All language subtitles for PBS.Ken Burns.The Dust Bowl 2of2 (2012).480p.HDTV.x264-KarMa
Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Basque
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Cebuano
Chichewa
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Corsican
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Esperanto
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Frisian
Galician
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Haitian Creole
Hausa
Hawaiian
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Icelandic
Igbo
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kannada
Kazakh
Khmer
Korean
Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz
Lao
Latin
Latvian
Lithuanian
Luxembourgish
Macedonian
Malagasy
Malay
Malayalam
Maltese
Maori
Marathi
Mongolian
Myanmar (Burmese)
Nepali
Norwegian
Pashto
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Samoan
Scots Gaelic
Serbian
Sesotho
Shona
Sindhi
Sinhala
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Sundanese
Swahili
Swedish
Tajik
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Xhosa
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu
Odia (Oriya)
Kinyarwanda
Turkmen
Tatar
Uyghur
Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:01,034 --> 00:00:02,702
ON "THE DUST BOWL"...
2
00:00:02,702 --> 00:00:05,338
Man: YOU NEVER REALLY
ESCAPED THE DUST.
3
00:00:05,338 --> 00:00:07,207
IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN.
4
00:00:07,207 --> 00:00:10,310
Narrator: AFTER THE NATIVE
GRASSLANDS ARE PLOWED UNDER,
5
00:00:10,310 --> 00:00:13,847
A 10-YEAR DROUGHT DEVASTATES
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
6
00:00:13,847 --> 00:00:17,484
WITH BLACK SUNDAY BRINGING
THE WORST STORM YET.
7
00:00:17,484 --> 00:00:19,352
Woman: MY GRANDMOTHER,
SHE SAID,
8
00:00:19,352 --> 00:00:21,221
"YOU KIDS RUN AND GET TOGETHER.
9
00:00:21,221 --> 00:00:23,923
THE END OF THE WORLD'S COMING."
10
00:00:23,923 --> 00:00:26,559
Narrator: AND TONIGHT,
A NEW PLAGUE DESCENDS
11
00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:27,861
ON THE DUST BOWL.
12
00:00:27,861 --> 00:00:30,463
Man: GRASSHOPPERS MOSTLY
WERE CRAWLING.
13
00:00:30,463 --> 00:00:32,399
THEY ATE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.
14
00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:35,335
Narrator: SOME FAMILIES
PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE ON.
15
00:00:35,335 --> 00:00:36,936
Man: WE LOST EVERYTHING
IN 6 MONTHS.
16
00:00:36,936 --> 00:00:38,138
WE HAD NOTHING LEFT.
17
00:00:38,138 --> 00:00:40,840
THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY.
18
00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:42,575
Narrator: AND A PRESIDENT
MUST DECIDE
19
00:00:42,575 --> 00:00:45,412
IF THE PLAINS
CAN BE SAVED.
20
00:00:45,412 --> 00:00:47,080
Man: "MR. PRESIDENT,
IT'S NOT WORTH THE EFFORT.
21
00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,649
LET'S JUST GET OUT,
LET'S PULL OUT."
22
00:00:49,649 --> 00:00:52,085
Franklin Roosevelt: UNLESS
IMMEDIATE STEPS ARE TAKEN,
23
00:00:52,085 --> 00:00:56,890
WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR HANDS
A NEW MANMADE SAHARA.
24
00:00:56,890 --> 00:00:58,591
Narrator: THE CONCLUSION
OF "THE DUST BOWL"
25
00:00:58,591 --> 00:01:00,126
COMING UP NEXT.
26
00:01:00,193 --> 00:01:01,628
Narrator: THE CONCLUSION
OF "THE DUST BOWL"
27
00:01:02,695 --> 00:01:05,098
D INOWING]
28
00:01:09,235 --> 00:01:12,739
Woody Guthrie:
♪ ON THE 14th DAY OF APRIL ♪
29
00:01:12,806 --> 00:01:16,142
♪ OF 1935 ♪
30
00:01:16,209 --> 00:01:19,546
♪ THERE STRUCK THE WORST
OF DUST STORMS ♪
31
00:01:19,612 --> 00:01:22,916
♪ THAT EVER FILLED THE SKY ♪
32
00:01:22,982 --> 00:01:26,286
♪ YOU COULD SEE
THAT DUST STORM COMING ♪
33
00:01:26,352 --> 00:01:29,756
♪ THE CLOUD LOOKED
DEATH-LIKE BLACK ♪
34
00:01:29,823 --> 00:01:33,193
♪ AND THROUGH
OUR MIGHTY NATION ♪
35
00:01:33,259 --> 00:01:36,796
♪ IT LEFT A DREADFUL TRACK ♪
36
00:01:36,863 --> 00:01:40,266
Donald Worster: WE HAVE MANY
WORDS FOR WHAT'S UNDER OUR FEET.
37
00:01:40,333 --> 00:01:42,469
THE GOOD EARTH--WE LIKE TO
TALK ABOUT THE GOOD EARTH
38
00:01:42,535 --> 00:01:45,538
AND PICK IT UP AND
SMELL IT AND TASTE IT.
39
00:01:45,605 --> 00:01:49,909
THIS IS THE SOIL OF OUR
PRODUCTIVITY, OUR PROSPERITY.
40
00:01:49,976 --> 00:01:51,544
BUT WHEN IT'S LOOSE
AND BLOWING
41
00:01:51,611 --> 00:01:53,513
AND IT'S GETTING
INTO YOUR ATTIC
42
00:01:53,580 --> 00:01:57,450
AND IT'S COVERING YOUR LAUNDRY
ON THE CLOTHES LINE, IT'S DIRT,
43
00:01:57,517 --> 00:02:00,653
OR WHEN YOU'RE
BREATHING IT, IT'S DUST.
44
00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,022
I THINK WE ALL REALIZE
THAT WHERE DIRT BELONGS
45
00:02:03,089 --> 00:02:07,393
IS UNDER OUR FEET,
NOT UP IN THE AIR.
46
00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:09,429
Wayne Lewis: WE MADE
SO MUCH MONEY
47
00:02:09,496 --> 00:02:12,132
AT RAISING WHEAT
IN THE LATE TWENTIES
48
00:02:12,198 --> 00:02:16,436
THAT WE BROKE EVERYTHING OUT
TO RAISE MORE WHEAT.
49
00:02:16,503 --> 00:02:22,208
THEN THE CLIMATE CHANGED
AND THE DEPRESSION CAME ALONG,
50
00:02:22,275 --> 00:02:24,244
AND THE WHEAT
WASN'T WORTH MUCH.
51
00:02:24,310 --> 00:02:28,414
BUT WE STILL HAD
THE LAND BROKEN OUT.
52
00:02:28,481 --> 00:02:32,118
WE WERE JUST TOO SELFISH, AND WE
WERE TRYING TO MAKE MONEY
53
00:02:32,185 --> 00:02:34,687
AND GET RICH QUICK
OFF OF THE WHEAT,
54
00:02:34,754 --> 00:02:40,393
AND IT DIDN'T WORK OUT.
55
00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:45,198
SUSTAINED ENVIRONMENTAL
DISASTERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
56
00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:47,734
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT
HAPPENS IN JUST ONE YEAR.
57
00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,270
IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT
JUST LASTS FOR 3 OR 4 YEARS.
58
00:02:50,336 --> 00:02:51,704
IT'S A DECADE.
59
00:02:51,771 --> 00:02:56,409
BECAUSE OF THE COMBINATION
OF EXTREME DROUGHT
60
00:02:56,476 --> 00:02:58,211
AND EXTREME HIGH TEMPERATURES,
61
00:02:58,278 --> 00:03:02,115
THIS IS THE WORST
10-YEAR PERIOD
62
00:03:02,182 --> 00:03:04,951
IN RECORDED HISTORY
ON THE PLAINS.
63
00:03:05,018 --> 00:03:08,321
Guthrie: ♪ WE SAW
OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW ♪
64
00:03:08,388 --> 00:03:11,724
♪ WHERE WHEAT FIELDS
THEY HAD GROWN ♪
65
00:03:11,791 --> 00:03:14,994
♪ WAS NOW A RIPPLING OCEAN ♪
66
00:03:15,061 --> 00:03:18,531
♪ OF DUST
THE WIND HAD BLOWN ♪
67
00:03:24,003 --> 00:03:26,472
Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1935,
68
00:03:26,539 --> 00:03:29,375
AT HER HOMESTEAD IN
THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE,
69
00:03:29,442 --> 00:03:32,712
CAROLINE HENDERSON,
A FARM WIFE AND WRITER,
70
00:03:32,779 --> 00:03:35,014
SAT DOWN AND COMPOSED A LETTER
71
00:03:35,081 --> 00:03:38,351
TO THE SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE, HENRY WALLACE,
72
00:03:38,418 --> 00:03:41,020
TO LET HIM KNOW WHAT
SHE, HER HUSBAND,
73
00:03:41,087 --> 00:03:45,892
AND SO MANY OF HER NEIGHBORS
WERE GOING THROUGH.
74
00:03:45,959 --> 00:03:48,061
Caroline Henderson portrayer:
WE ARE NOW FACING
75
00:03:48,127 --> 00:03:50,230
A FOURTH YEAR OF FAILURE.
76
00:03:50,296 --> 00:03:52,665
SINCE 1931,
THE RECORD HAS BEEN
77
00:03:52,732 --> 00:03:56,169
ONE OF PRACTICALLY
UNBROKEN DROUGHT.
78
00:03:56,236 --> 00:04:01,274
THERE CAN BE NO WHEAT
FOR US IN 1935.
79
00:04:01,341 --> 00:04:05,311
IN ONE RESPECT, WE REALIZE THAT
SOME FARMERS HAVE THEMSELVES
80
00:04:05,378 --> 00:04:10,316
CONTRIBUTED TO THIS
REAPING OF THE WHIRLWIND.
81
00:04:10,383 --> 00:04:13,920
A REVIVAL PREACHER-
A TRUE JOB'S COMFORTER--
82
00:04:13,987 --> 00:04:19,025
PROCLAIMED THAT THE DROUGHT IS A
DIRECT PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS.
83
00:04:19,092 --> 00:04:20,994
THE FUTURE PROMISES ONLY
84
00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:25,298
HOPELESS AND PERMANENT
DESERT CONDITIONS.
85
00:04:25,365 --> 00:04:27,400
SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR
RAIN WERE OFFERED
86
00:04:27,467 --> 00:04:31,838
AT OUR COUNTY SEAT
LAST SUNDAY MORNING.
87
00:04:31,904 --> 00:04:35,775
THE AFTERNOON BROUGHT ONE
OF THE MOST SUDDEN, DENSE,
88
00:04:35,842 --> 00:04:40,713
AND SUFFOCATING DUST STORMS
OF THE SEASON.
89
00:04:40,780 --> 00:04:44,817
Narrator: BY 1935, CAROLINE
HENDERSON AND HER NEIGHBORS
90
00:04:44,884 --> 00:04:47,820
NEEDED ALL THE HELP
THEY COULD FIND.
91
00:04:47,887 --> 00:04:50,256
LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN
THE UNITED STATES,
92
00:04:50,323 --> 00:04:53,526
THEY WERE SUFFERING AS THE
GREATEST ECONOMIC CATACLYSM
93
00:04:53,593 --> 00:04:55,328
IN THE NATION'S HISTORY--
94
00:04:55,395 --> 00:04:58,264
THE GREAT DEPRESSION--
LINGERED ON.
95
00:04:58,331 --> 00:05:00,333
BUT THEY WERE ALSO
CAUGHT IN THE MIDST
96
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,070
OF THE NATION'S GREATEST
ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE--
97
00:05:04,137 --> 00:05:06,806
WHERE "BLACK BLIZZARDS"
BLOTTED OUT THE SUN,
98
00:05:06,873 --> 00:05:13,446
CREATED DRIFTS AGAINST THEIR
HOMES, RUINED THEIR CROPS,
99
00:05:13,513 --> 00:05:15,882
AND JUST WHEN IT SEEMED THINGS
100
00:05:15,948 --> 00:05:17,650
COULD NOT GET ANY WORSE,
101
00:05:17,717 --> 00:05:21,621
ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 1935,
102
00:05:21,688 --> 00:05:24,390
THE BIGGEST STORM
OF ALL HAD STRUCK
103
00:05:24,457 --> 00:05:27,360
WITH A SURPRISING VENGEANCE.
104
00:05:33,032 --> 00:05:37,503
Riney-Kehrberg: I THINK IT
REALLY SCARED A LOT OF PEOPLE.
105
00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:40,206
IT'S ALSO SCARY ENOUGH
THAT IT GETS THE ATTENTION
106
00:05:40,273 --> 00:05:42,442
OF THE REST OF THE COUNTRY.
107
00:05:42,508 --> 00:05:47,647
IF PEOPLE WEREN'T PAYING
ATTENTION PRIOR TO BLACK SUNDAY,
108
00:05:47,714 --> 00:05:52,218
THIS IS AN EVENT
THAT IS SO MONUMENTAL
109
00:05:52,285 --> 00:05:54,954
THAT PEOPLE CAN'T IGNORE IT.
110
00:05:58,491 --> 00:06:01,928
Narrator: IN THE DUST BOWL,
THE SURVIVORS OF BLACK SUNDAY
111
00:06:01,994 --> 00:06:05,298
WORRIED THAT THEY HAD
BECOME A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE
112
00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:08,067
IN A FORGOTTEN LAND.
113
00:06:08,134 --> 00:06:10,503
THEY WEREN'T FORGOTTEN.
114
00:06:10,570 --> 00:06:12,872
WHILE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN
ROOSEVELT STRUGGLED
115
00:06:12,939 --> 00:06:15,608
TO GET THE WHOLE COUNTRY
BACK ON ITS FEET,
116
00:06:15,675 --> 00:06:18,845
HE WAS ALSO PROFOUNDLY
CONCERNED ABOUT THE FATE
117
00:06:18,911 --> 00:06:21,848
OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
118
00:06:21,914 --> 00:06:26,686
BUT OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS,
THE DROUGHT WOULD ONLY DEEPEN,
119
00:06:26,753 --> 00:06:29,188
AND THE "BLACK BLIZZARDS"
THAT ADDED IMMEASURABLY
120
00:06:29,255 --> 00:06:33,893
TO PEOPLE'S MISERIES
WOULD ONLY INTENSIFY.
121
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,962
MANY WOULD FIGHT DESPERATELY
122
00:06:36,028 --> 00:06:38,865
TO HOLD ON TO THEIR LAND
AND THEIR LIVES.
123
00:06:38,931 --> 00:06:41,467
OTHERS WOULD BE FORCED
TO JOIN AN EXODUS
124
00:06:41,534 --> 00:06:47,373
TOWARD A PROMISED LAND THAT
OFFERED BOTH WATER AND WORK.
125
00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,610
IN THE CRUCIBLE OF DUST
AND DROUGHT AND DEPRESSION,
126
00:06:50,676 --> 00:06:53,279
SOME FAMILIES WOULD
BE TORN APART,
127
00:06:53,346 --> 00:06:55,815
OTHERS UPROOTED
FROM THEIR HOMES,
128
00:06:55,882 --> 00:07:01,220
AND SOME BROUGHT CLOSER
TOGETHER THAN EVER BEFORE.
