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1
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Narrator: TONIGHT,
FROM DIRECTOR KEN BURNS...
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00:00:04,270 --> 00:00:07,273
THEY HAD COME TO THE FAR EDGE
OF THE GREAT PLAINS
3
00:00:07,273 --> 00:00:11,444
IN SEARCH OF A NEW BEGINNING
IN THE LAST PLACE IN AMERICA
4
00:00:11,444 --> 00:00:20,053
WHERE A FAMILY COULD CLAIM
A HOMESTEAD AND BUILD A FUTURE.
5
00:00:20,053 --> 00:00:22,122
AND EVERYTHING WAS LOOKING UP.
6
00:00:22,122 --> 00:00:23,723
Narrator: A SEA OF GRASS,
7
00:00:23,723 --> 00:00:26,526
ONCE THE DOMAIN
OF INDIANS AND BUFFALO,
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00:00:26,526 --> 00:00:29,295
DISAPPEARED BENEATH
THE BLADE OF A PLOW.
9
00:00:29,295 --> 00:00:33,800
Woman, voice-over:
I SAW THE WHOLE COUNTRY TRANSFORMED IN THE SUNSET GLOW--
10
00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,237
ALL THE BROWN PRAIRIE
TURNED TO GOLD.
11
00:00:39,973 --> 00:00:43,877
Narrator: BUT THEN IT WAS
AS IF THE LAND REJECTED THEM.
12
00:00:43,877 --> 00:00:47,147
THE RAINS STOPPED
AND THE WINDS CAME.
13
00:00:47,147 --> 00:00:49,149
Woman: WE SAW
THIS CLOUD COMING IN.
14
00:00:49,149 --> 00:00:50,483
BLACK, BLACK DIRT.
15
00:00:50,483 --> 00:00:53,653
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET,
MY GRANDMOTHER, SHE SAID,
16
00:00:53,653 --> 00:00:55,655
"YOU KIDS RUN
AND GET TOGETHER.
17
00:00:55,655 --> 00:00:57,490
THE END OF THE WORLD
IS COMING."
18
00:00:57,490 --> 00:00:59,759
Narrator:
IT CAME LIKE A BLACK WALL,
19
00:00:59,759 --> 00:01:03,763
A TIDE OF DESTRUCTION THAT
CRASHED OVER THE BROKEN PLAINS,
20
00:01:03,763 --> 00:01:06,933
CHOKING THE LIFE OUT OF
EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH.
21
00:01:06,933 --> 00:01:09,436
Man: YOU NEVER REALLY
ESCAPED THE DUST.
22
00:01:09,436 --> 00:01:11,271
IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN.
23
00:01:11,271 --> 00:01:13,773
AND THAT'S, I THINK,
WHAT DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY.
24
00:01:13,773 --> 00:01:16,276
Narrator: SOME WOULD
PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE ON.
25
00:01:16,276 --> 00:01:17,944
BUT MOST STAYED,
26
00:01:17,944 --> 00:01:21,448
ALWAYS LOOKING TO THE PROMISE
THAT NEXT YEAR WOULD BE BETTER.
27
00:01:21,448 --> 00:01:23,616
Man: WE WERE JUST TOO SELFISH
28
00:01:23,616 --> 00:01:25,452
AND WE WERE TRYING
TO MAKE MONEY.
29
00:01:25,452 --> 00:01:29,956
AND IT DIDN'T WORK OUT.
30
00:01:29,956 --> 00:01:34,127
Narrator: KEN BURNS TELLS
THE STORY OF A GENERATION THAT WAS BURIED,
31
00:01:34,127 --> 00:01:36,629
AND WHAT IT TOOK TO DIG OUT.
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00:01:36,629 --> 00:01:40,233
"THE DUST BOWL"
COMING UP NEXT ON PBS.
33
00:01:42,001 --> 00:01:42,035
AND WHAT IT TOOK TO DIG OUT.
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00:01:48,541 --> 00:01:51,444
[WIND BLOWING]
35
00:02:02,021 --> 00:02:05,758
Don Wells: LET ME TELL YOU
HOW IT WAS.
36
00:02:05,825 --> 00:02:08,294
I DON'T CARE WHO
DESCRIBES THAT TO YOU,
37
00:02:08,361 --> 00:02:12,065
NOBODY CAN TELL IT ANY
WORSE THAN WHAT IT WAS.
38
00:02:12,132 --> 00:02:13,766
NO ONE EXAGGERATES THAT.
39
00:02:13,833 --> 00:02:16,736
THERE IS NO WAY
FOR IT TO BE EXAGGERATED.
40
00:02:16,803 --> 00:02:19,372
IT WAS THAT BAD.
41
00:02:19,439 --> 00:02:22,509
Pauline Robertson:
IT WAS JUST UNBELIEVABLE.
42
00:02:22,575 --> 00:02:25,545
IT'D BLISTER YOUR FACE.
43
00:02:25,612 --> 00:02:29,649
IT WOULD PUT YOUR EYES OUT.
44
00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:32,452
WELL, I GUESS I CAN'T
DESCRIBE IT.
45
00:02:32,519 --> 00:02:35,021
IT WAS JUST...
IT WAS JUST CONSTANT,
46
00:02:35,088 --> 00:02:39,626
JUST THAT STEADY
BLOW OF DIRT.
47
00:02:39,692 --> 00:02:41,127
Floyd Coen:
AS FAR AS YOU COULD SEE,
48
00:02:41,194 --> 00:02:43,363
THERE WAS A DUST STORM
COMING RIGHT TOWARDS YOU.
49
00:02:43,429 --> 00:02:46,966
THIS GIANT WALL JUST
COMING TOWARDS YOU.
50
00:02:47,033 --> 00:02:48,968
AND YOU STILL HAD THE FEELING,
51
00:02:49,035 --> 00:02:52,071
WHETHER YOU WOULD ADMIT IT,
52
00:02:52,138 --> 00:02:57,243
THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING TO
RUN OVER YOU AND JUST CRUSH YOU.
53
00:02:57,310 --> 00:03:02,315
Dorothy Williamson: IT WAS
ALMOST SURREAL, THE DUST.
54
00:03:02,382 --> 00:03:05,518
THERE'S NOWHERE YOU CAN RUN.
55
00:03:05,585 --> 00:03:07,053
YOU CAN TRY TO GET OUT OF IT
56
00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,523
BUT IT'S AS IF IT FOLLOWS YOU,
FOLLOWS YOU, FOLLOWS YOU.
57
00:03:10,590 --> 00:03:13,359
YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT.
58
00:03:13,426 --> 00:03:15,094
LOOKING BACK ON IT,
59
00:03:15,161 --> 00:03:17,163
I THINK IT CARRIED WITH IT
60
00:03:17,230 --> 00:03:22,135
A FEELING OF...
61
00:03:22,202 --> 00:03:26,239
I DON'T KNOW THE WORD
EXACTLY, OF...
62
00:03:26,306 --> 00:03:30,577
WELL, BEING UNREAL,
BUT ALMOST BEING, UM...
63
00:03:30,643 --> 00:03:31,978
EVIL.
64
00:03:39,652 --> 00:03:42,689
Narrator: IT WAS A DECADE-LONG
NATURAL CATASTROPHE
65
00:03:42,755 --> 00:03:44,891
OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS--
66
00:03:44,958 --> 00:03:47,827
WHEN THE SKIES REFUSED
THEIR RAINS;
67
00:03:47,894 --> 00:03:50,763
WHEN PLAGUES OF GRASSHOPPERS
AND SWARMS OF RABBITS
68
00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:53,533
DESCENDED ON PARCHED FIELDS;
69
00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,836
WHEN BEWILDERED FAMILIES
HUDDLED IN DARKENED ROOMS
70
00:03:56,903 --> 00:03:59,672
WHILE ANGRY WINDS
SHOOK THEIR HOMES,
71
00:03:59,739 --> 00:04:03,276
PILLARS OF DUST CHOKED OUT
THE MID-DAY SUN,
72
00:04:03,343 --> 00:04:06,913
AND THE LAND ITSELF--
THE SOIL THEY HAD DEPENDED UPON
73
00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:10,683
FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AND COUNTED
ON FOR THEIR PROSPERITY--
74
00:04:10,750 --> 00:04:14,220
TURNED AGAINST THEM
WITH A LETHAL VENGEANCE.
75
00:04:19,826 --> 00:04:22,428
IT WAS THE WORST MAN-MADE
ECOLOGICAL DISASTER
76
00:04:22,495 --> 00:04:24,697
IN AMERICAN HISTORY,
77
00:04:24,764 --> 00:04:27,300
WHEN THE IRRESISTIBLE
PROMISE OF EASY MONEY
78
00:04:27,367 --> 00:04:30,770
AND THE HEEDLESS ACTIONS
OF THOUSANDS OF FARMERS,
79
00:04:30,837 --> 00:04:34,941
ENCOURAGED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT,
RESULTED IN A COLLECTIVE TRAGEDY
80
00:04:35,008 --> 00:04:40,680
THAT NEARLY SWEPT AWAY THE
BREADBASKET OF THE NATION.
81
00:04:40,747 --> 00:04:42,949
IT'S A CLASSIC TALE
OF HUMAN BEINGS PUSHING
82
00:04:43,016 --> 00:04:45,585
TOO HARD AGAINST NATURE
AND NATURE PUSHING BACK.
83
00:04:45,652 --> 00:04:48,054
AND THEN IT'S AN AMERICAN
BUBBLE STORY, TOO,
84
00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:50,323
LIKE STOCKS
AND LIKE REAL ESTATE.
85
00:04:50,390 --> 00:04:53,326
WE THINK THAT EVERYTHING THAT
GOES UP WILL NOT COME DOWN,
86
00:04:53,393 --> 00:04:57,463
THAT WE CAN DEFY GRAVITY,
AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID HERE.
87
00:04:57,530 --> 00:05:00,066
Donald Worster: THE DUST BOWL
BELONGS ON THE LIST
88
00:05:00,133 --> 00:05:06,939
OF THE TOP 3, 4, 5 ENVIRONMENTAL
CATASTROPHES IN WORLD HISTORY.
89
00:05:07,006 --> 00:05:09,475
BUT THOSE
CATASTROPHES TOOK PLACE
90
00:05:09,542 --> 00:05:13,479
OVER HUNDREDS AND EVEN THOUSANDS
OF YEARS OF DEFORESTATION.
91
00:05:13,546 --> 00:05:17,116
WE CREATED A WORLD-CLASS
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER
92
00:05:17,183 --> 00:05:19,986
IN A MATTER OF
40 OR 50 YEARS.
93
00:05:20,053 --> 00:05:23,189
Narrator: IT WAS AN EPIC OF
HUMAN PAIN AND SUFFERING,
94
00:05:23,256 --> 00:05:26,592
WHEN NORMALLY SELF-RELIANT
FATHERS FOUND THEMSELVES
95
00:05:26,659 --> 00:05:30,296
UNABLE TO PROVIDE
FOR THEIR FAMILIES,
96
00:05:30,363 --> 00:05:33,132
WHEN EVEN THE VIGILANTMOTHE
RE UNABLE
97
00:05:33,199 --> 00:05:36,102
TO STOP THE DIRT THAT
INVADED THEIR HOUSES
98
00:05:36,169 --> 00:05:39,739
FROM KILLING THEIR CHILDREN,
99
00:05:39,806 --> 00:05:42,108
WHEN THOUSANDS OF
DESPERATE AMERICANS
100
00:05:42,175 --> 00:05:45,445
WERE TORN FROM THEIR HOMES
AND FORCED ON THE ROAD
101
00:05:45,511 --> 00:05:51,117
IN AN EXODUS UNLIKE ANYTHING
THE UNITED STATES HAS EVER SEEN.
102
00:05:51,184 --> 00:05:56,189
BUT IT IS ALSO THE STORY
OF HEROIC PERSEVERANCE,
103
00:05:56,255 --> 00:06:00,193
OF A RESILIENT PEOPLE WHO
SOMEHOW MANAGED TO ENDURE
104
00:06:00,259 --> 00:06:03,963
ONE UNIMAGINABLE HARDSHIP
AFTER ANOTHER
105
00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:07,433
TO HOLD ONTO THEIR
LIVES, THEIR LAND,
106
00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:10,803
AND THE ONES THEY LOVED.
107
00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:13,940
Egan: WHAT KIND
OF PLACE WAS THIS
108
00:06:14,006 --> 00:06:17,310
WHERE CHILDREN
COULDN'T GO OUTSIDE,
109
00:06:17,377 --> 00:06:22,215
WHERE THE AIR ITSELF
COULD KILL YOU,
110
00:06:22,281 --> 00:06:26,853
WHERE THE SKY SHOWERED DOWN
THIS SUFFOCATING BLACKNESS
111
00:06:26,919 --> 00:06:30,356
THAT COULD ERASE
THE SUN AT MIDDAY?
112
00:06:30,423 --> 00:06:32,091
WHO COULD DO THAT?
113
00:06:32,158 --> 00:06:34,761
AND WE DIDN'T PLAN THIS.
WE DIDN'T SET OUT AND SAY,
114
00:06:34,827 --> 00:06:39,499
"LET'S RUIN THE SECOND-GREATEST
ECOSYSTEM IN NORTH AMERICA."
115
00:06:39,565 --> 00:06:41,868
IT WAS A RESULT OF A
WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS
116
00:06:41,934 --> 00:06:44,470
THAT ARE JUST INNATE
TO HUMAN BEINGS.
117
00:06:50,877 --> 00:06:52,845
[BIRD SINGING]
118
00:06:56,315 --> 00:06:59,318
Woman: "APRIL 28, 1908.
119
00:06:59,385 --> 00:07:03,089
"HERE I AM, AWAY OUT IN THAT
NARROW STRIP OF OKLAHOMA
120
00:07:03,156 --> 00:07:06,926
"BETWEEN KANSAS AND
THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS.
121
00:07:06,993 --> 00:07:11,831
"I WISH YOU COULD SEE THIS
WIDE, FREE, WESTERN COUNTRY,
122
00:07:11,898 --> 00:07:15,301
"WITH ITS REAL STRETCHES
OF ALMOST LEVEL PRAIRIE,
123
00:07:15,368 --> 00:07:18,938
"COVERED WITH THE THICK,
SHORT BUFFALO GRASS,
124
00:07:19,005 --> 00:07:23,176
"THE MARVELOUS GLORY OF
ITS SUNRISES AND SUNSETS,
125
00:07:23,242 --> 00:07:27,914
THE BRILLIANCY OF ITS
STAR-LIT SKY AT NIGHT."
126
00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:30,149
CAROLINE HENDERSON.
127
00:07:30,216 --> 00:07:32,852
Narrator: FROM THE TIME
SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL
128
00:07:32,919 --> 00:07:36,889
GROWING UP IN IOWA,
CAROLINE BOA HENDERSON DREAMED
129
00:07:36,956 --> 00:07:40,359
OF HAVING A PIECE OF LAND
SHE COULD CALL HER OWN.
130
00:07:40,426 --> 00:07:43,062
EVEN WHEN SHE WENT EAST
TO MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE,
131
00:07:43,129 --> 00:07:45,965
WHERE SHE STUDIED
LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE,
132
00:07:46,032 --> 00:07:48,234
HER SENIOR CLASS
PROPHECY PREDICTED
133
00:07:48,301 --> 00:07:53,739
THAT HER FUTURE WOULD BE FOUND
"SOMEWHERE ON A WESTERN RANCH."
134
00:07:53,806 --> 00:07:58,144
IN 1907, THE YEAR OF
OKLAHOMA'S STATEHOOD,
135
00:07:58,211 --> 00:08:01,981
SHE FOLLOWED THAT DREAM TO
THE NEWLY CREATED TEXAS COUNTY,
136
00:08:02,048 --> 00:08:04,650
WHERE SHE STAKED OUT
A HOMESTEAD CLAIM
137
00:08:04,717 --> 00:08:09,589
AND MOVED INTO A ONE-ROOM
SHACK, 14 FEET BY 16,
138
00:08:09,655 --> 00:08:12,291
WHICH SHE CALLED HER "CASTLE."
139
00:08:12,358 --> 00:08:15,194
A YEAR LATER, SHE MARRIED
WILL HENDERSON,
140
00:08:15,261 --> 00:08:19,832
A LANKY KANSAS COWBOY SHE
HAD HIRED TO DIG HER WELL.
141
00:08:19,899 --> 00:08:22,134
THEY SOON HAD
A DAUGHTER, ELEANOR,
142
00:08:22,201 --> 00:08:25,705
AND WILL BUILT AN
ADDITION TO THEIR HOME.
143
00:08:25,771 --> 00:08:28,741
NOW THEY WERE CLOSE TO
GAINING TITLE TO THE FARM,
144
00:08:28,808 --> 00:08:32,345
WHERE THEY RAISED BROOM
CORN, MILLET, AND MAIZE,
145
00:08:32,411 --> 00:08:35,615
TURKEYS, CHICKENS,
AND A FEW CATTLE,
146
00:08:35,681 --> 00:08:38,885
PUTTING WHAT LITTLE CASH
THEY EARNED INTO IMPROVEMENTS,
147
00:08:38,951 --> 00:08:42,188
PARTICULARLY A NEW
WINDMILL TO DRAW UP WATER
148
00:08:42,255 --> 00:08:46,025
FOR THEIR ANIMALS, HOUSE,
AND HALF-ACRE GAENRD
149
00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,696
TO BRING IN EXTRA MONEY,
CAROLINE BEGAN
150
00:08:50,763 --> 00:08:53,266
SUBMITTING ARTICLES
ABOUT LIFE ON THE PLAINS
151
00:08:53,332 --> 00:08:55,601
TO MAGAZINES IN THE EAST.
152
00:08:55,668 --> 00:08:57,436
SHE WROTE FOR "LADIES' WORLD,"
153
00:08:57,503 --> 00:09:00,473
WHERE HER COLUMN ENTITLED
"THE HOMESTEAD LADY"
154
00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:02,942
BECAME A POPULAR FEATURE,
155
00:09:03,009 --> 00:09:06,312
AND EVENTUALLY CONTRIBUTED
TO THE "ATLANTIC MONTHLY,"
156
00:09:06,379 --> 00:09:09,849
THE NATION'S MOST
PRESTIGIOUS PUBLICATION.
157
00:09:14,921 --> 00:09:17,857
Henderson portrayer:
OUT HERE IN THIS WILDERNESS
158
00:09:17,924 --> 00:09:21,060
HAS COME TO ME THE VERY
GREATEST AND SWEETEST
159
00:09:21,127 --> 00:09:25,731
AND MOST HOPEFUL HAPPINESS
OF ALL MY LIFE.
160
00:09:28,467 --> 00:09:31,504
Charles Shaw: YOU LIVE WITH
THE WIND WHEN YOU'RE OUT THERE.
161
00:09:31,571 --> 00:09:33,272
IT'S NOT MEG
THAT'S CONSTANT,
162
00:09:33,339 --> 00:09:36,409
BUT IT BLOWS MORE
THAN IT DOESN'T BLOW.
163
00:09:36,475 --> 00:09:38,611
THE TIMES THAT
IT BLOWS REALLY HARD
164
00:09:38,678 --> 00:09:40,212
MAY NOT BE THAT OFTEN,
165
00:09:40,279 --> 00:09:42,081
BUERE'S JUST
166
00:09:42,148 --> 00:09:43,849
A CONSTANT BREEZE,
167
00:09:43,916 --> 00:09:46,886
A LITTLE MURMUR OF THE
WIND ACROSS THE FIELDS
168
00:09:46,953 --> 00:09:50,690
AND IN THE WHEAT AND IN
WHAT TREES ARE THERE.
169
00:09:50,756 --> 00:09:54,293
YOU FEEL IT, YOU SENSE IT
MORE THAN YOU HEAR IT.
170
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,629
THAT COUNTRY WAS SO FLAT.
171
00:09:56,696 --> 00:09:59,565
YOU COULD SEE FOR JUST MILES.
172
00:09:59,632 --> 00:10:01,000
THEY USED TO SAY THAT
173
00:10:01,067 --> 00:10:04,670
WASN'T A FENCE BETWEEN
THERE AND THE NORTH POLE.
174
00:10:04,737 --> 00:10:06,906
BUT GOD, IT WAS
GOOD GRASS COUNTRY.
175
00:10:06,973 --> 00:10:09,742
MAN, IT WAS PERFECT.
176
00:10:09,809 --> 00:10:12,745
Calvin Crabill: IT'S SAID
THAT BUFFALO GRASS
177
00:10:12,812 --> 00:10:14,580
WOULD HOLD THE MOISTURE
178
00:10:14,647 --> 00:10:19,652
SO IF YOU WENT DOWN 12 INCHES,
YOU WOULD FIND MOIST EARTH.
179
00:10:19,719 --> 00:10:21,787
AND I REMEMBER US
DIGGING DOWN,
180
00:10:21,854 --> 00:10:23,689
AND THE EARTH WAS
MOIST DOWN THERE.
181
00:10:23,756 --> 00:10:25,157
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SOIL.
182
00:10:25,224 --> 00:10:27,994
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SOIL.
183
00:10:28,060 --> 00:10:29,729
Worster: NATURE TOOK
SEVERAL MILLION YEARS
184
00:10:29,795 --> 00:10:33,966
TO FIND A SOLUTION TO
THESE UNSTABLE SOILS,
185
00:10:34,033 --> 00:10:37,136
THESE HIGH WINDS, THESE
TURBULENT WEATHER CONDITIONS,
186
00:10:37,203 --> 00:10:38,938
WHICH WAS THE GRASSES.
187
00:10:39,005 --> 00:10:42,675
THEY ARE AN
EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION.
188
00:10:42,742 --> 00:10:45,077
THEY WORKED PRETTY WELL,
FOR THE MOST PART.
189
00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:48,681
THEY HAVE SURVIVED HERE
FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS.
190
00:10:48,748 --> 00:10:53,619
OUR AGRICULTURE HASN'T BEEN HERE
FOR MUCH MORE THAN A CENTURY.
191
00:10:53,686 --> 00:10:55,721
Narrator:
THE GREAT PLAINS STRETCH
192
00:10:55,788 --> 00:10:58,190
FROM CANADA
TO SOUTHERN TEXAS,
193
00:10:58,257 --> 00:11:00,893
FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER
TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS--
194
00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:07,166
A LAND OF FEW TREES, INFREQUENT
RAINS, AND CONSTANT WINDS.
195
00:11:07,233 --> 00:11:09,802
ONE OF THE EARLIEST AMERICAN
EXPLORERS CALLED IT
196
00:11:09,869 --> 00:11:12,872
"ALMOST WHOLLY UNFIT
FOR CULTIVATION,
197
00:11:12,938 --> 00:11:18,244
AND UNINHABITABLE BY A PEOPLE
DEPENDING UPON AGRICULTURE."
198
00:11:18,310 --> 00:11:21,947
THE PLAINS INDIANS
CONSIDERED IT HOME.
199
00:11:22,014 --> 00:11:25,017
THE SHORT GRASSES THAT
COVERED THE TREELESS EXPANSE
200
00:11:25,084 --> 00:11:28,387
SENT TANGLED ROOTS 5 FEET
BELOW THE GROUND,
201
00:11:28,454 --> 00:11:31,657
FORMING A DENSE SOD THAT
COULD WITHSTAND THE REGION'S
202
00:11:31,724 --> 00:11:35,695
PERIODIC DROUGHTS AND
VIOLENT WEATHER EXTREMES,
203
00:11:35,761 --> 00:11:38,597
NURTURING THE VAST
HERDS OF BUFFALO
204
00:11:38,664 --> 00:11:43,202
WHO GRAZED IN NUMBERS
BEYOND COUNTING.
205
00:11:43,269 --> 00:11:45,438
AFTER THE BISON
WERE ELIMINATED
206
00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:49,041
AND THE NATIVE AMERICANS HAD
BEEN DRIVEN ONTO RESERVATIONS,
207
00:11:49,108 --> 00:11:54,580
CATTLEMEN TOOK OVER IN WHAT
WAS CALLED THE BEEF BONANZA.
208
00:11:54,647 --> 00:11:58,584
BUT SEVERE WINTERS IN THE 1880s
KILLED OFF THEIR HERDS,
209
00:11:58,651 --> 00:12:02,054
AND THE BONANZA WENT BUST.
210
00:12:02,121 --> 00:12:04,290
HOMESTEADERS CAME NEXT,
211
00:12:04,356 --> 00:12:08,728
SWARMING ONTO LAND ONCE
CONSIDERED UNSUITABLE FOR CROPS
212
00:12:08,794 --> 00:12:13,699
BECAUSE IT AVERAGED LESS THAN
20 INCHES OF RAIN A YEAR.
213
00:12:13,766 --> 00:12:16,168
UNSCRUPULOUS PROMOTERS
PROMISED THAT
214
00:12:16,235 --> 00:12:20,239
THE VERY ACT OF FARMING WOULD
INCREASE THE PRECIPITATION--
215
00:12:20,306 --> 00:12:23,609
"RAIN FOLLOWS
THE PLOW," THEY SAID.
216
00:12:23,676 --> 00:12:27,146
A SEVERE DROUGHT IN THE
1890s PROVED THEM WRONG,
217
00:12:27,213 --> 00:12:30,716
AND COUNTIES THAT HAD TRIPLED
AND QUADRUPLED IN POPULATION
218
00:12:30,783 --> 00:12:32,485
IN LESS THAN A DECADE
219
00:12:32,551 --> 00:12:36,021
EMPTIED JUST AS QUICKLY.
220
00:12:36,088 --> 00:12:39,125
THEN, IN THE EARLY PART
OF THE 20th CENTURY,
221
00:12:39,191 --> 00:12:42,661
CONGRESS ENLARGED THE
ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD ACT,
222
00:12:42,728 --> 00:12:46,732
ENTICING FARMERS TO SETTLE
ON SOME OF THE LAST UNCLAIMED
223
00:12:46,799 --> 00:12:48,968
AND MOST MARGINAL SECTIONS
224
00:12:49,034 --> 00:12:51,704
OF PUBLIC LAND IN THE NATION.
225
00:12:51,771 --> 00:12:55,775
THE NEWCOMERS, NEARLY ALL OF
THEM WHITE, CAME FROM EUROPE,
226
00:12:55,841 --> 00:13:04,116
WHERE LAND WAS UNAVAILABLE,
227
00:13:04,183 --> 00:13:07,186
AND IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
MANY OF THEM CONVERGED
228
00:13:07,253 --> 00:13:11,857
ON A NARROW STRIP OF OKLAHOMA
THAT BORDERED 4 OTHER STATES--
229
00:13:11,924 --> 00:13:16,095
KANSAS, TEXAS,
NEW MEXICO, AND COLORADO--
230
00:13:16,162 --> 00:13:18,798
A FORMERLY LAWLESS
AND UNGOVERNABLE PLACE
231
00:13:18,864 --> 00:13:21,600
CALLED NO MAN'S LAND,
THE PLACE WHERE
232
00:13:21,667 --> 00:13:25,271
CAROLINE HENDERSON
WOULD STAKE HER FUTURE.
233
00:13:27,973 --> 00:13:30,609
Henderson portrayer:
FARMING HERE OFTEN REMINDS ME
234
00:13:30,676 --> 00:13:33,412
OF THE MAN WHO,
WHEN ASKED TO EMBARK UPON
235
00:13:33,479 --> 00:13:36,916
SOME RATHER DOUBTFUL
BUSINESS VENTURE, REPLIED
236
00:13:36,982 --> 00:13:40,820
THAT IF HE WANTED TO GAMBLE,
HE WOULD PREFER ROULETTE,
237
00:13:40,886 --> 00:13:45,224
WHERE THE CHANCES WERE
ONLY 32-1 AGAINST HIM.
238
00:13:47,426 --> 00:13:49,662
Worster: THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
ARE A HIGH-RISK AREA
239
00:13:49,728 --> 00:13:52,665
BECAUSE THEY'RE NEITHER
DESERT NOR HUMID FOREST
240
00:13:52,731 --> 00:13:54,767
OR HUMID GRASSLAND, EVEN.
241
00:13:54,834 --> 00:13:57,870
THEY'RE ON THE EDGES
OF VULNERABILITY.
242
00:13:57,937 --> 00:14:00,306
YOU'VE GOT AN AREA
THAT THE RAINFALL
243
00:14:00,372 --> 00:14:03,475
IS LESS THAN 20 INCHES A YEAR.
244
00:14:03,542 --> 00:14:05,511
IN SOME YEARS, YOU GET
ENOUGH RAINFALL
245
00:14:05,578 --> 00:14:06,879
YOU CAN MAKE A GOOD CROP;
246
00:14:06,946 --> 00:14:10,416
THE NEXT YEAR, YOU GET HALF
THAT AMOUNT OF RAINFALL.
247
00:14:10,482 --> 00:14:13,252
IT IS ONE OF THE RISKIEST
AREAS IN THE WORLD
248
00:14:13,319 --> 00:14:15,454
FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.
249
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:18,457
R. Douglas Hurt:
THE FARM MEN AND WOMEN OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS
250
00:14:18,524 --> 00:14:21,360
ARE THE GREATEST "NEXT YEAR"
PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.
251
00:14:21,427 --> 00:14:24,363
THEY REALLY LIVE THEIR LIVES
WITH 3 LITTLE WORDS--
252
00:14:24,430 --> 00:14:25,698
"IF IT RAINS."
253
00:14:25,764 --> 00:14:28,300
IF IT RAINS,
THE DUST WOULD SETTLE.
254
00:14:28,367 --> 00:14:30,402
IF IT RAINED, THE DROUGHT
WOULD BE BROKEN.
255
00:14:30,469 --> 00:14:33,105
IF IT RAINED, THE WHEAT
CROP WOULD GROW.
256
00:14:33,172 --> 00:14:35,274
IF IT RAINED,
THINGS WERE GOOD.
257
00:14:35,341 --> 00:14:38,644
IF IT DIDN'T, THEY WERE
A "NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE.
258
00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:47,353
Narrator: NOT LONG AFTER
CAROLINE HENDERSON MOVED
259
00:14:47,419 --> 00:14:50,122
TO NO MAN'S LAND IN 1907,
260
00:14:50,189 --> 00:14:52,992
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
ENTERED A WET PERIOD,
261
00:14:53,058 --> 00:14:56,228
AND THE PACE OF
SETTLEMENT QUICKENED.
