The book begins with a Preface and in the preface, the author offers a chilling description of the Great Plains. He describes the almost barren land and focuses on the buildings and farms covered by dust.
The author talks with various people who were alive during the Great Dust Bowl. The first person he talks with is Ike, an elderly man and Jeanne, another elderly woman living on her own. Both were raised in the Plains by their parents who went there searching for a better life. Ike mentions how his parents were lured to the area by the promise of a good job and how Jeanne’s mother moved there because she was advised to do so by her doctor. Their families settled there and for a while they had a great life.
These details have the purpose of making the reader understand that in the beginning, the Plains were a desirable place. Many people went there for medical purposes and the place was visited even by European patients trying to escape from the pollution in the big cities. The government tried to encourage more and more people to move there and the soil was good enough for cattle to grow and for farmers to plant. The author even mentions how the government harbored the idea that the area will become one of the countries’ major supplier of wheat. The weather is also described as being favorable with enough rains to sustain agriculture and with enough underground water supplies to maintain the crops should the rains stop.
Everything changed for the people in the area in the beginning of 1930 when the weather changed drastically a great period of draught began. Soon after, the sand storms began to sweep the area. The people interviewed describe how the soil calcified and became no longer able to grow any type of crops. The animals soon died as there was nothing for them to eat. Ike tells the author how some cows had their stomach filled with sand and how the horses have gone mad because of the storms. The people were affected as well and many of them got sick because of the dust they inhaled. They developed what was later knows as dust pneumonia and the young and the elderly would usually be the victims.
The people did everything they could to stop the dust from entering their homes. They would put damp towels and rags near the windows and doors and yet every morning a thick layer of dust would have made its way into the house. The people tried to dress themselves as best as they could to avoid having to inhale the dust or have the dust latch to their clothes and skin but it was more than often in vain.
The community tries to maintain a sense of normality by sending their children to school but not even the young ones could escape the dust. The schools held frequent drills to teach the children how to behave during dust storms and they were issued oxygen masks to be used in the school.
Some of the people considered the other tragedies that struck then such as the Great Depression and the First World War as not being as important as the Dust Bowl because they knew that no matter how dangerous it was in other parts, they could die from only breathing.
The first part of the book is entitled the Great Plowout and the author begins by explaining to the reader the history of the land. For a long time, the Natives lived on the land, hunting the massive heard of bisons living there. When the Europeans came to the land, they let them live there as the land was not of interest to them. Until the end of the 19th century, the Indians had hunting rights over the land and thus thrived in comparison with other Indian tribes in America. Everything changed in the 19th century when the government decided to get rid of the Indians. The buffaloes were killed and the Indians were sent to live on Indian settlements, leaving the territory barren, with no people and almost not animals.
The government decided to ‘’repopulate’’ the land and decided to give away the land to those interested in it. The land was sold either extremely cheap or the people interested had to do some other form of public service such as erecting public buildings.
Many people moved on the land, hoping to get rich fast. They tried to plant certain vegetables and moved hoards of cows on the land. The farmers build dams and windmills to sustain themselves and have enough water to survive and to sustain their animals. After a few successful years, the farmers began to suffer massive losses. The farmers did not take into consideration how the hordes of cows will adapt to the temperature and the weather affecting the land. The cows were not as resilient as the bosons that lived on the land that had the capability to adapt to the high temperatures in the summer and extremely low ones in the winter. Many farmers saw the most of their herds die during the harsh winter weather or dye under the summer sun.
Also, because many began to invest massively into cows and because a large number of them entered the market, the price dropped and the money the farmers were able to get on them no longer covered the expenses they had to sustain. Because of this, many major farms closed down and the owners, in an attempt to save their investments, tried to sell parcels of land to whoever was interested.
The government tried to sell the land as well and began to market it intensively, organizing free trips for interested buyers and even setting up farms to show just how profitable they were. Pseudo-scientist tried to convince the people that rain will increase as well with the appearance of more towns and that they should not be worried about the lack of rain as the trains will surly cause moisture that will bring rain.
The farmers who did buy the land quickly realized the mistake they made. The land was not suitable for agriculture and by removing the prairie grass, there was nothing left to keep the soil together as there were no trees and other vegetation.
The land still continued to attract people and the author mentions the story of a man named Bam White who in 1927 decided to go searching for a better job in the Great Plains. He took his family and his belongings and they traveled a great deal of distance until they reached Dalhart where they camped. As Bam walked through the city, he found out about two other people who came to the area to start a new life and who never left. Inspired by them and forced by the circumstances, Bam decided to remain there as well, hoping to build a new life and to be able to provide for his family.