129
00:07:01,287 --> 00:07:03,489
I THINK TO BE
A DRY LAND FARMER,
130
00:07:03,556 --> 00:07:06,492
YOU HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN
KIND OF A PERSON,
131
00:07:06,559 --> 00:07:08,928
AND DEEP DOWN INSIDE
OF THEMSELVES,
132
00:07:08,995 --> 00:07:11,964
THEY MUST HAVE HAD THE FEELING,
"IF WE JUST STICK IT OUT
133
00:07:12,031 --> 00:07:16,002
AND STAY HERE, TIMES ARE
BOUND TO GET BETTER,"
134
00:07:16,068 --> 00:07:19,005
WHICH DID GIVE THEM
A LITTLE HOPE,
135
00:07:19,071 --> 00:07:21,374
BUT IN THE MIDDLE
OF A DUST STORM,
136
00:07:21,441 --> 00:07:24,610
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO HOPE,
137
00:07:24,677 --> 00:07:29,248
AND IT TAKES A LOT OF WILLPOWER
AND EVERYTHING ELSE
138
00:07:29,315 --> 00:07:34,187
TO BRING YOURSELF BACK OUT
TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME.
139
00:07:34,253 --> 00:07:39,025
SO YOU HAD TO ADMIRE THOSE
PEOPLE WHO DID STICK IT OUT.
140
00:07:39,091 --> 00:07:43,429
THEY HAD COME THERE,
MAYBE THEY'D BEEN BORN THERE,
141
00:07:43,496 --> 00:07:46,899
AND THEY INTENDED TO STAY.
142
00:07:46,966 --> 00:07:49,869
THIS WAS THEIR HOME.
143
00:08:03,816 --> 00:08:06,853
Dorothy Kleffman: WE LIVED
IN A BROWN WORLD.
144
00:08:06,919 --> 00:08:10,890
THE LAND WAS
BARREN AND BROWN.
145
00:08:10,957 --> 00:08:16,062
IT SEEMED LIKE MOST OF THE
HOUSES WERE WEATHER-BEATEN.
146
00:08:16,128 --> 00:08:19,699
THE GROUND WAS BROWN.
EVERYTHING WAS BROWN.
147
00:08:19,765 --> 00:08:21,901
AND I DIDN'T KNOW
ANY DIFFERENCE.
148
00:08:21,968 --> 00:08:23,970
IT WAS ALL I KNEW.
149
00:08:24,036 --> 00:08:28,107
Narrator: DURING THE 1930s,
46 OF THE 48 STATES
150
00:08:28,174 --> 00:08:30,943
HAD EXPERIENCED
SOME FORM OF DROUGHT,
151
00:08:31,010 --> 00:08:35,381
AND FARMERS EVERYWHERE
WERE HURTING, BUT NONE MORE
152
00:08:35,448 --> 00:08:37,950
THAN THOSE IN THE AREA
SURROUNDING THE TOWN
153
00:08:38,017 --> 00:08:41,020
OF BOISE CITY, OKLAHOMA,
WHICH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
154
00:08:41,087 --> 00:08:43,422
HAD DECLARED AS THE
GEOGRAPHIC CENTER
155
00:08:43,489 --> 00:08:47,326
OF THE DUST BOWL, WHERE
CONDITIONS WERE THE WORST--
156
00:08:47,393 --> 00:08:51,764
A PLACE ONCE KNOWN AS
NO MAN'S LAND.
157
00:08:51,831 --> 00:08:54,567
IN 1935, BOISE CITY RECEIVED
158
00:08:54,634 --> 00:08:57,737
FEWER THAN 10 INCHES
OF PRECIPITATION,
159
00:08:57,803 --> 00:09:02,108
THE OFFICIAL DEFINITION
OF A DESERT.
160
00:09:02,174 --> 00:09:05,211
FARMERS IN NEARBY
BACA COUNTY, COLORADO,
161
00:09:05,278 --> 00:09:10,082
WHO HAD ONCE HARVESTED
WHEAT ON 237,000 ACRES,
162
00:09:10,149 --> 00:09:15,321
NOW HAD SUCCESSFUL CROPS
ON ONLY 516.
163
00:09:15,388 --> 00:09:18,324
IN THE TEXAS AND
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES,
164
00:09:18,391 --> 00:09:20,760
THE ABSENTEE
"SUITCASE FARMERS"
165
00:09:20,826 --> 00:09:23,829
WHO HAD HOPED TO
STRIKE IT RICH IN WHEAT
166
00:09:23,896 --> 00:09:28,401
SIMPLY ABANDONED NEARLY 4
MILLION ACRES OF EXPOSED FIELDS,
167
00:09:28,467 --> 00:09:32,471
LEAVING THEM TO BLOW
WITH EACH NEW WIND.
168
00:09:32,538 --> 00:09:34,440
IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS,
169
00:09:34,507 --> 00:09:38,277
VEGETABLE GARDENS WERE
PRODUCING 90% LESS THAN NORMAL,
170
00:09:38,344 --> 00:09:40,379
AND MORE THAN A QUARTER
OF THE CHILDREN
171
00:09:40,446 --> 00:09:45,484
WERE REPORTED TO BE
AT LEAST 10% UNDERWEIGHT.
172
00:09:45,551 --> 00:09:48,454
PEOPLE HERE "HAVE GIVEN UP
TRYING TO BE CIVILIZED,"
173
00:09:48,521 --> 00:09:50,623
A LOCAL MINISTER SAID.
174
00:09:50,690 --> 00:09:53,726
"WE ARE MERELY
TRYING TO EXIST."
175
00:09:53,793 --> 00:09:57,863
Virginia Frantz: WE HAD A LITTLE
HEIFER THAT HAD A NEW CALF.
176
00:09:57,930 --> 00:10:01,033
I WENT DOWN TO SEE THE CALF,
177
00:10:01,100 --> 00:10:04,003
AND IT WAS LAYING
THERE KICKING,
178
00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:06,372
AND MY DAD WAS WALKING
AWAY WITH A HAMMER.
179
00:10:06,439 --> 00:10:08,040
HE HAD KILLED IT.
180
00:10:08,107 --> 00:10:12,078
AND I RAN TO MY MOTHER
JUST BAWLING ABOUT IT,
181
00:10:12,144 --> 00:10:14,580
BECAUSE MY DAD WAS
SO TENDER-HEARTED,
182
00:10:14,647 --> 00:10:16,816
AND SHE SAID, "HE HAD TO."
183
00:10:16,882 --> 00:10:19,385
SHE SAID, "WE'VE JUST
GOT THE ONE MILK COW.
184
00:10:19,452 --> 00:10:23,889
THERE'S NOT ENOUGH MILK FOR
YOU KIDS AND THE CALF, TOO."
185
00:10:23,956 --> 00:10:26,726
SHE SAID, "YOU KIDS HAVE
GOT TO HAVE MILK."
186
00:10:26,792 --> 00:10:29,095
SO HE KILLED THE CALF.
187
00:10:39,772 --> 00:10:43,175
Imogene Glover:
WELL, IT WAS PRETTY BAD.
188
00:10:43,242 --> 00:10:47,613
MY MOTHER SAVED SUGAR SACKS
AND FLOUR SACKS FOR MATERIAL
189
00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,016
TO MAKE MY PANTIES,
190
00:10:50,082 --> 00:10:54,987
AND I HAD A DRESS MADE
OUT OF FLOUR SACKS.
191
00:10:55,054 --> 00:10:56,922
IT WASN'T GOOD PERCALE.
192
00:10:56,989 --> 00:11:00,493
IT WAS JUST COTTON
THAT HAD BEEN PRINTED,
193
00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,397
LIKE LITTLE FLOWERS
ON THE SUGAR SACKS.
194
00:11:04,463 --> 00:11:08,100
THAT'S WHY THEY WERE
USED FOR MY PANTIES.
195
00:11:08,167 --> 00:11:13,906
THE FLOUR SACKS MIGHT BE PLAID
OR HAVE BIG FLOWERS,
196
00:11:13,973 --> 00:11:18,344
AND THAT'S WHY THEY MADE
DRESSES OUT OF THEM.
197
00:11:18,411 --> 00:11:22,581
MOTHER COULD GET US A DRESS
OUT OF 3 FEED SACKS.
198
00:11:22,648 --> 00:11:25,284
THEY MADE THEM REAL PRETTY--
PRETTY PRINTS
199
00:11:25,351 --> 00:11:27,019
USE THEY FOUND OUT
THE FARMERS' WIVES
200
00:11:27,086 --> 00:11:28,888
WERE USING THEM FOR THAT.
201
00:11:28,954 --> 00:11:31,223
WE FOUND OUT SOME OF
THE NEIGHBORS WORE
202
00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:32,892
THE SAME DRESSES WE DID,
203
00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:35,528
BUT WE ALWAYS LAUGHED AT
EACH OTHER AND WENT ON
204
00:11:35,594 --> 00:11:37,596
BECAUSE WE HAD A NEW DRESS.
205
00:11:37,663 --> 00:11:39,465
IT WAS FINE.
206
00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:43,669
Clarence Beck: MY FAMILY,
IN TERMS OF EATING,
207
00:11:43,736 --> 00:11:46,605
COULD HAVE EGGS,
OUR OWN EGGS,
208
00:11:46,672 --> 00:11:50,242
AND THEN START BORROWING
FROM THE GROCER.
209
00:11:50,309 --> 00:11:52,845
WHEN HE WOULD QUIT
LENDING YOU MONEY,
210
00:11:52,912 --> 00:11:58,484
YOU WERE DOWN TO EATING
LARD AND BREAD OR AN EGG.
211
00:11:58,551 --> 00:12:02,822
WE ATE SO POORLY THAT THE HOBOS
WOULDN'T COME TO OUR HOUSE.
212
00:12:02,888 --> 00:12:05,925
I WAS DOWN TO EATING
LARD AND BREAD.
213
00:12:05,991 --> 00:12:08,861
Calvin Crabill: WE LIVED
IN 4 DIFFERENT PLACES
214
00:12:08,928 --> 00:12:13,332
WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL TO SURVIVE.
215
00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:16,235
EVERY YEAR MY FIRST, SECOND,
AND THIRD GRADE,
216
00:12:16,302 --> 00:12:18,704
WE MOVED TO A DIFFERENT
FARM EVERY TIME,
217
00:12:18,771 --> 00:12:21,407
AND EVERY TIME, WE LOST IT.
218
00:12:21,474 --> 00:12:23,175
ONE SUMMER, WE NEEDED
A LOAF OF BREAD,
219
00:12:23,242 --> 00:12:24,643
AND THERE WAS THIS LITTLE
COUNTRY STORE
220
00:12:24,710 --> 00:12:27,146
A HALF-MILE AWAY
FROM WHERE WE LIVED.
221
00:12:27,213 --> 00:12:29,482
AND WE LOOKED FOR A DIME
IN THE HOUSE.
222
00:12:29,548 --> 00:12:31,684
WE COULDN'T FIND A DIME.
223
00:12:31,751 --> 00:12:35,988
WE COULDN'T FIND A DIME IN THE
HOUSE TO BUY A LOAF OF BREAD.
224
00:12:36,055 --> 00:12:38,924
Glover: I THINK IT
WAS PROBABLY HARDER
225
00:12:38,991 --> 00:12:41,360
ON MY MOTHER
THAN IT WAS MY DAD
226
00:12:41,427 --> 00:12:43,095
BECAUSE SHE WORRIED ABOUT
227
00:12:43,162 --> 00:12:47,299
WHAT SHE WAS GONNA BE ABLE
TO FIX FOR US TO EAT.
228
00:12:47,366 --> 00:12:51,637
IT WAS RARE FOR
ANYONE TO HAVE MONEY,
229
00:12:51,704 --> 00:12:55,174
BUT MY GRANDDAD
WAS PRETTY RESOURCEFUL,
230
00:12:55,241 --> 00:13:00,212
AND HE HAD GIVEN ME
3 DIMES--AND I WAS RICH!
231
00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:05,050
AND I HID THEM, AND MY MOTHER
WANTED TO KNOW WHERE.
232
00:13:05,117 --> 00:13:08,120
I SAID, "I BURIED THEM
IN THE SAND
233
00:13:08,187 --> 00:13:10,890
OUT AROUND THE
SOUTH WINDOW."
234
00:13:10,956 --> 00:13:13,626
AND SHE SAID, "WELL,
YOU COME SHOW ME."
235
00:13:13,692 --> 00:13:17,963
AND SHE LOOKED UNTIL
SHE FOUND THOSE 3 DIMES.
236
00:13:18,030 --> 00:13:21,634
ONE TIME MY BROTHER
SWALLOWED 2 DIMES,
237
00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:26,839
AND MY MOTHER MADE HIM
USE A CAN OR A SLOP JAR
238
00:13:26,906 --> 00:13:32,511
TO GO TO THE BATHROOM UNTIL
SHE DUG THOSE DIMES OUT.
239
00:13:32,578 --> 00:13:37,082
Narrator: SOUTH OF BOISE CITY,
DON WELLS AND HIS FAMILY
240
00:13:37,149 --> 00:13:42,655
WERE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE
ON THEIR 160-ACRE FARM.
241
00:13:42,721 --> 00:13:45,124
Don Wells: THERE WAS
10 OF US KIDS,
242
00:13:45,191 --> 00:13:47,927
AND WE LIVED
IN A TWO-ROOM HOUSE.
243
00:13:47,993 --> 00:13:50,996
AT NIGHT, WE HAD
WALL-TO-WALL MATTRESSES.
244
00:13:51,063 --> 00:13:53,966
AT DAYTIME, WE SCOOTED
THEM UNDER THE BED.
245
00:13:54,033 --> 00:13:55,634
HAD TWO ROOMS--
THE KITCHEN,
246
00:13:55,701 --> 00:13:58,237
AND THEN THERE WAS
A BED IN THERE,
247
00:13:58,304 --> 00:14:01,307
AND THEN THE REST OF US ALL
SLEPT IN THE OTHER ROOM.
248
00:14:01,373 --> 00:14:03,576
Narrator: ONE SUNDAY,
WELLS LEARNED
249
00:14:03,642 --> 00:14:07,079
THAT HIS FATHER HAD DIED
IN A DISTANT HOSPITAL,
250
00:14:07,146 --> 00:14:09,348
FROM WHAT HAD STARTED
AS STREP THROAT
251
00:14:09,415 --> 00:14:12,651
AND ENDED WITH HIM
CHOKING TO DEATH.
252
00:14:12,718 --> 00:14:15,955
DON'S MOTHER, AGE 35,
WAS NOW A WIDOW
253
00:14:16,021 --> 00:14:21,327
WITH A GRADE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
AND 10 MOUTHS TO FEED.
254
00:14:21,393 --> 00:14:23,395
Wells: WE COULDN'T STAY
OUT ON THE FARM
255
00:14:23,462 --> 00:14:27,666
BECAUSE THE BANK CAME AND GOT
WHAT LITTLE MACHINERY WE HAD,
256
00:14:27,733 --> 00:14:29,835
AND WE DIDN'T HAVE
ANY COWS LEFT.
257
00:14:29,902 --> 00:14:32,705
WE DIDN'T HAVE
ANY PIGS TO EAT.
258
00:14:32,771 --> 00:14:36,942
SO MY UNCLES LOADED US
UP IN A TRUCK,
259
00:14:37,009 --> 00:14:40,279
PUT ALL OF OUR CLOTHES
AND FURNITURE IN THE BACK OF IT,
260
00:14:40,346 --> 00:14:43,482
AND THEY TOOK US
TO BOISE CITY.
261
00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:46,652
Narrator: THE FAMILY LIVED
IN ONE HOUSE AFTER ANOTHER,
262
00:14:46,719 --> 00:14:49,889
FORCED TO MOVE WHENEVER
THEY COULDN'T PAY THE RENT,
263
00:14:49,955 --> 00:14:53,993
UNTIL THEY FINALLY FOUND
SOMETHING THEY COULD AFFORD--
264
00:14:54,059 --> 00:14:56,228
A CHICKEN COOP.