262
00:14:56,295 --> 00:14:59,331
REAL-ESTATE SYNDICATES
BEGAN BUYING BIG RANCHES
263
00:14:59,398 --> 00:15:02,134
FOR $5.00 AN ACRE
AND CARVED THEM UP
264
00:15:02,201 --> 00:15:07,239
INTO SMALLER PARCELS FOR SALE
AT 3 TIMES THE PRICE.
265
00:15:07,306 --> 00:15:11,010
RAILROAD COMPANIES DID THE
SAME THING WITH THE VAST TRACTS
266
00:15:11,076 --> 00:15:13,913
THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN
BY THE GOVERNMENT.
267
00:15:13,979 --> 00:15:17,516
SPECIAL EXCURSION TRAINS
BROUGHT PROSPECTIVE BUYERS
268
00:15:17,583 --> 00:15:20,619
TO THE REGION
BY THE THOUSANDS.
269
00:15:20,686 --> 00:15:23,055
SALESMEN ASSURED THEM
THAT NONE OTHER
270
00:15:23,122 --> 00:15:26,558
THAN THE FORMER CHANCELLOR
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
271
00:15:26,625 --> 00:15:28,961
HAD DETERMINED THAT
THE CLIMATE WAS UNDERGOING
272
00:15:29,028 --> 00:15:32,665
A PERMANENT SHIFT--
PRECIPITATION WAS INCREASING,
273
00:15:32,731 --> 00:15:35,968
WHILE THE WINDS
WERE SLOWING DOWN.
274
00:15:36,035 --> 00:15:38,203
ANOTHER EXPERT DECLARED THAT
275
00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:40,606
REMOVING THE COVER
OF PRAIRIE GRASSES
276
00:15:40,673 --> 00:15:44,810
ALLOWED MORE RAINFALL
TO PENETRATE THE SOIL.
277
00:15:44,877 --> 00:15:47,613
TOWNS SPRANG UP OVERNIGHT.
278
00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:49,715
IN CIMARRON COUNTY,
OKLAHOMA,
279
00:15:49,782 --> 00:15:53,185
THE DEVELOPERS OF BOISE CITY
SOLD HOUSE LOTS TO BUYERS
280
00:15:53,252 --> 00:15:54,853
WHO DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER
281
00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,057
TO COME FOR AN INSPECTION.
282
00:15:58,123 --> 00:16:01,994
Egan: BOISE CITY IS
NAMED FOR THE FRENCH WORD "LES BOIS"--TREE.
283
00:16:02,061 --> 00:16:04,496
THERE WERE NO TREES. THIS IS
IN THE PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA.
284
00:16:04,563 --> 00:16:07,866
THERE WERE NO TREES.
THEY ADVERTISED IT AS HAVING ARTESIAN WELLS,
285
00:16:07,933 --> 00:16:11,704
BIG MAIN STREETS WHERE
BANKERS COULD LIVE, AND STATELY ELMS AND MAPLES.
286
00:16:11,770 --> 00:16:13,539
THERE WERE NO TREES,
THERE WAS NO WATER,
287
00:16:13,605 --> 00:16:16,442
THERE WERE NO HOUSES,
BUT THEY SOLD LOTS HERE.
288
00:16:16,508 --> 00:16:18,344
THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW TIMES
IN AMERICAN REAL ESTATE
289
00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:20,579
WHERE REAL-ESTATE PROMOTERS
HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN CONVICTED,
290
00:16:20,646 --> 00:16:22,548
SENT TO FEDERAL PENITENTIARY,
291
00:16:22,614 --> 00:16:24,984
AND ONE OF THEM ROTTED AND DIED
IN THAT PENITENTIARY
292
00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:28,487
AFTER THE REAL-ESTATE SCAM
THAT WAS BOISE CITY.
293
00:16:28,554 --> 00:16:32,091
Narrator: "OKLAHOMA," ONE
RAILROAD BROCHURE BRAGGED,
294
00:16:32,157 --> 00:16:34,860
"GROWS BETTER
CATTLE THAN TEXAS,
295
00:16:34,927 --> 00:16:37,896
"BETTER CORN THAN
KANSAS OR MINNESOTA,
296
00:16:37,963 --> 00:16:41,300
"BETTER COTTON THAN
MISSISSIPPI OR ALABAMA,
297
00:16:41,367 --> 00:16:45,437
AND BETTER SWINE
THAN ANYWHERE."
298
00:16:45,504 --> 00:16:48,640
BUT INCREASINGLY,
IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA
299
00:16:48,707 --> 00:16:50,776
AND THROUGHOUT THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS,
300
00:16:50,843 --> 00:16:54,480
THE FOCUS WAS ALMOST
EXCLUSIVELY ON WHEAT.
301
00:16:58,183 --> 00:17:00,552
WHEN THE GREAT WAR
BROKE OUT IN EUROPE,
302
00:17:00,619 --> 00:17:05,290
GERMAN BLOCKADES CUT OFF
ACCESS TO RUSSIAN WHEAT.
303
00:17:05,357 --> 00:17:06,892
IN THE UNITED STATES,
304
00:17:06,959 --> 00:17:10,562
FARMERS MOBILIZED
TO FEED THE ALLIES.
305
00:17:10,629 --> 00:17:13,499
UNDER THE SLOGAN,
"WHEAT WILL WIN THE WAR,"
306
00:17:13,565 --> 00:17:16,402
PRICES WERE SET
AT $2.00 A BUSHEL,
307
00:17:16,468 --> 00:17:19,371
TWICE THE PREVIOUS RATE.
308
00:17:19,438 --> 00:17:23,509
IN 5 YEARS, MORE THAN 11
MILLION ACRES OF VIRGIN SOIL
309
00:17:23,575 --> 00:17:26,345
WERE PLOWED FOR
THE FIRST TIME--
310
00:17:26,412 --> 00:17:29,148
AN AREA TWICE THE
SIZE OF NEW JERSEY
311
00:17:29,214 --> 00:17:33,185
CONVERTED FROM GRASSLANDS
TO WHEAT FIELDS.
312
00:17:35,087 --> 00:17:38,257
WHEN THE WAR ENDED,
WHEAT PRICES DROPPED,
313
00:17:38,323 --> 00:17:42,127
BUT THE PLOWING AND
PLANTING ONLY INCREASED.
314
00:17:42,194 --> 00:17:45,330
IT WOULD COME TO BE CALLED
"THE GREAT PLOW UP."
315
00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:51,370
Pamela Riney-Kehrberg:
IF YOU HAD BEEN A WHEAT FARMER IN THE 1920s,
316
00:17:51,437 --> 00:17:54,239
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY
EASY TO MAKE MONEY.
317
00:17:54,306 --> 00:17:56,308
YOU NEEDED LESS LAND
TO GROW WHEAT
318
00:17:56,375 --> 00:17:58,343
THAN YOU NEEDED
TO RUN CATTLE.
319
00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:01,747
SO THE INVESTMENT WAS LESS.
320
00:18:01,814 --> 00:18:04,716
I HAD A FARMER TELL ME
THAT YOU JUST PUT SEED
321
00:18:04,783 --> 00:18:07,986
IN THE GROUND
AND BOOM, YOU HAD A CROP.
322
00:18:08,053 --> 00:18:11,056
Imogene Glover: IT WAS REALLY
ADVERTISED ALL OVER THE NATION
323
00:18:11,123 --> 00:18:15,294
AS THE PLACE TO COME
AND LIVE IN THE TWENTIES.
324
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:19,364
OH, IT WAS GREEN,
LEVEL, AND PRETTY,
325
00:18:19,431 --> 00:18:21,467
AND THE GRASS WAS BEAUTIFUL.
326
00:18:21,533 --> 00:18:23,569
WE HAD TALL GRASS,
327
00:18:23,635 --> 00:18:27,272
AND I REMEMBER RUNNING
BAREFOOTED ALONG IN THIS DITCH,
328
00:18:27,339 --> 00:18:32,644
WHICH WAS BIG CLODS
OF COOL, DAMP GROUND.
329
00:18:32,711 --> 00:18:35,280
Narrator: IMOGENE GLOVER'S
FAMILY HAD MOVED
330
00:18:35,347 --> 00:18:39,651
TO A 3-ROOM HOUSE ON LAND
IN TEXAS COUNTY, OKLAHOMA,
331
00:18:39,718 --> 00:18:42,921
NOT FAR FROM CAROLINE
AND WILL HENDERSON.
332
00:18:42,988 --> 00:18:48,460
HER FATHER RAISED CATTLE,
TURKEYS, AND ESPECIALLY WHEAT.
333
00:18:48,527 --> 00:18:50,229
Glover: HE WAS A GAMBLER,
334
00:18:50,295 --> 00:18:53,699
BUT I THINK EVERY
FARMER'S A GAMBLER.
335
00:18:53,765 --> 00:18:57,870
THEY HAVE TO GAMBLE THAT WHAT
THEY'RE PUTTING INTO THE GROUND
336
00:18:57,936 --> 00:19:02,774
IS GOING TO GROW AND PRODUCE,
AND THEY'LL GET BETTER OFF.
337
00:19:02,841 --> 00:19:07,479
THEY ALWAYS FEEL THAT WAY
IF THEY'RE A FARMER.
338
00:19:07,546 --> 00:19:10,582
Narrator: IN THE SOUTHWESTERN
CORNER OF KANSAS,
339
00:19:10,649 --> 00:19:14,553
EDGAR COEN HAD
TAKEN OVER 160 ACRES
340
00:19:14,620 --> 00:19:17,823
FROM A FAILED HOMESTEADER.
341
00:19:17,890 --> 00:19:21,093
AT FIRST, HE MOVED HIS WIFE RENA
AND THEIR CHILDREN
342
00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,463
INTO A ONE-ROOM
10-BY-12-FOOT DUGOUT
343
00:19:24,530 --> 00:19:28,367
THAT EXTENDED ONLY
2 1/2 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND,
344
00:19:28,433 --> 00:19:32,271
WITH SMALL WINDOWS TO
LET IN A LITTLE LIGHT.
345
00:19:32,337 --> 00:19:35,641
AS THE FAMILY GREW,
EDGAR ADDED MORE ROOMS,
346
00:19:35,707 --> 00:19:40,179
THEN AN ABOVE-GROUND
ENTRANCE BIG ENOUGH TO DOUBLE AS A KITCHEN.
347
00:19:40,245 --> 00:19:42,181
BY SCRIMPING AND SAVING,
348
00:19:42,247 --> 00:19:45,784
HE WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE
160 MORE ACRES
349
00:19:45,851 --> 00:19:49,521
AND BUILD A BARN
FOR HIS LIVESTOCK.
350
00:19:49,588 --> 00:19:51,623
Dale Coen:
OH, IT WAS REAL NICE.
351
00:19:51,690 --> 00:19:56,161
SUMMERTIME WAS PRETTY BALMY--
ALWAYS COOLED OFF GOOD AT NIGHT.
352
00:19:56,228 --> 00:19:59,064
A LOT OF TIMES, WE WOULD SLEEP
OUT UNDERNEATH THE TREES
353
00:19:59,131 --> 00:20:01,033
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
354
00:20:01,099 --> 00:20:03,302
IT WAS A REALLY
GOOD ATMOSPHERE.
355
00:20:03,368 --> 00:20:05,804
OF COURSE, IT HAS ALWAYS
BEEN AN ARID COUNTRY.
356
00:20:05,871 --> 00:20:08,674
IT NEVER HAS BEEN
LOTS OF RAIN.
357
00:20:08,740 --> 00:20:14,313
BUT IT WAS A REALLY IDEAL
PLACE TOSE A FAMILIL
358
00:20:14,379 --> 00:20:17,382
Egan: FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THEIR FAMILY HISTORY,
359
00:20:17,449 --> 00:20:20,085
MOST OF THESE PEOPLE
OWNED A PIECE OF DIRT.
360
00:20:20,152 --> 00:20:21,653
THEY WERE SCOTS-IRISH
361
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,456
WHO'D BEEN KICKED AROUND,
THE OLD CONFEDERACY.
362
00:20:24,523 --> 00:20:27,826
THEY WERE SO-CALLED
POOR WHITE TRASH.
363
00:20:27,893 --> 00:20:31,363
THEY WERE THESE GERMANS
FROM THE RUSSIAN STEPPE.
364
00:20:31,430 --> 00:20:34,800
THEY WERE LATINOS WHO
CAME UP FROM THE SOUTH.
365
00:20:34,866 --> 00:20:38,136
THEY WERE FOLKS THAT
NEVER OWNED ANYTHING.
366
00:20:38,203 --> 00:20:41,807
AND THEY HAD WONDERFUL
YEARS, 10, 12, 15,
367
00:20:41,873 --> 00:20:44,409
WHERE EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT.
368
00:20:44,476 --> 00:20:48,080
Narrator: MODERN MACHINERY MADE
WHEAT FARMING MORE EFFICIENT
369
00:20:48,146 --> 00:20:53,118
AND STILL PROFITABLE EVEN AT
PRICES OF $1.00 PER BUSHEL.
370
00:20:53,185 --> 00:20:55,320
POWERFUL GASOLINE TRACTORS
371
00:20:55,387 --> 00:20:58,357
PULLING BROAD ARRAYS
OF DISC PLOWS
372
00:20:58,423 --> 00:21:01,593
TURNED THE SOD WITH EASE.
373
00:21:01,660 --> 00:21:05,597
Worster: IN THE 1920s,
THERE WAS A CONCERTED MOVEMENT
374
00:21:05,664 --> 00:21:08,000
AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS
OF AMERICAN SOCIETY
375
00:21:08,066 --> 00:21:11,770
TO TURN AGRICULTURE
INTO AN INDUSTRIAL MODEL,
376
00:21:11,837 --> 00:21:15,007
TO MAKE EVERY FARM
INTO A FACTORY.
377
00:21:15,073 --> 00:21:17,309
WELL, YOU COULD
NEVER HAVE PLOWED UP
378
00:21:17,376 --> 00:21:19,344
30-SOME MILLION
ACRES OF LAND
379
00:21:19,411 --> 00:21:23,248
WITH HORSE AND A WOODEN PLOW
OR EVEN A STEEL PLOW.
380
00:21:23,315 --> 00:21:26,285
TRACTORS WERE GOING ALL NIGHT
LONG WITH HEADLIGHTS BURNING
381
00:21:26,351 --> 00:21:30,022
TO PLOW UP THIS LAND,
TO GET IT INTO PRODUCTION.
382
00:21:30,088 --> 00:21:32,557
Narrator:
IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO,
383
00:21:32,624 --> 00:21:35,694
CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER
HOPED TO MAKE A LIFE
384
00:21:35,761 --> 00:21:40,432
FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY
RAISING HORSES AND CATTLE.
385
00:21:40,499 --> 00:21:42,367
BUT TO GET AHEAD,
HE TOOK A JOB
386
00:21:42,434 --> 00:21:46,571
DRIVING A TRACTOR
ON OTHER PEOPLE'S LAND.
387
00:21:46,638 --> 00:21:48,640
Calvin Crabill:
HE WORKED NIGHTS.
388
00:21:48,707 --> 00:21:52,044
SOMEBODY ELSE WORKED DAYS,
AND SO HE WORKED NIGHTS.
389
00:21:52,110 --> 00:21:55,814
HE KNEW THAT BUFFALO GRASS
WAS THE NATURAL TURF
390
00:21:55,881 --> 00:21:59,651
OF THAT COUNTRY, AND IT
WAS GRAZING COUNTRY.
391
00:21:59,718 --> 00:22:02,354
HE DIDN'T STAY WITH THE
TRACTORING THING TOO LONG
392
00:22:02,421 --> 00:22:04,389
BECAUSE I THINK IT
JUST GOT HIS HEART.
393
00:22:04,456 --> 00:22:05,724
HE COULDN'T STAND IT.
394
00:22:05,791 --> 00:22:07,693
EVEN THOUGH HE NEEDED THE
MONEY, HE QUIT DOING IT.
395
00:22:07,759 --> 00:22:10,195
HE JUST COULDN'T
STAND TO DO IT.
396
00:22:10,262 --> 00:22:13,732
HE WAS REALLY A STOCKMAN,
AND HE KNEW IT WAS ALL WRONG,
397
00:22:13,799 --> 00:22:17,336
AND HE PAID THE PRICE
FOR IT LATER.
398
00:22:17,402 --> 00:22:18,970
Narrator: IN PREVIOUS YEARS,
399
00:22:19,037 --> 00:22:21,773
FARMERS HAD USED A PLOW
CALLED A LISTER
400
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,977
THAT SPLIT THE SOIL IN TWO
DIRECTIONS AND DUG A DEEP FURROW
401
00:22:26,044 --> 00:22:29,448
THAT CAUGHT AND HELD
BLOWING SOIL.
402
00:22:29,514 --> 00:22:33,685
NOW THE MOST COMMONLY USED
PLOW WAS CALLED A ONE-WAY,
403
00:22:33,752 --> 00:22:36,488
WHICH WAS CHEAPER
AND TORE THROUGH THE SOD
404
00:22:36,555 --> 00:22:39,491
AT A FASTER RATE.
405
00:22:39,558 --> 00:22:41,159
Wayne Lewis:
IN THE LATE TWENTIES,
406
00:22:41,226 --> 00:22:44,696
THE CROPS WERE GOOD,
THE PRICES WERE GOOD,
407
00:22:44,763 --> 00:22:48,066
AND SO EVERYBODY--
THE THING TO DO WAS
408
00:22:48,133 --> 00:22:51,403
TO BREAK OUT EVERYTHING
AND GET IT IN WHEAT.
409
00:22:51,470 --> 00:22:55,607
AND PRACTICALLY
EVERYBODY DID THAT.
410
00:22:55,674 --> 00:22:58,977
Egan: THIS BOOM WAS ONE OF THE
GREAT CLASSIC AMERICAN BUBBLES.
411
00:22:59,044 --> 00:23:01,880
WE'VE HAD A LOT OF THEM IN
OUR HISTORY, AND THIS WAS ONE.
412
00:23:01,947 --> 00:23:04,583
THEY HAD THESE SUITCASE FARMERS
WHO WOULD GET OFF THE TRAIN,
413
00:23:04,649 --> 00:23:06,118
AND THEY CALLED THEM
SUITCASE FARMERS BECAUSE
414
00:23:06,184 --> 00:23:08,220
THEY WERE JUST DANDIES
FROM THE CITY.
415
00:23:08,286 --> 00:23:10,455
THEY WEREN'T FARMERS.
THEY HAD THEIR SUITCASES,
416
00:23:10,522 --> 00:23:13,091
AND THEY'D GO OUT AND THEY'D
CLAIM THEIR SQUARE MILE
417
00:23:13,158 --> 00:23:15,460
BECAUSE THEY ENLARGED
THE HOMESTEAD ACT.
418
00:23:15,527 --> 00:23:19,798
THEN THEY'D GET SOMEONE
TO PLOW UP THE GRASS,
419
00:23:19,865 --> 00:23:21,199
THROW SOME
AND THEN GO BACK TO TOWN
420
00:23:21,266 --> 00:23:23,235
AND COME BACK IN THE SPRING
AND HARVEST THIS THING.
421
00:23:23,301 --> 00:23:27,038
AND IT WAS A FOOL'S GAME.
YOU COULD MAKE A LOT OF MONEY.
422
00:23:27,105 --> 00:23:29,775
Henderson portrayer:
THE SUITCASE FARMERS HAVE HIRED
423
00:23:29,841 --> 00:23:33,545
THE PREPARATION OF LARGE AREAS
OF LAND ALL AROUND US
424
00:23:33,612 --> 00:23:38,617
WHICH NO LONGER REPRESENT
THE IDEA OF HOMES AT ALL,
425
00:23:38,683 --> 00:23:42,154
BUT JUST PARTS OF
A POTENTIAL FACTORY
426
00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:44,890
FOR THE LOW-COST
PRODUCTION OF WHEAT.
427
00:23:44,956 --> 00:23:49,494
Narrator: DURING THE LAST
5 YEARS OF THE 1920s ALONE,
428
00:23:49,561 --> 00:23:55,133
ANOTHER 5,260,000 ACRES
OF NATIVE SOD--
429
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,936
AN AREA THE SIZE
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE--
430
00:23:58,003 --> 00:24:01,406
WAS TURNED OVER ON
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
431
00:24:01,473 --> 00:24:05,310
"THE SOIL," A FEDERAL AGENCY
CONFIDENTLY PROCLAIMED,
432
00:24:05,377 --> 00:24:09,047
"IS THE ONE INDESTRUCTIBLE,
IMMUTABLE ASSET
433
00:24:09,114 --> 00:24:11,783
"THAT THE NATION POSSESSES.
434
00:24:11,850 --> 00:24:15,086
"IT IS THE ONE RESOURCE
THAT CANNOT BE EXHAUSTED,
435
00:24:15,153 --> 00:24:18,757
THAT CANNOT BE USED UP."
436
00:24:18,824 --> 00:24:22,561
Worster: THE GREAT PLOW UP
HAD GOING FOR IT
437
00:24:22,627 --> 00:24:27,098
AMPLE RAINFALL FOR A PERIOD
OF 10 OR 15 YEARS,
438
00:24:27,165 --> 00:24:30,101
AND IT JUST KEPT
ENCOURAGING MORE AND MORE.
439
00:24:30,168 --> 00:24:33,104
PEOPLE THOUGHT, AS THEY
THINK AGAIN AND AGAIN,
440
00:24:33,171 --> 00:24:36,007
THAT WE HAVE TURNED THE
CORNER ON CLIMATE HERE.
441
00:24:36,074 --> 00:24:39,211
WE CAN SEE FAR INTO THE
FUTURE, AND IT'S ALL WET.
442
00:24:39,277 --> 00:24:42,914
THEY KNEW THAT THERE'D BEEN
SEVERE DROUGHTS IN THE 1890s,
443
00:24:42,981 --> 00:24:44,983
BUT PEOPLE FORGOT ABOUT THOSE.
444
00:24:45,050 --> 00:24:46,518
THEY THOUGHT
THAT WAS THE PAST,
445
00:24:46,585 --> 00:24:50,222
THIS IS NOW, AND THIS
WILL BE THE FUTURE.
446
00:24:50,288 --> 00:24:52,591
Narrator: A HANDFUL
OF OLD-TIMERS,
447
00:24:52,657 --> 00:24:54,459
ESPECIALLY THE CATTLEMEN,
448
00:24:54,526 --> 00:24:58,263
WHO HAD BEEN THROUGH THOSE
DROUGHTS, WEREN'T SO SURE.
449
00:24:58,330 --> 00:25:01,833
TO THEM, THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
WERE A GRASSLAND,
450
00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:05,504
AND THE SOD SHOULD
NEVER BE TURNED.
451
00:25:05,570 --> 00:25:09,841
BAM WHITE, WHO WAS A
HALF-APACHE, HALF-ANGLO COWBOY
452
00:25:09,908 --> 00:25:11,843
LIVING IN THE
TEXAS PANHANDLE,
453
00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:15,747
SAID TO HIS SON WHO ASKED HIM
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM,
454
00:25:15,814 --> 00:25:17,249
HE SAID, "LOOK AT IT.
455
00:25:17,315 --> 00:25:21,086
WRONG SIDE UP.
IT'S WRONG SIDE UP."
456
00:25:24,055 --> 00:25:25,991
Henderson portrayer:
A FEW DAYS AGO,
457
00:25:26,057 --> 00:25:28,059
I RODE TO THE STORE
FOR THE MAIL.
458
00:25:28,126 --> 00:25:31,162
COMING HOME, I SAW
THE WHOLE COUNTRY
459
00:25:31,229 --> 00:25:34,266
TRANSFORMED IN THE SUNSET GLOW--
460
00:25:34,332 --> 00:25:38,703
ALL THE BROWN PRAIRIE
TURNED TO GOLD.
461
00:25:38,770 --> 00:25:43,174
I COULD FEEL ONCE MORE THE LURE
OF THIS GREAT, LONELY LAND,
462
00:25:43,241 --> 00:25:47,579
WAITING WITH ITS STORES
OF FERTILITY ALL UNTOUCHED
463
00:25:47,646 --> 00:25:52,183
FOR THOSE WHO SHALL ONE DAY
LEARN TO MEET ITS DEMANDS,
464
00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:57,822
TO GIVE TO IT THEIR
PATIENT THOUGHT AND LABOR.
465
00:25:57,889 --> 00:26:00,225
Narrator: AMONG CAROLINE
HENDERSON'S NEIGHBORS
466
00:26:00,292 --> 00:26:01,960
IN TEXAS COUNTY
467
00:26:02,027 --> 00:26:04,896
WAS THE FAMILY
OF HARRY FORESTER.
468
00:26:04,963 --> 00:26:08,433
HE HAD GROWN UP IN ARKANSAS
AND EASTERN TEXAS
469
00:26:08,500 --> 00:26:12,404
BEFORE FILING ON A HOMESTEAD
IN NO MAN'S LAND,
470
00:26:12,470 --> 00:26:16,641
WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE
RAISED 9 CHILDREN.
471
00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:20,612
AS TIMES IMPROVED,
HIS DREAMS HAD EXPANDED,
472
00:26:20,679 --> 00:26:24,449
ESPECIAL F HIS 5 SONS.
473
00:26:24,516 --> 00:26:27,919
ONE OF HIS GOALS WAS
TO LEAVE AS A BEQUEST
474
00:26:27,986 --> 00:26:32,557
TO EACH OF HIS SONS A SECTION--
THAT, IS A SQUARE MILE--
475
00:26:32,624 --> 00:26:36,261
OF GOOD, ARABLE,
WHEAT PRODUCTION LAND,
476
00:26:36,328 --> 00:26:39,264
WHICH WAS SOMETHING THAT
HE FELT WOULD GUARANTEE
477
00:26:39,331 --> 00:26:42,767
THEIR HAVING A GOOD LIVING
AND A GOOD LIFE.
478
00:26:42,834 --> 00:26:45,337
THAT WAS HIS GOAL.
479
00:26:45,403 --> 00:26:48,440
Narrator: IN 1928,
TO FULFILL HIS DREAM,
480
00:26:48,506 --> 00:26:51,643
FORESTER LEVERAGED THE
HOMESTEAD HE ALREADY OWNED
481
00:26:51,710 --> 00:26:53,278
WITH A MORTGAGE
482
00:26:53,345 --> 00:26:58,016
TO BUY EVEN MORE WHEAT-GROWING
LAND NEAR BOISE CITY.
483
00:26:58,083 --> 00:27:01,820
Forester: HE HAD USED ALL
HIS PROPERTY AND ALL HIS LANDS
484
00:27:01,886 --> 00:27:06,157
AND ALL HE HAD ACCRUED
FROM 1906 TO 1928.
485
00:27:06,224 --> 00:27:11,296
BECAUSE OF HIS DREAM, HE
ESSENTIALLY PUT IT ALL AT RISK,
486
00:27:11,363 --> 00:27:16,334
AND ULTIMATELY, IT PROVED TO
BE A BAD TIME TO MAKE A MOVE.
487
00:27:26,311 --> 00:27:29,514
Narrator:
ON OCTOBER 29, 1929--
488
00:27:29,581 --> 00:27:32,617
THE DAY THAT WOULD BE REMEMBERED
AS "BLACK TUESDAY,"
489
00:27:32,684 --> 00:27:35,620
THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED
ON WALL STREET,
490
00:27:35,687 --> 00:27:37,389
PUNCTURING A
SPECULATIVE BUBBLE
491
00:27:37,455 --> 00:27:41,526
THAT HAD BEEN BUILDING
THROUGHOUT THE 1920s.
492
00:27:41,593 --> 00:27:44,629
BY THE END OF THE YEAR,
THE FINANCIAL PANIC BEGAN
493
00:27:44,696 --> 00:27:47,432
TO SPREAD TO OTHER
PARTS OF THE ECONOMY,
494
00:27:47,499 --> 00:27:51,569
THROWING ONE AND A HALF MILLION
AMERICANS OUT OF WORK.
495
00:27:51,636 --> 00:27:54,606
A YEAR LATER,
THAT NUMBER WOULD TRIPLE,
496
00:27:54,673 --> 00:28:00,045
AND THE NATION DESNDCE
INTO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
497
00:28:00,111 --> 00:28:04,482
BUT BACK IN NO MAN'S LAND,
THE FUTURE STILL LOOKED BRIGHT.
498
00:28:04,549 --> 00:28:08,286
THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
PRONOUNCED THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
499
00:28:08,353 --> 00:28:13,491
AS ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS
AREAS IN THE ENTIRE NATION.
500
00:28:13,558 --> 00:28:16,428
AN ADVERTISEMENT IN THE
"BOISE CITY NEWS" IMAGINED
501
00:28:16,494 --> 00:28:20,098
A MANHATTAN-STYLE SKYLINE,
WITH THE PREDICTION,
502
00:28:20,165 --> 00:28:23,568
"SOON YOU AVE YOUR OWN
EMPIRE SWI O STATE BUILDING,
503
00:28:23,635 --> 00:28:27,472
RIGHT ACROSS FROM
KIRBY'S KASH GROCERY."
504
00:28:27,539 --> 00:28:29,541
Pauline Hodges:
THE FIRST TWO YEARS,
505
00:28:29,607 --> 00:28:31,376
THEY THOUGHT
IT DIDN'T AFFECT THEM,
506
00:28:31,443 --> 00:28:32,877
THAT IT WAS BACK EAST--
507
00:28:32,944 --> 00:28:34,479
"OH, WELL, YOU KNOW,
THAT WAS CHICAGO.
508
00:28:34,546 --> 00:28:36,614
"THAT WAS NEW YORK.
IT WASN'T HERE.
509
00:28:36,681 --> 00:28:38,683
THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US."
510
00:28:38,750 --> 00:28:45,323
Glover: WE HAD THE BEST CROP
THAT WE HAD HAD IN 1929.
511
00:28:45,390 --> 00:28:48,593
THAT'S WHEN THE
MARKET WAS GREAT,
512
00:28:48,660 --> 00:28:51,496
AND THE PEOPLE THAT
DID PLANT WHEAT
513
00:28:51,563 --> 00:28:55,900
HAD A BETTER YEAR
THAN THEY'D EVER HAD,
514
00:28:55,967 --> 00:28:59,971
AND THEY JUST THOUGHT
THEY'D GET WEALTHY.
