Dust Bowl Significance

The Historical Significance of the Dust Bowl
In one of the most fertile places in the United States, one of the nation's worst disasters occurred, the Dust Bowl. It began when an area in the Midwest was severely affected by an intense drought throughout the 1930s or what proceeded to be called the Dirty Thirties. The drought killed crops that had kept the rich soil in place, and when the strong root system was not there the soil was not kept grounded. Due to the soil left with no crops, the high and strong winds blew the topsoil away. This drought lasted for almost a decade, and during that time, many people had to learn new ways to adapt, make new innovations, or move to a different region. Though the difficulties it had brought about were

This 150,000 square-mile storm area encompassing Oklahoma, Texas, and neighboring parts of states including Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico was not an issue to be taken lightly. When winds easily picked up topsoil and swirled it into dense dust clouds call "black blizzards", it was hard to not be terrified for your life. These enormous clouds of dust deposited mounds of dirt on anything you could imagine. The dust also began to cause the choking of cattle and pasture lands. Children were even beginning to get pneumonia. As a first reaction, many people fled to different regions to get away from dust storms completely. Close to 2.5 million people had left the Midwest, 60 percent of the population. The dust storms caused migrant farmers to lose their businesses and homes. Families migrated to California to find work that ended up not being available when they got there. As a result, many ended up living homeless in shantytowns. Except there were still new innovations and ideas that were coming about in an attempt to survive the dust storms. Not every farmer, but a good amount of them who still had faith in their land, were ready to stick around and fight through the storms. Previous survival techniques were brought to the table and put into practice to try and make do. A majority of farmers increased they milk cow herds and the cream from the

A majority fled to other regions to get completely away from the harsh dust storms, except some farmers stayed and decided to fight through the issues and come out on top. Not only did land and crops get ruined, but people's homes and belongings did also. Living during the time period of the Dust Bowl was harsh and to make it even worse people also were suffering from the Great Depression. The Federal Government was a big contribution to solving the issues with the Dust Bowl, they took control and came up with New Deal agencies that farmers were able to improve from and learn new methods with plowing to sustain their lands. There ended up being some positive outcomes of the harsh disaster. Farmers who chose to stay back eventually found new technologies and methods for farming that somewhat helped the situation. If another Dust Bowl, even though farmers would not be able to control the winds, they would still be able to use these methods and greatly increase the odds of less