265
00:14:58,931 --> 00:15:02,468
DOWN IN AMARILLO,
THE DUST BOWL'S BIGGEST CITY,
266
00:15:02,534 --> 00:15:06,438
WALTER LUCIUS DURRETT HAD
LOST HIS INSURANCE BUSINESS
267
00:15:06,505 --> 00:15:08,574
AND THEN HIS HEALTH.
268
00:15:08,641 --> 00:15:12,311
THE STRAIN OF IT ALL PROVED
TOO MUCH FOR HIS WIFE.
269
00:15:12,378 --> 00:15:16,515
Pauline Durrett Robertson:
MY MOTHER BEGAN TO DESPAIR
270
00:15:16,582 --> 00:15:19,652
THAT THINGS WERE NEVER
GOING TO GET BETTER;
271
00:15:19,718 --> 00:15:22,855
IN FACT, THEY WERE
GETTING WORSE.
272
00:15:22,922 --> 00:15:29,695
IT AFFECTED HER...
IT AFFECTED HER OUTLOOK ON LIFE,
273
00:15:29,762 --> 00:15:32,798
AND SHE BEGAN TO...
274
00:15:32,865 --> 00:15:36,001
WELL, SHE HAD A NERVOUS
BREAKDOWN, ACTUALLY.
275
00:15:36,068 --> 00:15:41,240
SO WE 3 GIRLS
WERE PRETTY MOTHERLESS
276
00:15:41,307 --> 00:15:43,809
DURING THE DEPRESSION.
277
00:15:43,876 --> 00:15:48,113
AT ONE TIME, WHEN WE DIDN'T
HAVE ANYTHING TO EAT,
278
00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:57,489
WE HAD TO APPLY FOR RELIEF,
AND THAT WAS HARD FOR US TO DO.
279
00:15:57,556 --> 00:16:01,694
THE BROWN TRUCK WITH THE
MARKING ON THE SIDE CAME
280
00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:07,199
TO THE FRONT OF OUR HOUSE
AND BROUGHT SOME FOOD.
281
00:16:07,266 --> 00:16:11,337
IT WAS REALLY HARD
FOR US TO SEE THAT.
282
00:16:11,403 --> 00:16:14,406
I GUESS WE WERE SORRY
FOR THE NEIGHBORS TO SEE
283
00:16:14,473 --> 00:16:17,810
THAT WE NEEDED
THAT BROWN TRUCK.
284
00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:21,413
Pauline Hodges: WE COULD GO
TO THE COURTHOUSE IN BEAVER
285
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,484
AND GET COMMODITIES
IF WE WANTED TO.
286
00:16:25,551 --> 00:16:28,253
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT PEOPLE
LIKE MY FATHER
287
00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,191
AND SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS
WERE TOO PROUD TO GO DO THAT.
288
00:16:32,257 --> 00:16:34,326
AND I REMEMBER MY MOTHER
RAISING SUCH A RUCKUS
289
00:16:34,393 --> 00:16:36,462
BECAUSE SHE
WASN'T TOO PROUD,
290
00:16:36,528 --> 00:16:38,497
AND WE DID GET
SOME GRAPEFRUIT
291
00:16:38,564 --> 00:16:40,232
AND SOME OTHER
KINDS COFMODITIES
292
00:16:40,299 --> 00:16:42,701
THAT HELPED OUT WITH FOOD.
293
00:16:42,768 --> 00:16:47,006
Narrator: IN MANY TOWNS,
THE NAMES OF FAMILIES ON RELIEF
294
00:16:47,072 --> 00:16:50,709
WERE PUBLISHED EACH MONTH
IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER.
295
00:16:50,776 --> 00:16:54,780
IN ONE COUNTY, 80% OF
THE POPULATION NOW RELIED
296
00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:59,118
ON SOME FORM OF
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE.
297
00:16:59,184 --> 00:17:03,455
Dorothy Williamson: THESE PEOPLE
WERE...WERE SO NEEDY,
298
00:17:03,522 --> 00:17:07,393
AND YOU FELT
SO SORRY FOR THEM.
299
00:17:07,459 --> 00:17:10,696
YOU MIGHT FEEL LIKE GIVING THEM
A DOLLAR OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET,
300
00:17:10,763 --> 00:17:13,632
BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST
DIDN'T DO THINGS LIKE THAT.
301
00:17:13,699 --> 00:17:15,300
IT'S NOT PROFESSIONAL.
302
00:17:15,367 --> 00:17:18,804
Narrator: FRESH OUT OF
COLLEGE, AT AGE 21,
303
00:17:18,871 --> 00:17:22,074
DOROTHY WILLIAMSON WAS
HIRED AS A SOCIAL WORKER,
304
00:17:22,141 --> 00:17:24,710
TRAINED BY THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT, AND DISPATCHED
305
00:17:24,777 --> 00:17:28,647
TO PROWERS COUNTY
IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO.
306
00:17:32,084 --> 00:17:36,422
AND WENT FROM ONEA
DUST-RAVAGED FARM TO ANOTHER.
307
00:17:38,223 --> 00:17:42,895
Williamson: SO WE SAT ACROSS THE
TABLE AND TALKED TO EACH OTHER.
308
00:17:42,961 --> 00:17:45,898
IT WAS ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE
IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING
309
00:17:45,964 --> 00:17:48,734
THAT THEY COULD
SEE NO WAY OUT.
310
00:17:48,801 --> 00:17:50,769
THAT'S WHY THEY LOOKED
SO HOPELESS,
311
00:17:50,836 --> 00:17:53,105
AND ALSO THEY LOOKED STUNNED,
312
00:17:53,172 --> 00:17:57,176
AS IF, "CAN THIS
REALLY BE HAPPENING?"
313
00:17:57,242 --> 00:17:59,878
IT KIND OF LEFT ME
WITH A BAD FEELING, TOO,
314
00:17:59,945 --> 00:18:02,614
TO HAVE TO GO OUT THERE
AND SEE THESE PEOPLE
315
00:18:02,681 --> 00:18:06,251
BECAUSE YOU FELT YOU WERE
HELPING THEM WHAT YOU COULD,
316
00:18:06,318 --> 00:18:09,488
BUT YOU REALLY
COULDN'T HELP THEM.
317
00:18:09,555 --> 00:18:13,592
WHAT THEY REALLY NEEDED
WAS AN INNER THING
318
00:18:13,659 --> 00:18:15,761
THAT NOBODY COULD GIVE THEM.
319
00:18:15,828 --> 00:18:18,297
THEY NEEDED A...
320
00:18:18,363 --> 00:18:22,634
A TRUST AGAIN IN SOMETHING
WHICH THEY HAD LOST.
321
00:18:26,772 --> 00:18:30,175
Narrator: WHAT HELP THERE WAS
CAME FROM WASHINGTON NOW
322
00:18:30,242 --> 00:18:32,511
AND THE FLOOD OF
NEW DEAL PROGRAMS
323
00:18:32,578 --> 00:18:35,547
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
HAD CREATED.
324
00:18:35,614 --> 00:18:39,251
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
PUT YOUNG MEN TO WORK
325
00:18:39,318 --> 00:18:44,123
IN NATIONAL PARKS, STATE PARKS,
AND NATIONAL FORESTS,
326
00:18:44,189 --> 00:18:46,658
AND PAID THEM $30 A MONTH,
327
00:18:46,725 --> 00:18:51,630
25 WHICH THEY WERE REQUIRED
TO SEND HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES.
328
00:18:51,697 --> 00:18:55,334
THOUSANDS OF CCC WORKERS
WERE ALSO DISPATCHED
329
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,705
TO PLANT ROWS OF TREES UP
AND DOWN THE GREAT PLAINS
330
00:18:59,771 --> 00:19:04,309
AS POTENTIAL WINDBREAKS AGAINST
THE FIERCE DUST STORMS.
331
00:19:04,376 --> 00:19:10,549
BY THE END OF THE DECADE,
18,600 MILES OF SHELTERBELTS,
332
00:19:10,616 --> 00:19:15,988
WITH 217 MILLION TREES,
HAD BEEN PLANTED.
333
00:19:16,054 --> 00:19:18,590
THE NATIONAL YOUTH
ADMINISTRATION,
334
00:19:18,657 --> 00:19:23,028
OPEN TO BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS,
LET STUDENTS REMAIN AT HOME
335
00:19:23,095 --> 00:19:25,097
AND EARN A LITTLE MONEY
336
00:19:25,164 --> 00:19:27,199
THROUGH WORK-STUDY PROJECTS.
337
00:19:27,266 --> 00:19:29,935
IN AMARILLO,
PAULINE DURRETT ROBERTSON
338
00:19:30,002 --> 00:19:34,039
WAS PAID 25 CENTS AN HOUR
TO GRADE PAPERS.
339
00:19:34,106 --> 00:19:37,709
IN BOISE CITY, DON WELLS
AND HIS OLDER BROTHER
340
00:19:37,776 --> 00:19:42,214
STAYED AFTER SCHOOL TO HELP
THE JANITOR CLEAN CLASSROOMS.
341
00:19:42,281 --> 00:19:46,084
AS A BONUS, HE LET THEM TAKE
SHOWERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM--
342
00:19:46,151 --> 00:19:50,455
A LUXURY FOR BOYS WHO
LIVED IN A CHICKEN COOP.
343
00:19:50,522 --> 00:19:52,558
IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS,
344
00:19:52,624 --> 00:19:55,227
LORENE WHITE'S MOTHER
RECEIVED A PRESSURE OKCO
345
00:19:55,294 --> 00:19:58,797
FROM THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY
RELIEFDMISTRATION,
346
00:19:58,864 --> 00:20:01,366
AND HER FATHER
RELUCTANTLY ENROLLED
347
00:20:01,433 --> 00:20:04,236
WITH THE WORKS PROGRESS
ADMINISTRATION,
348
00:20:04,303 --> 00:20:09,074
THE NEW DEAL'S BIGGEST
AND MOST CONTROVERSIAL PROGRAM.
349
00:20:09,141 --> 00:20:13,045
Lorene White:
MY DAD WAS A PROUD MAN.
350
00:20:13,111 --> 00:20:16,215
HE DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO
DO WITH GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.
351
00:20:16,281 --> 00:20:19,618
HE THOUGHT HE COULD
HANDLE IT ON HIS OWN.
352
00:20:19,685 --> 00:20:23,922
HE FOUND OUT LATER THAT HE
NEEDED TO TAKE PART IN THEM.
353
00:20:23,989 --> 00:20:26,925
DAD WORKED ON WPA,
I THINK, ABOUT A YEAR,
354
00:20:26,992 --> 00:20:32,664
AND THEY WERE BUILDING A BRIDGE
NOT TOO FAR FROM HOME.
355
00:20:32,731 --> 00:20:37,102
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL BRIDGE.
IT'S STILL THERE.
356
00:20:37,169 --> 00:20:39,771
Narrator: DURING THE DEPTHS
OF THE DEPRESSION,
357
00:20:39,838 --> 00:20:43,642
THE WPA BECAME THE LARGEST
EMPLOYER IN THE NATION,
358
00:20:43,709 --> 00:20:45,877
CREATING 8 MILLION JOBS
359
00:20:45,944 --> 00:20:49,314
IN VIRTUALLY EVERY
CORNER OF THE COUNTRY.
360
00:20:49,381 --> 00:20:52,985
"THE PRAIRIE, ONCE THE HOME
OF THE DEER, BUFFALO,
361
00:20:53,051 --> 00:20:55,487
AND ANTELOPE,"
ONE NEWSPAPER WROTE,
362
00:20:55,554 --> 00:21:00,359
"IS NOW THE HOME OF
THE DUST BOWL AND THE WPA."
363
00:21:00,425 --> 00:21:05,230
MANY PEOPLE CONSIDERED IT
MAKE-WORK AND A WASTE OF MONEY.
364
00:21:05,297 --> 00:21:07,332
Lewis: IT MADE
A LOT OF DIFFERENCE
365
00:21:07,399 --> 00:21:09,234
WHICH SIDE YOU WERE ON.
366
00:21:09,301 --> 00:21:13,138
IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE A JOB,
THEY WERE BOONDOGGLES--
367
00:21:13,205 --> 00:21:17,843
DO-NOTHINGS, LEANED ON THEIR
SHOVELS AND GOT MONEY FOR IT,
368
00:21:17,909 --> 00:21:21,747
AND SO THEY RESENTED IT
VERY MUCH.
369
00:21:21,813 --> 00:21:25,317
BUT IF YOU WERE THE ONES
THAT HAD THE SHOVEL,
370
00:21:25,384 --> 00:21:27,619
IT WAS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN STARVING
371
00:21:27,686 --> 00:21:29,988
AND HAVING FOOD TO EAT.
372
00:21:30,055 --> 00:21:36,028
WE GOT PAID ENOUGH,
IT SAVED--IT KEPT US ALIVE.
373
00:21:36,094 --> 00:21:38,830
Narrator:
THE WPA BUILT A DAM
374
00:21:38,897 --> 00:21:41,767
ON RITA BLANCA CREEK
NEAR DALHART, TEXAS,
375
00:21:41,833 --> 00:21:45,871
TO CREATE A RESERVOIR
AND RECREATION AREA.
376
00:21:45,937 --> 00:21:50,475
IN UNION COUNTY, NEW MEXICO,
USING ONLY LOCAL MATERIALS,
377
00:21:50,542 --> 00:21:54,279
6,000 OF THE 10,000
AREA RESIDENTS
378
00:21:54,346 --> 00:21:58,116
FOUND TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT
WORKING ON A NEW HIGH SCHOOL
379
00:21:58,183 --> 00:22:00,218
THAT WOULD STILL BE IN USE
380
00:22:00,285 --> 00:22:03,055
3/4 OF A CENTURY LATER.
381
00:22:03,121 --> 00:22:05,924
WITH MY FAMILY, WE WOULD
HAVE STARVED TO DEATH
382
00:22:05,991 --> 00:22:08,994
BECAUSE WE HAD NO OTHER
WAY TO MAKE ANY MONEY.
383
00:22:09,061 --> 00:22:13,632
THE NEW DEAL FOR US,
THE WPA IN PARTICULAR,
384
00:22:13,699 --> 00:22:16,468
WAS JUST A LIFESAVER FOR US.
385
00:22:16,535 --> 00:22:19,471
MOST OF OUR NEIGHBORS
FELT THAT WAY.
386
00:22:19,538 --> 00:22:22,407
Narrator: PAULINE HODGES'
FATHER HELPED BUILD
387
00:22:22,474 --> 00:22:25,844
WAY 64 THROUGH
THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE.
388
00:22:25,911 --> 00:22:31,783
IT PASSED WITHIN A FEW MILES OF
CAROLINE HENDERSON'S HOMESTEAD.
389
00:22:31,850 --> 00:22:35,420
Henderson portrayer: IF MERE
DOLLARS WERE TO BE CONSIDERED,
390
00:22:35,487 --> 00:22:38,190
THE ACTUALLY DESTITUTE
IN OUR SECTION
391
00:22:38,256 --> 00:22:42,127
ULD UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE BEEN
FED AND CLOTHED MORE CHEAPLY
392
00:22:42,194 --> 00:22:45,731
THAN THE WORKS PROJECTS
THAT HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT.
393
00:22:45,797 --> 00:22:48,100
BUT IN OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY,
394
00:22:48,166 --> 00:22:51,970
MANHOOD MUST BE CONSIDERED
AS WELL AS MONEY.