515
00:29:00,038 --> 00:29:04,342
IT WAS A GREAT TIME,
516
00:29:04,409 --> 00:29:07,645
AND EVERYTHING
WAS LOOKING UP.
517
00:29:07,712 --> 00:29:11,483
Narrator: IN THE PANHANDLE
TOWN OF FOLLETT, TEXAS,
518
00:29:11,549 --> 00:29:15,420
TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER
DECIDED TIMES WERE RIGHT
519
00:29:15,487 --> 00:29:19,357
TO START A NEW BUSINESS
AND BUILD A NEW HOUSE.
520
00:29:19,424 --> 00:29:23,061
Trixie Travis Brown:
HE AND HIS DAD AND BROTHER
521
00:29:23,128 --> 00:29:27,298
OPENED A HARDWARE
STORE IN FOLLETT.
522
00:29:27,365 --> 00:29:31,436
FOLLETT WAS A
THRIVING LITTLE TOWN.
523
00:29:31,503 --> 00:29:34,873
WE HAD A MAIN STREET
THAT HAD BUSINESSES
524
00:29:34,939 --> 00:29:38,009
ON BOTH SIDES
OF THE STREET.
525
00:29:38,076 --> 00:29:45,116
AFTER MY SISTER WAS BORN IN '29,
WE MOVED INTO THE NEW HOUSE.
526
00:29:45,183 --> 00:29:48,686
IT WAS GREAT. THINGS SEEMED
TO BE GOING WELL
527
00:29:48,753 --> 00:29:52,524
FOR MY DAD, FOR GRANDPA.
528
00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:54,292
Narrator:
MOST OF WHAT PEOPLE KNEW
529
00:29:54,359 --> 00:29:56,895
ABOUT THE MISERY GRIPPING
THE REST OF AMERICA
530
00:29:56,961 --> 00:29:58,997
THEY LEARNED FROM
READING NEWSPAPERS
531
00:29:59,063 --> 00:30:03,067
AND WATCHING NEWSREELS AT THE
PALACE THEATER IN BOISE CITY
532
00:30:03,134 --> 00:30:06,237
OR THE MISSION THEATRE
IN DALHART, TEXAS.
533
00:30:08,106 --> 00:30:10,942
BUT AS THE DEPRESSION
DEEPENED ELSEWHERE,
534
00:30:11,009 --> 00:30:13,812
PRICES OF FARM
COMMODITIES COLLAPSED,
535
00:30:13,878 --> 00:30:18,616
PLUNGING ALL OF RURAL
AMERICA INTO CRISIS.
536
00:30:18,683 --> 00:30:24,956
IN 1930, WHEAT DROPPED FROM
A DOLLAR TO 70 CENTS A BUSHEL.
537
00:30:25,023 --> 00:30:27,725
NOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
BEGGED FARMERS
538
00:30:27,792 --> 00:30:30,295
TO REDUCE THEIR ACREAGE.
539
00:30:30,361 --> 00:30:33,665
INSTEAD, FARMERS DECIDED
IF THEY COULDN'T MAKE
540
00:30:33,731 --> 00:30:35,767
AS MUCH MONEY PER BUSHEL,
541
00:30:35,834 --> 00:30:39,470
THEY WOULD SIMPLY
HARVEST MORE BUSHELS.
542
00:30:39,537 --> 00:30:43,074
SO THEY PLOWED UP MORE LAND--
HALF A MILLION MORE ACRES
543
00:30:43,141 --> 00:30:46,444
IN THE COUNTIES
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND.
544
00:30:46,511 --> 00:30:49,914
THE WHOLE AREA,
ONE AGRICULTURAL AGENT SAID,
545
00:30:49,981 --> 00:30:53,084
HAD GONE "WHEAT MAD."
546
00:30:53,151 --> 00:30:56,554
Worster: THE ANSWER TO FARMERS'
PROBLEMS ON THE GREAT PLAINS
547
00:30:56,621 --> 00:31:00,291
IS BASICALLY ALWAYS MORE--
MORE PRODUCTION.
548
00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:04,162
IF YOU'RE HURTING FINANCIALLY,
IF YOUR CROP PRICES ARE LOW,
549
00:31:04,229 --> 00:31:06,364
YOU PRODUCE MORE TO MAKE UP.
550
00:31:06,431 --> 00:31:10,068
IF YOU'RE DOING WELL,
THE BUSHEL PRICES ARE HIGH,
551
00:31:10,134 --> 00:31:11,636
YOU PRODUCE MORE.
552
00:31:11,703 --> 00:31:14,038
IT'S ALWAYS "MORE PRODUCTION"
IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM.
553
00:31:14,105 --> 00:31:16,708
SO IN 1930,
E LOW PRICES,
554
00:31:16,774 --> 00:31:19,844
FARMERS WERE PRODUCING
MORE WHEAT THAN EVER BEFORE.
555
00:31:19,911 --> 00:31:22,714
Egan: THIS BIG PLOW UP
WAS THE FINAL SURGE
556
00:31:22,780 --> 00:31:27,218
THAT CAME AFTER
WHEAT HAD CRASHED.
557
00:31:27,285 --> 00:31:30,321
IF YOU HAD 10,000 ACRES
AND YOU HAD TAKEN OUT
558
00:31:30,388 --> 00:31:32,323
A BANK LOAN TO SERVICE
YOUR 10,000 ACRES,
559
00:31:32,390 --> 00:31:34,025
SUDDENLY YOU'RE
GETTING ONLY HALF
560
00:31:34,092 --> 00:31:35,660
WHAT YOU GOT THAT YEAR BEFORE.
561
00:31:35,727 --> 00:31:37,262
THE ONLY WAY YOU
COULD COVER YOUR NUT
562
00:31:37,328 --> 00:31:40,431
WAS TO DOUBLE THE AMOUNT
OF LAND YOU PLOWED UP.
563
00:31:40,498 --> 00:31:42,367
SO, IT SENT THEM
INTO THE FIELDS
564
00:31:42,433 --> 00:31:46,471
FOR THIS FRANTIC LAST-MINUTE
EFFORT TO TURN THE LAND.
565
00:31:46,537 --> 00:31:48,773
Worster: IT WAS A RECIPE
FOR ECONOMIC DISASTER
566
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,109
IN THE SENSE THAT
THEY WERE PRODUCING
567
00:31:51,175 --> 00:31:54,679
AN ENORMOUS GLUT OF WHEAT
THAT DIDN'T HAVE A MARKET.
568
00:31:54,746 --> 00:31:58,116
IT WAS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER IN
THAT IF A DROUGHT COMES ALONG,
569
00:31:58,182 --> 00:31:59,851
THEY ARE LYING
THERE VULNERABLE
570
00:31:59,918 --> 00:32:01,920
WITH SO MUCH LAND
THAT HAS BEEN EXPOSED.
571
00:32:01,986 --> 00:32:04,822
Narrator: IT SNOWED
AND RAINED THAT WINTER,
572
00:32:04,889 --> 00:32:09,093
AND THE SPRING OF 1931
BROUGHT ADEQUATE MOISTURE.
573
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,797
BY HARVEST TIME, THE WINTER
WHEAT WAS SHOULDER HIGH,
574
00:32:12,864 --> 00:32:17,335
AND FARMERS REALIZED THEY HAD
A BONANZA ON THEIR HANDS.
575
00:32:17,402 --> 00:32:19,604
Henderson portrayer:
I HAVE NEVER SEEN
576
00:32:19,671 --> 00:32:21,572
A MORE BEAUTIFUL HARVEST--
577
00:32:21,639 --> 00:32:24,943
ONE OF THE BEST WHEAT CROPS
THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER PRODUCED
578
00:32:25,009 --> 00:32:28,079
IN OUR 24 YEARS OF FARMING.
579
00:32:30,481 --> 00:32:34,218
Narrator: OVER THE YEARS,
CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON
580
00:32:34,285 --> 00:32:40,224
HAD INCREASED THEIR HOLDINGS
TO 640 ACRES--A SQUARE MILE.
581
00:32:40,291 --> 00:32:42,927
THEY HAD PURCHASED
MECHANIZED EQUIPMENT
582
00:32:42,994 --> 00:32:44,796
TO REPLACE THEIR HORSES
583
00:32:44,862 --> 00:32:48,833
AND MADE STEADY IMPROVEMENTS
TO THEIR PROPERTY.
584
00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:52,437
THEY NOW HAD A REAL HOUSE,
WITH A FULL BASEMENT,
585
00:32:52,503 --> 00:32:54,839
5 ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR,
586
00:32:54,906 --> 00:32:58,076
AND A BIG UNFINISHED
ROOM ON THE SECOND.
587
00:32:58,142 --> 00:33:00,178
THEY HAD AN
INDOOR BATHROOM--
588
00:33:00,244 --> 00:33:03,414
BUT AS YET, NO RUNNING
WATER INSIDE THE HOUSE--
589
00:33:03,481 --> 00:33:06,451
AND HAD PURCHASED
A TELEPHONE.
590
00:33:06,517 --> 00:33:10,254
BUT WHEN THE BUMPER CROP
OF 1931 WAS HARVESTED,
591
00:33:10,321 --> 00:33:12,757
THERE WAS NO ONE TO BUY IT.
592
00:33:12,824 --> 00:33:15,193
GRAIN ELEVATORS OVERFLOWED,
593
00:33:15,259 --> 00:33:20,631
AND GIANT DUNES OF WHEAT WERE
PILED OUT ON THE OPEN GROUND.
594
00:33:20,698 --> 00:33:25,770
PRICES HAD ALREADY COLLAPSED
TO 25 CENTS A BUSHEL OR LOWER--
595
00:33:25,837 --> 00:33:30,742
ROUGHLY HALF OF WHAT IT COST
THE FARMERS TO GROW IT.
596
00:33:30,808 --> 00:33:34,312
"WE ARE TOO BIG TO CRY
ABOUT IT," CAROLINE WROTE,
597
00:33:34,379 --> 00:33:37,882
"AND IT HURTS US
TOO MUCH TO LAUGH."
598
00:33:37,949 --> 00:33:41,619
Hodges: I REMEMBER MY FATHER
SAYING THAT HIS BANKER
599
00:33:41,686 --> 00:33:44,655
HAD TOLD HIM THAT PRICES
CERTAINLY WOULDN'T GO ANY LOWER
600
00:33:44,722 --> 00:33:47,325
THAN 95 CENTS A BUSHEL,
WHICH, COMPARED TO
601
00:33:47,392 --> 00:33:51,529
WHAT IT HAD BEEN IN THE
1920s, WAS REALLY LOW.
602
00:33:51,596 --> 00:33:53,831
AND MY DAD USED TO
LAUGH IRONICALLY
603
00:33:53,898 --> 00:33:58,336
AND SAY THE NEXT DAY IT
DROPPED TO 23 CENTS A BUSHEL--
604
00:33:58,403 --> 00:34:00,972
60 CENTS IN ONE DAY.
605
00:34:01,039 --> 00:34:03,775
IT WASN'T UNTIL THE PRICE OF
WHEAT DROPPED SO DRASTICALLY
606
00:34:03,841 --> 00:34:07,612
THAT WE REALLY FELT THE
DEPRESSION OUT HERE.
607
00:34:07,678 --> 00:34:09,981
Narrator: LIKE SO MANY
OF THEIR NEIGHBORS,
608
00:34:10,048 --> 00:34:12,150
PAULINE HODGES'
PARENTS BELIEVED
609
00:34:12,216 --> 00:34:15,453
THE SITUATION WOULD NOT
LAST FOR LONG.
610
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,724
THEY WERE, AFTER ALL,
"NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE.
611
00:34:23,928 --> 00:34:23,961
[WINBLD ING]
612
00:34:32,804 --> 00:34:37,975
A LITTLE AFTER NOONTIME
ON JANUARY 21, 1932,
613
00:34:38,042 --> 00:34:43,014
A DUST CLOUD APPEARED
OUTSIDE OF AMARILLO, TEXAS.
614
00:34:43,081 --> 00:34:46,084
DUST STORMS WEREN'T
UNCOMMON IN THE AREA,
615
00:34:46,150 --> 00:34:50,154
BUT THIS ONE ROSE
10,000 FEET INTO THE AIR,
616
00:34:50,221 --> 00:34:54,158
CARRIED WINDS
OF 60 MILES PER HOUR.
617
00:34:54,225 --> 00:34:57,495
THE LOCAL WEATHER BUREAU DIDN'T
QUITE KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT,
618
00:34:57,562 --> 00:35:01,966
CALLING IT "AWE-INSPIRING"
AND "MOST SPECTACULAR."
619
00:35:02,033 --> 00:35:04,068
EVEN OLD-TIMERS SAID
620
00:35:04,135 --> 00:35:08,306
THEY'D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
LIKE IT IN THEIR LIVES.
621
00:35:08,372 --> 00:35:11,075
Robert "Boots" McCoy:
SCARED US TO DEATH.
622
00:35:11,142 --> 00:35:13,111
WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK.
623
00:35:13,177 --> 00:35:14,612
WE WAS AT HOME.
624
00:35:14,679 --> 00:35:17,715
DAD WAS GONE,
LOOKING FOR CATTLE.
625
00:35:17,782 --> 00:35:20,451
MOM AND SISTER AND I,
WE WAS OUTSIDE.
626
00:35:20,518 --> 00:35:21,886
WE LOOKED AT THAT,
627
00:35:21,953 --> 00:35:25,923
AND WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT IT WAS GONNA BE.
628
00:35:25,990 --> 00:35:29,193
FIRST STARTED WAY OFF,
IT WAS REAL DARK.
629
00:35:29,260 --> 00:35:31,762
THE CLOSER IT GOT,
IT GOT BROWN,
630
00:35:31,829 --> 00:35:34,232
AND WHEN IT HIT
IN 30 MINUTES,
631
00:35:34,298 --> 00:35:36,634
YOU COULDN'T--
IT'S JUST LIKE MIDNIGHT.
632
00:35:36,701 --> 00:35:38,636
MIDDLE OF DAY WAS
JUST LIKE MIDNIGHT
633
00:35:38,703 --> 00:35:41,139
WITH NO STARS--JUST DARK.
634
00:35:41,205 --> 00:35:44,675
Narrator: BOOTS McCOY'S FAMILY
LIVED IN TEXAS COUNTY,
635
00:35:44,742 --> 00:35:47,445
6 MILES WEST OF
THE HENDERSONS.
636
00:35:47,512 --> 00:35:50,548
HE AND HIS BIG SISTER,
RUBY PAULINE,
637
00:35:50,615 --> 00:35:54,085
HUDDLED WITH THEIR MOTHER,
WHO WAS PREGNANT.
638
00:35:54,152 --> 00:35:58,356
IT'D BE STILL, BE JUST
CALM AS IT COULD BE,
639
00:35:58,422 --> 00:36:01,292
AND THEN WHEN THAT DUST
GOT THERE, WHAM!
640
00:36:01,359 --> 00:36:03,427
IT WOULD HIT YOU.
641
00:36:03,494 --> 00:36:05,463
IT WAS JUST A-ROLLIN'.
642
00:36:05,530 --> 00:36:09,100
IT WAS SCARY. IT SCARED
THE HECK OUT OF US.
643
00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:11,335
MOTHER WOULD PRAY
ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW.
644
00:36:11,402 --> 00:36:13,671
US KIDS, OF COURSE,
WE WAS LITTLE,
645
00:36:13,738 --> 00:36:17,909
AND WE STAYED PRETTY CLOSE
TO MA, I GUARANTEE YOU.
646
00:36:17,975 --> 00:36:20,278
Narrator: THE STORM
PASSED QUICKLY,
647
00:36:20,344 --> 00:36:25,116
BUT THAT WINTER OF 1931-32
WAS UNCOMMONLY DRY.
648
00:36:25,183 --> 00:36:28,286
SO WAS THE SPRING
THAT FOLLOWED.
649
00:36:28,352 --> 00:36:30,454
THE FIERCE WINDS
COMMON TO THE SEASON
650
00:36:30,521 --> 00:36:34,725
BEGAN PICKING UP SAND AND SOIL
FROM THE BARE FIELDS AGAIN
651
00:36:34,792 --> 00:36:37,962
AND MOVING IT ACROSS
THE LANDSCAPE.
652
00:36:40,131 --> 00:36:43,134
THE WEATHER BUREAU BEGAN
CLASSIFYING THE STORMS
653
00:36:43,201 --> 00:36:45,269
BY THEIR SEVERITY.
654
00:36:45,336 --> 00:36:48,372
SOME STORMS, TAKING THE
COARSER, SANDIER SOILS,
655
00:36:48,439 --> 00:36:50,208
MOVED ALONG THE GROUND
656
00:36:50,274 --> 00:36:52,843
FOR A FEW MILES
BEFORE DISAPPEARING;
657
00:36:52,910 --> 00:36:56,881
OTHERS CREATED
A LIGHT HAZE IN THE SKY.
658
00:36:56,948 --> 00:36:59,317
THE WORST ONES
REDUCED VISIBILITY
659
00:36:59,383 --> 00:37:02,086
TO LESS THAN A QUARTER MILE.
660
00:37:02,153 --> 00:37:07,892
NO MAN'S LAND HAD
14 OF THOSE IN 1932.
661
00:37:07,959 --> 00:37:11,262
Floyd Coen: THE DUST STORMS
WAS THE MOST FEARSOME LOOKING,
662
00:37:11,329 --> 00:37:14,065
BUT AS FAR AS DAMAGE,
I WOULD SAY
663
00:37:14,131 --> 00:37:17,602
THE SAND STORMS DID MORE
DAMAGE TO OUR LAND
664
00:37:17,668 --> 00:37:19,837
AND OUR CATTLE
AND SO FORTH.
665
00:37:19,904 --> 00:37:22,907
YOU DON'T HEAR MUCH
ABOUT THE SAND STORMS,
666
00:37:22,974 --> 00:37:24,976
BUT WE HAD A LOT OF THOSE.
667
00:37:25,042 --> 00:37:26,544
IT WOULDN'T GET VERY DARK,
668
00:37:26,611 --> 00:37:29,413
BUT THEY WERE A NUISANCE
TO BE OUT IN,
669
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,117
AND IT'D JUST PEPPER YOU,
LIKE SAND A-HITTIN' YOU.
670
00:37:33,184 --> 00:37:36,120
IT'D BE VERY ABRASIVE.
671
00:37:36,187 --> 00:37:38,656
AND THEY MIGHT LAST
TWO OR THREE DAYS.
672
00:37:38,723 --> 00:37:43,261
ONE TIME, MY MOTHER MARKED
21 DAYS ON THE CALENDAR
673
00:37:43,327 --> 00:37:46,497
THAT WE HAD
SAND STORMS EVERY DAY.
674
00:37:46,564 --> 00:37:49,667
Glover: I HAD TO RUN
GET THE CHICKENS IN
675
00:37:49,734 --> 00:37:52,069
WHEN WE'D SEE THEM A-COMIN',
676
00:37:52,136 --> 00:37:57,808
AND IF I DIDN'T GET BACK TO THE
HOUSE OR TO THE CELLAR IN TIME,
677
00:37:57,875 --> 00:38:02,346
MY BARE LEGS WOULD REALLY
FEEL THAT SAND AND GRIT.
678
00:38:02,413 --> 00:38:05,016
BUT I KNEW THE WAY.
679
00:38:05,082 --> 00:38:08,252
I THINK I COULD RUN BLINDFOLDED
FROM THE CHICKEN HOUSE
680
00:38:08,319 --> 00:38:11,589
TO THE HOUSE
AND INTO THE CELLAR.
681
00:38:11,656 --> 00:38:15,693
BY 8:00, THAT WIND WOULD
BE HITTING, AND DIRT,
682
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:21,165
AND BY THE TIME I WOULD WALK
FROM THAT HOUSE TO THAT ROAD,
683
00:38:21,232 --> 00:38:26,904
WHICH WAS AS FAR AS FROM HERE
ACROSS THE STREET OUT THERE,
684
00:38:26,971 --> 00:38:29,106
MY LEGS WOULD BE BLISTERED,
685
00:38:29,173 --> 00:38:32,677
THAT DIRT WOULD BE COMING
AND HITTING THERE SO HARD.
686
00:38:32,743 --> 00:38:35,713
Narrator: IN THE MIDST
OF THE RELENTLESS STORMS,
687
00:38:35,780 --> 00:38:38,749
BOOTS McCOY'S MOTHER
WENT INTO LABOR.
688
00:38:38,816 --> 00:38:41,285
IT TURNED OUT SHE
WAS CARRYING TWINS.
689
00:38:41,352 --> 00:38:44,055
SHE NAMED THEM ROY AND TROY,
690
00:38:44,121 --> 00:38:47,958
BUT THEY WERE IN TROUBLE
FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
691
00:38:48,025 --> 00:38:53,097
McCoy: THEY LASTED, BEST I COULD
REMEMBER, ABOUT 12 HOURS.
692
00:38:53,164 --> 00:38:58,302
AND, THE DOCTOR JUST
COULDN'T SAVE THEM.
693
00:38:58,369 --> 00:39:05,409
AND WHEN WE BURIED THEM,
THE NEIGHBORS BUILT A COFFIN,
694
00:39:05,476 --> 00:39:08,879
AND ONE OF THEM WENT
TO JC PENNEY STORE
695
00:39:08,946 --> 00:39:13,951
AND GOT SOME
NUMBER 12 SHOE BOXES,
696
00:39:14,018 --> 00:39:16,020
AND WE PUT SOME COTTON
697
00:39:16,087 --> 00:39:19,156
AND PUT THEM BOYS IN THAT--
PUT THEM IN THAT COFFIN.
698
00:39:19,223 --> 00:39:21,158
THAT'S THE WAY
THEY WAS BURIED.
699
00:39:23,594 --> 00:39:25,496
Henderson portrayer:
MANY A TIME,
700
00:39:25,563 --> 00:39:28,899
I HAVE FOUND MYSELF
TIRED OUT FROM HAVING TRIED,
701
00:39:28,966 --> 00:39:30,901
UNCONSCIOUSLY AND
WITHOUT SUCCESS,
702
00:39:30,968 --> 00:39:33,904
TO BRING THE DISTANT
RAIN CLOUDS NEARER
703
00:39:33,971 --> 00:39:37,007
TO WATER OUR FIELDS.
704
00:39:37,074 --> 00:39:40,578
I AM BEGINNING TO SEE
HOW WORSE THAN USELESS
705
00:39:40,644 --> 00:39:45,349
IS THIS EXAGGERATED FEELING
OF ONE'S OWN RESPONSIBILITY,
706
00:39:45,416 --> 00:39:48,219
TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE
THE THOUGHT OF SOMEONE
707
00:39:48,285 --> 00:39:50,287
WHO WROTE LONG AGO,
708
00:39:50,354 --> 00:39:54,125
"HE THAT OBSERVETH
THE WIND SHALL NOT SOW,
709
00:39:54,191 --> 00:39:59,430
AND HE THAT REGARDETH
THE CLOUDS SHALL NOT REAP."
710
00:39:59,497 --> 00:40:01,899
Narrator: FOR CAROLINE
AND WILL HENDERSON--
711
00:40:01,966 --> 00:40:04,335
AND ALL THE OTHER
FARMERS IN THE AREA--
712
00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:08,539
THE HARVEST OF 1932
WAS A DOUBLE DISASTER.
713
00:40:08,606 --> 00:40:12,910
PRICES FOR WHEAT PLUMMETED EVEN
LOWER THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR,
714
00:40:12,977 --> 00:40:16,947
AND THERE WASN'T MUCH OF
A CROP TO HARVEST ANYWAY.
715
00:40:17,014 --> 00:40:19,083
Henderson portrayer:
JUDGING BY ANY STANDARDS
716
00:40:19,150 --> 00:40:21,118
THAT THE WORLD
WOULD RECOGNIZE,
717
00:40:21,185 --> 00:40:23,487
WE SHOULD HAVE
BEEN FURTHER AHEAD
718
00:40:23,554 --> 00:40:27,858
IF WE COULD HAVE SPENT
THE YEAR IN SLEEP.
719
00:40:27,925 --> 00:40:31,429
Narrator: THAT FALL,
FARMERS WENT BACK TO THE FIELDS
720
00:40:31,495 --> 00:40:35,332
AND PLANTED WINTER WHEAT
FOR NEXT YEAR.
721
00:40:37,935 --> 00:40:41,038
Henderson portrayer:
PEOPLE STILL TOIL AMAZINGLY
722
00:40:41,105 --> 00:40:44,074
AND MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT
TO KEEP CHEERFUL,
723
00:40:44,141 --> 00:40:50,047
BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE
EFFORT GROWS MORE APPARENT.
724
00:40:50,114 --> 00:40:53,517
BEHIND THE CHARACTERISTIC
AMERICAN NONCHALANCE,
725
00:40:53,584 --> 00:40:56,654
ONE DETECTS
A GROWING ANXIETY,
726
00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:00,424
ESPECIALLY ABOUT
THE COMING WINTER.
727
00:41:00,491 --> 00:41:02,092
Clarence Beck:
YOU KEPT THINKING
728
00:41:02,159 --> 00:41:04,161
THAT TOMORROW
THINGS WILL CHANGE,
729
00:41:04,228 --> 00:41:07,431
SO YOU KEPT DOING
WHAT YOU WERE DOING.
730
00:41:07,498 --> 00:41:09,834
YOU THOUGHT, MAYBE THERE ARE
SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN DO
731
00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:14,672
THAT WILL BE A LITTLE BETTER
THAN THE WAY THEY ARE.
732
00:41:14,738 --> 00:41:16,841
WE COULDN'T LIVE
WITHOUT HOPING
733
00:41:16,841 --> 00:41:20,978
THAT THINGS WERE GONNA
CHANGE FOR THE BETTE
734
00:41:21,045 --> 00:41:23,481
R.
WE COULDN'T LIVE Lewis: WE ALWAYS HAD HOPE.
735
00:41:23,547 --> 00:41:25,716
NEXT YEAR WAS
GONNA BE BETTER,
736
00:41:25,783 --> 00:41:28,819
AND EVEN THIS YEAR
WAS GONNA BE BETTER.
737
00:41:28,886 --> 00:41:33,491
WE LEARNED SLOWLY,
AND WHAT DIDN'T WORK,
738
00:41:33,557 --> 00:41:36,794
YOU TRIED IT HARDER
THE NEXT TIME.
739
00:41:36,861 --> 00:41:38,729
YOU DIDN'T TRY
SOMETHING DIFFERENT;
740
00:41:38,796 --> 00:41:42,566
YOU JUST TRIED HARDER
THE SAME THING THAT DIDN'T WORK.
741
00:41:42,633 --> 00:41:45,903
Henderson portrayer: BY
SACRIFICING THE SMALL RESERVES
742
00:41:45,970 --> 00:41:49,607
WE HAD HELD AGAINST THE DAYS
OF DROUGHT AND DISASTER,
743
00:41:49,673 --> 00:41:54,144
WE HAVE SUCCEEDED SO FAR
IN KEEPING ON A CASH BASIS.
744
00:41:54,211 --> 00:41:56,981
WE HAVE DISCONNECTED
THE TELEPHONE,
745
00:41:57,047 --> 00:41:59,216
STOPPED THE DAILY PAPER,
746
00:41:59,283 --> 00:42:02,353
SUBSTITUTED CHEAP LYE
FOR WASHING POWDER,
747
00:42:02,419 --> 00:42:05,890
SO THAT MY HANDS ARE
ROUGH AND UNCOMFORTABLE,
748
00:42:05,956 --> 00:42:08,559
BUT OF ALL OUR LOSSES,
749
00:42:08,626 --> 00:42:13,063
THE MOST DISTRESSING IS THE
LOSS OF OUR SELF-RESPECT.
750
00:42:13,130 --> 00:42:17,468
HOW CAN WE FEEL THAT OUR WORK
HAS ANY DIGNITY OR IMPORTANCE
751
00:42:17,535 --> 00:42:20,604
WHEN THE WORLD PLACES
SO LOW A VALUE
752
00:42:20,671 --> 00:42:23,641
ON THE PRODUCTS OF OUR TOIL?
753
00:42:26,310 --> 00:42:28,112
Narrator:
THINGS WERE EVEN WORSE
754
00:42:28,178 --> 00:42:31,649
FOR CAROLINE'S NEIGHBORS,
THE FORESTERS.
755
00:42:31,715 --> 00:42:35,052
HARRY FORESTER'S CROP HAD
WITHERED IN THE DROUGHT,
756
00:42:35,119 --> 00:42:37,555
AND WHAT LITTLE WHEAT
HE HAD MANAGED TO HARVEST
757
00:42:37,621 --> 00:42:41,258
BROUGHT IN ONLY
17 CENTS A BUSHEL.
758
00:42:41,325 --> 00:42:43,627
THE LAND HE HAD PURCHASED
NEAR BOISE CITY
759
00:42:43,694 --> 00:42:46,497
TURNED OUT TO HAVE A
PRIOR CLAIM ON ITS TITLE
760
00:42:46,564 --> 00:42:48,832
AND WAS TAKEN FROM HIM.
761
00:42:48,899 --> 00:42:51,135
THE MORTGAGE ON HIS
ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD,
762
00:42:51,201 --> 00:42:53,971
WHICH HE HAD USED TO
BUY THE EXTRA LAND,
763
00:42:54,038 --> 00:42:58,108
COULD NOT BE PAID,
AND HE LOST IT, TOO.
764
00:42:58,175 --> 00:43:03,047
HE WAS FORCED TO MOVE HIS WIFE
AND 9 CHILDREN TO RENTED LAND.
765
00:43:03,113 --> 00:43:07,084
HARRY FORESTER'S DREAM OF
AMASSING ENOUGH PROPERTY
766
00:43:07,151 --> 00:43:13,157
TO GIVE EACH OF HIS 5 SONS
640 ACRES WAS IN SHAMBLES.
767
00:43:13,223 --> 00:43:17,194
NOW HE WOULD STRUGGLE SIMPLY
TO KEEP HIS LARGE FAMILY FED
768
00:43:17,261 --> 00:43:19,730
AND WARM THROUGH THE WINTER.