Bam is a model for many other people who decided to leave their lands in search of a better life. Lulled by the promise of better jobs on the dams being built in the area and the prospect of being able to own land pushed many poor families from other parts of the country to move. The author also stresses the idea that the settlements built in the Great Plains were different form the rest of the country and had more than often their own set of laws. What is more, certain restrictions such as the prohibition did not applied and the general population was generally allowed to do what they wanted to do. This also opened the door for many to make a profit out of selling illegal goods such as alcohol. Thus, the author mentions how many families became rich just by growing corn and making liquor out of it. It is estimated that such a family, selling only one barrel of liquor a week, would make more than 500 dollars per month or approximately 6,500,00 dollars today. Considering the wages the people were paid then, it became a lucrative business brewing illegal alcohol.
In the second chapter, No Man’s Land, the author presents the history of a strip of land that remind unclaimed. The author explains that the land was passed from one country to another in history until is bought from European settlers by the Texas government. However, a portion of land was deemed undesirable by the government since it could not be used for agricultural purposes nor could it be used as pasture and thus is remained unclaimed.
Everything changed in 1890 when the land was claimed the Oklahoma. Families moved there, drown by the affordable prices of land and by the promise of living an easy life. A great number of homesteads were registered during those times and people gathered there from all corners of the country.
But the land was hard to work and the people faced many problems. The lack of water was resolved by windmills and by building wheels and people liked to believe that the water will never run out. Another danger were the prairie fires that broke so often in the area. The combination of dry grass, strong winds and unpredictable weather with lightings made prairie fires impossible to avoid. The fires moved so quickly that it was impossible for a man to escape one even on horseback. Whole families died in their homes as they could not escape the great fires. Another danger were the floods that could come quickly if there was more rain that usual. It is mentioned a flood that took place in 1914, a flood which destroyed numerous houses while also taking the lives of children and their families.
The wheat farmers became rich during the First World War when the demand for wheat rose to new highs. The price for wheat rose as well and the state decided to stabilize the price for two dollars for a measurement of wheat. The price thus tripled in a short period of time and the farmers were told to produce as much wheat as possible. The reason behind this is that the Americans had many soldiers oversees, fighting and they needed to be feed. Also, since Europe was at war with Russia, their former supplier of wheat, they had to find some other place to import wheat from. The farming lands in Europe were not enough to satisfy the need for wheat and thus they turned to America for help. Under these circumstances, the farmers worked as much as they could and more than 70% of the land in the No Man’s Land was used for agricultural purposes.
Some people were showed concern about the land, fearing how the excessive agriculture could affect it but the general population refused to hear them. Instead, they built houses, planted orchards even though the land was not wet enough to support trees and dug up pools and filled them with water from underground supplies. The state endorsed this behavior, claiming that land was the only resource they could count on not running out and promised the people that they could all profit out of it.
In the third chapter, the author presents some other way in which people tried to make money. Some of them tried to plant cotton but because of the weather, the land did not produced as much as the owner would have liked. Those who still insisted on raising cattle found themselves forced to sell their lands as the price for cattle dropped even lower and as they suffered great losses.
In a desperate attempt to make money, people tried to drill for oil but few were successful in finding it. Because of this, the vast majority of people still relied on wheat to survive and to make money. Even though the productivity dropped steadily, people were still optimistic and towards the end of the chapter the author mentions a list of people coming to the plains trying to own land. The people were poor Irish immigrants, Russians, Europeans and Mexicans who saw that the only way they could own a piece of land is by moving to No Man’s Land.
In the fourth chapter, the author presents the history of the German-Russian immigrants who moved to America in the middle of the 19th century. The immigrants were former German peasants convinced to move to Russia to formerly inhabited lands. They assimilated the country but in the 19th century, the czar began drafting Russians for the military and many decided to flee the country to avoid being sent to war. The immigrants brought their own wheat to America, a strain capable of surviving with little water and capable of surviving the harsh winters.
The USA government tried to make the German-Russians to move to the High Plains when everyone else refused to and their efforts paid off and in fifty years, more than 300.000 German-Russians moved to the High Plains and planted their own wheat which they imported from Russia.
A large number of Germans moved to Oklahoma at the beginning of the 20th century but instead of finding grass, they found burnt fields and destroyed settlements. Despite this, they tried their best to transform the land into something good and worked on it despite the harsh conditions.
The result was that many people became rich, building houses and a better life for themselves. The Russian immigrants found life better than in Russia and the working conditions were not that different.