395
00:22:52,037 --> 00:22:55,307
PEOPLE EMPLOYED TO
DO SOME USEFUL WORK
396
00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:57,843
MAY RETAIN THEIR SELF-RESPECT
397
00:22:57,909 --> 00:23:02,948
TO A DEGREE IMPOSSIBLE
UNDER CASH RELIEF.
398
00:23:03,014 --> 00:23:06,218
IF WE MUST WORRY SO
OVER THE RUINOUS EFFECTS
399
00:23:06,284 --> 00:23:09,721
OF "MADE WORK" ON PEOPLE
OF THIS TYPE,
400
00:23:09,788 --> 00:23:12,491
WHY HAVEN'T WE BEEN
WORRYING FOR GENERATIONS
401
00:23:12,557 --> 00:23:14,726
OVER THE CHARACTER
OF THE IDLERS
402
00:23:14,793 --> 00:23:18,430
TO WHOM SOME ACCIDENT
OF BIRTH OR INHERITANCE
403
00:23:18,497 --> 00:23:24,302
HAS GIVEN WEALTH UNMEASURED,
UNEARNED, AND UNAPPRECIATED?
404
00:23:33,178 --> 00:23:36,982
Man: "IF YOU WOULD LIKE
TO HAVE YOUR HEART BROKEN,
405
00:23:37,048 --> 00:23:39,885
"JUST COME OUT HERE.
406
00:23:39,951 --> 00:23:43,355
"THIS IS THE
DUST STORM COUNTRY.
407
00:23:43,422 --> 00:23:48,226
"IT IS THE SADDEST LAND
I HAVE EVER SEEN.
408
00:23:48,293 --> 00:23:50,829
"THEY SAY THAT IN 20 YEARS,
409
00:23:50,896 --> 00:23:53,532
"OUR FARMLAND IS GOING
TO BE PRETTY WELL SHOT
410
00:23:53,598 --> 00:23:56,134
"UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE,
411
00:23:56,201 --> 00:23:58,470
"AND THAT IN 75 YEARS,
412
00:23:58,537 --> 00:24:04,242
EVEN A SELF-RESPECTING CACTUS
WOULDN'T BE SEEN ON MOST OF IT."
413
00:24:04,309 --> 00:24:06,411
ERNIE PYLE.
414
00:24:10,515 --> 00:24:16,755
Narrator: IN 1935, AN ESTIMATED
850 MILLION TONS OF TOPSOIL
415
00:24:16,822 --> 00:24:20,692
WERE BEING SWEPT OFF THE NAKED
FIELDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS,
416
00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:25,564
WHERE 4 MILLION ACRES
IN 100 COUNTIES WERE BLOWING.
417
00:24:25,630 --> 00:24:27,599
PREDICTIONS CALLED FOR
418
00:24:27,666 --> 00:24:31,870
A MILLION MORE ACRES
TO DO THE SAME IN 1936.
419
00:24:31,937 --> 00:24:35,106
"UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE,"
ONE GOVERNMENT REPORT CONCLUDED,
420
00:24:35,173 --> 00:24:36,775
"THE WESTERN PLAINS WILL BE
421
00:24:36,842 --> 00:24:39,845
AS ARID AS THE ARABIAN DESERT."
422
00:24:39,911 --> 00:24:42,347
Worster: THERE WERE
MANY PEOPLE IN THAT ERA
423
00:24:42,414 --> 00:24:45,183
WHO THOUGHT THIS IS
NOT GOING TO STOP
424
00:24:45,250 --> 00:24:48,386
WITH WESTERN KANSAS,
THE TEXAS PANHANDLE.
425
00:24:48,453 --> 00:24:51,423
IT'S GOING TO START
CREEPING EASTWARD.
426
00:24:51,490 --> 00:24:53,291
HOW DO YOU STOP THIS?
427
00:24:53,358 --> 00:24:55,193
WHAT'S GOING TO BE
THE BARRIER YOU PUT UP
428
00:24:55,260 --> 00:24:59,598
TO KEEP IT FROM UNDERMINING
AGRICULTURE IN ILLINOIS?
429
00:24:59,664 --> 00:25:05,837
Timothy Egan: IT HAD A HUGE
EFFECT ON AMERICAN POLICY, TOO,
430
00:25:05,904 --> 00:25:08,173
BECAUSE 4 OR 5 DAYS LATER,
431
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,611
THE REMNANTS OF BLACK SUNDAY
BLEW INTO WASHINGTON, DC.
432
00:25:12,677 --> 00:25:14,813
YOU COULD GO LIKE THIS
ON YOUR DESK,
433
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:16,448
AS FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DID,
434
00:25:16,515 --> 00:25:19,551
AND GET A LITTLE BIT OF
OKLAHOMA IN THE OVAL OFFICE.
435
00:25:19,618 --> 00:25:23,755
Narrator:
WITHIN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S INNER CIRCLE OF ADVISERS,
436
00:25:23,822 --> 00:25:28,360
THERE WAS NO CONSENSUS ON
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE CRISIS.
437
00:25:28,426 --> 00:25:31,029
HENRY WALLACE, THE SECRETARY
OF AGRICULTURE,
438
00:25:31,096 --> 00:25:35,000
THOUGHT NEW POLICIES COULD
KEEP FARMERS ON THEIR LAND,
439
00:25:35,066 --> 00:25:37,936
BUT INTERIOR SECRETARY
HAROLD ICKES QUESTIONED
440
00:25:38,003 --> 00:25:42,841
WHETHER ANY ATTEMPT SHOULD BE
MADE TO SAVE THE DUST BOWL.
441
00:25:42,908 --> 00:25:44,175
Egan: IT WAS A
CHARACTER STRUGGLE
442
00:25:44,242 --> 00:25:45,777
WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION
THE SAME WAY IT WAS
443
00:25:45,844 --> 00:25:48,446
A CHARACTER STRUGGLE OUT
ON THE PRAIRIE ITSELF.
444
00:25:48,513 --> 00:25:51,449
ICKES SAYS IN HIS DIARY,
"LET'S JUST GET OUT.
445
00:25:51,516 --> 00:25:53,818
"LET'S PULL OUT.
446
00:25:53,885 --> 00:25:56,688
"MR. PRESIDENT, IT'S NOT
WORTH THE EFFORT.
447
00:25:56,755 --> 00:25:59,658
WHY SHOULD WE TRY TO SAVE
THE PEOPLE OR THE LAND?"
448
00:25:59,724 --> 00:26:03,261
I MEAN, LET IT RE-WILD.
LET'S NOT FOOL THESE PEOPLE
449
00:26:03,328 --> 00:26:05,797
INTO THINKING
THEY CAN STAY THERE.
450
00:26:05,864 --> 00:26:10,468
PERHAPS SETTLEMENT
WAS A MISTAKE.
451
00:26:10,535 --> 00:26:12,771
Narrator: ANOTHER
NEW DEAL PROGRAM,
452
00:26:12,837 --> 00:26:15,006
THE RESETTLEMENT
ADMINISTRATION,
453
00:26:15,073 --> 00:26:19,010
WAS ALREADY PROVIDING FARMERS
ON THE MOST MARGINAL LANDS
454
00:26:19,077 --> 00:26:22,847
WITH LOANS TO ENCOURAGE THEM
TO MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE,
455
00:26:22,914 --> 00:26:26,785
TAKING THEIR LAND
OUT OF PRODUCTION.
456
00:26:26,851 --> 00:26:30,755
Egan: IT WAS
HOMESTEADING IN REVERSE.
457
00:26:30,822 --> 00:26:33,491
IT WAS VERY CONTROVERSIAL
BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL,
458
00:26:33,558 --> 00:26:36,494
IT WAS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
THAT WE'D FAILED.
459
00:26:36,561 --> 00:26:40,332
PERHAPS THEY WERE RIGHT
WHEN STEPHEN LONG SAID IN 1820
460
00:26:40,398 --> 00:26:44,135
THAT THIS IS A LAND "WHOLLY
UNINHABITABLE BY A PEOPLE
461
00:26:44,202 --> 00:26:46,805
WHO ARE DEPENDENT
ON AGRICULTURE."
462
00:26:46,871 --> 00:26:51,876
Narrator: BUT THE PRESIDENT
REFUSED TO GO THAT FAR.
463
00:26:51,943 --> 00:26:54,813
Egan: REMEMBER, ROOSEVELT,
BY HIS NATURE,
464
00:26:54,879 --> 00:26:57,082
IN HIS CHARACTER,
WAS AN OPTIMIST.
465
00:26:57,148 --> 00:26:59,384
HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE KNOWN
AS THE ONLY PRESIDENT
466
00:26:59,451 --> 00:27:02,253
WHO GAVE UP A BIG SECTION
OF LAND ON HIS WATCH.
467
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,724
HE THOUGHT HE COULD SAVE
BOTH THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE.
468
00:27:05,790 --> 00:27:08,860
AND THEY FELT A SIMILAR
ATTACHMENT TO HIM.
469
00:27:08,927 --> 00:27:13,398
Narrator: ROOSEVELT TURNED
TO HUGH HAMMOND BENNETT,
470
00:27:13,465 --> 00:27:15,834
A STRAIGHT-TALKING
NORTH CAROLINIAN,
471
00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:19,504
TO CREATE A NEW SOIL
CONSERVATION SERVICE,
472
00:27:19,571 --> 00:27:21,606
AN AGENCY WHOSE JOB IT WAS
473
00:27:21,673 --> 00:27:24,342
TO STUDY BETTER
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
474
00:27:24,409 --> 00:27:27,879
AND TEACH THEM TO
THE NATION'S FARMERS.
475
00:27:27,946 --> 00:27:29,948
WE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN
476
00:27:30,015 --> 00:27:32,183
THE GREATEST
DESTROYERS OF LAND
477
00:27:32,250 --> 00:27:36,087
OF ANY RACE OR PEOPLE,
BARBARIC OR CIVILIZED.
478
00:27:36,154 --> 00:27:38,523
UNLESS IMMEDIATE
STEPS ARE TAKEN
479
00:27:38,590 --> 00:27:42,227
TO RESTORE THESE SUN-SCORCHED,
WIND-ERODED LANDS,
480
00:27:42,293 --> 00:27:46,398
WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR HANDS
A NEW, MANMADE SAHARA
481
00:27:46,464 --> 00:27:50,101
WHERE FORMERLY WAS
RICH GRAZING LAND.
482
00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:53,638
Egan: HUGH BENNETT WAS
THIS TALL, BIG-ARMED,
483
00:27:53,705 --> 00:27:58,610
FLAP-EARED, FUNNY, JOVIAL
DOCTOR OF DIRT.
484
00:27:58,677 --> 00:28:00,278
NOBODY KNEW MORE ABOUT SOIL
485
00:28:00,345 --> 00:28:02,681
IN THE UNITED STATES
THAN HUGH BENNETT.
486
00:28:02,747 --> 00:28:06,651
SO WHEN ROOSEVELT GAVE HIM THE
JOB OF TRYING TO SAVE THE LAND,
487
00:28:06,718 --> 00:28:10,488
HE WAS ARGUABLY
THE PERFECT MAN FOR IT.
488
00:28:10,555 --> 00:28:14,492
Narrator: FOR THE AGENCY'S
LARGEST AND HARDEST-HIT REGION--
489
00:28:14,559 --> 00:28:17,896
THE NEARLY 100 MILLION ACRES
OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS--
490
00:28:17,962 --> 00:28:21,933
BENNETT KNEW JUST
THE MAN FOR THE JOB.
491
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,502
HOWARD FINNELL WAS
A SOIL SCIENTIST
492
00:28:24,569 --> 00:28:27,605
WHO HAD BEEN RUNNING THE
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
493
00:28:27,672 --> 00:28:29,441
IN GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA--
494
00:28:29,507 --> 00:28:33,845
ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF
CAROLINE HENDERSON'S HOMESTEAD.
495
00:28:33,912 --> 00:28:36,247
FINNELL HAD PIONEERED
NEW TECHNIQUES
496
00:28:36,314 --> 00:28:38,550
TO DOUBLE THE ODDS
OF A GOOD CROP
497
00:28:38,616 --> 00:28:41,920
BY CAPTURING AS MUCH
MOISTURE AS POSSIBLE--
498
00:28:41,986 --> 00:28:45,724
USING TERRACES AND PLOWING
ALONG THE LAND'S CONTOUR
499
00:28:45,790 --> 00:28:47,992
TO MINIMIZE RUNOFF,
500
00:28:48,059 --> 00:28:50,528
PLANTING DIFFERENT
TYPES OF CROPS,
501
00:28:50,595 --> 00:28:54,032
AND USING THE OLD-FASHIONED
PLOW, CALLED A LISTER,
502
00:28:54,099 --> 00:28:56,901
TO MAKE DEEPER ROWS,
RATHER THAN EMPLOYING
503
00:28:56,968 --> 00:29:01,906
THE MORE POPULAR ONE-WAY PLOW
THAT PULVERIZED THE SOIL.
504
00:29:03,608 --> 00:29:06,511
HUGH BENNETT SENT FINNELL
TO DALHART, TEXAS,
505
00:29:06,578 --> 00:29:08,980
WHERE HE SET UP
"OPERATION DUST BOWL"
506
00:29:09,047 --> 00:29:11,149
TO PROVE TO SKEPTICAL FARMERS
507
00:29:11,216 --> 00:29:14,452
THAT HIS NEW TECHNIQUES
WERE WORTH FOLLOWING.
508
00:29:14,519 --> 00:29:17,856
"WE DO NOT WANT A CHANGED
CLIMATE," FINNELL SAID.
509
00:29:17,922 --> 00:29:20,692
"MUCH OF THE LAND COULD
STILL PRODUCE CROPS,
510
00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:24,629
IF THE FARMERS WOULD ONLY
CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES."
511
00:29:26,397 --> 00:29:29,400
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS
ADMINISTRATION MAY HAVE DECIDED
512
00:29:29,467 --> 00:29:31,736
NOT TO ABANDON THE DUST BOWL,
513
00:29:31,803 --> 00:29:34,706
BUT ANY SOLUTIONS
WOULD TAKE TIME,
514
00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:39,077
AND FOR THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE,
TIME WAS RUNNING OUT.
515
00:29:43,448 --> 00:29:45,784
Beck: YOU GO BROKE
GRADUALLY.
516
00:29:45,850 --> 00:29:49,053
IT DOESN'T HAPPEN LIKE
JUMPING OFF OF A CLIFF.
517
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:53,825
YOU EXHAUST YOUR SAVINGS,
YOU EXHAUST YOUR BORROWINGS,
518
00:29:53,892 --> 00:29:56,528
YOU EXHAUST
YOUR EQUIPMENT,
519
00:29:56,594 --> 00:30:00,698
YOU EXHAUST YOURSELF,
AND YOU GIVE UP.
520
00:30:00,765 --> 00:30:04,435
THAT TAKES ABOUT 5 YEARS.
521
00:30:04,502 --> 00:30:08,406
THEN YOU'RE STARTING
TO LOOK AT THE WOLVES.
522
00:30:08,473 --> 00:30:12,343
Narrator: CLARENCE BECK'S
FATHER HAD MOVED HIS FAMILY
523
00:30:12,410 --> 00:30:17,682
TO A FARM WEST OF BOISE CITY
JUST AS THE 1920s WERE ENDING.
524
00:30:17,749 --> 00:30:20,885
HIS TIMING COULDN'T
HAVE BEEN WORSE.