769
00:43:19,797 --> 00:43:22,399
Robert Forester: ONE THING,
WE WOULD DO CHORES.
770
00:43:22,466 --> 00:43:26,103
OF COURSE, DOING CHORES
FOR A YOUNGSTER LIKE ME
771
00:43:26,170 --> 00:43:29,807
WAS RIDING ALONG ON THE WAGON
AND PICKING UP COW CHIPS
772
00:43:29,873 --> 00:43:32,576
AND COMING IN AND PILING
THEM BEHIND THE HOUSE
773
00:43:32,643 --> 00:43:35,579
SO THAT WE WOULD HAVE
FUEL FOR THE FIRES.
774
00:43:35,646 --> 00:43:38,582
OF COURSE, THEY DON'T SMELL
AT THAT POINT IN TIME,
775
00:43:38,649 --> 00:43:44,221
UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO GET ONE
THAT'S A LITTLE BIT FRESH.
776
00:43:44,288 --> 00:43:48,258
Riney-Kehrberg: AT THE BEGINNING
OF THIS WHOLE SITUATION,
777
00:43:48,325 --> 00:43:50,628
MOST PEOPLE ARE THINKING THIS
IS A SHORT-TERM PROBLEM.
778
00:43:50,694 --> 00:43:54,031
WE'VE SEEN DROUGHTS BEFORE,
WE'VE SEEN DUST STORMS BEFORE,
779
00:43:54,098 --> 00:43:58,902
WE'VE HAD HIGH WINDS BEFORE,
AND YOU WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR.
780
00:43:58,969 --> 00:44:01,538
AND EVERYONE ASSUMED THAT NEXT
YEAR THINGS WOULD BE BETTER.
781
00:44:01,605 --> 00:44:04,041
AND THEN...THE NEXT YEAR,
782
00:44:04,108 --> 00:44:06,076
THEY ASSUME THINGS
WILL BE BETTER,
783
00:44:06,143 --> 00:44:08,646
AND IT DOESN'T GET BETTER.
784
00:44:08,712 --> 00:44:10,547
Narrator: THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES,
785
00:44:10,614 --> 00:44:12,116
THINGS WERE GETTING WORSE.
786
00:44:12,182 --> 00:44:16,954
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BANKS
AND BUSINESSES HAD FAILED.
787
00:44:17,021 --> 00:44:21,158
IN JUST ONE DAY, ONE QUARTER OF
THE ENTIRE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
788
00:44:21,225 --> 00:44:24,828
WENT UNDER THE
AUCTIONEER'S HAMMER.
789
00:44:24,895 --> 00:44:27,164
FROM SAN FRANCISCO
TO NEW YORK,
790
00:44:27,231 --> 00:44:29,700
THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS
WERE REDUCED TO LIVING
791
00:44:29,767 --> 00:44:32,469
IN SHANTYTOWNS CALLED
"HOOVERVILLES"
792
00:44:32,536 --> 00:44:37,975
AFTER THE PRESIDENT THEY HAD
COME TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING.
793
00:44:38,042 --> 00:44:41,812
THAT NOVEMBER, VOTERS TOOK
OUT THEIR DESPAIR
794
00:44:41,879 --> 00:44:43,981
AND ANGER ON HERBERT HOOVER
795
00:44:44,048 --> 00:44:46,450
AND ELECTED FRANKLIN
DELANO ROOSEVELT
796
00:44:46,517 --> 00:44:49,486
TO LEAD THE NATION
THROUGH THE CRISIS.
797
00:44:49,553 --> 00:44:55,459
THE NORMALLY REPUBLICAN
COUNTIES OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WENT DEMOCRATIC.
798
00:44:55,526 --> 00:44:59,430
ROOSEVELT, THEY HOPED, WOULD
AT LEAST TRY TO HELP THEM.
799
00:44:59,496 --> 00:45:03,467
BUT EVEN A PRESIDENT COULDN'T
CONTROL THE WEATHER.
800
00:45:06,537 --> 00:45:08,405
THERE WAS NO RAIN AT ALL
801
00:45:08,472 --> 00:45:13,043
IN CIMARRON COUNTY,
OKLAHOMA, IN MARCH OF 1933.
802
00:45:13,110 --> 00:45:17,047
THE AGRICULTURAL AGENT THERE
PREDICTED THAT, AT BEST,
803
00:45:17,114 --> 00:45:21,018
FARMERS MIGHT HARVEST 4 BUSHELS
OF WINTER WHEAT PER ACRE,
804
00:45:21,085 --> 00:45:25,723
VERSUS THE PREVIOUS
YIELDS OF NEARLY 30.
805
00:45:25,789 --> 00:45:29,359
AND NOW THE DUST STORMS
WERE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT.
806
00:45:29,426 --> 00:45:34,298
INSTEAD OF THE 14 STORMS
OF 1932 CLASSIFIED AS THE WORST,
807
00:45:34,364 --> 00:45:38,502
THERE WERE 38 IN 1933.
808
00:45:38,569 --> 00:45:43,073
ONE STORM IN APRIL
LASTED 24 HOURS.
809
00:45:43,140 --> 00:45:45,876
Shirley Forester McKenzie:
YOU COULD HARDLY AVOID
810
00:45:45,943 --> 00:45:48,479
LOOKING TO THE WEST
TO SEE IF YOU COULD SEE
811
00:45:48,545 --> 00:45:52,950
THIS RIM OF DUST THAT WAS
RISING ON THE HORIZON.
812
00:45:53,016 --> 00:45:54,952
IT WAS EARTH COLORED.
813
00:45:55,018 --> 00:45:57,488
WAY FAR AWAY,
BEGINNING TO RISE,
814
00:45:57,554 --> 00:46:00,457
AND THE NEXT DAY,
PERHAPS IT WOULD BE BIGGER
815
00:46:00,524 --> 00:46:02,993
AND COME QUICKER AND HIGHER,
816
00:46:03,060 --> 00:46:07,030
AND THEN SUDDENLY,
YOU WERE JUST ENGULFED.
817
00:46:07,097 --> 00:46:11,602
IT WAS OVERHEAD, AND YOU
COULDN'T SEE THE SUN.
818
00:46:11,668 --> 00:46:14,605
AND THAT'S WHEN IT WAS
A REALLY BAD DAY.
819
00:46:14,671 --> 00:46:17,441
AND DAY AFTER DAY,
IT WOULD BE THAT WAY--
820
00:46:17,508 --> 00:46:21,879
DARK, BLACK, SCARY.
821
00:46:21,945 --> 00:46:24,281
Robertson:
THE EXPERTS COULD TELL
822
00:46:24,348 --> 00:46:27,417
WHERE THE DUST CAME FROM
BY THE COLOR.
823
00:46:27,484 --> 00:46:29,720
NEW MEXICO HAD ONE COLOR,
824
00:46:29,787 --> 00:46:32,189
AND OKLAHOMA, COMING FROM
THE OTHER DIRECTION,
825
00:46:32,256 --> 00:46:33,590
HAD ANOTHER COLOR.
826
00:46:33,657 --> 00:46:37,194
AND THEY WOULD SAY, "WELL,
WE'RE ENJOYING OKLAHOMA TODAY.
827
00:46:37,261 --> 00:46:39,396
"WELL, WE'RE GETTING VISITED
828
00:46:39,463 --> 00:46:43,567
BY ALL THE NEW MEXICANS
TODAY," AND SO FORTH.
829
00:46:43,634 --> 00:46:48,472
Worster: THE BIG DUST STORMS
WERE FINE PARTICLES OF SOIL.
830
00:46:48,539 --> 00:46:50,574
OTHERS WERE SANDIER BLOWS
831
00:46:50,641 --> 00:46:54,311
THAT BLEW ALONG THE HIGHWAYS
AT LOW ELEVATION,
832
00:46:54,378 --> 00:46:57,314
AND IT TOOK COULD TAKE THE
PAINT OFF YOUR AUTOMOBILE
833
00:46:57,381 --> 00:47:00,884
OR YOUR HOUSE, LIKE SANDPAPER
BEING RUBBED AGAINST IT.
834
00:47:00,951 --> 00:47:02,886
BUT THE ONES THAT WERE
THE MOST TERRIFYING
835
00:47:02,953 --> 00:47:05,522
WERE THE ONES THAT WERE BASED
ON THESE VERY FINE PARTICLES
836
00:47:05,589 --> 00:47:08,959
THAT ROSE UP INTO THE AIR
7,000, 8,000 FEET
837
00:47:09,026 --> 00:47:13,163
IN THIS KIND OF BOILING WALL
OF DIRT COMING AT YOU
838
00:47:13,230 --> 00:47:17,434
WITH GALE FORCE, 40-, 50-,
60-MILE-AN-HOUR WINDS.
839
00:47:17,501 --> 00:47:19,536
THESE WERE THE
BLACK BLIZZARDS
840
00:47:19,603 --> 00:47:23,240
THAT FRIGHTENED PEOPLE SO
MUCH DURING THOSE PERIODS.
841
00:47:23,307 --> 00:47:26,510
Egan: WHEN ONE OF THESE DUSTERS
WOULD APPROACH FROM AFAR
842
00:47:26,577 --> 00:47:28,412
AND THEY WOULD SEE IT
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
843
00:47:28,478 --> 00:47:30,147
IT WAS LIKE A MOUNTAIN RANGE,
844
00:47:30,214 --> 00:47:32,549
BECAUSE SOME CASES,
THE STORMS WERE 100 MILES,
845
00:47:32,616 --> 00:47:37,087
150 MILES, 200 MILES WIDE
AND A MILE OR MORE HIGH.
846
00:47:37,154 --> 00:47:39,323
SO IMAGINE DRIVING
ON A FLAT LAND
847
00:47:39,389 --> 00:47:41,124
AND LOOKING OFF AND SEEING
848
00:47:41,191 --> 00:47:44,361
A MOUNTAIN RANGE ITSELF
STARTING TO MOVE.
849
00:47:44,428 --> 00:47:46,330
DAYLIGHT ITSELF
WOULD BE OBLITERATED.
850
00:47:46,396 --> 00:47:50,234
SOMEONE TOLD ME IT WAS LIKE
"TWO MIDNIGHTS IN A JUG."
851
00:47:50,300 --> 00:47:53,804
Dorothy Kleffman: ONE
PARTICULARLY BAD STORM WE HAD,
852
00:47:53,871 --> 00:47:55,939
IT WAS IN THE DAYTIME,
853
00:47:56,006 --> 00:47:58,141
AND IT ROLLED IN,
AND IT WAS SO BLACK
854
00:47:58,208 --> 00:48:01,979
THAT YOU COULDN'T SEE YOUR HAND
IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE.
855
00:48:02,045 --> 00:48:05,249
SO WE ALL GATHERED IN THE
KITCHEN, THE WHOLE FAMILY.
856
00:48:05,315 --> 00:48:09,786
WE LIT THE KEROSENE LAMP,
AND THAT DIDN'T HELP VERY MUCH.
857
00:48:09,853 --> 00:48:14,291
AND MOTHER HAD TEA TOWELS THAT
WERE MADE OUT OF FLOUR SACKS
858
00:48:14,358 --> 00:48:16,827
BECAUSE WE WERE ALSO
IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
859
00:48:16,894 --> 00:48:18,929
WE JUST TOOK THEM AND
DRAPED THEM OVER OUR HEAD,
860
00:48:18,996 --> 00:48:22,432
DOWN THE FACE--YOU KNOW,
JUST THE WHOLE HEAD.
861
00:48:22,499 --> 00:48:23,967
YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING.
862
00:48:24,034 --> 00:48:26,336
YOU SAT THERE,
AND YOU COULDN'T TALK
863
00:48:26,403 --> 00:48:28,538
OR VISIT WITH
ANYBODY VERY MUCH,
864
00:48:28,605 --> 00:48:33,143
BUT THAT WET TOWEL
WOULD CATCH THE DUST.
865
00:48:33,210 --> 00:48:36,079
AND SOMETIMES THOSE TOWELS
WERE PRETTY BLACK
866
00:48:36,146 --> 00:48:38,181
BY THE TIME WE TOOK THEM OFF.
867
00:48:38,248 --> 00:48:40,384
Ina Kay Labrier:
IT'D GET SO BAD,
868
00:48:40,450 --> 00:48:43,120
YOU COULDN'T EVEN
SEE TO DRIVE.
869
00:48:43,186 --> 00:48:49,526
YOU COULDN'T SEE THE SIDES
OF THE ROAD WITH YOUR LIGHTS ON.
870
00:48:49,593 --> 00:48:51,762
YOU COULDN'T TELL WHETHER
YOU WAS ON THE ROAD
871
00:48:51,828 --> 00:48:54,698
OR ON THE SIDES
OR WHERE YOU WERE.
872
00:48:54,765 --> 00:48:59,336
Glover: SOMETIMES WE WERE CAUGHT
IN THE HOUSE OR IN THE CAR,
873
00:48:59,403 --> 00:49:02,973
AND WE'D JUST SAT THERE
UNTIL IT ALL BLEW OVER.
874
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:06,476
IT JUST WAS OLD BROWN DIRT
A-BLOWIN' ALL AROUND THE CAR,
875
00:49:06,543 --> 00:49:09,846
AND WE JUST SAT THERE UNTIL
IT KIND OF CLEARED UP ENOUGH
876
00:49:09,913 --> 00:49:13,984
SO YOU COULD SEE THE ROAD TO
GO ON TO GET TO THE HOUSE.
877
00:49:14,051 --> 00:49:16,053
AND IT WAS GRITTY AND DIRTY,
878
00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:19,456
AND YOU HAD TO WASH
YOUR MOUTH OFF
879
00:49:19,523 --> 00:49:24,094
WHENEVER YOU GOT IN THE HOUSE
SO YOU WEREN'T EATING DIRT.
880
00:49:24,161 --> 00:49:26,697
IF YOU'D GO OUT AND PICK UP
A HANDFUL OF DIRT
881
00:49:26,763 --> 00:49:30,133
AND STICK IT IN YOUR MOUTH,
THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT'D FEEL.
882
00:49:33,136 --> 00:49:36,206
Egan: ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT HAPPENED JUST BEFORE A DUSTER HIT WAS
883
00:49:36,273 --> 00:49:39,776
THERE WAS THIS AMAZING
STATIC ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR.
884
00:49:39,843 --> 00:49:42,646
PEOPLE USED TO CARRY
A CHAIN IN THEIR CAR
885
00:49:42,713 --> 00:49:44,348
TO GROUND THE ELECTRICITY.
886
00:49:44,414 --> 00:49:46,616
YOU DIDN'T DRIVE ANYWHERE
WITHOUT HAVING THIS CHAIN
887
00:49:46,683 --> 00:49:48,552
THAT YOU'D THEN THROW OUT
AND DRAG IT ALONG THE GROUND
888
00:49:48,618 --> 00:49:50,754
TO GROUND THE ELECTRICITY
BECAUSE YOUR RADIO WOULD GO OUT,
889
00:49:50,821 --> 00:49:53,190
YOUR ELECTRICAL STUFF
WOULD SHORT.
890
00:49:53,256 --> 00:49:55,058
AND EVERY PERSON
WOULD TALK ABOUT
891
00:49:55,125 --> 00:49:57,828
HOW YOU LITERALLY COULDN'T
SHAKE ANOTHER PERSON'S HAND
892
00:49:57,894 --> 00:50:00,931
BEFORE ONE OF THESE
DUSTERS BECAUSE THE STATIC WAS SO STRONG.
893
00:50:00,998 --> 00:50:04,501
IT WAS THE KINETIC ENERGY
THAT WAS IN THE AIR JUST BEFORE A DUSTER HIT.
894
00:50:04,568 --> 00:50:06,436
I CAN REMEMBER
FEELING IT IN MY HAIR.
895
00:50:06,503 --> 00:50:08,138
IT WAS JUST KIND OF LIKE
896
00:50:08,205 --> 00:50:10,574
YOUR HEAD TINGLES
OR SOMETHING, YOU KNOW.
897
00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:12,542
YOUR HAIR GETS KIND OF WIRY.
898
00:50:12,609 --> 00:50:16,480
Beck: MORE DUST AND
THE LONGER THE RIDE,
899
00:50:16,546 --> 00:50:19,049
THE HIGHER THE CHARGE,
900
00:50:19,116 --> 00:50:23,086
UNTIL FINALLY IT'D GET
SUCH A POWERFUL CHARGE
901
00:50:23,153 --> 00:50:26,056
THAT IF YOU REACH
OUT TO TOUCH YOUR CAR,
902
00:50:26,123 --> 00:50:29,993
THE ELECTRICITY WILL JUMP OUT
ABOUT 6 INCHES TO MEET YOU
903
00:50:30,060 --> 00:50:32,162
AND KNOCK YOU
FLAT ON YOUR BUTT.
904
00:50:34,698 --> 00:50:36,933
BUT IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THAT.
905
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:38,402
DON'T FORGET,
THIS IS A STORM,
906
00:50:38,468 --> 00:50:41,705
WHICH MEANS IT HAD
A BEGINNING AND AN END.
907
00:50:41,772 --> 00:50:46,777
AND IN BETWEEN STORMS, COULDN'T
HAVE BEEN MORE BEAUTIFUL.
908
00:50:46,843 --> 00:50:50,047
THE SKIES WERE CRYSTAL-BLUE,
AND THE CLOUDS WERE
909
00:50:50,113 --> 00:50:52,749
THOSE PUFFY WHITE
SUMMERTIME CLOUDS,
910
00:50:52,816 --> 00:50:56,853
WITHOUT A DROP OF WATER
IN 50 OF THEM.
911
00:50:56,920 --> 00:51:00,490
BUT I CAN STILL REMEMBER MY
FATHER LOOKING UP AT THE SKY
912
00:51:00,557 --> 00:51:04,227
AND PRAYING THAT IT'D RAIN.
913
00:51:04,294 --> 00:51:06,029
BUT NATURALLY,
IT NEVER WOULD
914
00:51:06,096 --> 00:51:09,933
BECAUSE THOSE WEREN'T
RAIN CLOUDS AND NEVER WOULD BE.
915
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:13,136
Narrator: IN THE TIMES
BETWEEN STORMS,
916
00:51:13,203 --> 00:51:15,906
THE FARMERS AND TOWNSPEOPLE
TRIED THEIR BEST
917
00:51:15,972 --> 00:51:18,675
TO CARRY ON
WITH THEIR LIVES,
918
00:51:18,742 --> 00:51:20,677
BUT THE LAND
THEY CALLED HOME
919
00:51:20,744 --> 00:51:25,015
WAS BEING REARRANGED
BEFORE THEIR VERY EYES.
920
00:51:25,082 --> 00:51:30,053
OH, JUST DIRT, PILES OF
DIRT AROUND ANYTHING,
921
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:35,859
LIKE THE FENCE ROWS OR SOMETHING
LIKE A PLOW IMPLEMENT
922
00:51:35,926 --> 00:51:37,961
OR ANYTHING OUT IN THE YARD,
923
00:51:38,028 --> 00:51:41,031
IT MIGHT BE NEARLY
COVERED UP WITH DIRT.
924
00:51:41,098 --> 00:51:47,671
ANYTHING LOOSE BANKED UP AROUND
SOMETHING OR BLEW AWAY.
925
00:51:47,737 --> 00:51:50,841
Kleffman: IT WOULD DRIFT
UP THE SIDE OF THE BARN.
926
00:51:50,907 --> 00:51:53,310
SO YOU COULD WALK UP ON THE
ROOF OF THE BARN, YOU KNOW?
927
00:51:53,376 --> 00:51:57,280
YOU JUST WALK UP LIKE
YOU HAD A LADD TRE,
928
00:51:57,347 --> 00:51:59,616
BUT IT WOULD BE DIRT.
929
00:51:59,683 --> 00:52:01,551
Narrator: THE STORMS
HAD PUSHED
930
00:52:01,618 --> 00:52:03,820
DRIED-UP RUSSIAN THISTLES--
TUMBLEWEEDS--
931
00:52:03,887 --> 00:52:07,457
ACROSS THE OPEN GROUND BY
THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
932
00:52:07,524 --> 00:52:10,760
WHEREVER THEY PILED UP
AGAINST BARBED WIRE FENCES,
933
00:52:10,827 --> 00:52:15,999
THEY CREATED EDDIES IN THE WIND,
AND THE DIRT ACCUMULATED.
934
00:52:16,066 --> 00:52:17,567
THISTLES GOT
IN THE FENCE,
935
00:52:17,634 --> 00:52:20,871
AND THEN THE SAND GOT IN THE
THISTLES, SO CONSEQUENTLY,
936
00:52:20,937 --> 00:52:24,374
WHAT CATTLE WAS STILL ALIVE
WALKED OVER THE FENCE.
937
00:52:24,441 --> 00:52:26,376
EVERY PLACE THERE
WAS A FENCE,
938
00:52:26,443 --> 00:52:30,514
YOU COULD ALMOST WALK
OVER MOST OF THEM.
939
00:52:30,580 --> 00:52:34,384
Narrator: WHERE THE DIRT
AND SAND HADN'T PILED UP,
940
00:52:34,451 --> 00:52:38,522
THE LAND HAD BEEN
SWEPT CLEAN OF TOPSOIL.
941
00:52:38,588 --> 00:52:41,558
Kleffman: IT WAS BARE.
IT WAS HARD.
942
00:52:41,625 --> 00:52:43,326
YOU COULD TAKE A BROOM
AND SWEEP IT
943
00:52:43,393 --> 00:52:45,729
JUST LIKE YOU COULD
A WOOD FLOOR.
944
00:52:45,795 --> 00:52:48,298
IT WAS HARD,
JUST LIKE CEMENT.
945
00:52:48,365 --> 00:52:50,333
Worster: SO YOU COULD
WALK OUT ONTO YOUR FARM,
946
00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,068
AND INSTEAD OF FINE DIRT,
947
00:52:52,135 --> 00:52:54,671
YOU FOUND THIS HARDPAN
LAYER ON THE TOP.
948
00:52:54,738 --> 00:52:56,773
IMPOSSIBLE TO CULTIVATE.
949
00:52:56,840 --> 00:53:00,977
YOUR DIRT WOULD BE IN SOMEBODY
ELSE'S FARM OR A COUNTY AWAY.
950
00:53:01,044 --> 00:53:06,183
Glover: YOU KNOW, THE DUST WAS
SO BAD THAT THE CATTLE DIED.
951
00:53:06,249 --> 00:53:10,687
THEY FOUND SMALL HERDS OF
CATTLE THAT WERE JUST FILLED UP
952
00:53:10,754 --> 00:53:14,858
WITH DIRT IN THEIR
LUNGS AND THEIR NOSES.
953
00:53:14,925 --> 00:53:17,561
I CAN REMEMBER SEEING
OUR COWS' NOSES
954
00:53:17,627 --> 00:53:21,164
THAT WERE JUST
MUD ON THE END
955
00:53:21,231 --> 00:53:25,168
WHERE THEY TRIED
TO BREATHE AND COULDN'T.
956
00:53:25,235 --> 00:53:27,571
Worster: THEY DIED
OF SUFFOCATION.
957
00:53:27,637 --> 00:53:31,808
WHATEVER WILDLIFE WAS OUT THERE
DIED OF SUFFOCATION.
958
00:53:31,875 --> 00:53:34,010
BUT ANIMALS ALSO SIMPLY
WANDERED AWAY
959
00:53:34,077 --> 00:53:35,545
NOT KNOWING WHERE
THEY BELONGED
960
00:53:35,612 --> 00:53:39,149
AND WOULD CLIMB OVER THESE
DUST DRIFTS AND BE LOST.
961
00:53:39,216 --> 00:53:41,051
SO IT WAS REALLY
DEVASTATING
962
00:53:41,117 --> 00:53:43,987
FOR LIVESTOCK IN TERMS
OF LOSS OF LIFE.
963
00:53:44,054 --> 00:53:47,991
Narrator: HOUSEWIVES NURTURED
THEIR GARDENS WITH WELL WATER,
964
00:53:48,058 --> 00:53:51,194
BUT THE ABRASIVE WINDS,
THE SHIFTING DIRT--
965
00:53:51,261 --> 00:53:55,799
EVEN, SOMETIMES, THE CHARGE OF
STATIC ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR--
966
00:53:55,865 --> 00:54:00,237
OFTEN KILLED THE VEGETABLES
THEIR FAMILIES WERE COUNTING ON.
967
00:54:00,303 --> 00:54:02,272
Virginia Frantz: A STORM WOULD
COME, AND THERE WOULD BE
968
00:54:02,339 --> 00:54:04,374
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT OF IT.
969
00:54:04,441 --> 00:54:09,045
AND MOTHER TRIED HER BEST
TO KEEP THAT FROM HAPPENING.
970
00:54:09,112 --> 00:54:13,483
SHE WOULD DIG POSTHOLES
TO PLANT TOMATOES IN
971
00:54:13,550 --> 00:54:15,685
SO THAT THE WIND
WOULDN'T CUT THEM OFF
972
00:54:15,752 --> 00:54:18,455
UNTIL THEY GOT
BIGGER AND STRONGER
973
00:54:18,521 --> 00:54:21,758
TO WHERE THEY MIGHT HAVE
SOME TOMATOES THEN.
974
00:54:21,825 --> 00:54:26,162
AND SHE DUG DEEP ROWS
TO PUT ANYTHING IN.
975
00:54:26,229 --> 00:54:30,166
AND OF COURSE, SOMETIMES THEY
WOULD FILL UP WITH DIRT.
976
00:54:30,233 --> 00:54:33,770
Narrator: AFTER SURVEYING THE
RESIDENTS OF MEADE, KANSAS,
977
00:54:33,837 --> 00:54:36,773
A REPORTER CALCULATED
THAT THE AVERAGE DAMAGE
978
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:42,045
FROM A SINGLE STORM
WAS $25 PER HOME.
979
00:54:42,112 --> 00:54:44,748
WHAT COULDN'T BE
MEASURED, HE SAID,
980
00:54:44,814 --> 00:54:49,252
WAS "THE LOSS OF DISPOSITION
OF THE HOUSEWIVES."
981
00:54:49,319 --> 00:54:51,955
Kleffman: MY MOTHER
WAS VERY CLEAN.
982
00:54:52,022 --> 00:54:53,657
HER HOUSE WAS ALWAYS CLEAN,
983
00:54:53,723 --> 00:54:56,359
AND SHE TRIED TO
KEEP US KIDS CLEAN.
984
00:54:56,426 --> 00:54:59,195
SHE WOULD TAKE ALL HER
CURTAINS DOWN ONE DAY
985
00:54:59,262 --> 00:55:01,931
AND WASH THEM AND
HANG THEM BACK UP.
986
00:55:01,998 --> 00:55:03,933
A DIRT STORM WOULD
COME IN THAT NIGHT,
987
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:07,203
AND THEY WERE JUST LIKE THEY
WERE BEFORE SHE WASHED THEM.
988
00:55:07,270 --> 00:55:10,373
AND THAT WENT ON
DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY,
989
00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,410
AND ONCE IN A WHILE,
YOU WOULD HEAR OF SOME WOMAN
990
00:55:13,476 --> 00:55:16,112
THAT JUST COULDN'T
TAKE IT ANYMORE,
991
00:55:16,179 --> 00:55:18,682
AND SHE'D COMMIT SUICIDE.
992
00:55:18,748 --> 00:55:23,486
Robertson: IT BLEW THAT DIRT
INTO THE ATTIC OF THE HOUSE.
993
00:55:23,553 --> 00:55:27,123
A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE
WOULD GET UP OF A MORNING,
994
00:55:27,190 --> 00:55:30,126
YOU COULD LOOK UP
AT THE CEILING
995
00:55:30,193 --> 00:55:35,365
AND IF THERE WAS A SPLIT OR
BETWEEN BOARDS OR WHATEVER,
996
00:55:35,432 --> 00:55:37,634
THAT DIRT WOULD JUST
BE COMING RIGHT DOWN
997
00:55:37,701 --> 00:55:39,736
LIKE THIS ON THE TABLE.
998
00:55:39,803 --> 00:55:43,340
AND WHEN WE'D GET UP IN
THE MORNING, A LOT OF TIMES
999
00:55:43,406 --> 00:55:45,342
THERE WOULD BE, SAY,
FROM AN INCH
1000
00:55:45,408 --> 00:55:49,813
TO 5 INCHES OF DIRT
JUST PILED LIKE THAT.
1001
00:55:49,879 --> 00:55:52,982
AND YOU CLEANED THAT OFF,
AND YOU EAT,
1002
00:55:53,049 --> 00:55:55,685
AND YOU EAT THE DIRT
IF IT'S THERE.
1003
00:55:55,752 --> 00:55:58,988
IF IT ISN'T,
WELL, YOU DO GOOD.
1004
00:55:59,055 --> 00:56:01,124
Floyd Coen:
WHEN WE SET THE TABLE,
1005
00:56:01,191 --> 00:56:03,326
WE ALWAYS SET THE PLATE
UPSIDE-DOWN--
1006
00:56:03,393 --> 00:56:06,663
GLASSES OR CUPS, WHATEVER
IT WAS, UPSIDE-DOWN.
1007
00:56:06,730 --> 00:56:08,732
AND STILL I THINK YOU'D TURN
THEM OVER AND SHAKE THEM,
1008
00:56:08,798 --> 00:56:11,101
LOOK AT THEM BEFORE YOU
PUT ANYTHING IN THEM.
1009
00:56:11,167 --> 00:56:14,404
MY FAMILY THINKS THAT I'M KIND
OF STUPID, AND I GUESS I AM,
1010
00:56:14,471 --> 00:56:17,240
BUT I STILL--IF I GET
A GLASS OUT OF A CABINET,
1011
00:56:17,307 --> 00:56:20,110
I RINSE IT OUT BEFORE
I DRINK OUT OF IT.
1012
00:56:20,176 --> 00:56:23,413
Kleffman: WHEN WE WOULD
GO TO BED AT NIGHT,
1013
00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:26,182
SOMETIMES A DUST STORM
WOULD COME IN,
1014
00:56:26,249 --> 00:56:28,518
AND WHEN WE GOT UP
THE NEXT MORNING,
1015
00:56:28,585 --> 00:56:31,921
OUR COVERS WOULD BE COMPLETELY
COVERED WITH DUST,
1016
00:56:31,988 --> 00:56:34,624
AND THE ONLY CLEAN
PLACE ON OUR PILLOW
1017
00:56:34,691 --> 00:56:37,460
WOULD BE WHERE
OUR HEAD HAD LAID.
