary of Event
Farmers all across the Great Plains apprehensively watched the skies during the spring of 1934. Day after day, the weather offered no relief: intense sun, wind, drought, more sun, then gales. Massive clouds of dust blotted out the sun over western Kansas. At first, the wind raced along the surface, tearing at the stunted wheat and licking up the topsoil. Then the dust thickened into low, heavy, dirt-laden clouds. From...
[The entire page is 1577 words long]
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