525
00:30:20,952 --> 00:30:24,956
BY 1935, HE HAD SUFFERED
REPEATED CROP FAILURES,
526
00:30:25,023 --> 00:30:27,892
AND THE DEPRESSION MEANT
THERE WERE NO JOBS,
527
00:30:27,959 --> 00:30:31,229
THOUGH HE FOUND TEMPORARY
WORK WITH THE WPA
528
00:30:31,296 --> 00:30:34,632
TO KEEP HIS WIFE AND
CHILDREN FROM STARVATION.
529
00:30:34,699 --> 00:30:36,501
LIKE MANY OTHER FAMILIES,
530
00:30:36,568 --> 00:30:41,239
THEY STARTED TALKING ABOUT
MOVING SOMEWHERE ELSE.
531
00:30:41,306 --> 00:30:43,708
PEOPLE DIDN'T LEAVE EARLY
532
00:30:43,775 --> 00:30:46,511
BECAUSE THERE WAS
NO PLACE TO GO.
533
00:30:46,578 --> 00:30:50,615
YOU HAVE NO MONEY, AND YOU
DON'T HAVE ANYPLACE TO GO.
534
00:30:50,682 --> 00:30:54,085
WHERE CAN YOU GO
WHEN YOU'RE PENNILESS?
535
00:30:54,152 --> 00:30:59,324
AT LEAST WHERE YOU ARE,
YOU HAVE THE FEEL-AT-HOME-NESS.
536
00:30:59,390 --> 00:31:02,527
Narrator: MEANWHILE,
THE HARD TIMES PLACED A STRAIN
537
00:31:02,594 --> 00:31:05,330
ON THE BECKS' MARRIAGE.
538
00:31:05,396 --> 00:31:10,335
Beck: MY MOTHER WOULD HAVE
BEEN A PLAYGIRL, REALLY,
539
00:31:10,401 --> 00:31:13,805
AND MY FATHER'S A DRUDGE.
540
00:31:13,872 --> 00:31:18,977
HE WOULD BE PERFECTLY HAPPY
TO WORK FROM DAWN TILL DUSK.
541
00:31:20,478 --> 00:31:22,513
Narrator: ONE MORNING,
542
00:31:22,580 --> 00:31:26,184
BEFORE CLARENCE'S YOUNGER SISTER
IRENE HEADED FOR SCHOOL,
543
00:31:26,251 --> 00:31:29,687
HER MOTHER TOOK HER ASIDE
TO DELIVER SOME NEWS.
544
00:31:29,754 --> 00:31:32,690
Irene Beck Hauer: SHE JUST
SAID, "I WON'T BE HOME
545
00:31:32,757 --> 00:31:36,261
WHEN YOU COME HOME TONIGHT"--
FROM SCHOOL, OR WHATEVER.
546
00:31:36,327 --> 00:31:38,997
"I WON'T BE HOME.
I'M LEAVING."
547
00:31:39,063 --> 00:31:42,600
AND MY MOTHER JUST LEFT.
548
00:31:42,667 --> 00:31:44,702
SO, THAT WAS IT.
DIDN'T CARE.
549
00:31:44,769 --> 00:31:50,742
SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ME
THAT MUCH OR ANYTHING.
550
00:31:50,808 --> 00:31:54,579
Narrator: NOT LONG AFTERWARDS,
THEIR FATHER'S TRACTOR--
551
00:31:54,646 --> 00:31:58,082
THE ONLY POSSIBLE MEANS FOR
HIM TO STAY ON THE LAND--
552
00:31:58,149 --> 00:32:00,952
WAS REPOSSESSED.
553
00:32:01,019 --> 00:32:04,422
SAM BECK DECIDED
HE HAD TO MOVE.
554
00:32:04,489 --> 00:32:08,426
CLARENCE WOULD STAY WITH UNCLES
BACK IN CENTRAL KANSAS.
555
00:32:08,493 --> 00:32:13,431
IRENE WASN'T SURE WHAT HER
FATHER HAD IN MIND FOR HER.
556
00:32:13,498 --> 00:32:15,500
AT FIRST I ASKED HIM,
"ARE YOU LEAVING, TOO?"
557
00:32:15,566 --> 00:32:18,970
I WAS KIND OF CRYING, LIKE,
BECAUSE NATURALLY I WAS SAD.
558
00:32:19,037 --> 00:32:22,173
SO HE SAID, "NO. WE'RE
GOING TO CALIFORNIA."
559
00:32:24,375 --> 00:32:26,544
Narrator: NOT FAR
FROM THE BECKS,
560
00:32:26,611 --> 00:32:29,113
HARRY FORESTER HAD ALSO
LOST HIS FARM
561
00:32:29,180 --> 00:32:32,517
AND WAS LIVING ON
SOMEONE ELSE'S LAND.
562
00:32:32,583 --> 00:32:35,119
HE HAD ONCE DREAMED
OF PROSPERING ENOUGH
563
00:32:35,186 --> 00:32:39,991
TO GIVE EACH OF HIS
5 SONS 640 ACRES.
564
00:32:40,091 --> 00:32:44,729
NOW HE COULD BARELY FEED
HIS 9 CHILDREN.
565
00:32:44,796 --> 00:32:47,832
Louise Forester Briggs:
ONE TIME, HE CAME IN
566
00:32:47,899 --> 00:32:49,901
FROM THE WIND BLOWING
AND DUST,
567
00:32:49,968 --> 00:32:52,704
AND HE WAS PACING
THE FLOOR AND SAYING,
568
00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:55,907
"I DON'T KNOW WHATEVER
WILL BECOME OF US."
569
00:32:55,974 --> 00:32:58,109
AND THAT JUST
FRIGHTENED ME. THAT JUST--
570
00:32:58,176 --> 00:33:00,878
MY HEART JUST
CLUTCHED FROM THAT.
571
00:33:00,945 --> 00:33:03,247
Narrator: WITH HIS FIELDS
RUINED BY DUST
572
00:33:03,314 --> 00:33:05,049
AND WHAT WAS LEFT
OF HIS LIVESTOCK
573
00:33:05,116 --> 00:33:07,185
REDUCED TO SKIN AND BONES,
574
00:33:07,251 --> 00:33:11,389
FORESTER HAD NO CHOICE
BUT TO GIVE UP FARMING.
575
00:33:11,456 --> 00:33:15,526
HIS PLAN WAS TO MOVE HIS LARGE
FAMILY TO GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA,
576
00:33:15,593 --> 00:33:18,296
WHERE THEY COULD STAY
WITH HIS WIFE'S MOTHER.
577
00:33:18,363 --> 00:33:21,299
HE HAD READ ABOUT A PLACE
WHERE JOBS WERE PLENTIFUL,
578
00:33:21,366 --> 00:33:23,101
WHERE HE COULD
MAKE GOOD MONEY
579
00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:26,270
AND SAVE ENOUGH TO
SEND FOR HIS FAMILY.
580
00:33:26,337 --> 00:33:30,508
HE, TOO, WOULD HEAD
TO CALIFORNIA.
581
00:33:30,575 --> 00:33:34,479
IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO,
CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER, JOHN,
582
00:33:34,545 --> 00:33:37,715
WAS COMING TO THE
SAME CONCLUSION.
583
00:33:37,782 --> 00:33:39,417
Crabill: WE LOST
ALL OUR STOCK.
584
00:33:39,484 --> 00:33:41,953
WE LOST EVERYTHING
IN 6 MONTHS.
585
00:33:42,020 --> 00:33:44,022
SO WHEN WE HAD
NOTHING LEFT, WE LEFT.
586
00:33:44,088 --> 00:33:47,425
WE HAD NOTHING LEFT.
THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY.
587
00:33:47,492 --> 00:33:48,626
Narrator: BUT FIRST,
588
00:33:48,693 --> 00:33:52,163
JOHN CRABILL WOULD HAVE
TO SELL HIS HORSES.
589
00:33:52,230 --> 00:33:54,432
Crabill: MY MOTHER AND
OTHERS WHO KNEW HIM SAID
590
00:33:54,499 --> 00:33:56,434
ONCE HE SOLD HIS HORSES,
591
00:33:56,501 --> 00:34:00,171
HE WAS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN
THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
592
00:34:00,238 --> 00:34:02,407
HE NEVER WAS THE SAME AGAIN.
593
00:34:02,473 --> 00:34:05,510
HE WOULD BE STARING
OFF INTO SPACE,
594
00:34:05,576 --> 00:34:09,213
AND WE KNEW HE WAS
THINKING ABOUT HIS STOCK.
595
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,216
Narrator:
IN TEXAS COUNTY, OKLAHOMA,
596
00:34:12,283 --> 00:34:13,951
DOROTHY KLEFFMAN'S
FATHER THOUGHT
597
00:34:14,018 --> 00:34:16,254
HE COULD HANG ON
TO HIS FARM,
598
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,058
BUT HIS WIFE HAD COME DOWN
WITH THE DUST PNEUMONIA.
599
00:34:20,124 --> 00:34:22,527
Kleffman: I THINK
SHE WOD VE DIED.
600
00:34:22,593 --> 00:34:26,097
HE COULD SEE THAT
SHE S WAILING,
601
00:34:26,164 --> 00:34:29,967
SO HE KNEW HE HAD TO
DO SOMETHING, YOU KNOW,
602
00:34:30,034 --> 00:34:33,204
BECAUSE THERE WERE
PEOPLE HERE WHO DID DIE.
603
00:34:33,271 --> 00:34:38,109
I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO GO.
THIS WAS MY HOME,
604
00:34:38,176 --> 00:34:41,446
AND EVEN THOUGH WE
HAD THE DUST STORMS
605
00:34:41,512 --> 00:34:45,583
AND WE WERE IN A DEPRESSION,
A GREAT DEPRESSION,
606
00:34:45,650 --> 00:34:48,619
I WOULD LOVED TO HAVE
JUST STAYED RIGHT HERE.
607
00:34:48,686 --> 00:34:53,658
BUT BECAUSE WE HAD TO SAVE
HER LIFE, WE HAD TO MOVE.
608
00:34:53,724 --> 00:34:56,427
Narrator: HER FATHER
AND AN OLDER BROTHER
609
00:34:56,494 --> 00:34:58,529
WOULD TRY TO STAY ON THE FARM,
610
00:34:58,596 --> 00:35:00,698
BUT HE MOVED HIS WIFE
AND YOUNGER CHILDREN,
611
00:35:00,765 --> 00:35:04,335
INCLUDING DOROTHY, NOT TO
CALIFORNIA, BUT EAST,
612
00:35:04,402 --> 00:35:10,541
TO ARKANSAS, WELL OUT OF THE
BROWN WORLD OF THE DUST BOWL.
613
00:35:10,608 --> 00:35:12,543
Kleffman: AND WHEN
WE GOT DOWN THERE,
614
00:35:12,610 --> 00:35:14,946
WE HAD A GREEN GRASS LAWN.
615
00:35:15,012 --> 00:35:16,514
WE KIDS LIKED THE CHICKENS
616
00:35:16,581 --> 00:35:18,916
BECAUSE THEY WOULD RAISE
THEIR LEGS UP SO HIGH--
617
00:35:18,983 --> 00:35:21,719
THEY WERE NOT
USED TO THAT GRASS.
618
00:35:21,786 --> 00:35:24,589
MOTHER RAISED A HUGE
GARDEN DOWN THERE.
619
00:35:24,655 --> 00:35:27,492
THERE WAS ENOUGH RAIN THAT
WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WATER IT
620
00:35:27,558 --> 00:35:29,827
LIKE WE DID OUT HERE.
621
00:35:29,894 --> 00:35:35,166
AND SHE WOULD CAN ABOUT
600 QUARTS OF FOOD A YEAR.
622
00:35:35,233 --> 00:35:37,568
BUT WE WANTED TO COME BACK.
623
00:35:37,568 --> 00:35:40,104
THIS WAS OUR HOME OUT HERE
624
00:35:40,171 --> 00:35:42,540
.
WE WANTED TO COME BACK.ACK.
625
00:35:46,878 --> 00:35:49,514
Henderson portrayer: SOME OF OUR
NEIGHBORS WITH SMALL CHILDREN,
626
00:35:49,580 --> 00:35:52,083
FEARING THE EFFECTS
UPON THEIR HEALTH,
627
00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:56,254
HAVE LEFT TEMPORARILY
"UNTIL IT RAINS."
628
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:58,422
OTHERS HAVE
LEFT PERMANENTLY,
629
00:35:58,489 --> 00:36:02,260
THINKING DOUBTLESS THAT
NOTHING COULD BE WORSE.
630
00:36:02,326 --> 00:36:06,063
THUS FAR, WE AND MOST OF
OUR FRIENDS SEEM HELD--
631
00:36:06,130 --> 00:36:11,469
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE--
BY MEMORY AND HOPE.
632
00:36:15,973 --> 00:36:18,476
Narrator: TEXAS COUNTY,
OKLAHOMA,
633
00:36:18,543 --> 00:36:22,880
WHERE CAROLINE HENDERSON HAD
BEEN HOMESTEADING SINCE 1907,
634
00:36:22,947 --> 00:36:27,018
LOST 30% OF ITS
POPULATION IN THE 1930s.
635
00:36:27,084 --> 00:36:30,555
NEARBY CIMARRON COUNTY LOST 32%,
636
00:36:30,621 --> 00:36:33,724
AND BACA COUNTY, JUST ACROSS
THE LINE IN COLORADO,
637
00:36:33,791 --> 00:36:38,696
SAW 41% OF ITS RESIDENTS
MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE.
638
00:36:38,763 --> 00:36:41,365
HARDEST HIT WAS
MORTON COUNTY, KANSAS,
639
00:36:41,432 --> 00:36:44,936
WHERE EDGAR AND RENA COEN
WERE RAISING THEIR LARGE FAMILY,
640
00:36:45,002 --> 00:36:47,338
NOW DIMINISHED BY TWO
WITH THE DEATH
641
00:36:47,405 --> 00:36:51,709
OF A DAUGHTER AND GRANDSON
FROM DUST PNEUMONIA.
642
00:36:51,776 --> 00:36:54,645
THE COENS WERE DETERMINED
TO STICK IT OUT,
643
00:36:54,712 --> 00:36:58,249
BUT THEIR COUNTY WOULD LOSE
NEARLY HALF OF ITS POPULATION
644
00:36:58,316 --> 00:37:02,620
AND WOULD CLOSE 11 OF
ITS 17 RURAL SCHOOLS
645
00:37:02,687 --> 00:37:07,592
BECAUSE THE DUST STORMS
REFUSED TO RELENT.
646
00:37:07,658 --> 00:37:09,460
YOU NEVER GOT USED TO THEM.
647
00:37:09,527 --> 00:37:12,396
YOU JUST HATED
EVERY ONE OF THEM
648
00:37:12,463 --> 00:37:17,368
BECAUSE YOU KNEW IT WAS
GOING TO DO DAMAGE OUTSIDE,
649
00:37:17,435 --> 00:37:21,138
AND YOU KNEW YOU WAS PROBABLY
GONNA LOSE SOME MORE NEIGHBORS.
650
00:37:21,205 --> 00:37:25,109
WE WAS IN SCHOOL THEN,
AND YOU'D GO TO SCHOOL ONE DAY,
651
00:37:25,176 --> 00:37:27,044
YOUR NEIGHBORS WAS
THERE AT SCHOOL,
652
00:37:27,111 --> 00:37:29,847
AND NEXT DAY,
THEY'D MOVED AWAY.
653
00:37:29,914 --> 00:37:32,383
KIND OF A SAD TIME THAT WAY.
654
00:37:32,450 --> 00:37:34,252
Glover: MY AUNT
AND UNCLE DECIDED
655
00:37:34,318 --> 00:37:39,523
THEY HAD TO GO TO CALIFORNIA
TO GET AWAY FROM THE DUST.