1018
00:56:37,527 --> 00:56:39,529
Henderson portrayer:
DUST TO EAT,
1019
00:56:39,596 --> 00:56:43,233
AND DUST TO BREATHE,
AND DUST TO DRINK.
1020
00:56:43,299 --> 00:56:46,436
DUST IN THE BEDS
AND IN THE FLOUR BIN,
1021
00:56:46,503 --> 00:56:49,572
ON DISHES AND WALLS
AND WINDOWS,
1022
00:56:49,639 --> 00:56:55,011
IN HAIR AND EYES AND EARS
AND TEETH AND THROATS,
1023
00:56:55,078 --> 00:56:58,515
TO SAY NOTHING OF THE HEAPED-UP
ACCUMULATION ON FLOORS
1024
00:56:58,581 --> 00:57:02,685
AND WINDOW SILLS AFTER
ONE OF THE BAD DAYS.
1025
00:57:02,752 --> 00:57:08,958
THIS WIND-DRIVEN DUST,
FINE AS THE FINEST FLOUR,
1026
00:57:09,025 --> 00:57:13,163
PENETRATES WHEREVER
AIR CAN GO.
1027
00:57:21,638 --> 00:57:23,673
Narrator: AS IF
THE WIND AND DUST
1028
00:57:23,740 --> 00:57:25,775
WEREN'T ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH,
1029
00:57:25,842 --> 00:57:28,678
HORDES OF JACKRABBITS,
DRIVEN BY HUNGER,
1030
00:57:28,745 --> 00:57:34,417
NOW INVADED WHAT PASTURES,
CROPS, AND GARDENS WERE LEFT.
1031
00:57:34,484 --> 00:57:37,454
Kleffman: THEY ATE
EVERYTHING GREEN THERE WAS.
1032
00:57:37,520 --> 00:57:40,190
THE FARMERS HAD
KILLED OFF THE COYOTES,
1033
00:57:40,256 --> 00:57:44,461
AND THAT UPSET THE
NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS,
1034
00:57:44,527 --> 00:57:46,563
AND THE RABBITS
JUST EXPLODED,
1035
00:57:46,629 --> 00:57:49,365
AND THEY WOULD EAT ANYTHING
GREEN THEY FOUND,
1036
00:57:49,432 --> 00:57:51,301
AND THEY WOULD EAT
YOUR GARDEN UP.
1037
00:57:51,367 --> 00:57:53,703
McCoy: THERE'D BE
THOUSANDS OF RABBITS.
1038
00:57:53,770 --> 00:57:57,874
THEY'D EAT EVERYTHING--EAT THE
BARK OFF OF THE FENCE POSTS.
1039
00:57:57,941 --> 00:58:02,045
DAD PUT NEW POSTS UP ON OUR
PLACE WHEN HE'D DONE IT,
1040
00:58:02,111 --> 00:58:05,615
AND IT WAS CEDAR POST
THAT HAD BARK ON IT,
1041
00:58:05,682 --> 00:58:07,584
AND THEY ATE THAT
BARK OFF OF IT.
1042
00:58:07,650 --> 00:58:09,652
Narrator: TO COMBAT
THE INVASION,
1043
00:58:09,719 --> 00:58:14,891
ENTIRE COMMUNITIES BEGAN
ORGANIZING "RABBIT DRIVES."
1044
00:58:14,958 --> 00:58:19,229
YOU'D ADVERTISE IT WITH FLYERS
ALL OVER THE PLACE IN ADVANCE--
1045
00:58:19,295 --> 00:58:24,968
"ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON
ON THE FARM OF JOE SMITH
1046
00:58:25,034 --> 00:58:27,570
"WOULD BE A RABBIT DRIVE.
1047
00:58:27,637 --> 00:58:30,340
PLEASE COME.
BRING THE FAMILY."
1048
00:58:30,406 --> 00:58:32,408
SO ON THAT AFTERNOON,
1049
00:58:32,475 --> 00:58:37,480
THERE MIGHT BE 50
TO 100 FAMILIES SHOW UP.
1050
00:58:37,547 --> 00:58:41,918
Wells: THE PEOPLE WOULD
GO OUT IN A SEMI-CIRCLE
1051
00:58:41,985 --> 00:58:44,120
AND THEN BRING THEM IN.
1052
00:58:44,187 --> 00:58:45,855
AND THEY HAD CLUBS,
1053
00:58:45,922 --> 00:58:47,924
AND THEY'D USE
WAGON SPOKES FOR CLUBS.
1054
00:58:47,991 --> 00:58:52,662
WHAT STARTED OUT
AS A PEACEFUL PICNIC
1055
00:58:52,729 --> 00:58:55,565
SORT OF TURNED INTO A RIOT--
1056
00:58:55,632 --> 00:58:59,302
DOGS BARKING AND YIPPING,
PEOPLE YELLING,
1057
00:58:59,369 --> 00:59:04,807
KIDS SCREAMING,
RABBITS HOPPING IN THE AIR.
1058
00:59:04,874 --> 00:59:08,211
AND THEY JUST--WE'D KILL THEM
UNTIL WE JUST GIVE OUT.
1059
00:59:08,278 --> 00:59:10,713
THEN MORE KIDS WOULD GET IN
AND GO FIGHTING THEM.
1060
00:59:10,780 --> 00:59:12,916
THEY'D KILL THEM
BY THE THOUSANDS.
1061
00:59:12,982 --> 00:59:16,185
Dale Coen: YOU'D CLUB THE
RABBITS TO DEATH,
1062
00:59:16,252 --> 00:59:18,521
WHICH WAS AN UNSIGHTLY THING,
1063
00:59:18,588 --> 00:59:21,024
AND IT WAS A HORRIBLE
THING TO DO.
1064
00:59:21,090 --> 00:59:23,793
THEY WOULD SCREAM, AND I
CAN STILL HEAR RABBITS,
1065
00:59:23,860 --> 00:59:27,330
THE NOISE THEY'D MAKE.
1066
00:59:27,397 --> 00:59:30,400
I WENT ON ONE, AND THAT
WAS ENOUGH FOR ME.
1067
00:59:38,741 --> 00:59:42,278
Narrator: IN THE EARLY
SPRING OF 1934,
1068
00:59:42,345 --> 00:59:45,515
A SNOWSTORM BLANKETED
NO MAN'S LAND.
1069
00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:49,485
THE FLAKES, MIXED WITH AIRBORNE
DIRT, WERE DARKENED--
1070
00:59:49,552 --> 00:59:52,589
LOCALS CALLED IT
A "SNUSTER"--
1071
00:59:52,655 --> 00:59:55,725
BUT AT LEAST IT WAS
A LITTLE MOISTURE.
1072
00:59:55,792 --> 00:59:59,462
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE,
A LIGHT RAIN FELL.
1073
00:59:59,529 --> 01:00:02,465
MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT
THE DROUGHT HAD BROKEN.
1074
01:00:02,532 --> 01:00:05,568
"THE GOOSE HANGS HIGH,"
A LOCAL NEWSPAPER REPORTED.
1075
01:00:05,635 --> 01:00:07,637
"FARMERS ARE GOING
DOWN THE FURROW
1076
01:00:07,704 --> 01:00:12,141
WITH BRIGHTER DAYS IN SIGHT
AND A SONG IN THEIR HEARTS."
1077
01:00:12,208 --> 01:00:15,311
Robertson: AND I REMEMBER
ONE TIME IT RAINED,
1078
01:00:15,378 --> 01:00:17,580
AND WE WERE ALL
JUST THRILLED,
1079
01:00:17,647 --> 01:00:19,782
AND THE CHILDREN WENT
OUT IN THE STREETS
1080
01:00:19,849 --> 01:00:22,085
AND BAREFOOT AND DANCING
IN THE RAIN
1081
01:00:22,151 --> 01:00:25,521
AND LET THE RAIN FALL
ON THEIR TONGUES.
1082
01:00:25,588 --> 01:00:27,624
WE WERE JUST ECSTATIC,
1083
01:00:27,690 --> 01:00:32,462
AND THE MOTHERS CALLED THAT IT
WAS TIME TO COME IN FOR SUPPER,
1084
01:00:32,528 --> 01:00:35,798
AND NOBODY WOULD GO IN.
1085
01:00:35,865 --> 01:00:38,635
SO FINALLY THE NEIGHBORS
ALL BROUGHT SUPPER
1086
01:00:38,701 --> 01:00:40,236
TO THE FRONT PORCHES,
1087
01:00:40,303 --> 01:00:42,438
AND WE HAD SUPPER ON
THE FRONT PORCHES
1088
01:00:42,505 --> 01:00:44,674
AND DANCING IN THE STREETS.
1089
01:00:44,741 --> 01:00:46,843
IT WAS WONDERFUL.
1090
01:00:46,909 --> 01:00:50,246
AND WE THOUGHT MAYBE
THE TIDE HAD TURNED.
1091
01:00:50,313 --> 01:00:55,151
BUT, YOU KNOW, AFTER THAT,
HERE CAME THE DUST AGAIN.
1092
01:00:57,220 --> 01:01:01,557
Narrator: 1934 WOULD TURN OUT
TO BE EVEN DRIER AND HOTTER
1093
01:01:01,624 --> 01:01:04,827
THAN THE YEARS BEFORE--
PART OF A NATIONWIDE DROUGHT
1094
01:01:04,894 --> 01:01:09,298
THAT AFFECTED 46
OF THE 48 STATES.
1095
01:01:09,365 --> 01:01:12,468
IN MAY, THE TEMPERATURE HAD
ALREADY REACHED 100 DEGREES
1096
01:01:12,535 --> 01:01:16,806
IN NORTH DAKOTA, WHERE THE
DROUGHT WAS A YEAR OLDER.
1097
01:01:16,873 --> 01:01:20,543
PARTS OF NEBRASKA, WHERE
TEMPERATURES HIT 118,
1098
01:01:20,610 --> 01:01:23,813
WERE ALREADY BLOWING.
1099
01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:28,184
THEN, ON MAY 9th, A MASSIVE
WEATHER FRONT MOVING EASTWARD
1100
01:01:28,251 --> 01:01:32,522
BEGAN PICKING UP LOOSE SOIL
FROM WYOMING AND MONTANA,
1101
01:01:32,588 --> 01:01:34,857
THEN NEBRASKA
AND THE DAKOTAS--
1102
01:01:34,924 --> 01:01:38,928
ULTIMATELY 350 MILLION
TONS OF IT,
1103
01:01:38,995 --> 01:01:43,066
LIFTED TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF FEET IN THE AIR.
1104
01:01:43,132 --> 01:01:44,834
CARRIED BY HIGH-LEVEL WINDS,
1105
01:01:44,901 --> 01:01:48,071
IT CROSSED IOWA, MINNESOTA,
AND WISCONSIN,
1106
01:01:48,137 --> 01:01:51,074
AND AS IT PASSED OVER
CHICAGO, IT DEPOSITED
1107
01:01:51,140 --> 01:01:54,644
AN ESTIMATED 12 MILLION
POUNDS OF DUST--
1108
01:01:54,711 --> 01:01:58,581
4 POUNDS FOR EACH
RESIDENT OF THE CITY.
1109
01:01:58,648 --> 01:02:00,817
ON MAY 10th,
IT DARKENED THE SKIES
1110
01:02:00,883 --> 01:02:04,187
OVER DETROIT, CLEVELAND,
AND BUFFALO.
1111
01:02:04,253 --> 01:02:06,889
BY THE MORNING OF THE 11th,
THE STORM ENVELOPED
1112
01:02:06,956 --> 01:02:11,294
THE EASTERN SEABOARD
FROM BOSTON TO SAVANNAH.
1113
01:02:11,360 --> 01:02:15,498
IN NEW YORK CITY, STREET LIGHTS
WERE TURNED ON AT MID-DAY,
1114
01:02:15,565 --> 01:02:19,569
THE THICK HAZE OBSCURED
TOURISTS' VIEWS OF CENTRAL PARK
1115
01:02:19,635 --> 01:02:22,105
FROM THE TOP OF THE
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING,
1116
01:02:22,171 --> 01:02:25,007
AND A SHIP DELAYED ITS
ENTRY INTO THE HARBOR
1117
01:02:25,074 --> 01:02:30,313
BECAUSE THE CAPTAIN HAD TROUBLE
SEEING THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.
1118
01:02:30,379 --> 01:02:32,348
IN WASHINGTON, DC,
1119
01:02:32,415 --> 01:02:35,318
DUST DESCENDED ON
THE NATIONAL MALL,
1120
01:02:35,384 --> 01:02:37,620
EVEN SIFTED INTO
THE WHITE HOUSE,
1121
01:02:37,687 --> 01:02:40,490
WHERE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
WAS HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE
1122
01:02:40,556 --> 01:02:45,695
PROMISING RELIEF TO THE
DROUGHT-STRICKEN GREAT PLAINS.
1123
01:02:45,762 --> 01:02:49,565
THE NEXT DAY, SHIPS 300
MILES FROM THE COAST
1124
01:02:49,632 --> 01:02:54,036
REPORTED DIRT FALLING
ONTO THEIR DECKS.
1125
01:02:54,103 --> 01:02:56,506
Worster: PEOPLE WERE
SHOCKED IN THE EAST,
1126
01:02:56,572 --> 01:02:59,776
AND THEY BEGAN, FOR THE
FIRST TIME, TO ASK QUESTIONS--
1127
01:02:59,842 --> 01:03:03,479
WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT
ON THE GREAT PLAINS?
1128
01:03:03,546 --> 01:03:06,516
Narrator: THOUGH IT ORIGINATED
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,
1129
01:03:06,582 --> 01:03:10,686
EASTERNERS REFERRED TO IT
ALL AS "KANSAS DUST,"
1130
01:03:10,753 --> 01:03:13,356
AND MANY OF THEM QUICKLY
HAD SUGGESTIONS ABOUT
1131
01:03:13,422 --> 01:03:16,993
HOW TO STOP IT FROM BLOWING
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
1132
01:03:17,059 --> 01:03:21,230
ONE COMPANY PROPOSED COVERING
THE PLAINS IN CONCRETE,
1133
01:03:21,297 --> 01:03:25,201
WITH HOLES CAREFULLY PLACED
FOR PLANTING SEEDS,
1134
01:03:25,268 --> 01:03:28,638
WHILE A STEEL MANUFACTURER
IN PITTSBURGH THOUGHT
1135
01:03:28,704 --> 01:03:32,308
ITS WIRE NETTING
MIGHT WORK BETTER.
1136
01:03:32,375 --> 01:03:35,945
THE BARBER ASPHALT COMPANY
OF NEW JERSEY ESTIMATED
1137
01:03:36,012 --> 01:03:41,117
IT COULD SPREAD ITS PRODUCT
OVER THE LAND FOR $5.00 AN ACRE.
1138
01:03:41,184 --> 01:03:43,786
A WOMAN FROM
NORTH CAROLINA SUGGESTED
1139
01:03:43,853 --> 01:03:46,455
THAT SHIPPING JUNK AUTOS WEST
1140
01:03:46,522 --> 01:03:49,592
WOULD SIMULTANEOUSLY
BEAUTIFY HER STATE
1141
01:03:49,659 --> 01:03:53,896
WHILE STOPPING THE WIND
EROSION ON THE PLAINS.
1142
01:03:53,963 --> 01:03:55,665
WELL, EASTERNERS
IN PARTICULAR,
1143
01:03:55,731 --> 01:03:57,934
OR ANYONE WHO DIDN'T LIVE
ON THE GREAT PLAINS,
1144
01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,837
HAD NO IDEA OF THE
SCALE OF THIS PROBLEM
1145
01:04:00,903 --> 01:04:03,105
OR HOW TO GO ABOUT
SOLVING IT.
1146
01:04:03,172 --> 01:04:04,941
SO THEIR FIRST IDEA
WAS BASICALLY
1147
01:04:05,007 --> 01:04:09,278
TO COVER THE GREAT PLAINS
SOMEHOW, COVER THESE SOILS--
1148
01:04:09,345 --> 01:04:11,581
BRINGING ROCKS FROM
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
1149
01:04:11,647 --> 01:04:13,816
I GUESS ROLLING THEM
DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE--
1150
01:04:13,883 --> 01:04:16,118
ANYTHING TO COVER THIS AREA.
1151
01:04:16,185 --> 01:04:18,120
THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT
THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT
1152
01:04:18,187 --> 01:04:19,989
A HUNDRED MILLION ACRES.
1153
01:04:20,056 --> 01:04:21,591
Narrator:
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
1154
01:04:21,657 --> 01:04:24,393
AND HIS SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE, HENRY WALLACE,
1155
01:04:24,460 --> 01:04:27,530
HAD IDEAS OF THEIR OWN--
FROM ENCOURAGING FARMERS
1156
01:04:27,597 --> 01:04:31,133
TO PLANT FEWER CROPS
TO FINDING WAYS TO STABILIZE
1157
01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:35,004
THE LOOSE SOILS THROUGH
BETTER PLOWING TECHNIQUES--
1158
01:04:35,071 --> 01:04:38,407
BUT THOSE PROGRAMS WERE
STILL IN THEIR INFANCY.
1159
01:04:38,474 --> 01:04:41,978
NO ONE KNEW IF
THEY WOULD WORK.
1160
01:04:42,044 --> 01:04:45,815
DURING A STOP IN DROUGHT-RAVAGED
NORTH DAKOTA THAT SUMMER,
1161
01:04:45,882 --> 01:04:48,718
ROOSEVELT ADMITTED AS MUCH.
1162
01:04:48,784 --> 01:04:50,987
"I WOULD NOT TRY
TO FOOL YOU BY SAYING
1163
01:04:51,053 --> 01:04:54,757
WE KNOW THE SOLUTION" TO THE
CRISIS, THE PRESIDENT SAID.
1164
01:04:54,824 --> 01:04:57,493
"WE DON'T. BUT WHAT
I CAN TELL YOU
1165
01:04:57,560 --> 01:05:00,563
"FROM THE BOTTOM
OF MY HEART IS THIS--
1166
01:05:00,630 --> 01:05:03,599
"IF IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US
TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM,
1167
01:05:03,666 --> 01:05:06,702
WE ARE GOING TO DO IT."
1168
01:05:06,769 --> 01:05:09,272
SOME OF THE PEOPLE LINING
THE ROUTE OF HIS MOTORCADE
1169
01:05:09,338 --> 01:05:12,375
HELD UP SIGNS THAT
NOTED HOW ROOSEVELT HAD
1170
01:05:12,441 --> 01:05:15,211
ALREADY ENDED PROHIBITION.
1171
01:05:15,278 --> 01:05:20,483
"YOU GAVE US BEER," THE PLACARDS
SAID. "NOW GIVE US WATER."
1172
01:05:20,549 --> 01:05:24,086
ROOSEVELT ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR
MESSAGE, AND RESPONDED,
1173
01:05:24,153 --> 01:05:28,090
"THAT BEER PART WAS EASY."
1174
01:05:28,157 --> 01:05:32,528
A SERIES OF RAINS FELL SHORTLY
AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT
1175
01:05:32,595 --> 01:05:35,898
AND HELPED EASE THE DROUGHT
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.
1176
01:05:35,965 --> 01:05:38,801
PEOPLE THERE CALLED IT
"ROOSEVELT WEATHER."
1177
01:05:38,868 --> 01:05:43,139
BUT FARTHER SOUTH,
THERE WAS NO SUCH RELIEF.
1178
01:05:43,205 --> 01:05:45,641
WHILE THE OUTLINES OF THE
WORST-HIT AREA
1179
01:05:45,708 --> 01:05:47,510
WOULD SHIFT OVER THE YEARS,
1180
01:05:47,576 --> 01:05:49,946
SOMETIMES BROADENING
OR NARROWING,
1181
01:05:50,012 --> 01:05:53,749
BY THE SUMMER OF 1934,
THE GOVERNMENT HAD OFFICIALLY
1182
01:05:53,816 --> 01:05:58,287
IDENTIFIED THE GEOGRAPHIC
HEART OF THE DUST CRISIS.
1183
01:05:58,354 --> 01:06:01,624
IT WAS NEAR BOISE CITY
IN CIMARRON COUNTY,
1184
01:06:01,691 --> 01:06:06,262
THE WESTERN TIP OF OKLAHOMA--
IN NO MAN'S LAND.
1185
01:06:06,329 --> 01:06:09,699
ONE THIRD OF THE COUNTY'S
LAND WAS BLOWING.
1186
01:06:09,765 --> 01:06:12,802
EVEN SOME PASTURES OF
NATIVE BUFFALO GRASS
1187
01:06:12,868 --> 01:06:15,438
THAT HAD NOT BN EEOWED
HAD BEEN BURIED
1188
01:06:15,504 --> 01:06:21,010
UNDER DRTSF DIRT AND
SAND, SOME 10 FEET HIG
1189
01:06:21,077 --> 01:06:24,113
A FEW OF ROOSEVELT'S OTHER
NEW DEAL PROGRAMS,
1190
01:06:24,180 --> 01:06:26,849
AIMED AT EASING THE HUNGER
AND JOBLESSNESS
1191
01:06:26,916 --> 01:06:28,651
OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION,
1192
01:06:28,718 --> 01:06:31,253
HAD NOW REACHED
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
1193
01:06:31,320 --> 01:06:34,957
IN CIMARRON COUNTY ALONE,
NEEDY RESIDENTS RECEIVED
1194
01:06:35,024 --> 01:06:39,228
2 TONS OF SMOKED PORK,
16 TONS OF BEEF,
1195
01:06:39,295 --> 01:06:43,666
17 TONS OF FLOUR,
AND 33 TONS OF COAL
1196
01:06:43,733 --> 01:06:47,236
THROUGH A SURPLUS
COMMODITIES PROGRAM.
1197
01:06:47,303 --> 01:06:49,572
ONE QUARTER OF THE
COUNTY'S POPULATION
1198
01:06:49,638 --> 01:06:54,510
NOW DEPENDED ON
NEW DEAL JOBS.
1199
01:06:54,577 --> 01:06:58,414
BUT NONE OF THAT ADDRESSED
THE MAIN CALAMITY.
1200
01:06:58,481 --> 01:07:01,584
"WE ARE GETTING DEEPER
AND DEEPER IN DUST,"
1201
01:07:01,650 --> 01:07:04,787
THE "BOISE CITY NEWS"
REPORTED.
1202
01:07:04,854 --> 01:07:08,524
THE SAME WAS TRUE IN ALL
THE OTHER SURROUNDING COUNTIES
1203
01:07:08,591 --> 01:07:12,628
IN TEXAS, NEW MEXICO,
COLORADO, KANSAS,
1204
01:07:12,695 --> 01:07:16,298
AND THE REST OF THE
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE.
1205
01:07:16,365 --> 01:07:20,569
Worster: BY 1934,
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE
1206
01:07:20,636 --> 01:07:23,606
ON THE GREAT PLAINS
WAS PRETTY CLEAR.
1207
01:07:23,672 --> 01:07:26,042
IT WOULD HAVE,
AT THAT POINT, CLASSIFIED
1208
01:07:26,108 --> 01:07:28,411
AS ONE OF THE WORST
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS
1209
01:07:28,477 --> 01:07:31,347
IN AMERICAN HISTORY ALREADY.
1210
01:07:31,414 --> 01:07:33,816
Henderson portrayer:
WE ARE TRYING TO HOPE
1211
01:07:33,883 --> 01:07:37,219
THAT THE WORST IS OVER,
YET TODAY, AFTER WE THOUGHT
1212
01:07:37,286 --> 01:07:39,555
THE DROUGHT HAD BEEN
EFFECTIVELY BROKEN,
1213
01:07:39,622 --> 01:07:42,758
WE HAD ANOTHER TERRIBLE
DAY OF VIOLENT WIND,
1214
01:07:42,825 --> 01:07:45,027
DRIFTING CLOUDS OF DUST,
1215
01:07:45,094 --> 01:07:49,365
AND RUSSIAN THISTLES RACING
LIKE MAD ACROSS THE PLAINS
1216
01:07:49,432 --> 01:07:54,170
AND PILING UP IN HEAD-HIGH
IMPASSABLE BANKS.
1217
01:07:54,236 --> 01:07:57,740
WE FEEL AS IF THE
ADMINISTRATION IS REALLY MAKING
1218
01:07:57,807 --> 01:08:01,744
A SINCERE EFFORT TO
IMPROVE GENERAL CONDITIONS,
1219
01:08:01,811 --> 01:08:04,180
BUT THEY HAVE
A TREMENDOUS TASK,
1220
01:08:04,246 --> 01:08:08,050
MADE HARDER, OF COURSE,
BY ALL WHO CLING TENACIOUSLY
1221
01:08:08,117 --> 01:08:13,122
TO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
OR OPPORTUNITIES OF THE PAST.
1222
01:08:14,557 --> 01:08:17,626
Narrator: THAT SUMMER,
FARMERS GATHERED
1223
01:08:17,693 --> 01:08:19,662
AT THE PALACE THEATER
IN BOISE CITY
1224
01:08:19,728 --> 01:08:22,398
TO HEAR DETAILS ON
A NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAM
1225
01:08:22,465 --> 01:08:25,201
DESIGNED TO
STABILIZE BEEF PRICES
1226
01:08:25,267 --> 01:08:29,705
BY REDUCING THE SURPLUS OF
CATTLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
1227
01:08:29,772 --> 01:08:33,075
IN THE GREAT PLAINS, IT WAS ALSO
MEANT TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM
1228
01:08:33,142 --> 01:08:38,114
OF ANIMALS WASTING AWAY FOR
LACK OF ADEQUATE PASTURAGE.
1229
01:08:38,180 --> 01:08:41,784
ALREADY, HOMESTEADERS LIKE
CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON
1230
01:08:41,851 --> 01:08:44,720
HAD RESORTED TO
HARVESTING RUSSIAN THISTLES
1231
01:08:44,787 --> 01:08:46,822
TO FEED THEIR COWS.
1232
01:08:46,889 --> 01:08:49,892
SOME RANCHERS WERE
GRINDING UP YUCCA CACTUS
1233
01:08:49,959 --> 01:08:53,262
OR BURNING OFF THE NETTLES
OF PRICKLY PEARS IN AN EFFORT
1234
01:08:53,329 --> 01:08:57,466
TO GIVE THEIR CATTLE
SOMETHING--ANYTHING--TO EAT.
1235
01:08:57,533 --> 01:09:00,069
Robertson: DADDY SAID,
"WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY
1236
01:09:00,136 --> 01:09:02,838
"TO BUY FOOD FOR THE CATTLE,
1237
01:09:02,905 --> 01:09:07,476
"BUT IF WE CAN CUT THISTLES
AND STACK THEM,
1238
01:09:07,543 --> 01:09:12,081
THERE'S MORE FOOD VALUE IN
THAT THAN NEARLY ANYTHING."
1239
01:09:12,148 --> 01:09:15,584
AND OUR JOB WAS TO TRAMP
THOSE THISTLES DOWN.
1240
01:09:15,651 --> 01:09:19,822
NOW, IF YOU WANT A
BAD JOB, THAT'S ONE.
1241
01:09:19,889 --> 01:09:24,994
THOSE THISTLES GET DOWN YOUR
PANT LEGS INTO YOUR SHOES,
1242
01:09:25,060 --> 01:09:30,065
THOSE LITTLE STICKERS, AND YOU
CAN STAND IT ABOUT SO LONG,
1243
01:09:30,132 --> 01:09:33,235
BUT PRETTY SOON YOU GOT TO
STOP, GET OUT A STICKER.
1244
01:09:33,302 --> 01:09:36,338
Narrator: TO ENCOURAGE
FARMERS AND RANCHERS
1245
01:09:36,405 --> 01:09:38,174
TO CULL THEIR HERDS,
1246
01:09:38,240 --> 01:09:42,511
THE NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAM
WOULD PAY THEM UP TO $16 A HEAD
1247
01:09:42,578 --> 01:09:46,248
FOR A COW HEALTHY ENOUGH TO
BE SHIPPED TO A PACKING HOUSE,
1248
01:09:46,315 --> 01:09:48,450
WHERE IT WOULD BE
SLAUGHTERED AND CANNED
1249
01:09:48,517 --> 01:09:51,287
FOR DISTRIBUTION
TO THE POOR.
1250
01:09:51,353 --> 01:09:53,589
CATTLE DEEMED UNFIT
FOR CONSUMPTION
1251
01:09:53,656 --> 01:09:56,525
WOULD BRING A MINIMUM
OF $1.00 A HEAD
1252
01:09:56,592 --> 01:10:00,829
BUT WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY
KILLED AND BURIED.
1253
01:10:00,896 --> 01:10:04,033
GOVERNMENT AGENTS FANNED
OUT ACROSS NO MAN'S LAND
1254
01:10:04,099 --> 01:10:07,403
TO MAKE THE PURCHASES,
OVERSEE THE SHIPMENTS,
1255
01:10:07,469 --> 01:10:08,904
AND WHERE NECESSARY,
1256
01:10:08,971 --> 01:10:13,842
PAY MEN TO PUT THEIR HERDS
UNDER THE DRIFTING SOIL.
1257
01:10:13,909 --> 01:10:17,313
NATIONWIDE, THE PROGRAM
WAS A SUCCESS.
1258
01:10:17,379 --> 01:10:22,551
$111 MILLION WAS SPENT
TO PURCHASE 8.3 MILLION CATTLE,
1259
01:10:22,618 --> 01:10:26,088
AND PRICES WERE STABILIZED.
1260
01:10:26,155 --> 01:10:28,090
IN CIMARRON COUNTY,
1261
01:10:28,157 --> 01:10:34,563
THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASED
12,499 HEAD OF CATTLE IN 1934,
1262
01:10:34,630 --> 01:10:43,138
PAYING $164,449 IN MUCH-NEEDED
CASH TO LOCAL RANCHERS.
1263
01:10:43,205 --> 01:10:46,108
DESPERATE AS THEY WERE
FOR SOME INCOME,
1264
01:10:46,175 --> 01:10:49,411
IT WAS A BITTER PILL
FOR MANY TO SWALLOW,
1265
01:10:49,478 --> 01:10:53,515
HARDER STILL
ON THEIR CHILDREN.