In comparison with them, the Norwegians, another group that tried to move to America gave up only after a few years. The strange weather and the harsh conditions were unbearable for them and many of them ended up returning back to their country.
The fifth chapter is entitled The Last Great Plowout and analyzes the events starting from 1929. In that year, a series of events affected the wheat farmers.
First of all, the prices of wheat dropped substantially. Because the farmers have been plowing more land than ever and planting as much wheat as they could, there was a surplus of wheat no one wanted. America no longer exported grains to Europe as Russia opened up its markets once more and thus the Americans had nothing to do with the excess wheat.
The first part of the book ends with the description of the first black duster that affected the area in 1930. The event was so unusual that the people called the authorities, hoping to receive some kind of explanation. The metrological center never experienced something like this and notes how the black duster was different from any sand storms they experienced until then. The sky turned black, just like it did before a hailstorm and the sand was black and filled with static energy. What is more, the sand hurt the people who remained outside and got everywhere, no matter how much the people tried to protect themselves.
The second part of the book is entitled Betrayal and analyzes the events taking place between 1931 and 1933.
The first type of betrayal comes from the banking system. In 1931, most banks closed in the High Plains. The people were outraged, having lost all their savings. During that time, the government had no form of pension set in place so people had to save money to have what to live off in their later years. The banks used up all the money during the Great Depression to save themselves and many people who put their trust in banks were left with no savings at all. Initially, the people tried to protest peacefully but when they realized that no one will help them, they turned into an angry mob.
The second betrayal come from their own wheat. Despite having a better crop than ever, the prices dropped even more and the farmers could not get back the money they put into the fields. The famers told themselves the prices would raise since many people in the country were going hungry but that did not happen and thus they suffered another blow.
The farmers were also betrayed by the weather. Until then, they were able to rely on the underground springs and the occasional rains to provide enough moisture for the crops to grow. Unfortunately, in 1931, a period of draught began and it lasted more than 8 years, affecting the farming community.
In the eight chapter the author presents other troubles the people had never had to face until then. The author mentions how the bug population grew drastically and how the hot weather provided a perfect environment for them. the people were most affected by the ever-growing population of spiders and many people died after being bit by black widows or other poisonous spiders.
The temperatures continued to rise steadily and the soil dried worse than ever. The little crops the people managed to plant were either destroyed by the lack of water or by the growing population of rabbits that appeared on the fields.
1932 was also the year when the population finally realized just how dangerous the black dust storms were. That year, the area was affected badly by the storms and the first to be affected were the livestock. Many cattle went blind after being exposed to the sand storms and the combination of wind and sand destroyed many houses and broke windows regularly. The black dust began affecting people as well and many developed a persistent cough from the dust they were inhaling.
The ninth chapter is entitles New Leader, New Deal and presents the first few months of President Roosevelt’s time in office. He was chosen president in 1933 and as soon as he stepped into office he did everything he could to help the people. In comparison with the other candidates who tried to convince the people they will solve every problem, Roosevelt had a more reserved attitude and a more realistic one.
He first tried to make the people trust the banks again so the country had more money into circulation. After that, he tried to make things better for the farmers by controlling the amount of produce they were putting out and by buying the excess produce and giving it away to the needy.
Roosevelt also became interested in the black dusters and put two men in charge and told them to find a solution to the problem. However, while he tried everything he could to mend the country, the situation got worst in the High Plains where the soil was damaged extensively.
The third part of the book is entitled The Blowup and focuses on events from 1934 to 1936. The first chapter presents some of the efforts made by the president to help the farmers. In an attempt to stabilize and raise the prices, the president tried to eliminate the surplus produce on the market. To do this, he sent people to the High Plains and convinced the people to give away their animals. The healthy animals were sent to a bg city, killed and then meat was given to the needy while the farmers were given a financial compensation. For the cattle and animals to sick and thin to be used as food, the government gave to the people a few dollars to allow the cowboys to kill them.
The year 1934 was also the year when the rest of the country understood just how bad the situation was for the people living in the High Plains. In that year, a great dust storm formed and carried a few thousand tons of dust and soil on the big cities in America. The storm lasted for 6 hours and the people in the big cities saw for the first time through what the people in the High Plains had to go through. Scared, they proposed all types of measures they believed to be do-able but the reality was far more complicated than that. Meanwhile, in the High Plains, the people living there had to deal with dust storms every day and had to employ different strategies to protect their houses from the dust.
The president tried to help the people by proposing the planting of trees to protect the land from the wind and from the blowouts. Many told him it was not something that could be done but he continued to insist on it.