656
00:37:39,590 --> 00:37:42,627
WE ALL WENT OVER
TO SEE THEM OFF,
657
00:37:42,693 --> 00:37:47,265
AND THEY TEVERYTHING TNG
THAT THEY COULD IN THEIR CAR.
658
00:37:47,331 --> 00:37:50,334
THE LAST THING DADDY SAID
TO MY UNCLE JACK WAS,
659
00:37:50,401 --> 00:37:54,405
"DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY
FOR GAS TO GET THERE?"
660
00:37:54,472 --> 00:37:54,772
AND JACK TOLD HIM
HOWEVER MUE HAD.
661
00:37:54,772 --> 00:37:58,576
CH
662
00:37:58,643 --> 00:38:03,581
AND DADDY SAID, "WELL,
I'VE JUST GOT $17 ON ME, AND JACK TOLD HIM HOWEVER MUE HAD.
663
00:38:03,648 --> 00:38:05,916
"BUT I WANT YOU TO TAKE THIS
664
00:38:05,983 --> 00:38:09,687
SO YOU'LL HAVE
ENOUGH MONEY FOR GAS."
665
00:38:09,754 --> 00:38:14,692
Hodges: EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG,
THOSE CARS PASSED OUR HOUSE.
666
00:38:14,759 --> 00:38:17,361
THEY OFTEN STOPPED
AND ASKED FOR FOOD.
667
00:38:17,428 --> 00:38:19,930
WE DIDN'T HAVE VERY MUCH,
BUT MY MOTHER THOUGHT
668
00:38:19,997 --> 00:38:22,099
WE WERE BETTER OFF
THAN OTHER PEOPLE,
669
00:38:22,166 --> 00:38:25,603
AND WE WERE
BECAUSE OF THE WPA,
670
00:38:25,670 --> 00:38:28,439
AND SHE ALWAYS FED
THEM SOMETHING.
671
00:38:28,506 --> 00:38:31,275
I STILL REMEMBER IT WAS OFTEN
BREAD AND BUTTER SANDWICHES,
672
00:38:31,342 --> 00:38:32,910
BUT IT WAS SOMETHING.
673
00:38:32,977 --> 00:38:35,813
SHE NEVER, EVER
TURNED ANYBODY DOWN.
674
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,749
WHEN I WAS
IN THE EIGHTH GRADE,
675
00:38:38,816 --> 00:38:44,422
WE HAD A PRACTICAL
LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY.
676
00:38:44,488 --> 00:38:47,058
HOW MANY PEOPLE
LIVE IN THE DISTRICT?
677
00:38:47,124 --> 00:38:50,094
AND IT WAS 100 PEOPLE.
678
00:38:50,161 --> 00:38:55,266
HOW MANY PEOPLE
ARE IN SCHOOL? 25.
679
00:38:55,333 --> 00:39:00,671
AND THEN MY BROTHER GET TO
THE SAME PLACE 10 YEARS LATER.
680
00:39:00,738 --> 00:39:04,875
HOW MANY PEOPLE
IN THE DISTRICT? 25.
681
00:39:04,942 --> 00:39:09,413
HOW MANY KIDS IN THE
SCHOOL? MAYBE 10.
682
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,183
THE REST OF THEM HAD LEFT.
683
00:39:13,517 --> 00:39:15,553
Narrator: BUT IN THE END,
684
00:39:15,619 --> 00:39:18,589
FOR EVERY FAMILY THAT
LEFT THE DUST BOWL,
685
00:39:18,656 --> 00:39:24,095
3 FAMILIES--75% OF THE
POPULATION--WOULD HANG ON.
686
00:39:24,161 --> 00:39:26,664
Worster: WHY DIDN'T
EVERYBODY LEAVE?
687
00:39:26,731 --> 00:39:30,434
FOR A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE, WELL,
THERE WAS NO OTHER PLACE TO GO.
688
00:39:30,501 --> 00:39:34,638
IN THEIR MINDS, THEY HAD
INVESTED THEIR LIVES THERE.
689
00:39:34,705 --> 00:39:37,508
THEY HAD FAMILY
BURIED IN CEMETERIES.
690
00:39:37,575 --> 00:39:39,477
WHY DID THEY STAY?
691
00:39:39,543 --> 00:39:43,414
THE PLAINS CAN LAY A HOLD
ON YOUR AFFECTIONS
692
00:39:43,481 --> 00:39:47,885
IF YOU'RE THERE FOR
A GENERATION OR TWO,
693
00:39:47,952 --> 00:39:50,621
AND THEY'RE A GLORIOUS PLACE
TO LIVE AT TIMES.
694
00:39:50,688 --> 00:39:54,158
THE GREAT SKIES AND THE OPENNESS
AND THE SENSE OF FREEDOM THERE
695
00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:57,461
WERE POWERFUL DRAWS
FOR THESE PEOPLE.
696
00:39:57,528 --> 00:40:01,399
Henderson portrayer: I CANNOT
ACT OR FEEL OR THINK
697
00:40:01,465 --> 00:40:05,636
AS IF THE EXPERIENCES OF OUR
27 YEARS OF LIFE TOGETHER
698
00:40:05,703 --> 00:40:10,474
HAD NEVER BEEN, AND THEY
ARE ALL BOUND UP
699
00:40:10,541 --> 00:40:13,077
WITH THE LITTLE CORNER
TO WHICH WE HAVE GIVEN
700
00:40:13,144 --> 00:40:17,314
OUR CONTINUED
AND UNITED EFFORTS.
701
00:40:17,381 --> 00:40:20,818
I CAN LOOK BACKWARD
AND SEE OUR COVERED WAGON
702
00:40:20,885 --> 00:40:23,154
DRAWN UP BY THE DOOR
OF THE CABIN
703
00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:27,892
IN THE EARLY LIGHT OF
THAT MAY MORNING LONG AGO,
704
00:40:27,958 --> 00:40:33,731
CAN FEEL AGAIN THE SWEET FRESH
BREATH OF THE UNTRODDEN PRAIRIE
705
00:40:33,798 --> 00:40:40,438
AND RECALL FOR A MOMENT THE
PROUD CONFIDENCE OF OUR YOUTH.
706
00:40:40,504 --> 00:40:45,609
BUT WHEN I TRY TO SEE THE WAGON
OR THE OLD MODEL-T TRUCK
707
00:40:45,676 --> 00:40:48,446
HEADED IN THE
OPPOSITE DIRECTION,
708
00:40:48,512 --> 00:40:52,249
AWAY FROM OUR HOME
AND ALL OUR CHERISHED HOPES,
709
00:40:52,316 --> 00:40:55,453
I CANNOT SEE IT AT ALL.
710
00:40:55,519 --> 00:40:57,455
PERHAPS IT IS ONLY BECAUSE
711
00:40:57,521 --> 00:41:01,225
THE DUST IS TOO DENSE
AND BLINDING.
712
00:41:04,495 --> 00:41:06,664
Worster: MY PARENTS LEFT.
713
00:41:06,730 --> 00:41:11,101
THEY COULDN'T FIND A LIVING
ANYMORE IN RURAL COUNTRYSIDE.
714
00:41:11,168 --> 00:41:13,637
THEIR FARMS WERE DEVASTATED.
715
00:41:13,704 --> 00:41:16,607
THEY COULD SEE
NO FUTURE IN THIS.
716
00:41:16,674 --> 00:41:21,679
THEY DECIDED IN THE LATE 1930s
TO FOLLOW THE TREK TO CALIFORNIA
717
00:41:21,745 --> 00:41:24,982
TO SEE WHAT THEY COULD FIND
THERE TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES.
718
00:41:54,411 --> 00:41:58,282
THE BIGGEST PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE
WHO MOVED INTO ANOTHER STATE
719
00:41:58,349 --> 00:42:00,184
WERE GOING TO CALIFORNIA.
720
00:42:00,251 --> 00:42:03,187
THERE WERE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE
721
00:42:03,254 --> 00:42:05,256
POURING INTO CALIFORNIA.
722
00:42:05,322 --> 00:42:06,590
THEY WEREN'T ALL POOR,
723
00:42:06,657 --> 00:42:08,459
AND THEY WEREN'T ALL
FROM THE GREAT PLAINS.
724
00:42:08,526 --> 00:42:10,227
SO THERE WAS
A RIVER OF PEOPLE
725
00:42:10,294 --> 00:42:12,963
FLOWING INTO CALIFORNIA
IN THE 1930s.
726
00:42:13,030 --> 00:42:15,065
YOU COULD JUST SEE
ALL OF THESE CARS
727
00:42:15,132 --> 00:42:18,969
PULLING OUT FROM LITTLE
SIDE ROADS ALONG THE WAY
728
00:42:19,036 --> 00:42:24,408
JOINING THIS BRIGADE
GOING OUT ROUTE 66,
729
00:42:24,475 --> 00:42:28,212
STOPPING AT MOTELS,
SLEEPING UNDER BILLBOARDS.
730
00:42:28,279 --> 00:42:30,648
THAT'S THE WAY MY PARENTS
ESSENTIALLY WENT
731
00:42:30,714 --> 00:42:33,684
FROM NEW MEXICO
ACROSS TO ARIZONA.
732
00:42:33,751 --> 00:42:35,619
THEY STOPPED IN NEEDLES,
CALIFORNIA,
733
00:42:35,686 --> 00:42:37,154
AND DIDN'T GET ANY FARTHER.
734
00:42:37,221 --> 00:42:40,224
THAT WAS THE END OF
THE ROAD FOR THEM.
735
00:42:40,291 --> 00:42:43,761
Narrator: THOSE WHO DID LEAVE
THE DUST BOWL FOR CALIFORNIA
736
00:42:43,827 --> 00:42:46,997
WERE JOINING AN EVEN
LARGER EXODUS OF AMERICANS
737
00:42:47,064 --> 00:42:51,235
DISPLACED BY THE DEPRESSION
AND THE AGRICULTURAL CRISIS
738
00:42:51,302 --> 00:42:55,873
THAT EXTENDED FAR BEYOND
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
739
00:42:55,940 --> 00:42:59,209
Egan: NOW THE FOLKS
WHO LEFT, THE DIASPORA,
740
00:42:59,276 --> 00:43:02,580
THE EXODUSTERS,
THEY WERE CALLED--
741
00:43:02,646 --> 00:43:05,082
THESE REFUGEES
WERE LARGELY FROM
742
00:43:05,149 --> 00:43:07,518
THE EASTERN FRINGE
OF THE DUST BOWL.
743
00:43:07,585 --> 00:43:09,853
THEY WERE FROM ARGUABLY NOT
EVEN THE DUST BOWL ITSELF.
744
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:11,822
THEY WERE ARKIES
FROM ARKANSAS.
745
00:43:11,889 --> 00:43:14,992
THEY WERE FROM MISSOURI.
THEY WERE TENANT FARMERS.
746
00:43:15,059 --> 00:43:16,860
WHEN THE FARM ECONOMY COLLAPSED,
747
00:43:16,927 --> 00:43:19,229
WHEN THE PRICES COLLAPSED
AND YOU COULDN'T MAKE A LIVING,
748
00:43:19,296 --> 00:43:21,265
IF YOU WERE A TENANT FARMER,
YOU HAD NOTHING,
749
00:43:21,332 --> 00:43:23,367
BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T
EVEN OWN THE DIRT.
750
00:43:23,434 --> 00:43:25,803
SO THEY LEFT.
751
00:43:25,869 --> 00:43:29,540
Guthrie: THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T
HAVE BUT ONE THING TO DO,
752
00:43:29,607 --> 00:43:32,409
AND THAT WAS TO JUST GET OUT
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.
753
00:43:32,476 --> 00:43:35,479
THESE PEOPLE JUST GOT UP,
AND THEY BUNDLED UP
754
00:43:35,546 --> 00:43:38,482
THEIR LITTLE BELONGINGS,
THEY THROWED IN
755
00:43:38,549 --> 00:43:41,218
ONE OR TWO LITTLE THINGS
THEY THOUGHT THEY'D NEED,
756
00:43:41,285 --> 00:43:46,256
HAD HEARD ABOUT THE
LAND OF CALIFORNIA,
757
00:43:46,323 --> 00:43:49,226
AND ACCORDING TO THE
HANDBILLS THEY PASSED OUT
758
00:43:49,293 --> 00:43:51,295
DOWN IN THAT COUNTRY,
YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE
759
00:43:51,362 --> 00:43:54,231
A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO
SUCCEED IN CALIFORNIA.
760
00:43:54,298 --> 00:43:58,302
♪ I'M BLOWING DOWN
THIS OLD DUSTY ROAD ♪
761
00:43:58,369 --> 00:44:02,206
♪ I'M BLOWING
DOWN THIS OLD DUSTY ROAD ♪
762
00:44:02,272 --> 00:44:05,709
♪ I'M BLOWING DOWN THIS OLD
DUSTY ROAD, LORD, LORD ♪
763
00:44:05,776 --> 00:44:10,147
♪ AND I AIN'T GONNA BE
TREATED THIS WAY ♪
764
00:44:10,214 --> 00:44:12,182
Narrator: BACK IN COLORADO,
765
00:44:12,249 --> 00:44:15,486
WITH THE MONEY FROM SELLING
HIS HORSES IN HIS POCKETS,
766
00:44:15,552 --> 00:44:17,888
CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER
LOADED WHAT HE COULD
767
00:44:19,023 --> 00:44:23,594
INTO THEIR A
CARS RATTLING DOWN HIGHWAY 66,EF
768
00:44:23,661 --> 00:44:28,098
WITH HIS 11-YEAR-OLD SON
AND ASTHMATIC WIFE.
769
00:44:28,165 --> 00:44:31,969
WHEN YOU CAME DOWN THAT
GRADE IN SAN BERNARDINO,
770
00:44:32,036 --> 00:44:34,204
MY MOTHER, SHE WAS SO HAPPY,
771
00:44:34,271 --> 00:44:37,007
AND YOU SAW THE
GREEN VALLEY THERE--
772
00:44:37,074 --> 00:44:40,210
THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL,
BEAUTIFUL SIGHT.
773
00:44:40,277 --> 00:44:44,014
YOU SEE THE TREES.
YOU SEE THE TREES.
774
00:44:44,081 --> 00:44:47,217
MY MOTHER THAT DAY PICKED
AN ORANGE, A RIPE ORANGE,
775
00:44:47,284 --> 00:44:50,454
AND ATE IT, AND THAT
WAS SOMETHING FOR HER.
776
00:44:52,723 --> 00:44:57,161
Worster: THE MIGRATION OUT OF
THE GREAT PLAINS IN THE 1930s
777
00:44:57,227 --> 00:45:01,999
WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST FOLK
MIGRATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
778
00:45:02,066 --> 00:45:06,336
IT DWARFS THE MOVEMENT
ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL
779
00:45:06,403 --> 00:45:10,641
IN THE 19th CENTURY,
THE COVERED WAGON ERA,
780
00:45:10,708 --> 00:45:14,712
WHICH WE'VE SO IDEALIZED
AND ROMANTICIZED.
781
00:45:14,778 --> 00:45:18,649
BUT WE'VE FORGOTTEN THIS
MIGRATION OF THE 1930s.
782
00:45:18,716 --> 00:45:20,617
NOBODY CELEBRATES IT.
783
00:45:20,684 --> 00:45:25,422
THERE ARE NO CALIFORNIA
TRAIL ASSOCIATIONS.