1266
01:10:53,582 --> 01:10:56,652
WHAT THEY DID WAS,
THEY TOOK A BULLDOZER
1267
01:10:56,719 --> 01:11:00,222
AND MADE A MAMMOTH DITCH,
A MAMMOTH DITCH,
1268
01:11:00,289 --> 01:11:02,625
AND DROVE ALL THE CATTLE
DOWN IN THERE.
1269
01:11:02,691 --> 01:11:04,893
THEN THERE WERE
MEN ABOVE WITH RIFLES,
1270
01:11:04,960 --> 01:11:07,997
I WOULD SAY MAYBE
10 OR 20 MEN WITH RIFLES,
1271
01:11:08,063 --> 01:11:10,065
AND THEY SHOT THE CATTLE.
1272
01:11:10,132 --> 01:11:14,570
MY FATHER, WHEN OUR CATTLE
WAS DRIVEN INTO THIS DITCH
1273
01:11:14,637 --> 01:11:18,040
TO BE SHOT, HE SAID,
"THERE'S A LITTLE CALF.
1274
01:11:18,107 --> 01:11:20,909
CAN I BUTCHER THAT CALF
FOR FOOD FOR US?"
1275
01:11:20,976 --> 01:11:24,380
THEY SAID, "NO. THEY ALL
HAVE TO BE DESTROYED."
1276
01:11:24,446 --> 01:11:26,882
I'LL NEVER FORGET
TO MY DYING DAY
1277
01:11:26,949 --> 01:11:29,885
STANDING THERE AS A LITTLE BOY,
I WAS PROBABLY 8 OR 9 YEARS OLD,
1278
01:11:29,952 --> 01:11:33,856
WHEN THEY STARTED
SHOOTING THOSE CATTLE.
1279
01:11:33,922 --> 01:11:36,825
AND IT'S A SIGHT
TO THIS DAY THAT,
1280
01:11:36,892 --> 01:11:38,827
THE AVERAGE PERSON
COULDN'T STAND IT,
1281
01:11:38,894 --> 01:11:40,062
BUT AS A LITTLE KID,
1282
01:11:40,129 --> 01:11:43,065
IT WAS VERY ROUGH BECAUSE
THAT WAS OUR STOCK.
1283
01:11:43,132 --> 01:11:44,700
AND YOU GOT
SOME MONEY FOR IT.
1284
01:11:44,767 --> 01:11:46,502
BUT THAT DIDN'T MATTER.
1285
01:11:46,568 --> 01:11:48,337
THEY KILLED THE STOCK.
1286
01:11:48,404 --> 01:11:51,974
Robertson: AND THEY SAID,
"IF YOU CAN GET COWBOYS
1287
01:11:52,041 --> 01:11:55,444
"TO GET THOSE CATTLE TOGETHER,
WE'LL JUST RUSH THEM,
1288
01:11:55,511 --> 01:11:57,780
"AND THEY'LL FALL IN THAT DITCH,
1289
01:11:57,846 --> 01:12:02,017
AND THEN WE'LL KILL THEM
AND COVER THEM UP."
1290
01:12:02,084 --> 01:12:05,654
AND...AND DADDY
COULD HARDLY...
1291
01:12:05,721 --> 01:12:07,022
[CHOKING UP]
1292
01:12:07,089 --> 01:12:08,857
I'M SORRY.
1293
01:12:08,924 --> 01:12:10,959
BUT HE COULD HARDLY DO THAT.
1294
01:12:11,026 --> 01:12:15,364
AND I NEVER WILL FORGET MY
BROTHER AND I STANDING THERE
1295
01:12:15,431 --> 01:12:17,900
AND WATCHING THEM SHOOT
THOSE LITTLE CALVES,
1296
01:12:17,966 --> 01:12:20,669
AND WE COULD
HARDLY STAND IT.
1297
01:12:20,736 --> 01:12:23,105
BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY DID.
1298
01:12:31,280 --> 01:12:34,850
Riney-Kehrberg: ANYBODY WHO HAD
LIVED ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
1299
01:12:34,917 --> 01:12:38,787
FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME KNEW THAT
THERE WERE PERIODIC DROUGHTS,
1300
01:12:38,854 --> 01:12:41,623
KNEW THAT THE WIND
BLEW IN THE SPRING,
1301
01:12:41,690 --> 01:12:44,193
KNEW THAT THERE WERE
GOING TO BE DUST STORMS.
1302
01:12:44,259 --> 01:12:48,831
WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE 1930s
IS HOW LONG THE DROUGHT LASTS.
1303
01:12:48,897 --> 01:12:54,636
THEY WERE ALWAYS
BATTLING AGAINST HOPE
1304
01:12:54,703 --> 01:12:58,874
BECAUSE YOU WOULD SEE
THAT MAYBE THERE WAS
1305
01:12:58,941 --> 01:13:00,909
SOME RAIN ON THE HORIZON,
BUT IT WOULD FALL
1306
01:13:00,976 --> 01:13:03,746
ON SOMEBODY ELSE'S FIELD
AND NOT YOURS.
1307
01:13:03,812 --> 01:13:06,382
YOU WOULD SEE SOME CLOUDS
GATHER, AND YOU WOULD HOPE
1308
01:13:06,448 --> 01:13:08,450
THAT THIS WAS GOING
TO BE GOOD NEWS,
1309
01:13:08,517 --> 01:13:10,819
BUT INSTEAD IT WAS
GOING TO BE DIRT.
1310
01:13:10,886 --> 01:13:13,622
HOPE KEPT THEM GOING,
BUT HOPE ALSO MEANT
1311
01:13:13,689 --> 01:13:17,092
THAT THEY WERE BEI
CONSTANTLY DISAPPOINTED.
1312
01:13:17,159 --> 01:13:22,131
Brown: MY DAD COULD TELL IF IT
WAS GONNBE REALLY BAD DAY
1313
01:13:22,197 --> 01:13:27,202
BY LOOKING OUT THE BACK DOOR
AT THE SUNRISE,
1314
01:13:27,269 --> 01:13:29,638
AND IF THE SUN WAS RED,
1315
01:13:29,705 --> 01:13:34,510
HE'D SAY, "OH, IT'S
GONNA BE A BAD DAY."
1316
01:13:34,576 --> 01:13:38,380
THAT DISCOURAGED ME
EVEN WHEN I WAS LITTLE
1317
01:13:38,447 --> 01:13:41,250
IF I HEARD HIM SAY THAT.
1318
01:13:41,316 --> 01:13:45,621
Narrator: BY 1934, PROPERTY
VALUES AROUND BOISE CITY
1319
01:13:45,687 --> 01:13:48,223
HAD DECLINED BY 90%,
1320
01:13:48,290 --> 01:13:50,259
AND MORE THAN HALF
OF THE LANDOWNERS
1321
01:13:50,325 --> 01:13:52,995
WERE DELINQUENT
ON THEIR TAXES.
1322
01:13:53,061 --> 01:13:55,864
EACH WEEK, THE LOCAL PAPER
CARRIED NOTICES
1323
01:13:55,931 --> 01:13:57,833
OF UPCOMING SHERIFF'S SALES
1324
01:13:57,900 --> 01:14:00,502
OF FARMS BEING PUT
ON THE AUCTION BLOCK
1325
01:14:00,569 --> 01:14:03,839
BECAUSE OF UNPAID MORTGAGES.
1326
01:14:03,906 --> 01:14:10,245
EVERY FAMILY, EVERY FARM,
EVERY BUSINESS WAS AFFECTED.
1327
01:14:10,312 --> 01:14:12,247
THE TELEPHONE COMPANY
THAT HAD OPENED
1328
01:14:12,314 --> 01:14:15,951
IN THE RURAL PART OF
NO MAN'S LAND WENT UNDER.
1329
01:14:16,018 --> 01:14:18,520
THE PALACE THEATER
SHUT ITS DOORS--
1330
01:14:18,587 --> 01:14:22,224
UNTIL ENOUGH PEOPLE PERSUADED
THE OWNER TO REOPEN.
1331
01:14:22,291 --> 01:14:24,126
THEY NEEDED MOVIES TO HELP
1332
01:14:24,193 --> 01:14:27,429
THEM TAKE THEIR MINDS
OFF THEIR TROUBLES.
1333
01:14:27,496 --> 01:14:30,399
NO ONE KNEW WHAT THE
NEXT CALAMITY WOULD BE
1334
01:14:30,466 --> 01:14:34,837
OR WHEN THE HARD
TIMES MIGHT END.
1335
01:14:34,903 --> 01:14:37,673
WHEN HE LOST YET ANOTHER
CROP TO THE DROUGHT,
1336
01:14:37,739 --> 01:14:40,142
PAULINE HODGES' FATHER
FOUND HIMSELF
1337
01:14:40,209 --> 01:14:43,445
HARD UP AGAINST
HIS MORTGAGE.
1338
01:14:43,512 --> 01:14:45,881
Hodges: I THINK HE MUST
HAVE BEEN SCARED TO DEATH
1339
01:14:45,948 --> 01:14:48,484
BECAUSE HE HAD RELATIVE
LITTLE EDUCATION.
1340
01:14:48,550 --> 01:14:51,920
FARMING WAS ALL HE KNEW HOW
TO DO, ALL HE'D EVER DONE,
1341
01:14:51,987 --> 01:14:54,590
AND TO LOOK OUT
AND SEE THAT FIELD
1342
01:14:54,656 --> 01:14:57,960
SOLID DUST,
MOUNDS OF DUST.
1343
01:14:58,026 --> 01:15:00,562
HE'D SAY, "OH, DORA,
IT'S GOING TO GET BETTER.
1344
01:15:00,629 --> 01:15:02,097
IT'LL GET BETTER."
1345
01:15:02,164 --> 01:15:04,566
AND HE WOULD TALK ABOUT
HIS BANKER IN LIBERAL,
1346
01:15:04,633 --> 01:15:06,168
AND HE'D SAY, "OH, MR. IGO
1347
01:15:06,235 --> 01:15:09,137
IS GOING TO LET US CONTINUE
FOR A LITTLE WHILE LONGER."
1348
01:15:09,204 --> 01:15:12,207
HE KEEPS SAYING, "OH, PAUL,
IT WON'T GET ANY WORSE."
1349
01:15:12,274 --> 01:15:15,577
HE CARRIED US FOR
PROBABLY 3 YEARS
1350
01:15:15,644 --> 01:15:19,548
BEYOND WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE,
KEEPING THE HOPE
1351
01:15:19,615 --> 01:15:22,251
THAT WE WERE GOING TO GET RAIN
AND TIMES WERE GONNA GET BETTER
1352
01:15:22,317 --> 01:15:25,921
AND IF WE JUST HAD A CROP,
WE COULD PAY OFF THAT MORTGAGE.
1353
01:15:25,988 --> 01:15:28,223
FINALLY, THE BANK
WAS DESPERATE,
1354
01:15:28,290 --> 01:15:32,628
AND IN THE WINTER OF '34-'35,
THEY FORECLOSED.
1355
01:15:35,063 --> 01:15:38,734
Narrator: THEY MOVED INTO A
VACANT 3-ROOM HOUSE IN TOWN,
1356
01:15:38,800 --> 01:15:41,603
AND HER FATHER MANAGED
TO FIND A GOVERNMENT JOB
1357
01:15:41,670 --> 01:15:45,607
BUILDING ROADS THAT HELPED
KEEP THE FAMILY FED.
1358
01:15:45,674 --> 01:15:48,577
Hodges: HE MADE $3.00
A DAY TO START WITH,
1359
01:15:48,644 --> 01:15:51,313
AND WHEN HE BECAME
FOREMAN, HE MADE $5.00.
1360
01:15:51,380 --> 01:15:53,181
BUT EVEN AS YOUNG AS I WAS,
1361
01:15:53,248 --> 01:15:55,384
I REMEMBER SEEING
THE CHANGE IN HIM
1362
01:15:55,450 --> 01:15:59,121
FROM THE SELF-CONFIDENT
PERSON THAT HE'D BEEN
1363
01:15:59,187 --> 01:16:01,957
TO SOMEBODY WHO WAS
REALLY DEFEATED.
1364
01:16:02,024 --> 01:16:04,626
AND FRANKLY,
HE NEVER RECOVERED.
1365
01:16:04,693 --> 01:16:07,329
Narrator:
OVER IN FOLLETT, TEXAS,
1366
01:16:07,396 --> 01:16:10,198
TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S
FATHER AND GRANDFATHER
1367
01:16:10,265 --> 01:16:14,169
WERE TRYING TO HOLD ON TO
THEIR HARDWARE BUSINESS.
1368
01:16:14,236 --> 01:16:17,105
AMONG THOSE HAVING TROUBLE
PAYING THEIR BILLS WERE
1369
01:16:17,172 --> 01:16:22,644
A PAIR OF BROTHERS, VALUED
CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS.
1370
01:16:22,711 --> 01:16:26,782
Brown: THE TWO OF THEM CAME IN
TO THE HARDWARE STORE
1371
01:16:26,848 --> 01:16:28,584
AND TALKED TO GRANDPA
1372
01:16:28,650 --> 01:16:33,689
AND SAID, "I DON'T KNOW
WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO.
1373
01:16:33,755 --> 01:16:41,330
"WE'RE WIPED OUT, AND WE
CANNOT PAY THIS BILL
1374
01:16:41,396 --> 01:16:44,800
THAT WE OWE YOU RIGHT NOW."
1375
01:16:44,866 --> 01:16:48,036
AND GRANDPA COULD SEE
HOW DESPERATE THEY WERE,
1376
01:16:48,103 --> 01:16:50,939
AND HE SAID,
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
1377
01:16:51,006 --> 01:16:54,943
"WE'LL CARRY THIS.
YOU'LL BE JUST FINE.
1378
01:16:55,010 --> 01:16:57,279
WE'LL GET OUR MONEY."
1379
01:16:57,346 --> 01:17:02,017
AND IT WAS NO TIME BEFORE
THE TRAGEDY HAPPENED.
1380
01:17:02,084 --> 01:17:05,821
ONE OF THEM, HE HAD
A FAMILY WITH CHILDREN
1381
01:17:05,887 --> 01:17:08,390
WHO WERE IN SCHOOL WITH ME.
1382
01:17:08,457 --> 01:17:11,860
HE HANGED HIMSELF AT HOME.
1383
01:17:11,927 --> 01:17:15,964
THIS SORT OF AGONY
WAS GOING ON.
1384
01:17:16,031 --> 01:17:19,801
Narrator: SOON ENOUGH,
TRIXIE'S FATHER AND GRANDFA
1385
01:17:19,868 --> 01:17:22,938
TH
COULDN'T PAY THEIR DEBTS, EITHER.
1386
01:17:23,005 --> 01:17:26,308
Brown: THE HARDWARE STORE
WENT BANKRUPT.
1387
01:17:26,375 --> 01:17:30,445
WE LOST IT, AND THE
BANK TOOK THE HOUSE.
1388
01:17:30,512 --> 01:17:35,217
AND THE BANK FORECLOSED
ON GRANDPA TRAVIS,
1389
01:17:35,283 --> 01:17:39,821
AND HE LOST HIS CATTLE,
HE LOST HIS SECTION OF LAND,
1390
01:17:39,888 --> 01:17:46,595
HE LOST HIS HOME,
AND HE LOST HIS HEALTH.
1391
01:17:46,662 --> 01:17:51,166
Narrator: IN BAZINE, KANSAS,
A DOCTOR TOOK HIS OWN LIFE.
1392
01:17:51,233 --> 01:17:53,335
"HE TOLD US JUST
A FEW DAYS AGO
1393
01:17:53,402 --> 01:17:55,437
THAT MONEY WAS
AN IMPOSSIBILITY NOW,"
1394
01:17:55,504 --> 01:17:58,540
THE LOCAL PAPER REPORTED,
"AND THE LETTERS INDICATE
1395
01:17:58,607 --> 01:18:02,277
THAT FINANCIAL TROUBLES
ARE THE CAUSE OF HIS ACT."
1396
01:18:02,344 --> 01:18:05,480
IN DODGE CITY,
A 13-YEAR-OLD BOY,
1397
01:18:05,547 --> 01:18:08,250
SAID TO BE WORRIED THAT
HIS PARENTS COULDN'T AFFORD
1398
01:18:08,316 --> 01:18:11,987
HIS SCHOOL BOOKS,
COMMITTED SUICIDE.
1399
01:18:12,054 --> 01:18:14,856
DEVASTATED BY HIS
INVESTMENT LOSSES,
1400
01:18:14,923 --> 01:18:20,529
CIMARRON COUNTY DOCTOR KILLED
HIS WIFE AND THEN HIMSELF.
1401
01:18:20,595 --> 01:18:24,766
IN BOISE CITY, MILLARD FOWLER
WAS FRESH OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL
1402
01:18:24,833 --> 01:18:27,102
AND READY TO BUILD A FUTURE.
1403
01:18:27,169 --> 01:18:28,837
HE HAD FALLEN IN LOVE
WITH THE DAUGHTER
1404
01:18:28,904 --> 01:18:31,840
OF A MAN WHO UNTIL
RECENTLY HAD BEEN ONE
1405
01:18:31,907 --> 01:18:35,343
OF THE AREA'S MOST
PROMINENT BUSINESSMEN.
1406
01:18:35,410 --> 01:18:38,313
FOWLER AND HIS SWEETHEART
DECIDED TO GET MARRIED,
1407
01:18:38,380 --> 01:18:42,050
BUT FIRST HE WANTED TO GET
HER FATHER'S BLESSING.
1408
01:18:42,117 --> 01:18:44,820
FOWLER FOUND HIS FUTURE
FATHER-IN-LAW SITTING
1409
01:18:44,886 --> 01:18:49,057
IN HIS CAR IN FRONT
OF THE FAMILY HOME.
1410
01:18:49,124 --> 01:18:51,393
Millard Fowler:
WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR,
1411
01:18:51,460 --> 01:18:53,762
I DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT HE WAS UP TO.
1412
01:18:53,829 --> 01:18:57,265
I KNEW HE WAS IN THE CAR,
BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHY.
1413
01:18:57,332 --> 01:19:00,535
BUT WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR,
I SAW THAT RIFLE,
1414
01:19:00,602 --> 01:19:02,671
POINTING AT HIS HEAD.
1415
01:19:02,738 --> 01:19:09,177
I OPENED THE DOOR AND GOT IN
THE SEAT BESIDE HIM AND...
1416
01:19:09,244 --> 01:19:14,416
AND TOOK THAT RIFLE
AND UNLOADED IT...
1417
01:19:14,483 --> 01:19:20,522
WITHOUT ANY CONVERSATION,
AS I REMEMBER.
1418
01:19:20,589 --> 01:19:22,958
BUT I FINALLY GOT
AROUND AND ASK HIM
1419
01:19:23,024 --> 01:19:26,294
IF IT'D BE ALL RIGHT
IF WE GOT MARRIED,
1420
01:19:26,361 --> 01:19:30,198
AND HE FINALLY SAID YES.
1421
01:19:30,265 --> 01:19:34,202
A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER,
HE COMMITTED SUICIDE.
1422
01:19:42,844 --> 01:19:46,381
Narrator: IN 1935, THE NUMBER
OF "BLACK BLIZZARDS" DOUBLED
1423
01:19:46,448 --> 01:19:48,316
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND,
1424
01:19:48,383 --> 01:19:52,154
AND MANY OF THEM STRUCK
IN THE FIRST 4 MONTHS.
1425
01:19:52,220 --> 01:19:55,290
IN THAT TIME,
7 DIFFERENT STORMS
1426
01:19:55,357 --> 01:19:59,294
REDUCED VISIBILITY
TO ZERO IN AMARILLO.
1427
01:19:59,361 --> 01:20:05,367
DODGE CITY, KANSAS, REPORTED
ONLY 13 DUST-FREE DAYS.
1428
01:20:05,433 --> 01:20:07,502
ONE SINGLE STORM DESTROYED
1429
01:20:07,569 --> 01:20:10,372
A QUARTER OF THE
WHEAT CROP IN OKLAHOMA,
1430
01:20:10,438 --> 01:20:14,976
HALF OF THE KANSAS CROP,
AND ALL OF NEBRASKA'S.
1431
01:20:15,043 --> 01:20:18,580
IT BLEW OUT 5 MILLION
ACRES OF FIELDS,
1432
01:20:18,647 --> 01:20:22,651
AND IN THE SPACE OF A DAY,
CARRIED OFF TWICE AS MUCH DIRT
1433
01:20:22,717 --> 01:20:25,554
AS HAD BEEN EXCAVATED
BY THE UNITED STATES
1434
01:20:25,620 --> 01:20:30,392
IN THE DECADE IT TOOK
TO DIG THE PANAMA CANAL.
1435
01:20:30,458 --> 01:20:32,327
Worster: THIS WAS
MORE FRIGHTENING
1436
01:20:32,394 --> 01:20:34,663
THAN WINTER SNOW BLIZZARDS
1437
01:20:34,729 --> 01:20:38,400
BECAUSE IT WAS SO UNPRECEDENTED
AND IT SEEMED SO CHOKING.
1438
01:20:38,466 --> 01:20:41,002
IT WAS IN THAT SENSE
LIKE A WINTER BLIZZARD
1439
01:20:41,069 --> 01:20:44,806
WHERE THEY TIED, YOU KNOW,
ROPES FROM THE HOUSE TO THE BARN
1440
01:20:44,873 --> 01:20:47,108
TO MAKE YOUR WAY
BACK AND FORTH.
1441
01:20:47,175 --> 01:20:48,910
BUT PEOPLE WEREN'T
PREPARED FOR
1442
01:20:48,977 --> 01:20:51,479
THIS KIND OF BLIZZARD,
BLACK BLIZZARD.
1443
01:20:51,546 --> 01:20:54,416
THEY DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT
IN THE SAME TERMS AT FIRST.
1444
01:20:54,482 --> 01:20:57,452
THEY THOUGHT, "WELL, THIS IS NOT
SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA KILL ME."
1445
01:20:57,519 --> 01:20:59,387
BUT IT DID. I MEAN,
IT CHOKED PEOPLE.
1446
01:20:59,454 --> 01:21:02,257
PEOPLE DIED IN DUST DRIFTS.
1447
01:21:02,324 --> 01:21:05,126
Narrator: DURING A "BLACK
BLIZZARD" IN FEBRUARY,
1448
01:21:05,227 --> 01:21:08,864
A FARMER'S CAR WENT OFF THE ROAD
TWO MILES FROM HIS HOME,
1449
01:21:08,930 --> 01:21:12,000
AND HE GOT OUT TO WALK
THE REST OF THE WAY.
1450
01:21:12,067 --> 01:21:14,803
HE NEVER MADE IT.
1451
01:21:14,870 --> 01:21:18,373
IN MARCH, A 7-YEAR-OLD
BOY NEAR HAYS, KANSAS,
1452
01:21:18,440 --> 01:21:20,976
GOT CAUGHT ALONE IN A STORM.
1453
01:21:21,042 --> 01:21:23,612
SEARCHERS FOUND HIM
THE NEXT MORNING,
1454
01:21:23,678 --> 01:21:27,182
SUFFOCATED,
SMOTHERED IN DIRT.
1455
01:21:27,249 --> 01:21:30,652
FARTHER WEST, A 9-YEAR-OLD
WANDERED OFF ALONE
1456
01:21:30,719 --> 01:21:32,721
IN THE SAME STORM.
1457
01:21:32,787 --> 01:21:34,589
WHEN HE WAS DISCOVERED,
1458
01:21:34,656 --> 01:21:39,427
HE WAS TANGLED IN BARBED WIRE
BUT STILL BREATHING.
1459
01:21:39,494 --> 01:21:42,998
THE TRAIN FROM KANSAS CITY TO
DALHART, TEXAS,
1460
01:21:43,064 --> 01:21:44,633
WAS FORCED TO STOP
1461
01:21:44,699 --> 01:21:48,536
WHEN ITS PASSENGERS COMPLAINED
THEY WERE CHOKING.
1462
01:21:48,603 --> 01:21:51,339
IT PAUSED LONG ENOUGH
TO LET THE DUST SETTLE,
1463
01:21:51,406 --> 01:21:56,745
WHILE PEOPLE SCOOPED OUT THE
DIRT ON THE FLOORS AND SEATS.
1464
01:21:56,811 --> 01:21:58,747
IN GARDEN CITY, KANSAS,
1465
01:21:58,813 --> 01:22:02,083
THE LOCAL HARDWARE STORE
SOLD OUT OF GOGGLES.
1466
01:22:02,150 --> 01:22:05,954
THEN T THEIN DELIVERING
A NEW SUPPLY WAS DELAYED--
1467
01:22:06,021 --> 01:22:08,690
BY A DUST STORM.
1468
01:22:08,757 --> 01:22:12,394
WRITING FROM GREAT BEND,
KANSAS, A JOURNALIST SAID,
1469
01:22:12,460 --> 01:22:15,163
"LADY GODIVA COULD RIDE
THROUGH THE STREETS
1470
01:22:15,230 --> 01:22:18,400
WITHOUT EVEN
THE HORSE SEEING HER."
1471
01:22:30,679 --> 01:22:33,381
THAT SPRING, A WAVE
OF ILLNESSES
1472
01:22:33,448 --> 01:22:35,750
SWEPT ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
1473
01:22:35,817 --> 01:22:39,187
WITH SYMPTOMS OF COUGHING SPELLS
AND HIGH TEMPERATURES,
1474
01:22:39,254 --> 01:22:43,491
NAUSEA, CHEST PAINS,
AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH.
1475
01:22:43,558 --> 01:22:47,295
PEOPLE CALLED IT
"DUST PNEUMONIA."
1476
01:22:47,362 --> 01:22:50,999
THE SOIL THEY HAD TURNED OVER
DURING THE GREAT PLOW UP
1477
01:22:51,066 --> 01:22:55,470
HAD ALREADY KILLED THE
SODBUSTERS' CROPS AND LIVESTOCK.
1478
01:22:55,537 --> 01:22:57,806
NOW IT SEEMED TO
HAVE ZEROED IN
1479
01:22:57,872 --> 01:23:02,310
ON SOMETHING MUCH MORE
PRECIOUS--THEIR CHILDREN.
1480
01:23:02,377 --> 01:23:04,546
Lorene White:
THERE WERE TIMES WHEN
1481
01:23:04,612 --> 01:23:08,283
IT WAS HARD TO BREATHE
BECAUSE OF THE DUST.
1482
01:23:08,350 --> 01:23:10,485
WE WORE LITTLE THINGS,
1483
01:23:10,552 --> 01:23:12,954
LITTLE STRIPS OF SHEET,
1484
01:23:13,021 --> 01:23:16,024
SOMETIMES OVER
OUR NOSE AND MOUTH
1485
01:23:16,091 --> 01:23:18,760
SO WE WOULDN'T
BREATHE SO MUCH OF IT.
1486
01:23:18,827 --> 01:23:20,428
I'M SURE MOM AND DAD
WERE CONCERNED
1487
01:23:20,495 --> 01:23:22,464
ABOUT WHAT IT
WOULD DO TO US.
1488
01:23:22,530 --> 01:23:24,199
YOU DIDN'T KNOW.
1489
01:23:24,265 --> 01:23:26,868
EACH PARTICLE OF SOIL IS
ABOUT A TENTH OF THE SIZE
1490
01:23:26,935 --> 01:23:29,971
OF A PERIOD AT THE END
OF A SENTENCE IN A BOOK--
1491
01:23:30,038 --> 01:23:32,374
BARELY VISIBLE
TO THE HUMAN EYE.
1492
01:23:32,440 --> 01:23:34,843
AND THAT'S JUST SMALL
ENOUGH OF A PARTICLE
1493
01:23:34,909 --> 01:23:36,811
TO GET INTO THE LUNGS.
1494
01:23:36,878 --> 01:23:40,849
Frantz: ANYTIME YOU TOOK
A BREATH, YOU HAD DIRT.
1495
01:23:40,915 --> 01:23:44,686
IF YOU WERE COUGHING, AND...
I CALL IT GUNK.
1496
01:23:44,753 --> 01:23:47,288
IF YOU COUGHED
A BUNCH OF GUNK UP,
1497
01:23:47,355 --> 01:23:49,357
THE GUNK YOU'D
COUGHED UP WAS MUD.
1498
01:23:49,424 --> 01:23:53,228
Hodges: THERE WERE DAYS WHEN
MY MOTHER PUT A DUST MASK
1499
01:23:53,294 --> 01:23:58,166
OVER MY FACE TO KEEP ME
FROM CHOKING AND GASPING.
1500
01:23:58,233 --> 01:24:02,971
AND IT FRIGHTENED ME,
AT LEAST AT FIRST.
1501
01:24:03,038 --> 01:24:05,206
AS I REMEMBER,
I GOT OVER THAT
1502
01:24:05,273 --> 01:24:07,542
AND I THOUGHT IT WAS
UNCOMFORTABLE AND I HATED IT,
1503
01:24:07,609 --> 01:24:10,812
BUT IT WAS BETTER THAN COUGHING
AND CHOKING ALL THE TIME.
1504
01:24:10,879 --> 01:24:13,148
YOU JUST COULDN'T
GET A GOOD BREATH
1505
01:24:13,214 --> 01:24:14,682
AFTER THEY WAS ON A WHILE.
1506
01:24:14,749 --> 01:24:17,886
IT'D BE SOAKED UP, AND THE DIRT
ON THE OUTSIDE OF THEM...
1507
01:24:17,952 --> 01:24:19,587
WHAT I HEARD MORE THAN
ANYTHING ELSE,
1508
01:24:19,654 --> 01:24:21,456
"FLOYD, PUT YOUR MASK BACK ON."
1509
01:24:21,523 --> 01:24:22,991
I HATED TO WEAR THEM.
1510
01:24:23,058 --> 01:24:24,859
I COULD GET A BETTER
BREATH WITHOUT IT
1511
01:24:24,926 --> 01:24:26,795
THAN I COULD WITH IT,
I THOUGHT.
1512
01:24:26,861 --> 01:24:29,097
Narrator:
THE RED CROSS ISSUED A CALL
1513
01:24:29,164 --> 01:24:31,433
FOR 10,000 MORE MASKS.
1514
01:24:31,499 --> 01:24:33,868
IT WASN'T NEARLY ENOUGH.
