Dust Bowl Pictures/The 30's

[Tallman]

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the dust bowl days back in the 30's. These were trying times and right in the middle of the great depression. When it came to being SS, these people really knew what that meant. DH and I lived in the western part of Kansas years ago, and we knew people out there who went through these storms. The people of that day thought that they were in the "time of the end." During the 5 years that we were there we only had one storm like this; however, during the 30's the storms came very regular.

Just thought you might like to see and imagine what it would have been like. I hope I am posting the web site so you can just click on it and see the pictures. If I didn't do it right, you can do a search for Dust Bowl Pictures and come up with the site that way.

http://www.weru.ksu.edu/new_weru/multimedia/dustbowl/dustbowlpics.html

 

[patandchickens]

that's a good and timely reminder that there are worse things than not being able to afford cable tv, soda pop and new clothes.

thanks for the link,

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

It's good to get perspective. My husband I were just talking about the economy tonight. I was making the point that most Americans (and Canadians, for that matter) probably have a lot of places they could tighten the belt. For instance, we have no concept of eating nothing but beans and rice to get by. In another thread, someone was instituting one day of no meat to cut costs. That's great, but how about just one day with meat? Anyway, thanks for the reminder that it could be worse.

 

[Beekissed]

no concept of eating nothing but beans and rice to get by.

Speak for yourself! Sort of raised on beans and flour gravy here, so I can tell you how it feels.....

 

[me&thegals]

I meant "we" North Americans Plus, Bee, with your prolific garden I bet you at least have some canned tomatoes to go with your beans and rice! And eggs. And soon honey!

 

[Tallman]

I can't imagine gardening during the 30's in western Kansas under the conditions shown in these pictures. When I lived out there, the old timers talked about the young wheat, if the they got it to come up, was blown out of the ground or covered in dust. Both cattle and people died of dust pneumonia. But, somehow people survived.

 

[modern_pioneer]

http://images.google.com/images?q=dust+bowl&q=source:life

 

[On Our own]

And people don't always realize the impact that the natural (man made none the less) disaster had on the length of the depression. As the drought here deepens we'll be seeing more....

 

[Big Daddy]

So what caused the dust bowl? Was it just drought? I have heard the land was over farmed, but I imagine the farming is a lot more intense now. We live in an area that gets a lot of high winds and drought is the norm. Of course don't tell that to the developers that keep bringing in more people. Does anyone know why the topsoil was so easily blown away?

 

[patandchickens]

AFAIK it largely boils down to, the Prairies were always pretty dry and subject to droughts but the land could tolerate it just fine whilst fully clothed in prairie grasses etc. The land just sat out the droughts under a protective layer of largely-dead vegetation with some live plants mixed in there.

Whereas if you strip all the natural vegetation off and plant crops (rather thinly with lotsa bare dirt in between, as compared to the natural vegetation the crops were replacing) that *can't* tolerate drought, then you have nekkid bare dry soil exposed to the winds, whoosh. And it is sort of a self-reinforcing thing, in that the worse it gets, the worse it gets.

Pat