784
00:45:25,489 --> 00:45:28,325
WE'RE ASHAMED
OF IT, BASICALLY,
785
00:45:28,392 --> 00:45:31,628
BECAUSE IT WAS A
MIGRATION OF THE DEFEATED.
786
00:45:35,699 --> 00:45:37,568
Narrator: OUT IN OAKLAND,
CALIFORNIA,
787
00:45:37,634 --> 00:45:41,438
HARRY FORESTER, WHO HAD LEFT HIS
FAMILY IN GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA,
788
00:45:41,505 --> 00:45:44,074
WAS NOW WORKING
A VARIETY OF JOBS,
789
00:45:44,141 --> 00:45:46,710
SOMETIMES MAKING
A DOLLAR A DAY
790
00:45:46,777 --> 00:45:48,812
AND SENDING AS MUCH
OF IT AS POSSIBLE
791
00:45:48,879 --> 00:45:52,483
BACK TO HIS AILING WIFE
AND CHILDREN.
792
00:45:52,549 --> 00:45:56,754
EVERYTHING HE HELD DEAR
WAS HALF A CONTINENT AWAY.
793
00:45:56,820 --> 00:45:59,957
THE SEPARATION FROM HIS FAMILY
MADE HIM MISERABLE,
794
00:46:00,023 --> 00:46:04,261
AND THEN CAME NEWS FROM HOME
THAT ADDED TO HIS WOES--
795
00:46:04,328 --> 00:46:06,697
ONE OF HIS 5 SONS, SLATS,
796
00:46:06,764 --> 00:46:09,666
HAD COME DOWN WITH
DUST PNEUMONIA.
797
00:46:09,733 --> 00:46:13,437
Briggs: MY OLDEST BROTHER
T DUST PNEIA,
798
00:46:13,504 --> 00:46:16,073
WAS AT DEATH'S DOOR,
AND MY DAD DIDN'T KNOW
799
00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:18,208
WHETHER TO COME HOME OR NOT
800
00:46:18,275 --> 00:46:20,978
BECAUSE HE THOUGHT
HE WAS GONNA DIE.
801
00:46:21,044 --> 00:46:27,084
I IMAGINE HE WAS ABSOLUTELY
THE LONELIEST MAN ON THE PLANET.
802
00:46:27,151 --> 00:46:30,988
Narrator: FORESTER DECIDED
HIS FAMILY SHOULD JOIN HIM
803
00:46:31,054 --> 00:46:34,691
IN OAKLAND AS SOON
AS THEY COULD.
804
00:46:34,758 --> 00:46:39,630
BACK IN GOODWELL, THE FORESTER
CHILDREN MOBIL FOR THE M
805
00:46:39,696 --> 00:46:43,000
THEY ADDED HOOPS AND TARPS
AND A HAND-BUILT BOX
806
00:46:43,066 --> 00:46:47,638
FOR STORING AND SERVING FOOD
TO A 1928 CHEVY TRUCK,
807
00:46:47,704 --> 00:46:51,708
CONVERTING IT INTO A
MODERN-DAY COVERED WAGON.
808
00:46:51,775 --> 00:46:55,813
BUT MRS. FORESTER'S AGED AND
BLIND MOTHER REFUSED TO LEAVE,
809
00:46:55,879 --> 00:47:00,784
SO SLATS, WHO HAD RECOVERED,
WAS LEFT BEHIND TO CARE FOR HER.
810
00:47:00,851 --> 00:47:04,321
THEY MADE THEIR GOOD-BYE
S,D ANOTHER CLOIS TOOK THE WHEEL
811
00:47:04,388 --> 00:47:07,658
WITH HIS FRAIL MOTHER IN
THE FRONT SEAT NEXT TO HIM.
812
00:47:07,724 --> 00:47:11,395
THEN THE OTHER 7 FORESTER
CHILDREN SCRAMBLED ABOARD,
813
00:47:11,461 --> 00:47:14,131
AND THEY SET OFF
FOR CALIFORNIA.
814
00:47:18,702 --> 00:47:20,704
Briggs: IT WAS
PRETTY EXCITING FOR ME
815
00:47:20,771 --> 00:47:23,807
BECAUSE IT WAS HOPE...
816
00:47:23,874 --> 00:47:26,743
IN A HOPELESS LITTLE HEART.
817
00:47:26,810 --> 00:47:28,612
WE WERE GOING TO CALIFORNIA
818
00:47:28,679 --> 00:47:30,781
AND HAVE ORANGES
AND STUFF, YOU KNOW?
819
00:47:30,848 --> 00:47:34,785
AND WE WOULD HAVE FRUIT,
AND WE WOULD LIVE HAPPILY.
820
00:47:34,852 --> 00:47:37,688
AND IT WAS JUST
AN EXCITING TIME.
821
00:47:37,754 --> 00:47:39,857
I COULDN'T WAIT
TO GET THERE.
822
00:47:46,496 --> 00:47:48,432
Shirley Forester McKenzie:
WE SAT IN DIFFERENT PLACES.
823
00:47:48,498 --> 00:47:50,667
WE'D MOVE AROUND.
824
00:47:50,734 --> 00:47:53,704
THE MATTRESSES WERE ROLLED UP,
AND STUFFED IN THE TRUCK BED,
825
00:47:53,770 --> 00:47:57,107
SO WE HAD THOSE SOFT
MATTRESSES TO SLEEP ON.
826
00:48:00,944 --> 00:48:02,880
Briggs: MY FAVORITE
SPOT SEEMED TO BE
827
00:48:02,946 --> 00:48:04,915
OVER THE WHEEL OF THE TRUCK.
828
00:48:04,982 --> 00:48:08,986
WE HAD THE SIDE TARPS ROLLED UP
SO YOU COULD SEE OUT.
829
00:48:09,052 --> 00:48:11,521
ONE THING I REMEMBER,
I WAS SO GLAD--
830
00:48:11,588 --> 00:48:14,691
WE SAW A WEEPING WILLOW TREE,
AND I'D NEVER SEEN ONE.
831
00:48:20,130 --> 00:48:23,166
William Forester:
MY BROTHER WAS OBSESSED
832
00:48:23,233 --> 00:48:27,704
WITH THE POTENTIAL THAT
WE MIGHT RUN OUT OF GAS,
833
00:48:27,771 --> 00:48:31,308
SO HE STOPPED AT DAMN
NEAR EVERY GAS STATION
834
00:48:31,375 --> 00:48:34,411
TO TOP OFF THE TANK.
835
00:48:34,478 --> 00:48:36,813
IT WAS A LITTLE
4-BANGER CHEVY,
836
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:42,219
AND HE DROVE IT AT ABOUT
MAXIMUM OF 35 MILES AN HOUR,
837
00:48:42,286 --> 00:48:45,722
AND IT TOOK A LONG TIME.
838
00:48:45,789 --> 00:48:47,324
Robert Forester:
HE HAD A GOAL IN MIND
839
00:48:47,391 --> 00:48:51,161
THAT WAS TO GET THIS CREW
SAFELY THROUGH.
840
00:48:51,228 --> 00:48:58,101
HE WAS A NERVOUS NELLY
ANYWAY, AND HE HAD
841
00:48:58,168 --> 00:49:01,805
LOTS OF TRIBULATIONS WHEN
HE HAD TO TAKE THIS JOB--
842
00:49:01,872 --> 00:49:03,774
WELL, BECAUSE IT
WAS A BIG JOB.
843
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:06,510
HE'S A 21-YEAR-OLD GUY,
AND HE'S TAKING HIS SICK MOTHER
844
00:49:06,576 --> 00:49:09,513
AND A BUNCH OF KIDS ALL
THE WAY TO CALIFORNIA,
845
00:49:09,579 --> 00:49:11,315
ACROSS THAT BIG OL' DESERT.
846
00:49:11,381 --> 00:49:16,253
IT WAS A...
A REAL WORRY FOR HIM, I KNOW.
847
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:18,755
Narrator:
THEY WERE ALL ANXIOUS
848
00:49:18,822 --> 00:49:21,124
ABOUT THEIR MOTHER'S
FRAGILE HEALTH,
849
00:49:21,191 --> 00:49:23,760
WHICH PROMPTED THEM TO
STOP A NUMBER OF TIMES
850
00:49:23,827 --> 00:49:26,430
SO SHE COULD RECOUP
HER STRENGTH,
851
00:49:26,496 --> 00:49:31,168
ESPECIALLY WHEN A DUST STORM
OVERTOOK THEM IN NEW MEXICO.
852
00:49:31,234 --> 00:49:33,236
William Forester:
SHE WAS WORN DOWN
853
00:49:33,303 --> 00:49:36,873
BY THE TRAVAILS
OF THE PREVIOUS YEARS,
854
00:49:36,940 --> 00:49:40,210
AND SHE WAS JUST
IN BAD SHAPE,
855
00:49:40,277 --> 00:49:43,680
AND SHE WAS VERY FEEBLE
ALL ALONG THE WAY.
856
00:49:43,747 --> 00:49:46,383
INSTEAD OF CAMPING
ONE NIGHT IN NEW MEXICO,
857
00:49:46,450 --> 00:49:51,822
WE USED A LITTLE OF OUR
SCARCE MONEY TO RENT A MOTEL
858
00:49:51,888 --> 00:49:56,460
SO THAT SHE COULD BE
SLEEPING OUT OF THE DUST.
859
00:49:56,526 --> 00:50:00,130
Narrator: BUT IN EASTERN
ARIZONA, DESPITE HER CONDITION,
860
00:50:00,197 --> 00:50:02,666
SHE INSISTED THAT
CLOIS DETOUR
861
00:50:02,733 --> 00:50:06,303
THROUGH THE PAINTED DESERT
AND PETRIFIED FOREST,
862
00:50:06,370 --> 00:50:11,141
WHICH SHE HAD ALWAYS
YEARNED TO SEE.
863
00:50:11,208 --> 00:50:14,511
llm Forester: MY MOTHER'S
HEALTH GOT WORSE AFTER THAT.
864
00:50:14,578 --> 00:50:18,148
WE FELT THAT IT WAS NECESSARY
JTOT STOP AND NOT TRAVEL
865
00:50:18,215 --> 00:50:21,551
SO THAT SHE COULD HAVE
TIME BEING STILL
866
00:50:21,618 --> 00:50:25,322
AND RESTING IN COOL,
SHADED PLACE.
867
00:50:25,389 --> 00:50:29,226
Narrator: FARTHER ON, THEY HAD
TO DESCEND TO THE COLORADO RIVER
868
00:50:29,292 --> 00:50:34,831
ON A WINDING ROAD UNLIKE
ANYTHING ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
869
00:50:34,898 --> 00:50:36,833
Briggs: BUT I HAD
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT
870
00:50:36,900 --> 00:50:41,938
WHEN WE HIT THE CALIFORNIA
BORDER DOWN AT NEEDLES.
871
00:50:42,005 --> 00:50:44,574
HA HA HA!
872
00:50:44,641 --> 00:50:47,644
YOU'RE IN THE DESERT,
AND I FELT, OH...
873
00:50:47,711 --> 00:50:50,914
I JUST WENT,
"OH, MY GOD, NO,"
874
00:50:50,981 --> 00:50:53,083
BECAUSE I WAS
JUST BROKEN-HEARTED
875
00:50:53,150 --> 00:50:56,553
BECAUSE I THOUGHT
THERE'D BE ORANGE GROVES RIGHT THERE, YOU KNOW.
876
00:50:56,620 --> 00:50:59,823
Narrator: THEY CROSSED THE
MOJAVE DESERT AT NIGHT,
877
00:50:59,890 --> 00:51:04,027
THEN TURNED NORTH,
UP THE CENTRAL VALLEY,
878
00:51:04,094 --> 00:51:08,799
AND FINALLY MADE IT TO OAKLAND,
ON THE MOIST SAN FRANCISCO BAY,
879
00:51:08,865 --> 00:51:11,868
WHERE HARRY FORESTER
HAD RENTED A HOUSE
880
00:51:11,935 --> 00:51:15,372
AND WAS WAITING ANXIOUSLY
FOR THEM TO ARRIVE.
881
00:51:17,707 --> 00:51:21,878
WE GOT INTO OAKLAND,
AND WE WENT TO LAKE MERRITT
882
00:51:21,945 --> 00:51:25,649
AND WENT UP GRAND AVENUE
883
00:51:25,715 --> 00:51:31,455
AND TURNED RIGHT ON MORAGA
AND WENT UP MORAGA AVENUE.
884
00:51:31,521 --> 00:51:33,957
WE'RE IN THE HILLS NOW,
IN THE OAKLAND HILLS,
885
00:51:34,024 --> 00:51:37,561
WHICH ARE PRETTY STEEP
FOR SOMEONE LIKE US.
886
00:51:37,627 --> 00:51:39,529
WHEN WE STOPPED IN THE CANYON,
887
00:51:39,596 --> 00:51:42,365
TELEPHONED THAT WE WERE
COMING UP THE ROAD,
888
00:51:42,432 --> 00:51:45,202
WE WERE A MILE AND
A HALF FROM THE HOUSE,
889
00:51:45,268 --> 00:51:49,272
WE STARTED DRIVING,
AND DAD STARTED HUSTLING,
890
00:51:49,339 --> 00:51:53,076
AND HE RACED DOWN TO
THE BOTTOM OF THE CANYON
891
00:51:53,143 --> 00:51:55,045
SO THAT HE WAS STANDING
BESIDE THE ROAD
892
00:51:55,112 --> 00:51:58,949
AS WE CAME DRIVING BY
10 MINUTES LATER.
893
00:51:59,015 --> 00:52:00,550
Briggs: AND MY DAD MET US
894
00:52:00,617 --> 00:52:04,054
AT THE CORNER OF PINE HAVEN ROAD
AND HEATHER RIDGE WAY,
895
00:52:04,121 --> 00:52:06,189
AND HE HAD A HOUSE RENTED
ON THE CORNER
896
00:52:06,256 --> 00:52:09,025
JUST UP THE CORNER A WAYS.
897
00:52:09,092 --> 00:52:11,695
I REMEMBER SITTING
IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK
898
00:52:11,761 --> 00:52:14,564
WAITING FOR MY DAD
TO COME AND GREET US
899
00:52:14,631 --> 00:52:17,067
WHILE HE WAS GREETING MOM
AND MY BROTHER
900
00:52:17,134 --> 00:52:20,871
AND WHOEVER HAD BEEN
RIDING WITH THEM.
901
00:52:20,937 --> 00:52:22,139
HE WENT AROUND TO THE BACK,
902
00:52:22,205 --> 00:52:25,942
AND HE TOOK EACH
OF THE KIDS IN TURN,
903
00:52:26,009 --> 00:52:28,445
AND HE GAVE US A HUG,
AND WE LAUGHED,
904
00:52:28,512 --> 00:52:32,282
AND IT WAS...
905
00:52:32,349 --> 00:52:34,317
IT WAS GREAT.
906
00:52:34,384 --> 00:52:36,486
AND THEN HE CAME AROUND BACK
907
00:52:36,553 --> 00:52:38,588
AND STARTED LIFTING US OUT
ONE AT A TIME
908
00:52:38,655 --> 00:52:40,991
AND GIVING US A HUG
AND PUTTING US DOWN.
909
00:52:41,057 --> 00:52:42,926
I LOOKED AROUND,
AND I THOUGHT,
910
00:52:42,993 --> 00:52:45,929
"OH, YES, WE HAVE COME
TO CANAAN LAND."