1515
01:24:33,935 --> 01:24:36,037
MORE PEOPLE GOT SICK.
1516
01:24:36,104 --> 01:24:40,141
YOU DIDN'T GO TO THE DOCTOR
BECAUSE HE WAS 60 MILES AWAY,
1517
01:24:40,208 --> 01:24:43,678
AND SO THE FOLKS
DOCTORED US THEMSELVES.
1518
01:24:43,745 --> 01:24:47,449
AND SO I WAS DOCTORED
WITH KEROSENE AND LARD
1519
01:24:47,515 --> 01:24:50,552
AND TURPENTINE THAT WAS
RUBBED ON YOUR CHEST.
1520
01:24:50,618 --> 01:24:52,587
AND FOR COUGH SYRUP,
YOU HAD SUGAR
1521
01:24:52,654 --> 01:24:54,956
WITH A DROP OR TWO
OF KEROSENE IN IT.
1522
01:24:55,023 --> 01:24:57,158
THAT WAS YOUR COUGH SYRUP.
1523
01:24:59,994 --> 01:25:02,597
White: MY TEMPERATURE
GOT REAL HIGH,
1524
01:25:02,664 --> 01:25:04,566
D KTH
THERE WAS NO DOCTOR NEAR US.
1525
01:25:04,632 --> 01:25:06,701
BUT I KEPT GETTING WORSE,
1526
01:25:06,768 --> 01:25:10,305
AND IT WAS HARD FOR ME
TO BREATHE WITH THE DUST.
1527
01:25:10,371 --> 01:25:12,941
Narrator:
IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS,
1528
01:25:13,007 --> 01:25:16,044
LORENE WHITE'S PARENTS
DECIDED THEIR ONLY HOPE
1529
01:25:16,111 --> 01:25:19,547
WAS TO MOVE THEIR DAUGHTER
TO RELATIVES FARTHER EAST,
1530
01:25:19,614 --> 01:25:22,383
AWAY FROM THE
EVER-PRESENT DUST.
1531
01:25:22,450 --> 01:25:24,052
HER MOTHER WOULD
GO WITH HER,
1532
01:25:24,119 --> 01:25:29,190
BUT HER FATHER NEEDED TO STAY
AND TRY TO MANAGE THE FARM.
1533
01:25:29,257 --> 01:25:34,729
White: THE DAY THEY CAME TO
GET ME, THE DUST WAS TERRIBLE.
1534
01:25:34,796 --> 01:25:36,931
YOU COULD HARDLY SEE TO DRIVE.
1535
01:25:36,998 --> 01:25:44,873
AND I REMEMBER DAD
WRAPPED ME IN A BLANKET...
1536
01:25:44,939 --> 01:25:48,109
AND HE CARRIED ME TO THE CAR.
1537
01:25:48,176 --> 01:25:51,679
HE TOLD ME THAT WHEN HE
CARRIED ME TO THE CAR,
1538
01:25:51,746 --> 01:25:55,517
HE THOUGHT HE WOULD NEVER
SEE ME ALIVE AGAIN.
1539
01:25:55,583 --> 01:25:59,787
BUT FROM THEN, I DON'T
REMEMBER ANYTHING.
1540
01:25:59,854 --> 01:26:01,990
Narrator: AT HER
RELATIVES' HOME,
1541
01:26:02,056 --> 01:26:04,559
HER TEMPERATURE
FINALLY WENT DOWN,
1542
01:26:04,626 --> 01:26:07,495
BUT HER COUGHING
WOULDN'T STOP.
1543
01:26:07,562 --> 01:26:10,331
DOCTORS SAVED HER WITH
AN OPERATION THAT DRAINED
1544
01:26:10,398 --> 01:26:13,902
THE FLUID IN HER
INFLAMED LUNGS.
1545
01:26:13,968 --> 01:26:17,639
White: AND ONE DAY,
I WAS LYING ON THE COUCH,
1546
01:26:17,705 --> 01:26:23,378
AND I LOOKED INTO THE KITCHEN,
AND THE DOOR WAS SWINGING OPEN,
1547
01:26:23,444 --> 01:26:25,413
AND YOU KNOW THERE'S
A LITTLE CRACK
1548
01:26:25,480 --> 01:26:27,148
THAT YOU CAN SEE THROUGH.
1549
01:26:27,215 --> 01:26:31,786
AND I WAS LOOKING,
AND I SAW MY DAD.
1550
01:26:31,853 --> 01:26:37,725
NO WORDS CAN TELL YOU
HOW TICKLED I WAS TO SEE MY DAD.
1551
01:26:37,792 --> 01:26:40,361
Narrator:
BACK IN NO MAN'S LAND,
1552
01:26:40,428 --> 01:26:43,998
THE RED CROSS DECLARED
A MEDICAL CRISIS.
1553
01:26:44,065 --> 01:26:46,734
EMERGENCY HOSPITAL WARDS
WERE OPENED
1554
01:26:46,801 --> 01:26:48,870
WHEREVER SPACE
COULD BE FOUND,
1555
01:26:48,937 --> 01:26:53,841
INCLUDING THE BASEMENTS OF TWO
CHURCHES IN GUYMON, OKLAHOMA.
1556
01:26:53,908 --> 01:26:58,112
OVER IN BACA COUNTY, COLORADO,
THE HIGH SCHOOL'S SENIOR PLAY
1557
01:26:58,179 --> 01:27:03,251
WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE COTS
NOW COVERED THE GYM FLOOR.
1558
01:27:03,318 --> 01:27:06,120
Floyd Coen:
WITHIN A TWO-WEEK PERIOD,
1559
01:27:06,187 --> 01:27:09,857
THERE WERE 3 LITTLE GIRLS
DIED OF DUST PNEUMONIA.
1560
01:27:09,924 --> 01:27:13,394
IT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH WE COULD SAY
THEY WAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
1561
01:27:13,461 --> 01:27:15,063
TWO OF THEM WAS
OVER IN OKLAHOMA,
1562
01:27:15,129 --> 01:27:17,265
AND ONE OF THEM
WAS IN KANSAS.
1563
01:27:17,332 --> 01:27:20,868
BUT THERE WAS--
THERE WAS QUITE A FEW.
1564
01:27:20,935 --> 01:27:24,472
IT SEEMED TO GET ABOUT
THAT AGE, YOU KNOW,
1565
01:27:24,539 --> 01:27:28,276
JUST BEFORE THEY WENT TO
SCHOOL OR A LITTLE YOUNGER.
1566
01:27:28,343 --> 01:27:33,248
Narrator: BY 1935, EDGAR AND
RENA COEN HAD 8 CHILDREN.
1567
01:27:33,314 --> 01:27:36,284
6 YEARS EARLIER,
COEN HAD STARTED BUILDING
1568
01:27:36,351 --> 01:27:38,853
A PROPER HOME
FOR HIS FAMILY,
1569
01:27:38,920 --> 01:27:40,722
BUT BECAUSE OF
THE DEPRESSION,
1570
01:27:40,788 --> 01:27:43,625
CONSTRUCTION HAD ENDED
AT THE BASEMENT.
1571
01:27:43,691 --> 01:27:48,162
THEY COVERED IT WITH A
SHEET IRON ROOF AND MOVED IN.
1572
01:27:48,229 --> 01:27:50,999
IT WAS LARGER THAN
THEIR OLD HOME--
1573
01:27:51,065 --> 01:27:53,601
SPACE FOR TWO BEDROOMS
AND A LARGE ROOM
1574
01:27:53,668 --> 01:27:57,038
THAT SERVED AS A KITCHEN,
DINING ROOM, AND LIVING ROOM--
1575
01:27:57,105 --> 01:28:01,909
BUT IT WAS STILL
UNDERGROUND.
1576
01:28:01,976 --> 01:28:06,881
IN 1932, TWINS HAD ARRIVED--
RALPH AND RENA MARIE,
1577
01:28:06,948 --> 01:28:11,653
THEIR ONLY DAUGHTER, WHO QUICKLY
BECAME THE FAMILFAY RITE.
1578
01:28:11,719 --> 01:28:15,490
Dale Coen: RA RIE
WAS OUR ONLY SISTER.
1579
01:28:15,556 --> 01:28:18,526
SHE WAS SO PRECIOUS
TO US BECAUSE THE FOLKS
1580
01:28:18,593 --> 01:28:21,629
HAD BEEN TRYING FOR
A GIRL ALL THE TIME.
1581
01:28:21,696 --> 01:28:24,399
IT ALWAYS COME OUT BOYS.
1582
01:28:24,465 --> 01:28:30,405
SHE WAS FRAIL, BUT SHE
WAS A PRETTY LITTLE GIRL.
1583
01:28:30,471 --> 01:28:32,907
Floyd Coen: SHE WAS JUST
THE SWEETEST LITTLE THING
1584
01:28:32,974 --> 01:28:35,410
THAT YOU'D EVEREE S
1585
01:28:35,476 --> 01:28:37,845
SHE WAS SMALLER THAN RALPH,
1586
01:28:37,912 --> 01:28:41,649
AND SHE WAS ALWAYS JUST BUSY
DOING THINGS, JUST ALL THE TIME.
1587
01:28:41,716 --> 01:28:44,385
SHE WAS JUST A JOY
FOR ALL OF US.
1588
01:28:44,452 --> 01:28:47,955
AT NIGHT, SINCE MAMA
HAD A LOT OF WORK TO DO
1589
01:28:48,022 --> 01:28:51,025
WITH 7 BOYS AND WASHING
ON THE BOARD AND STUFF,
1590
01:28:51,092 --> 01:28:52,760
SHE NEEDED HER REST,
1591
01:28:52,827 --> 01:28:55,697
SO RENA MARIE WOULD
SLEEP CLOSE TO ME.
1592
01:28:55,763 --> 01:28:58,232
AND I'M GLAD I WAS
ABLE TO DO IT.
1593
01:28:58,299 --> 01:29:01,102
I SPENT AN AWFUL LOT
OF TIME WITH HER.
1594
01:29:01,169 --> 01:29:05,440
Narrator: THAT SPRING, 4 OF
THE COEN CHILDREN GOT SICK--
1595
01:29:05,506 --> 01:29:10,545
FLOYD, RICHARD, AND THE
2-1/2-YEAR-OLD TWINS.
1596
01:29:10,611 --> 01:29:15,216
ONE NIGHT, RENA MARIE'S
TEMPERATURE SKYROCKETED.
1597
01:29:15,283 --> 01:29:17,418
Dale Coen: WE WERE SITTING
AT THE TABLE EATING,
1598
01:29:17,485 --> 01:29:22,056
AND SHE JUST IMMEDIATELY
WAS BATHED IN WATER.
1599
01:29:22,123 --> 01:29:25,059
SHE JUST SWEAT--
HER HEAD JUST WAS...
1600
01:29:25,126 --> 01:29:27,428
WATER RUNNING OFF
HER FACE AND HEAD.
1601
01:29:27,495 --> 01:29:30,164
Narrator: SHE BECAME
TOO WEAK TO BE MOVED
1602
01:29:30,231 --> 01:29:32,867
FROM THE BED
IN THE PARENTS' ROOM.
1603
01:29:32,934 --> 01:29:36,971
THE DOCTOR WAS SENT FOR
AND USHERED IN TO SEE HER.
1604
01:29:37,038 --> 01:29:42,210
Dale Coen: WE WAS ALL AWAKE,
ALL SETTING AROUND THE FIRE.
1605
01:29:42,276 --> 01:29:44,212
I REMEMBER I WAS SETTING
IN BEHIND THE STOVE,
1606
01:29:44,278 --> 01:29:47,415
BETWEEN THE STOVE AND THE WALL--
PLENTY OF ROOM THERE--
1607
01:29:47,482 --> 01:29:51,386
AND SHE WAS CRYING, CALLING
FOR ME TO COME TO HER.
1608
01:29:51,452 --> 01:29:55,923
SHE CALLED FOR ME--NOT MAMA,
NOT DAD, BUT FOR DALE.
1609
01:29:55,990 --> 01:30:00,495
AND I...I HAVEN'T
REALLY EVER GOT OVER IT.
1610
01:30:00,561 --> 01:30:03,464
IT WAS BAD, BAD, BAD.
1611
01:30:03,531 --> 01:30:05,800
Floyd Coen:
DR. MEREDITH WAS THERE,
1612
01:30:05,867 --> 01:30:09,370
AND HE KNEW SHE
WAS PASSING AWAY.
1613
01:30:09,437 --> 01:30:11,939
4 OF US HAD DUST
PNEUMONIA AT THAT TIME.
1614
01:30:12,006 --> 01:30:17,245
I AND RALPH AND RICHARD
WAS IN BED ALSO.
1615
01:30:17,311 --> 01:30:22,116
THE HARDEST PART WAS WE WAS
IN BED OUT IN THE FRONT ROOM,
1616
01:30:22,183 --> 01:30:26,187
AND WHEN I HEARD THE DOCTOR
SAY, "DO YOU HAVE A BOARD?"
1617
01:30:26,254 --> 01:30:31,926
AND MY DAD SAID, "WELL, WE HAVE
LEAVES FOR THE TABLE."
1618
01:30:31,993 --> 01:30:35,329
AND HE TOOK THE LEAF TO THE
TABLE AND TOOK IT IN THERE
1619
01:30:35,396 --> 01:30:39,567
AND PUT HER LITTLE BODY ON
THAT LEAF AND BROUGHT IT OUT
1620
01:30:39,634 --> 01:30:43,638
AND SHOWED US BOYS
BEFORE HE TOOK HER.
1621
01:30:43,704 --> 01:30:46,741
AND THE DOCTOR PUT HER
IN THE REAR SEAT OF HIS CAR
1622
01:30:46,808 --> 01:30:49,544
AND TOOK HER
INTO THE MORTUARY.
1623
01:30:49,610 --> 01:30:53,181
BUT THAT WAS THE
HARDEST THING ON ME...
1624
01:30:53,247 --> 01:30:56,150
AND STILL IS.
1625
01:30:56,217 --> 01:31:00,421
SHE WAS SUCH A PERFECT
LITTLE THING.
1626
01:31:00,488 --> 01:31:04,091
Narrator: TWO WEEKS LATER,
THE COENS' FIRST GRANDCHILD,
1627
01:31:04,158 --> 01:31:08,563
VERLE'S SON DWAYNE,
DIED AT AGE 5 WEEKS.
1628
01:31:08,629 --> 01:31:12,467
HE AND RENA MARIE WOULD
BE TWO OF THE 31 PEOPLE
1629
01:31:12,533 --> 01:31:17,071
WHO PERISHED FROM DUST PNEUMONIA
THAT SPRING IN MORTON COUNTY,
1630
01:31:17,138 --> 01:31:21,142
POPULATION 4,092.
1631
01:31:21,209 --> 01:31:25,480
THE TOWN OF LIBERAL
LOST 9 TO THE ILLNESS.
1632
01:31:25,546 --> 01:31:28,516
IN THE 7 SOUTHWESTERN
KANSAS COUNTIES,
1633
01:31:28,583 --> 01:31:32,954
NEARLY 1,500 PEOPLE
BECAME SICK WITH IT.
1634
01:31:33,020 --> 01:31:36,991
SOME BEGAN TO BLAME THEMSELVES
FOR WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
1635
01:31:37,058 --> 01:31:40,394
ON ITS FRONT PAGE, THE "BOISE
CITY NEWS" PUBLISHED
1636
01:31:40,461 --> 01:31:44,665
A QUOTATION FROM THE BIBLE,
THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL--
1637
01:31:44,732 --> 01:31:48,269
"BEHOLD, THEREFORE,
I HAVE SMITTEN MY HAND
1638
01:31:51,906 --> 01:31:57,011
AND AT THY BLOOD WHICH HAS
BEEN IN THE MIDST OF THEE."
1639
01:31:57,078 --> 01:31:59,547
McCoy: SOME PEOPLE LEFT
ON ACCOUNT OF THAT,
1640
01:31:59,614 --> 01:32:02,049
THINKING GOD WANTED
THEM TO LEAVE.
1641
01:32:02,116 --> 01:32:08,623
AFTER THEY HAD THE DUST STORM
WHERE THE PEOPLE IN BOISE CITY
1642
01:32:08,689 --> 01:32:13,160
COULD SEE THE IMAGE
OF CHRIST INTO IT,
1643
01:32:13,227 --> 01:32:16,964
PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT
CHRIST WAS CAUSING THIS.
1644
01:32:17,031 --> 01:32:20,334
THERE WAS JUST LOTS OF TALK
THAT GOD WAS TORMENTING US
1645
01:32:20,401 --> 01:32:24,372
BECAUSE THEY PLOWED UP
THAT GOOD SOD.
1646
01:32:24,438 --> 01:32:27,808
Egan: YOU NEVER REALLY
ESCAPED THE DUST.
1647
01:32:27,875 --> 01:32:29,810
IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN,
1648
01:32:29,877 --> 01:32:33,481
AND THAT'S, I THINK,
WHAT DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY.
1649
01:32:33,548 --> 01:32:37,051
ONE WOMAN TOLD ME
IT WAS LIKE A SNAKE.
1650
01:32:37,118 --> 01:32:39,453
SHE COULD HEAR IT SLITHERING
ALONG THE CEILING
1651
01:32:39,520 --> 01:32:41,155
AND THEN ALONG THE
SIDE OF THE WALL.
1652
01:32:41,222 --> 01:32:42,990
SHE SAID SHE JUST
WAITED FOR THAT SNAKE
1653
01:32:43,057 --> 01:32:44,425
TO STRIKE FROM ANY PLACE.
1654
01:32:44,492 --> 01:32:46,727
SHE KNEW IT WAS
ALWAYS THERE.
1655
01:32:46,794 --> 01:32:49,130
IT WAS THAT KIND OF
A PSYCHOLOGICAL BLOW.
1656
01:32:49,196 --> 01:32:51,566
WHEN YOU THOUGHT THAT
IT WAS AT LAST BEHIND YOU,
1657
01:32:51,632 --> 01:32:55,937
THIS MONSTER CAME ALONG
AND JUST CLOBBERED YOU.
1658
01:33:04,412 --> 01:33:06,013
Woman: "IT SEEMED THAT
1659
01:33:06,080 --> 01:33:09,283
"THE BLACK DUST
WAS ALWAYS WITH US.
1660
01:33:09,350 --> 01:33:12,286
"IF A QUIET DAY HAPPENED
TO BE OUR LOT,
1661
01:33:12,353 --> 01:33:14,488
"THE TIME WAS SPENT
SCOOPING OUT
1662
01:33:14,555 --> 01:33:18,159
"THE SAND OF THE STORM
OF YESTERDAY.
1663
01:33:18,225 --> 01:33:22,930
"IT SEEMED THAT WE LIVED
IN A LAND OF HAZE.
1664
01:33:22,997 --> 01:33:26,934
"THE ATMOSPHERE SEEMED TO ALWAYS
BE CLOSING IN AROUND US,
1665
01:33:27,001 --> 01:33:31,305
CREATING AN EERIE
AND UNEASY FEELING."
1666
01:33:31,372 --> 01:33:34,642
HAZEL LUCAS SHAW.
1667
01:33:34,709 --> 01:33:37,945
MOM SAID SHE HAD EVERY
CRACK STUFFED WITH RAGS,
1668
01:33:38,012 --> 01:33:40,047
AND SHE WOULD WET THEM DOWN.
1669
01:33:40,114 --> 01:33:42,583
SHE'D HANG SHEETS
OVER EVERYTHING
1670
01:33:42,650 --> 01:33:46,187
WHERE DUST MIGHT COME IN,
BUT IT DIDN'T KEEP IT OUT.
1671
01:33:46,253 --> 01:33:48,489
IT WOULD COME IN SOMEWHERE.
1672
01:33:48,556 --> 01:33:52,059
Narrator:
IN EARLY APRIL OF 1935,
1673
01:33:52,126 --> 01:33:56,530
THE SHAWS OF BOISE CITY,
OWNERS OF THE LOCAL MORTUARY,
1674
01:33:56,597 --> 01:33:59,634
BEGAN PLANNING
A DOUBLE FUNERAL.
1675
01:33:59,700 --> 01:34:02,603
THEY HAD JUST LOST THE
OLDEST AND YOUNGEST MEMBERS
1676
01:34:02,670 --> 01:34:05,940
OF THEIR OWN FAMILY
TO THE DUST PNEUMONIA.
1677
01:34:06,007 --> 01:34:10,811
HAZEL'S BEAUTIFUL, PRECOCIOUS
YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER RUTH NELL
1678
01:34:10,878 --> 01:34:14,515
HAD DIED JUST A FEW HOURS
BEFORE HAZEL'S GRANDMOTHER,
1679
01:34:14,582 --> 01:34:19,220
THE MATRIARCH OF THE CLAN,
HAD PASSED AWAY.
1680
01:34:19,286 --> 01:34:22,657
"GRANDMA LOU" WAS TO
BE BURIED IN TEXHOMA,
1681
01:34:22,723 --> 01:34:25,993
NEAR HER HOMESTEAD,
WHILE RUTH NELL WAS TO BE TAKEN
1682
01:34:26,060 --> 01:34:29,964
TO ENID, IN THE CENTRAL
PART OF OKLAHOMA.
1683
01:34:30,031 --> 01:34:31,499
THE MAIN REASON FOR THAT
1684
01:34:31,565 --> 01:34:36,537
WAS THE FACT THAT ENID
CEMETERY WAS VISIBLE.
1685
01:34:36,604 --> 01:34:40,141
THEY WOULD HAVE BURIED RUTH NELL
IN THE BOISE CITY CEMETERY
1686
01:34:40,207 --> 01:34:43,944
EXCEPT YOU COULDN'T EVEN FIND
THE TOMBSTONES, THE HEADSTONES
1687
01:34:44,011 --> 01:34:47,682
IN THE CEMETERY, IT WAS
SO DRIFTED FULL OF DIRT.
1688
01:34:52,520 --> 01:34:55,289
Narrator:
ON APRIL 14th, 1935,
1689
01:34:55,356 --> 01:34:58,626
THE DAY OF THE
DOUBLE FUNERAL ARRIVED.
1690
01:34:58,693 --> 01:35:03,364
IT WAS PALM SUNDAY,
A WEEK BEFORE EASTER.
1691
01:35:03,431 --> 01:35:07,368
AND THEY WERE EXCITED
WHEN THEY GOT UP THAT DAY
1692
01:35:07,435 --> 01:35:10,871
BECAUSE IT WAS A DAY
WHEN IT WAS CLEAR.
1693
01:35:10,938 --> 01:35:12,907
A PRETTY DAY.
1694
01:35:12,973 --> 01:35:16,277
AND IF YOU'VE GOT TO DO A JOB
LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW,
1695
01:35:16,343 --> 01:35:18,679
THAT'S A BLESSING TO YOUR HEART
1696
01:35:18,746 --> 01:35:22,583
IF YOU HAVE A NICE DAY FOR
A FUNERAL FOR A LOVED ONE.
1697
01:35:22,650 --> 01:35:24,351
Narrator:
THROUGHOUT THE AREA
1698
01:35:24,418 --> 01:35:26,754
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND
THAT MORNING,
1699
01:35:26,821 --> 01:35:29,690
AS MANY FAMILIES PREPARED
FOR CHURCH,
1700
01:35:29,757 --> 01:35:34,428
RESIDENTS WERE BEING GREETED BY
A GLORIOUS BREAK IN THE WEATHER.
1701
01:35:34,495 --> 01:35:38,632
Egan: THE SUNDAY ITSELF WAS
SO GORGEOUS AND WINDLESS,
1702
01:35:38,699 --> 01:35:40,935
AND PEOPLE CAME OUT
OF THEIR DUGOUTS
1703
01:35:41,001 --> 01:35:44,472
AND CLEANED THEIR SHEETS
AND OPENED UP THEIR WINDOWS.
1704
01:35:44,538 --> 01:35:47,208
IT WAS LIKE A DAWN.
IT WAS LIKE A NEW DAY,
1705
01:35:47,274 --> 01:35:51,979
AND YOU THOUGHT,
"MY GOD, THIS LAND CAN MAKE US WHOLE AGAIN.
1706
01:35:52,046 --> 01:35:54,181
MY GOD, THE WORST
IS OVER."
1707
01:35:54,248 --> 01:35:55,883
Narrator: IN FOLLETT, TEXAS,
1708
01:35:55,950 --> 01:35:59,587
TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S MOTHER
HUNG LAUNDRY OUT ON THE LINE,
1709
01:35:59,653 --> 01:36:03,224
FLUNG OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HER
HOUSE TO LET IN THE FRESH AIR,
1710
01:36:03,290 --> 01:36:05,593
AND ANNOUNCED THAT
THE FAMILY WOULD ENJOY
1711
01:36:05,659 --> 01:36:08,929
THE REST OF THE DAY
OUT IN THE COUNTRY.
1712
01:36:08,996 --> 01:36:14,135
THE SKY WAS BLUE.
THERE WASN'T A BREATH OF WIND.
1713
01:36:14,201 --> 01:36:18,672
WE WERE JUST EXHILARATED,
THE WHOLE FAMILY,
1714
01:36:18,739 --> 01:36:21,041
AND WE COULDN'T
UNDERSTAND IT, EITHER,
1715
01:36:21,108 --> 01:36:24,145
BECAUSE IT JUST WAS
SO ABNORMAL.
1716
01:36:24,211 --> 01:36:28,783
MOTHER AND DAD DECIDED
WE WOULD TAKE A PICNIC,
1717
01:36:28,849 --> 01:36:32,853
AND WE WENT DOWN
ON WOLF CREEK.
1718
01:36:32,920 --> 01:36:38,592
Narrator: BY MID-DAY,
THE TEMPERATURE HAD RISEN INTO THE HIGH 70s.
1719
01:36:38,659 --> 01:36:42,897
BUT FARTHER NORTH, A COLD FRONT
SWEEPING DOWN FROM CANADA
1720
01:36:42,963 --> 01:36:46,767
HAD BEGUN MOVING SOUTH AND EAST
ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS,
1721
01:36:46,834 --> 01:36:48,936
PUSHING A WIND BEFORE IT,
1722
01:36:49,003 --> 01:36:54,575
PICKING UP MORE AND MORE LOOSE
SOIL WITH EACH MILE IT TRAVELED.
1723
01:36:54,642 --> 01:36:58,546
DENVER, ON THE FRONT'S WESTERN
EDGE, WAS COVERED BY A HAZE,
1724
01:36:58,612 --> 01:37:04,018
AND TEMPERATURES DROPPED
25 DEGREES IN AN HOUR'S TIME.
1725
01:37:04,084 --> 01:37:06,620
A LITTLE LATER, IT REACHED
UNION COUNTY,
1726
01:37:06,687 --> 01:37:09,323
IN THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER
OF NEW MEXICO,
1727
01:37:09,423 --> 01:37:12,726
WHERE SAM ARGUELLO
AND HIS FAMILY LIV.
1728
01:37:12,793 --> 01:37:15,496
Sam Arguello: I WAS PLAYING
OUT IN THE FRONT YARD.
1729
01:37:15,563 --> 01:37:17,998
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY,
BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY.
1730
01:37:18,065 --> 01:37:19,800
ALL OF A SUDDEN,
I LOOKED UP, AND THERE WAS
1731
01:37:19,867 --> 01:37:24,905
A BIG BLACK, BLACK CLOUD COMING
IN FROM UP ON THE NORTHEAST.
1732
01:37:24,972 --> 01:37:27,274
WE WERE RIGHT AT
THE TURN OF A CANYON,
1733
01:37:27,341 --> 01:37:30,878
DEEP CANYON, I'D SAY
PROBABLY 60 FOOT DEEP
1734
01:37:30,945 --> 01:37:34,148
FROM THE TOP DOWN TO THE
BOTTOM--OR MORE THAN THAT.
1735
01:37:34,215 --> 01:37:36,183
AND WHEN THAT
THING CAME OVER,
1736
01:37:36,250 --> 01:37:38,853
I RUN INTO THE HOUSE
AND I TOLD THEM, I SAYS,
1737
01:37:38,919 --> 01:37:41,322
"THERE'S A BIG BLACK CLOUD
COMING OUT THERE."
1738
01:37:41,388 --> 01:37:43,591
EVERYBODY SAYS,
"THERE'S NO CLOUDS OUT THERE."
1739
01:37:43,657 --> 01:37:45,993
IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL
SUNNY DAY.
1740
01:37:46,060 --> 01:37:48,195
BY THE TIME THEY GOT TO
THE DOOR, IT WAS JUST BLACK.
1741
01:37:48,262 --> 01:37:51,565
EVERYTHING WAS BLACK.
YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING.
1742
01:37:51,632 --> 01:37:54,301
Narrator: THE RESIDENTS
AROUND NO M'N'S LAND
1743
01:37:54,368 --> 01:37:56,937
ALREADY HAD 4 YEARS
OF EXPERIENCE
1744
01:37:57,004 --> 01:37:59,540
WITH DUST STORMS
OF ALL KINDS,
1745
01:37:59,607 --> 01:38:03,310
BUT TO A PERSON, THIS ONE
SEEMED DIFFERENT--
1746
01:38:03,377 --> 01:38:08,115
BIGGER, BLACKER,
MORE SINISTER.
1747
01:38:08,182 --> 01:38:10,918
Robertson: WE SAW
THIS CLOUD COMING IN.
1748
01:38:10,985 --> 01:38:15,155
IT WOULD JUST ROLL IN--
BLACK, BLACK DIRT.
1749
01:38:15,222 --> 01:38:17,424
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET,
MY GRANDMOTHER,
1750
01:38:17,491 --> 01:38:20,928
SHE WAS PRETTY MUCH
CHRISTIAN, AND SHE SAID,
1751
01:38:20,995 --> 01:38:22,997
"YOU KIDS RUN
AND GET TOGETHER.
1752
01:38:23,063 --> 01:38:25,165
THE END OF THE WORLD
IS COMING."
1753
01:38:25,232 --> 01:38:28,235
AND BOY, WE--THAT WAS
LAW AND GOSPEL
1754
01:38:28,302 --> 01:38:30,204
BECAUSE GRANDMA SAID SO.