Around the same time, the people were fascinated by the story of Bonnie and Clyde. While it was clear they were criminals, many sided with them since they did not saw robbing banks as being a crime. When the pair was killed, the High Plains returned to their lives, as if nothing happened.
The situation in the Plains continued to worsen as the people saw their livestock die. The animals that were born were stillborn, deformed or much smaller than normal. Despite this, the families who still had some livestock were considered as being lucky because they had a food source they could rely on. Those who did not had animals, had to rely on charity receive from the state or even road kill given away by the sheriff.
The author points out another problem, namely how many children were abandoned. Some babies were abandoned soon after they were born while other families simply decided to move away and leave their children behind.
In the 14th chapter, the author presents some of the tactics used by the people to bring rain. The author mentions how some people tried old and superstitious methods to bring rain, such as killing snakes, and hanging them on fences. Other people paid money to those who claimed they could bring rain. Their method usually involved shooting at the clouds or sending dynamite high into the sky but their efforts did not paid off and the rain did not come.
People became steadily more desperate as the weather become worse and worse and they chose to people to write to the government for help, expressing their willingness to do everything they will be asked to do. Some considered this as a sign of weakness and claimed that the people needed no help. The reality was that many people depended on food they got from charity to survive and that they depended on the Red Cross for their clothes and shoes.
The 15ht chapter is different in the sense it presents the experience of one family affected by the duster. The people mentioned are Hazel and her grandmother Lou. In that year, Hazel’s daughter got sick and died just a few hours before Grandma Lou. The family was so devastated; they had to organize a double funeral for both the small baby and the elderly woman. Both died as a result of inhaling the dust and the author describes the way their health was affected. Grandma Lou became sick gradually, coming down with fevers and coughing frequently. In time, she lost her appetite and was bed ridden until the day she died. Grandma Lou died in her own home after a long period of sickness. On the other hand, Hazel’s baby died much quicker. She was first diagnosed with whooping cough, a contagious bacterial infection that causes people to cough uncontrollably. After being diagnoses, Hazel is told she must take her baby out of the city if she wants the child to get better. Hazel listens to the doctors and takes the baby to her in-laws but the train ride was too long and the dust the baby inhaled made the situation worse. When Hazel arrived to the place where her in-laws were living, she was told her daughter had dust pneumonia caused by the dust. Also, because of the excessive coughing, the baby broke some of her ribs and thus it was extremely painful. The author talks about the baby’s condition and how she could not stop crying because of the pain. She also became incapable of holding any food down and she died in a matter of days. The baby was one year old and she went through ordeals hard to describe.
The chapter is important because it destroys the premise many put forward, saying the dust storms were not dangerous. The example shows just how dangerous they were and how no matter what people did, they could not escape from the problems caused by the dust. Living in the area was dangerous but many had no other choice but to hang on the lands they still owned.
In the next chapter, the author described the events that took place on Black Sunday, on April 14, 1935. The day started as a good one in comparison with the weather the people had to deal with the previous months. The sky was clear and the weather was warm so many decided to get out of their houses and do the things they could no longer do because of the black storm. Some people cleaned their houses, top to bottom while others went for drives or went outside with their cattle to look for food. Many felt inspired by the good weather and harbored the belief things will get better.
Things did not get better and in that evening, the greatest Dust Storm affected the area. The day became known as Black Sunday because the storm was so great that people could no longer see the sun and the sky and it was so dark it appeared to be night time. The Dust storm lasted for more than six hours and it was one of the most devastating in the area. Because the weather was so nice that day, many people were out in the open when the storm came and some of them suffered physical ailments as a result. The author mentions a man who was caught outside during the storm and because sand got in his eyes, he remained blind. The livestock that remained outside during the storm all perished and some children and adults were found dead a few days later after not being able to find a proper shelter.
Black Sunday is important because the storm did not affect only the High Plains. The winds took the sand as far as Washington and the government officials, scared by the storms, agreed to fund a new organization to deal with the situation and to try and find a way to resolve the problem and restore the land.
The efforts were received with mixed attitudes. Some people living in the High Plains believed that the situation was only temporary and was against letting men interfere with what they believed to be the natural course of things. Other harbored the idea that the area was plagued by such problems because the people living there were inferior and thus deserving of the problems they had to face. The people in the High Plains were also reluctant to accept help but they soon found themselves forced to as they realized they had no other option. Some reports claim that more than 80% of the population was below the poverty line and needed help from the government to survive.
By the middle of the year 1936, the prices has risen and while many considered the president’s strategies as being unorthodox, they were affective in raising the prices and offering some form of financial stability. However, the rise in the prices did not mend the land and many stopped believing the land will ever be useful again. Because of this, many families moved.
