Dust Bowl Research Paper
The Dust Bowl was caused by the over plowing of land and lack of water on farms in the Southern plains (About the Dust Bowl). Because of the rough winds, the loose topsoil was picked up and blown throughout the Great Plains. The winds were so incredibly strong that a trucks were blown to the side and the dust was so thick travelers got lost and could not see the road ahead (LeRoy Hanker) No matter what way the wind blew, the dust still came; there was dust from Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (Roof Peter).
Farmers had their tractors buried beneath dust and homes were half buried by dust (Roof Peter). Due to all the dust blowing around in the air, dust was in houses and in schools constantly. To breathe regularly without getting a mouthful of dust, children and adults had to cover their mouths with a cloth. To make matters worse, during mealtimes, tables were set up with the plates and cups upside-down to prevent too much dust from getting in their food (Roof Peter). These were harsh conditions to live in and not everyone chose to stay.
Therefore, many people moved during the Dust Bowl, to different counties, and even states. Often when they moved to different states, they were often known as Skies, because so many people tried to escape the dust, they were common (Farming in the 1 ass’s). About twenty thousand of these people moved to California where they were trying to fix the traffic issues because of these migrants. Entire families moved at once, all piled into one car just to escape the dust. When they arrived, jobs were scarce due to the Great
Depression and stock market crashes and many “Dust Bowl refuges” became unemployed (Dust Bowl Migration). Although many people moved to escape the dust, some people still had hope. Even though so many people moved and ran away from the dust, there were the few people who stayed true to their state and county. Those who chose to stay struggled to keep dust out of their homes; they made sure that the “windows were taped” to prevent dust from getting in and surgeons had a hard time keeping “their instruments sterile” (Roof Peter).
Farmers could not row crops due to the little rain and the fact that the wind blew out the seeds and the dust killed any living seedling (Elroy Hoffman). Because Of the amount of dust in the air, people had a hard time breathing and caught dust pneumonia. This disease often affected elderly people and young children. Some people actually died from this uncommon disease. To sum it up, the Dust Bowl was a tragic storm that lasted for more than eight years. It caused people to move, and suffer unemployment, while it also caused people to struggle to survive.