1755
01:38:30,271 --> 01:38:32,072
AND WE ALL GOT
TOGETHER, YOU KNOW,
1756
01:38:32,139 --> 01:38:33,974
AND WE WERE SCARED TO DEATH.
1757
01:38:34,041 --> 01:38:36,644
AND THAT CLOUD JUST
ROLLED LIKE THAT,
1758
01:38:36,710 --> 01:38:40,481
JUST KEPT COMING, AND IT
JUST GOT DARK AS COULD BE.
1759
01:38:40,547 --> 01:38:44,318
Wayne Lewis:
WE SAT THERE AND WATCHED IT.
1760
01:38:44,385 --> 01:38:49,323
I REMEMBER THE THING
ROLLING, THAT IT...
1761
01:38:49,390 --> 01:38:54,161
IT WAS LIKE A TORNADO
THAT WAS ON ITS SIDE.
1762
01:38:54,228 --> 01:38:58,332
Wells: ALL THE BIRDS,
EVERYTHING WAS FLYING SOUTH.
1763
01:38:58,399 --> 01:39:01,635
WE COULD SEE
THIS THING ROLLING IN.
1764
01:39:01,702 --> 01:39:04,138
MY BROTHER TOLD ME HE THOUGHT
THE END OF THE WORLD WAS COMING.
1765
01:39:04,204 --> 01:39:06,106
OF COURSE, THAT SCARED ME
HALF TO DEATH,
1766
01:39:06,173 --> 01:39:08,642
AND I WASN'T
SO SURE ABOUT IT.
1767
01:39:08,709 --> 01:39:10,377
Narrator: BY NOW,
IT WAS EVEN BIGGER
1768
01:39:10,444 --> 01:39:14,081
THAN THE MONSTROUS
"BLACK BLIZZARD" OF 1934,
1769
01:39:14,148 --> 01:39:15,983
AND AS IT MOVED
SOUTH AND EAST
1770
01:39:16,050 --> 01:39:20,587
ACROSS THE OPEN FIELDS OF
KANSAS, OKLAHOMA, AND TEXAS,
1771
01:39:20,654 --> 01:39:22,823
IT GOT BIGGER STILL.
1772
01:39:22,890 --> 01:39:28,929
IT WAS 200 MILES WIDE,
MOVING AT 65 MILES PER HOUR,
1773
01:39:28,996 --> 01:39:33,901
AND IT BEGAN CATCHING MORE AND
MORE PEOPLE OUT IN THE OPEN.
1774
01:39:33,968 --> 01:39:37,471
TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FAMILY
WAS AT WOLF CREEK,
1775
01:39:37,538 --> 01:39:41,842
IN THE MIDST OF THEIR PICNIC,
20 MILES FROM HOME.
1776
01:39:41,909 --> 01:39:47,014
Brown: WE NOTICED WHAT
LOOKED LIKE RAIN CLOUDS
1777
01:39:47,081 --> 01:39:49,516
FORMING IN THE NORTH.
1778
01:39:49,583 --> 01:39:55,189
RAIN CLOUDS HAVE A BLUE CAST
TO THEM, A NAVY BLUE CAST,
1779
01:39:55,255 --> 01:39:58,892
AND THERE WAS
NO BLUE IN THIS ONE.
1780
01:39:58,959 --> 01:40:01,095
IT WAS BLACK.
1781
01:40:01,161 --> 01:40:04,164
WE ALL GOT INTO
THE CAR VERY QUICKLY.
1782
01:40:04,231 --> 01:40:09,236
DAD AND MOM WET ANYTHING
THAT WAS IN THE CAR--
1783
01:40:09,303 --> 01:40:12,239
SHIRTS, TOWELS,
HANDKERCHIEFS--
1784
01:40:12,306 --> 01:40:15,909
PUT EVERYTHING AROUND
ALL OF OUR FACES.
1785
01:40:15,976 --> 01:40:22,750
AND WHEN IT HIT, THE CAR JUST
DID A JIGGLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE.
1786
01:40:22,816 --> 01:40:27,621
DON'T'MEMBERNY A
SOUNFRD ANY PEOPLE.
1787
01:40:27,688 --> 01:40:30,457
BUT ITAS WLACK.
1788
01:40:30,524 --> 01:40:33,460
IT WAS TOTLYALLACK.
1789
01:40:35,262 --> 01:40:37,364
Narrator:
IN GUYMON, OKLAHOMA,
1790
01:40:37,431 --> 01:40:39,933
THE PARENTS OF BOOTS McCOY
HAD DROPPED HIM
1791
01:40:40,000 --> 01:40:43,971
AND HIS SISTER, RUBY PAULINE,
OFF FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL,
1792
01:40:44,038 --> 01:40:47,541
PROMISING TO PICK THEM UP
WHEN SERVICES WERE OVER.
1793
01:40:47,608 --> 01:40:50,344
THEN THE STORM HIT.
1794
01:40:50,411 --> 01:40:53,113
McCoy: THEY FINALLY
STOPPED THE CHURCH
1795
01:40:53,180 --> 01:40:55,182
BECAUSE IT WAS
GETTING SO BAD.
1796
01:40:55,249 --> 01:40:58,052
PEOPLE WAS GETTING UP
AND LEAVING ANYWAY.
1797
01:40:58,118 --> 01:41:01,688
THE PASTORXC EED
EVERYBODY WITH A PRAYER,
1798
01:41:01,755 --> 01:41:05,826
AND AS WE WENT THERE,
THEY HAD A RAIL.
1799
01:41:05,893 --> 01:41:09,329
I CAN REMEMBER HOLDING
THAT RAIL AND HOLDING RUBY'S--
1800
01:41:09,396 --> 01:41:12,499
SHE WAS--SHE WAS
MORE SCARED THAN I WAS.
1801
01:41:12,566 --> 01:41:16,603
SO I JUST TOOK SISTER,
AND WE STARTED OFF.
1802
01:41:16,670 --> 01:41:18,439
Narrator:
THROUGH THE DARKNESS,
1803
01:41:18,505 --> 01:41:20,941
THEY STRUGGLED TO
MAKE THEIR WAY HOME
1804
01:41:21,008 --> 01:41:23,710
THROUGH BACK ALLEYS
AND NEIGHBORS' YARDS,
1805
01:41:23,777 --> 01:41:28,248
RELYING ON MEMORY
MORE THAN EYESIGHT.
1806
01:41:28,315 --> 01:41:31,285
THEY FINALLY MADE IT HOME,
BUT THE HOUSE WAS EMPTY.
1807
01:41:31,351 --> 01:41:33,587
THEIR PARENTS WERE
FRANTICALLY SEARCHING
1808
01:41:33,654 --> 01:41:38,125
FOR THEM OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
AND ALONG THE MAIN STREETS.
1809
01:41:38,192 --> 01:41:40,194
McCoy: THEN THE FOLKS CAME,
1810
01:41:40,260 --> 01:41:43,230
AND IT WAS SO DARK IN THE HOUSE
THAT THEY COULDN'T SEE US.
1811
01:41:43,297 --> 01:41:46,467
MOM WAS CRYING AND HOLLERED
THAT WE WEREN'T HOME
1812
01:41:46,533 --> 01:41:49,570
AND SHE WAS WANTING TO GO BACK
TO SEE IF THEY COULD FIND US.
1813
01:41:49,636 --> 01:41:52,106
I HOLLERED AND SAID
"WE'RE HOME," YOU KNOW,
1814
01:41:52,172 --> 01:41:54,908
AND IT RELIEVED THEM
QUITE A LOT.
1815
01:41:54,975 --> 01:41:59,046
THEN WE ALL JUST--JUST SAT,
AND MOM JUST CRIED.
1816
01:41:59,113 --> 01:42:02,416
WE HAD TO HUG MOM A LOT
TO GET HER TO HUSH.
1817
01:42:05,018 --> 01:42:08,322
Shaw: THEY HAD JUST
COMPLETED THE FUNERAL.
1818
01:42:08,388 --> 01:42:10,824
THEY HAD TAKEN RUTH NELL
BACK ACROSS THE STREET
1819
01:42:10,891 --> 01:42:14,595
FROM ST. PAUL'S METHODIST
CHURCH TO THE FUNERAL HOME,
1820
01:42:14,661 --> 01:42:17,831
AND THEY HAD JUST SENT
THE FUNERAL PROCESSION
1821
01:42:17,898 --> 01:42:21,768
WITH GRANDMA LOU
OFF TOWARDS TEXHOMA.
1822
01:42:21,835 --> 01:42:24,838
THEY GOT ABOUT...
A LITTLE BIT MORE
1823
01:42:24,905 --> 01:42:27,841
THAN 6 MILES OUT OF BOISE CITY
1824
01:42:27,908 --> 01:42:35,415
WHEN THE FUNERAL PROCESSION SAW
THE BLACK DUSTER BEHIND THEM.
1825
01:42:35,482 --> 01:42:38,318
Narrator: HAZEL LUCAS SHAW
AND HER HUSBAND
1826
01:42:38,385 --> 01:42:40,587
HAD NOT ACCOMPANIED
THE CARAVAN OF CARS
1827
01:42:40,654 --> 01:42:44,324
HEADED FOR GRANDMA LOU'S
GRAVESIDE SERVICE.
1828
01:42:44,391 --> 01:42:46,160
THEY HAD REMAINED BEHIND,
1829
01:42:46,226 --> 01:42:50,164
NOT WANTING TO LEAVE
THE BODY OF RUTH NELL.
1830
01:42:50,230 --> 01:42:54,768
THEIR YOUNG NIECE, CAROL,
HAD BEEN TOLD TO STAY WITH THEM.
1831
01:42:54,835 --> 01:42:59,039
MY COUSIN HAD BEEN
WITH DAD AND MOM,
1832
01:42:59,106 --> 01:43:01,875
AND SHE'D GONE
OUTSIDE THE HOUSE,
1833
01:43:01,942 --> 01:43:04,645
AND SHE SAW THE BLACK
DUSTER COMING.
1834
01:43:04,711 --> 01:43:06,513
SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE TYKE
IN THE GRADES,
1835
01:43:06,580 --> 01:43:09,249
I DON'T KNOW, PROBABLY
6, 7 YEARS OLD.
1836
01:43:09,316 --> 01:43:13,453
SO SHE HEADED FOR HOME, WHICH
WAS ABOUT 5 OR 6 BLOCKS AWAY.
1837
01:43:13,520 --> 01:43:17,524
BY THE TIME THE DUSTER HIT, DAD
DISCOVERED THAT SHE WAS GONE.
1838
01:43:17,591 --> 01:43:20,994
HE HOPED THAT SHE HAD
GOTTEN HOME ALL RIGHT,
1839
01:43:21,061 --> 01:43:23,197
BUT WHEN ONE OF THOSE
BLACK DUSTERS HIT,
1840
01:43:23,263 --> 01:43:26,800
THE STATIC ELECTRICITY
WAS SO TERRIBLE
1841
01:43:26,867 --> 01:43:29,336
THAT YOU COULDN'T MAKE
A TELEPHONE CALL.
1842
01:43:29,403 --> 01:43:32,806
THERE WASN'T SUCH A THING
AS RINGING UP YOUR BROTHER
1843
01:43:32,873 --> 01:43:36,877
AND ASKING IF THEIR CHILD
HAD GOTTEN HOME ALL RIGHT.
1844
01:43:36,944 --> 01:43:40,080
SO DAD GOT HIS FLASHLIGHT.
1845
01:43:40,147 --> 01:43:42,683
HE GOT DOWN ON HIS STOMACH,
1846
01:43:42,749 --> 01:43:46,486
AND HE ELBOWED HIS WAY
UNDERNEATH THE DUST.
1847
01:43:46,553 --> 01:43:48,655
THE VISIBILITY WAS SLIGHT.
1848
01:43:48,722 --> 01:43:51,758
YOU COULD SEE A LITTLE BIT
UNDERNEATH THE DUST.
1849
01:43:51,825 --> 01:43:53,760
SO HE ELBOWED HIS WAY
1850
01:43:53,827 --> 01:43:56,296
THOSE 5 BLOCKS TO
HIS BROTHER'S HOUSE.
1851
01:43:56,363 --> 01:44:03,136
FORTUNATELY, CAROL WAS THERE,
AND SHE HAD ARRIVED HOME SAFELY.
1852
01:44:03,203 --> 01:44:05,505
BUT DAD DIDN'T
WANT TO WORRY MOM,
1853
01:44:05,572 --> 01:44:07,574
SO HE CRAWLED ON HIS STOMACH
1854
01:44:07,641 --> 01:44:11,211
THE 5 BLOCKS BACK
TO THE FUNERAL HOME.
1855
01:44:11,278 --> 01:44:14,248
IN THE MEANTIME,
THE FUNERAL PROCESSION
1856
01:44:14,314 --> 01:44:19,286
THAT HAD STARTED TO TEXHOMA
TURNED AROUND AND RETURNED.
1857
01:44:19,353 --> 01:44:25,092
IN ORDER TO FIND A ROAD BACK,
THERE WERE 4 MEN IN WHITE SHIRTS
1858
01:44:25,158 --> 01:44:28,462
THAT HELD HANDS
AND STRETCHED THEMSELVES
1859
01:44:28,528 --> 01:44:30,731
ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE ROAD,
1860
01:44:30,797 --> 01:44:34,334
AND THE LEAD CAR GOT
RIGHT BEHIND THEM.
1861
01:44:34,401 --> 01:44:37,604
TOOK THEM A NUMBER OF HOURS
TO GET BACK THAT WAY
1862
01:44:37,671 --> 01:44:40,907
THE 6 OR SO MILES
THEY HAD TO WALK BACK.
1863
01:44:40,974 --> 01:44:43,710
THAT'S AS FAST AS THE
PROCESSION CAME BACK.
1864
01:44:43,777 --> 01:44:47,114
I THINK THEY GOT BACK
ABOUT 10:00 THAT NIGHT.
1865
01:44:47,180 --> 01:44:50,450
Narrator: APRIL 14, 1935,
1866
01:44:50,517 --> 01:44:53,587
CAME TO BE CALLED
"BLACK SUNDAY,"
1867
01:44:53,654 --> 01:44:56,156
AND NO ONE WHO LIVED THROUGH
IT WOULD EVER FORGET
1868
01:44:56,223 --> 01:44:59,059
THE STORM'S SIZE OR FEROCITY--
1869
01:44:59,126 --> 01:45:03,130
OR WHAT THEY DID TO SURVIVE IT.
1870
01:45:03,196 --> 01:45:05,632
AFTER HUDDLING IN
THEIR PARKED CAR
1871
01:45:05,699 --> 01:45:07,701
WHILE THE BLACKNESS
ENGULFED THEM,
1872
01:45:07,768 --> 01:45:11,638
TRIXIE BROWN'S FAMILY
INCHED THEIR WAY HOME.
1873
01:45:11,705 --> 01:45:15,442
Brown: WE COULDN'T GET
INTO THE HOUSE.
1874
01:45:15,509 --> 01:45:18,445
THE DUST AND DIRT WAS SO HIGH
1875
01:45:18,512 --> 01:45:21,381
THAT WE COULDN'T OPEN
THE SCREEN DOOR.
1876
01:45:21,448 --> 01:45:25,719
SO DAD HAD TO GO TO
THE GARAGE TO GET A SHOVEL,
1877
01:45:25,786 --> 01:45:30,424
AND HE HAD TO SHOVEL THE DIRT
AWAY FROM THE SCREEN DOOR
1878
01:45:30,490 --> 01:45:32,659
BEFORE WE COULD GET IN.
1879
01:45:32,726 --> 01:45:35,562
WE HAD LEFT THE HOUSE OPEN
1880
01:45:35,629 --> 01:45:41,034
BECAUSE MOTHER SAID,
"WE'LL AIR OUT THINGS."
1881
01:45:41,101 --> 01:45:46,840
SO THE HOUSE WAS TOTALLY
LOADED WITH DIRT.
1882
01:45:46,907 --> 01:45:49,009
Arguello: BY SUNDOWN,
BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED
1883
01:45:49,076 --> 01:45:52,512
ABOUT 1:30 WHEN THAT THING CAME
OFF THE TOP OF THAT CANYON,
1884
01:45:52,579 --> 01:45:54,648
AND BY SUNDOWN,
IT HAD GONE PAST
1885
01:45:54,715 --> 01:45:57,017
AND IT WAS JUST AS RED
AS IT COULD BE TO THE WEST,
1886
01:45:57,084 --> 01:45:59,619
YOU KNOW, WHERE THE
SUN WAS HITTING IT.
1887
01:45:59,686 --> 01:46:02,289
BUT IT WAS JUST RED ALL OVER.
1888
01:46:02,356 --> 01:46:05,192
MY GRANDMOTHER SCARED
THE TAR OUT OF ME.
1889
01:46:05,258 --> 01:46:08,061
I WENT OUT THERE, AND I
SAID, "WHAT IS THAT,
1890
01:46:08,128 --> 01:46:11,264
ALL THAT RED OUT THERE,
COMING ON THE WEST SIDE?"
1891
01:46:11,331 --> 01:46:12,999
SHE SAID, "IT'S FIRE, FIRE.
1892
01:46:13,066 --> 01:46:15,135
THE WORLD'S
COMING TO AN END."
1893
01:46:15,202 --> 01:46:18,004
AND I WENT AND CRAWLED
UNDER THE BED.
1894
01:46:19,840 --> 01:46:24,544
McCoy: THEY WERE TOUGH TIMES--
REALLY, REALLY TOUGH TIMES.
1895
01:46:24,611 --> 01:46:26,480
DEATHLY SCARY, YOU KNOW.
1896
01:46:26,546 --> 01:46:31,351
AN EERIE, EERIE TIME FOR OLDER
PEOPLE AND US KIDS, YOU KNOW.
1897
01:46:31,418 --> 01:46:35,188
WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE DEVIL
WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT.
1898
01:46:35,255 --> 01:46:38,125
Narrator: WITHIN A MONTH,
BOTH BOOTS McCOY
1899
01:46:38,191 --> 01:46:40,227
AND HIS SISTER
RUBY PAULINE
1900
01:46:40,293 --> 01:46:43,196
WOULD COME DOWN WITH
DUST PNEUMONIA.
1901
01:46:43,263 --> 01:46:47,501
HE WOULD SUFFER LUNG AILMENTS
THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
1902
01:46:47,567 --> 01:46:51,405
SHE DIED BEFORE
SUMMER ARRIVED.
1903
01:46:51,471 --> 01:46:53,573
McCoy: SHE WAS
MY BEST BUDDY. YEAH.
1904
01:46:53,640 --> 01:46:57,778
WE WENT THROUGH THEM HARD
TIMES TOGETHER, YOU KNOW?
1905
01:46:57,844 --> 01:47:00,914
Narrator: "AT LEAST,"
HER MOTHER SAID,
1906
01:47:00,981 --> 01:47:04,684
"SHE WON'T HAVE TO LIVE
THROUGH ANOTHER DUST STORM."
1907
01:47:09,322 --> 01:47:12,726
BY CHANCE, A REPORTER
FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
1908
01:47:12,793 --> 01:47:16,696
NAMED ROBERT GEIGER HAD BEEN
IN NO MAN'S LAND ON BLACK SUNDAY
1909
01:47:16,763 --> 01:47:19,699
AND MANAGED TO FIND
SHELTER IN BOISE CITY
1910
01:47:19,766 --> 01:47:23,370
DURING THE WORST OF THE STORM.
1911
01:47:23,437 --> 01:47:28,608
THE STORY GEIGER FILED
THE NEXT DAY BEGAN,
1912
01:47:28,675 --> 01:47:30,010
"THREE LITTLE WORDS--
1913
01:47:30,076 --> 01:47:32,112
"ACHINGLY FAMILIAR ON
A WESTERN FARMER'S TONGUE--
1914
01:47:32,179 --> 01:47:36,283
"RULE LIFE TODAY IN THE DUST
BOWL OF THE CONTINENT--
1915
01:47:36,349 --> 01:47:39,252
IF IT RAINS..."
1916
01:47:39,319 --> 01:47:43,757
BUT INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THOSE
3 LITTLE WORDS, "IF IT RAINS,"
1917
01:47:43,824 --> 01:47:46,993
MORE PEOPLE FASTENED ONTO
THE 3 WORDS HE HAD USED
1918
01:47:47,060 --> 01:47:52,332
TO DESCRIBE THE PLACE THAT RAIN
HAD FORSAKEN: "THE DUST BOWL."
1919
01:47:52,399 --> 01:47:59,539
IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
ANYONE HAD USED THAT TERM.
1920
01:47:59,606 --> 01:48:02,042
Riney-Kehrberg: BLACK SUNDAY
IS THE DIRT STORM
1921
01:48:02,108 --> 01:48:04,878
THAT EVERYBODY REMEMBERED.
1922
01:48:04,945 --> 01:48:08,982
IT WAS SO MUCH DARKER,
SO MUCH MORE INTENSE,
1923
01:48:09,049 --> 01:48:13,620
SO MUCH SCARIER THAN MOST
OF THE OTHERS HAD BEEN.
1924
01:48:13,687 --> 01:48:17,390
AND I DON'T THINK THAT IT'S
REALLY ANY COINCIDENCE
1925
01:48:17,457 --> 01:48:21,461
THAT THE OUTWARD MIGRATION
OF THOSE WHO WERE GOING TO GO
1926
01:48:21,528 --> 01:48:24,397
CAME AFTER BLACK SUNDAY.
1927
01:48:24,464 --> 01:48:26,733
Narrator: IN THE
MONTHS TO COME,
1928
01:48:26,800 --> 01:48:28,802
DUST STORMS WOULD CONTINUE
1929
01:48:28,869 --> 01:48:31,805
TO WREAK HAVOC ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
1930
01:48:31,872 --> 01:48:34,941
WHILE THE PRESIDENT AND HIS
ADMINISTRATION WOULD STRUGGLE
1931
01:48:35,008 --> 01:48:38,945
TO COME UP WITH NEW STRATEGIES
TO MEET THE CRISIS.
1932
01:48:39,012 --> 01:48:41,214
IN THE HEART OF THE DUST BOWL,
1933
01:48:41,281 --> 01:48:44,885
MANY FAMILIES WOULD
DESPERATELY TRY TO HANG ON,
1934
01:48:44,951 --> 01:48:47,454
BUT SOME WOULD
RELUCTANTLY DECIDE
1935
01:48:47,521 --> 01:48:49,556
TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES BEHIND
1936
01:48:49,623 --> 01:48:53,927
AND TRY TO BEGIN A NEW LIFE
SOMEWHERE ELSE.
1937
01:48:53,994 --> 01:48:58,431
AMONG THEM WOULD BE A
22-YEAR-OLD ITINERANT SONGWRITER
1938
01:48:58,498 --> 01:49:02,135
WHO HAD FOUND REFUGE FROM
THE FURY OF BLACK SUNDAY
1939
01:49:02,202 --> 01:49:05,038
IN A SMALL HOUSE WITH
HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS
1940
01:49:05,105 --> 01:49:09,442
IN PAMPA, TEXAS,
JUST SOUTH OF NO MAN'S LAND.
1941
01:49:09,509 --> 01:49:13,179
HIS NAME WAS WOODY GUTHRIE.
1942
01:49:13,246 --> 01:49:16,049
Woody Guthrie: WE WATCHED
THE DUST STORM COME UP,
1943
01:49:16,116 --> 01:49:20,387
LIKE THE RED SEA CLOSING IN
ON THE ISRAEL CHILDREN,
1944
01:49:20,453 --> 01:49:23,890
AND I'M TELLING YOU, IT GOT
SO BLACK WHEN THAT THING HIT,
1945
01:49:23,957 --> 01:49:26,593
WE ALL RUN INTO THE HOUSE.
1946
01:49:26,660 --> 01:49:32,232
AND A LOT OF THE PEOPLE IN THE
CROWD THAT WAS RELIGIOUS-MINDED
1947
01:49:32,299 --> 01:49:34,768
AND THEY WAS UP PRETTY WELL
ON THEIR SCRIPTURES,
1948
01:49:34,834 --> 01:49:40,440
AND THEY SAID, "WELL, BOYS,
GIRLS, FRIENDS, AND RELATIVES,
1949
01:49:40,507 --> 01:49:42,309
"THIS IS THE END.
1950
01:49:42,375 --> 01:49:45,078
THIS IS THE END
OF THE WORLD."
1951
01:49:45,145 --> 01:49:47,981
AND EVERYBODY JUST SAID,
"WELL, SO LONG.
1952
01:49:48,048 --> 01:49:50,717
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU."
1953
01:49:50,784 --> 01:49:53,019
I MADE UP A LITTLE SONG.
1954
01:49:54,387 --> 01:49:57,791
♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD
TO KNOW YA ♪
1955
01:49:57,857 --> 01:50:01,428
♪ SO LONG,
BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪
1956
01:50:01,494 --> 01:50:04,698
♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD
TO KNOW YA ♪
1957
01:50:04,764 --> 01:50:09,169
♪ THIS DUSTY OLD DUST
IS A-BLOWIN' ME HOME ♪
1958
01:50:09,235 --> 01:50:12,339
♪ I'VE GOT TO BE ROLLIN' ALONG ♪
1959
01:50:27,587 --> 01:50:31,958
♪ I'LL SING THIS SONG,
BUT I'LL SING IT AGAIN ♪
1960
01:50:32,025 --> 01:50:36,296
♪ OF THE PLACE THAT I LIVED
ON THE WEST TEXAS PLAINS ♪
1961
01:50:39,032 --> 01:50:44,070
♪ IN THE CITY OF PAMPA
IN THE COUNTY OF GRAY ♪
1962
01:50:44,137 --> 01:50:46,840
♪ HERE'S WHAT ALL OF
THE PEOPLE THERE SAY ♪
1963
01:50:46,906 --> 01:50:50,777
♪ WELL, IT'S SO LONG,
BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪
1964
01:50:50,844 --> 01:50:54,514
♪ SO LONG,
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪
1965
01:50:54,681 --> 01:50:56,149
♪ SO LONG... ♪
1966
01:50:56,216 --> 01:50:58,351
Announcer: NEXT TIME
ON "THE DUST BOWL"...
1967
01:50:58,451 --> 01:51:00,186
Man: GRASSHOPPERS MOSTLY
WERE CRAWLING.
1968
01:51:00,286 --> 01:51:02,856
Announcer: A NEW PLAGUE
DESCENDS ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
1969
01:51:02,989 --> 01:51:04,724
Man: THEY ATE EVERYTHING
IN SIGHT.
1970
01:51:04,791 --> 01:51:07,260
Announcer: SOME FAMILIES
PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE ON.
1971
01:51:07,394 --> 01:51:09,996
WE HAD NOTHING LEFT.
THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY.
1972
01:51:10,063 --> 01:51:11,564
Announcer: AND A PRESIDENT
MUST DECIDE
1973
01:51:11,698 --> 01:51:13,933
IF THE PLAINS
CAN BE SAVED.
1974
01:51:14,067 --> 01:51:15,835
Man: "MR. PRESIDENT,
LET'S JUST GET O."
1975
01:51:15,902 --> 01:51:18,238
Franklin Roosevelt: UNLESS
IMMEDIATE STEPS ARE TAKEN,
1976
01:51:18,304 --> 01:51:21,274
WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR HANDS
A NEW MANMADE SAHARA.
1977
01:51:21,408 --> 01:51:23,276
Narrator: DON'T MISS
1978
01:51:23,410 --> 01:51:26,379
THE CONCLUSION OF
"THE DUST BOWL"
1979
01:51:26,379 --> 01:51:28,782
Esperanza Spalding:
ONE TREMENDOUS THING ABOUT PBS
1980
01:51:28,782 --> 01:51:32,619
IS THAT IT MAKES ART ACCESSIBLE
BY PUTTING IT ON A PLATFORM
1981
01:51:32,619 --> 01:51:34,788
WHERE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
CAN ACCESS IT FOR FREE.
1982
01:51:34,788 --> 01:51:36,122
AND WE NEED IT.
1983
01:51:36,122 --> 01:51:39,125
WE NEED MUSIC. WE NEED DANCE.
WE NEED GREAT THEATER.
1984
01:51:39,125 --> 01:51:41,461
FOR OUR SOUL.
FOR JOY IN OUR LIVES.
1985
01:51:41,461 --> 01:51:43,463
A LOT OF PEOPLE FLIP ON PBS
1986
01:51:43,463 --> 01:51:47,067
AND HEAR OR SEE SOMETHING THAT
WAKES UP THAT INTEGRAL PART
1987
01:51:47,067 --> 01:51:49,402
OF BEING A HUMAN BEING
WHICH IS ENJOYING
1988
01:51:49,402 --> 01:51:51,237
THE ARTS OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
1989
01:51:51,237 --> 01:51:55,408
SO I'M GRATEFUL FOR PBS
AS AN ARTIST AND AS A VIEWER.
1990
01:51:55,408 --> 01:51:57,677
Announcer: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
"THE DUST BOWL,"
1991
01:51:57,677 --> 01:51:59,713
WATCH WEB-EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS,
1992
01:51:59,713 --> 01:52:01,448
EXPLORE OUR PHOTO GALLERY,
1993
01:52:01,448 --> 01:52:04,384
AND GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH
THE PRODUCERS OF THE FILM,
1994
01:52:04,384 --> 01:52:09,422
VISIT US ONLINE AT
PBS.ORG/DUSTBOWL.
1995
01:52:09,422 --> 01:52:12,759
THE DUST BOWL IS AVAILABLE
ON DVD OR BLU-RAY.
1996
01:52:12,759 --> 01:52:15,095
THE COMPANION BOOK
IS ALSO AVAILABLE.
1997
01:52:15,095 --> 01:52:18,098
TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG
1998
01:52:18,098 --> 01:52:21,434
OR CALL 1-800-PLAYPBS.
1999
01:52:21,434 --> 01:52:23,603
ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
FROM iTUNES.
2000
01:52:23,603 --> 01:52:24,971
♪ ...IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪
2001
01:52:24,971 --> 01:52:28,441
♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN
GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪
2002
01:52:28,441 --> 01:52:31,778
♪ SO LONG,
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪
2003
01:52:31,778 --> 01:52:35,281
♪ THIS DUSTY OLD DUST
IS A-ROLLIN' ME HOME ♪
2004
01:52:35,281 --> 01:52:35,281
♪ GOT TO BE DRIFTIN' ALONG ♪
165187
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