The 18th chapter presents the example of one such family and analyzing it offers the reader a glimpse into the mind of the people living in the High Plains. Ike moved to the High Plains with his parents but soon after moving there his father died. He and his brother became the providers in the family and when the prices began to drop, it became harder and harder to put food on the table. The family stayed in Baca county, one of the most affected regions and they moved out only in 1936. For years, they endured hardships many could not imagine because they still had faith in the land. Things became gradually harder and harder until they could no longer take it. The mother took the girls and moved to the city and Ike packed what little he had and set on foot to find a job in another place. Ike’s brother decided to remain behind, still harboring the belief things will turn for the better. This example also shows how many American families were torn apart by the dust storms. In that area, the farm was worked by entire families, parents, children and grandchildren and they stayed together, sharing the same land. The draught changed those families and they soon realized they had a better chance of finding a good job if they separate. As a result, the structure of many families changed as well as they adapted to the new times they were living in.
The 19th chapter presents how various people recorded their experience in the High Plains. The first person mentioned by the author is a man named Don who kept a diary during the hardest years in the High Lands. Through his writings, the reader is able to see just how harsh the situation was and how much the people suffered. Don wrote from the perspective of a man who had no other choice but to live in the land. For him, leaving was not an option and thus he made himself to suffer through all the hardships. Little by little, he lost his faith in a better day and stopped believing things will get better. His example is important because he is a representative for all the people living in the High Plains. Just like Don, they all lost their hope in a better tomorrow and had to see their friends and family leave the land they lived on almost all their lives.
Many journalists also became interested in documenting the conditions in the High Plains and they sent photographers to the area to document the living conditions. The photographers were sent there not just to take photos, but to see firsthand how the people lived and the problems they had to face on a day to day basis. Some of the photos they took influenced a whole country as it showed people and children fleeing from dust storms and trying to find refuge in their dugouts. Some photos portrayed houses and fences completely covered by sand and cows, dirty and thin, trying to find a patch of grass,
The experience of the people living in the High Plains is also portrayed in a documentary approved by the government. The documentary showed how the land was affected and they director interviewed many people whose lives were affected by the dust winds. Bam White was asked to pose for the movie and his image remained in history as that of the cowboy affected by the sand storms. Unfortunately, because of his involvement, he was shunned by the community and lived separate from the community until the day he died.
Bam White’s example is important because it shows just how proud the people in the High Plains were. They knew they had a problem and yet they refused to acknowledge that maybe they were the ones who caused the problems in the first place. Those who dared to claimed blame the farmers for the ecological disaster were harshly criticized by the rest of the community and were even cast aside and forced to live separately from the rest of the community.
The 23th chapter highlights how the many reached the end of their patience in 1937. That year, more than 136 dust storms affected the area and every week someone else died from illnesses linked with inhaling dust. Because of this, many people left and tried to find refuge in other parts or the country.
Chapter 24 presents one such example, of a man named Don who lived with his wife in the High Plains. After years of draught, they couple found themselves with a massive amount of debt and with no means of paying it. The two had troubles finding stable jobs so Don’s wife decided to move to Denver to look for work. Because Don did not found work, he remained behind on the farm, waiting for his wife’s return. The couple lived together for more than 25 years and they never lived apart from one another. After his wife left, Don lived a lonely life, seeing his beloved only during the holidays. What is more, Don lived with the sense he was a failure, blaming himself for the loss of his farm and for the fact his wife was forced to work to sustain the family.
The cities in the High Plains were slowly dying, with the aging population passing on and with the younger ones moving to other cities. When the drought ended, the situation did not get exponentially better because the land remained affected and destroyed. The efforts made to resolve the problem proved to be ineffective and scientists harbored the idea it would take hundreds of years for the soil to regenerate.
When the rains returned, the farmers adopted their old practices once more, cutting down the trees planted during Roosevelt’s time to make room for more agricultural land. The ending of the book presents the current situation of the land and the author highlights how despite the efforts, the land still remained destroyed. More than 80% of the land was inhabited and many of the old settlements died and disappeared, swept away by the sands. The damage done by the farmers was extremely extensive and no matter how much the government tried to remediate the situation, they were unable to.
The epilogue can be seen as a pledge for the future generation, asking them to be more responsible and careful when dealing with the natural environment. If the balance is destroyed, it is almost impossible to repair it and make everything as it was before. Thus, instead of trying to repair what is broken, we should focus on conserving what we have and on protecting the fragile natural balance that exists.