911
00:52:45,996 --> 00:52:48,231
Narrator: THEN HARRY FORESTER,
912
00:52:48,298 --> 00:52:51,234
WHO HAD ONCE DREAMED OF
AMASSING SO MUCH LAND
913
00:52:51,301 --> 00:52:53,436
HE COULD BESTOW
EACH OF HIS SONS
914
00:52:53,503 --> 00:52:57,374
WITH ONE SQUARE MILE OF
ROLLING OKLAHOMA PRAIRIE,
915
00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:02,345
SHOWED THEM ALL THEIR NEW HOME--
A RENTED HOUSE OF 3 ROOMS,
916
00:53:02,412 --> 00:53:07,784
ON A HILL SO STEEP THE BUILDINGS
NEEDED STILTS TO BE LEVEL.
917
00:53:07,851 --> 00:53:10,620
Robert Forester: AND THERE
WERE BIG PINE TREES--
918
00:53:10,687 --> 00:53:14,758
OH, 60-, 70-FOOT,
80-FOOT TALL, BIG TREES,
919
00:53:14,824 --> 00:53:17,527
AND THAT WAS SPECTACULAR.
920
00:53:17,594 --> 00:53:19,696
IT WASN'T OKLAHOMA,
YOU KNOW?
921
00:53:19,763 --> 00:53:22,365
HA HA HA!
922
00:53:22,432 --> 00:53:25,368
TOTO, WE AREN'T
IN OKLAHOMA ANYMORE.
923
00:53:25,435 --> 00:53:27,170
HA HA HA!
924
00:53:27,237 --> 00:53:30,674
ESPECIALLY TO
A FAIR-SKINNED,
925
00:53:30,740 --> 00:53:34,010
FRECKLE-FACED, RED-HEADED
YOUNGSTER THAT I WAS,
926
00:53:34,077 --> 00:53:39,182
WHERE THAT HOT WIND
ALWAYS JUST BURNED ME.
927
00:53:39,249 --> 00:53:41,251
THE MIST AND THE RAIN
WAS SO LIGHT OFTEN
928
00:53:41,318 --> 00:53:44,154
THAT WE KIDS WOULD GO OFF
TO SCHOOL THAT FIRST YEAR
929
00:53:44,221 --> 00:53:48,592
WITHOUT A HAT OR
A COAT OR ANYTHING
930
00:53:48,658 --> 00:53:53,196
BECAUSE WE JUST LOVED THE
FEELING OF THAT MOISTURE ON US.
931
00:53:53,263 --> 00:53:56,032
WE WERE PARCHED, TOO.
932
00:54:00,770 --> 00:54:03,073
Lewis: WEREN'T ANY CROPS.
933
00:54:03,139 --> 00:54:08,111
IT WAS DRY, AND SO WE
DIDN'T GET ANY CROPS.
934
00:54:08,178 --> 00:54:14,150
ONE OF THOSE YEARS, WE PUT OUR
ENTIRE WHEAT CROP IN ONE WAGON,
935
00:54:14,217 --> 00:54:17,687
WHICH WAS MAYBE 50 BUSHELS.
936
00:54:25,295 --> 00:54:27,530
Beck: THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE.
937
00:54:27,597 --> 00:54:31,268
THERE WAS NOTHING ABOUT THE
POPULATION THAT WAS BAD.
938
00:54:31,334 --> 00:54:35,672
EVERYBODY WAS HARD-WORKING,
TRYING TO MAKE AN HONEST LIVING,
939
00:54:35,739 --> 00:54:41,378
AND NATURE JUST
WOULDN'T LET THEM DO IT.
940
00:54:41,444 --> 00:54:45,682
SO THERE WERE FAILURES,
AND THERE WERE ALSO PEOPLE
941
00:54:45,749 --> 00:54:51,354
THAT WERE AWFUL HARD
TO KNOCK OFF OF THE BUSH.
942
00:54:51,421 --> 00:54:52,956
ENDED UP, A DEPRESSION,
943
00:54:53,023 --> 00:54:56,192
THE DUST BOWL
DIDN'T GET THEM ALL.
944
00:54:56,259 --> 00:55:00,297
IT LEFT QUITE A FEW.
BUT IT LEFT THE HARDY ONES.
945
00:55:00,363 --> 00:55:04,167
OH, THERE WERE MANY JOKES
ABOUT THE DUST, OF COURSE,
946
00:55:04,234 --> 00:55:07,904
SO THAT WE LAUGHED SO WE
WOULDN'T CRY, I GUESS.
947
00:55:07,971 --> 00:55:11,441
ONE OF THEM WAS, A RANCHER,
AFTER A BIG DUST STORM,
948
00:55:11,508 --> 00:55:14,244
WALKED OUT TO
SEE ABOUT HIS LAND,
949
00:55:14,311 --> 00:55:17,814
AND HE WAS TRYING TO FIND
THE BARBED-WIRE FENCE
950
00:55:17,881 --> 00:55:20,483
THAT HAD BEEN
COVERED WITH DIRT.
951
00:55:20,550 --> 00:55:22,419
HE SAW THE TOPS OF IT,
952
00:55:22,485 --> 00:55:24,854
AND THERE WAS THE
COWBOY'S HAT OVER THERE.
953
00:55:24,921 --> 00:55:27,824
SO HE WALKED OVER AND
PICKED UP THE COWBOY'S HAT,
954
00:55:27,891 --> 00:55:31,227
AND UNDERNEATH WAS A COWBOY,
955
00:55:31,294 --> 00:55:34,931
AND HE SAID, "OH, MY GOODNESS.
AREN'T YOU IN TROUBLE THERE?"
956
00:55:34,998 --> 00:55:36,800
HE'S COVERED WITH DUST.
957
00:55:36,866 --> 00:55:39,536
AND HE SAID, "WELL, I THINK
I'M GONNA BE OK,
958
00:55:39,602 --> 00:55:43,773
BUT THIS HORSE I'M RIDING
IS IN A LITTLE TROUBLE."
959
00:55:46,176 --> 00:55:49,312
Narrator: BY NOW, THOSE WHO
REMAINED IN THE DUST BOWL
960
00:55:49,379 --> 00:55:52,749
HAD FOUND THAT ONE WAY TO DEAL
WITH WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THEM
961
00:55:52,816 --> 00:55:55,452
WAS TO POKE FUN AT IT.
962
00:55:55,518 --> 00:55:57,387
WELL, THERE'S
AN OLD SAYING THERE
963
00:55:57,454 --> 00:56:00,924
THAT ONE OF THE OLD-TIMERS
WAS TELLING THE PEOPLE THAT
964
00:56:00,990 --> 00:56:05,161
THEY'D HAD A CHAIN WRAPPED
AROUND A CORNER POST
965
00:56:05,228 --> 00:56:07,964
AND SAID WHEN THAT CHAIN
GOT STICKING OUT STRAIGHT,
966
00:56:08,031 --> 00:56:09,699
THAT WAS A PRETTY GOOD WIND,
967
00:56:09,766 --> 00:56:14,337
BUT WHEN IT WENT TO SNAPPING THE
LINKS OFF, IT WAS DAMN WINDY.
968
00:56:14,404 --> 00:56:16,239
OF COURSE, THAT WASN'T TRUE.
969
00:56:16,306 --> 00:56:20,076
THAT WAS JUST
A SAYING. HA HA HA!
970
00:56:22,212 --> 00:56:28,151
Narrator: 1936 WOULD
PROVE TO BE AS DRY AS 1935,
971
00:56:28,218 --> 00:56:31,187
WITH EVEN MORE DUST STORMS.
972
00:56:36,259 --> 00:56:40,730
IN APRIL, AN OUTSIDER
SHOWED UP IN BOISE CITY.
973
00:56:40,797 --> 00:56:43,666
ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN
WAS 21 YEARS OLD,
974
00:56:43,733 --> 00:56:45,702
THE SON OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS,
975
00:56:45,769 --> 00:56:48,605
BORN AND RAISED
IN NEW YORK CITY.
976
00:56:48,671 --> 00:56:51,174
HE WAS IN NO MAN'S LAND
TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS
977
00:56:51,241 --> 00:56:55,879
FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S
RESETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATION.
978
00:56:55,945 --> 00:56:58,348
ROTHSTEIN'S BOSS,
ROY STRYKER,
979
00:56:58,415 --> 00:57:01,084
BELIEVED THAT PICTURES
COULD BE A POWERFUL TOOL
980
00:57:01,151 --> 00:57:03,653
TO SHOW NOT ONLY THE
MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS
981
00:57:03,720 --> 00:57:05,422
THE NATION WAS FACING,
982
00:57:05,488 --> 00:57:08,658
BUT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT
WAS DOING ABOUT THEM.
983
00:57:08,725 --> 00:57:11,895
OVER THE COURSE OF 7 YEARS,
AS THE AGENCY BECAME
984
00:57:11,961 --> 00:57:15,031
PART OF THE FARM SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION,
985
00:57:15,098 --> 00:57:16,699
STRYKER WOULD LAUNCH
986
00:57:16,766 --> 00:57:19,369
AN UNPRECEDENTED
DOCUMENTARY EFFORT,
987
00:57:19,436 --> 00:57:23,573
EVENTUALLY AMASSING MORE
THAN 200,000 IMAGES
988
00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:26,609
OF AMERICA IN THE 1930s,
989
00:57:26,676 --> 00:57:29,813
TAKEN BY A TALENTED
DRE OF PHOTOGRAPHERS,
990
00:57:29,879 --> 00:57:33,983
INCLUDING WALKER EVANS,
RUSSELL LEE,
991
00:57:34,050 --> 00:57:39,155
MARION POST WALCOTT,
JOHN VACHON,
992
00:57:39,222 --> 00:57:41,591
AND DOROTHEA LANGE.
993
00:57:41,658 --> 00:57:43,326
Egan: HE SENT THEM OUT THERE
994
00:57:43,393 --> 00:57:46,229
WITH A VERY SIMPLE SET
OF INSTRUCTIONS--
995
00:57:46,296 --> 00:57:49,799
I WANT TO SEE THEIR EYES.
I WANT TO SEE THEIR FACES.
996
00:57:49,866 --> 00:57:52,235
I WANT TO SEE EMOTION.
997
00:57:52,302 --> 00:57:54,671
I WANT PEOPLE TO LOOK
AT THESE PICTURES
998
00:57:54,737 --> 00:57:57,373
AND NOT SEE ABSTRACTION.
999
00:57:57,440 --> 00:58:01,611
I WANT THEM TO SEE FOLKS
STRUGGLING IN THE LAND.
1000
00:58:01,678 --> 00:58:04,681
Narrator: PRIOR TO
ARRIVING IN OKLAHOMA,
1001
00:58:04,747 --> 00:58:07,350
ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN'
ASSIGNMENT HAD TAKEN HIM
1002
00:58:07,417 --> 00:58:10,220
ON A NATIONWIDE TOUR
OF THE DEPRESSION.
1003
00:58:10,286 --> 00:58:13,523
HE HAD DOCUMENTED RURAL
PEOPLE BEING DISPOSSESSED
1004
00:58:13,590 --> 00:58:16,626
TO CREATE SHENANDOAH
NATIONAL PARK,
1005
00:58:16,693 --> 00:58:19,529
DESPERATE TENANT FARMERS
IN ARKANSAS,
1006
00:58:19,596 --> 00:58:22,999
HARD-LUCK RANCHERS IN MONTANA,
1007
00:58:23,066 --> 00:58:26,703
AND SLUM DWELLERS
IN ST. LOUIS.
1008
00:58:26,769 --> 00:58:30,673
BUT THE MOST DISTRESSING
SITUATION HE EVER COENTERED,
1009
00:58:30,740 --> 00:58:32,842
HE REMEMBERED LATER,
WAS WHAT HE SAW
1010
00:58:32,909 --> 00:58:35,512
DRIVING THROUGH
THE DUST BOWL.
1011
00:58:35,578 --> 00:58:38,515
"IT WAS LIKE A LANDSCAPE
OF THE MOON," HE SAID,
1012
00:58:38,581 --> 00:58:41,651
POPULATED BY
"HARD-WORKING PEOPLE WHO,
1013
00:58:41,718 --> 00:58:44,721
"THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR
OWN, NEEDED ASSISTANCE,
1014
00:58:44,787 --> 00:58:47,790
"AND THE ONLY PLACE THEY
COULD GET THAT ASSISTANCE
1015
00:58:47,857 --> 00:58:51,160
WAS FROM THE GOVERNMENT."
1016
00:58:51,227 --> 00:58:54,664
ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTH
OF BOISE CITY,
1017
00:58:54,731 --> 00:58:56,833
CHEE ACROSS ART COBLE,
1018
00:58:56,900 --> 00:59:00,169
DIGGING OUT A FENCE POST
FROM A SAND DRIFT.
1019
00:59:00,236 --> 00:59:03,306
ROTHSTEIN CHATTED WITH HIM
AND HIS TWO YOUNG SONS,
1020
00:59:03,373 --> 00:59:07,043
SNAPPED A FEW PICTURES, AND WAS
GETTING BACK INTO HIS CAR
1021
00:59:07,110 --> 00:59:10,380
WHEN THE WIND
SUDDENLY PICKED UP.
1022
00:59:10,446 --> 00:59:14,484
LOOKING BACK, HE SAW THEM
BENDING INTO THE STORM,
1023
00:59:14,551 --> 00:59:19,756
POINTED HIS CAMERA AT THEM,
D ANICKED THE SHUTTER.
1024
00:59:19,822 --> 00:59:21,824
THE IMAGE THAT
ROTHSTEIN CAPTURED
1025
00:59:21,891 --> 00:59:25,194
TOUCHED EMOTIONAL CHORDS
WITH EVERYONE WHO SAW IT,
1026
00:59:25,261 --> 00:59:28,531
BECOMING THE ICONIC PICTURE
OF THE DUST BOWL
1027
00:59:28,598 --> 00:59:31,534
AND ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY
REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHS
1028
00:59:31,601 --> 00:59:34,370
OF THE 20th CENTURY.
1029
00:59:36,439 --> 00:59:38,808
IN ADDITION TO HIRING
PHOTOGRAPHERS,
1030
00:59:38,875 --> 00:59:42,812
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALSO
UNDERWROTE A DOCUMENTARY FILM,
1031
00:59:42,879 --> 00:59:44,547
AND THAT SUMMER IT PREMIERED
1032
00:59:44,614 --> 00:59:48,184
AT THE MISSION THEATRE
IN DALHART, TEXAS.
1033
00:59:48,251 --> 00:59:51,254
"THE PLOW THAT
BROKE THE PLAINS,"
1034
00:59:51,321 --> 00:59:53,523
DIRECTED BY PARE LORENTZ,
1035
00:59:53,590 --> 00:59:56,759
WAS MEANT TO DESCRIBE
THE CAUSES OF THE DUST BOWL
1036
00:59:56,826 --> 01:00:00,964
AND WHAT ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL
WAS TRYING TO DO ABOUT IT.
1037
01:00:01,030 --> 01:00:02,565
Film narrator:
THE GRASSLANDS--
1038
01:00:02,632 --> 01:00:07,203
A TREELESS, WINDSWEPT
CONTINENT OF GRASS...
1039
01:00:07,270 --> 01:00:10,239
A COUNTRY OF
HIGH WINDS AND SUN,
1040
01:00:10,306 --> 01:00:12,642
HIGH WINDS AND SUN.
1041
01:00:12,709 --> 01:00:15,578
Narrator: THE FILM PLACED MUCH
OF THE BLAME OF THE DUST BOWL
1042
01:00:15,645 --> 01:00:19,148
ON THE ARRIVAL OF THE TRACTOR
TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
1043
01:00:19,215 --> 01:00:21,417
AND DESCRIBED HOW
STURDY FARMERS
1044
01:00:21,484 --> 01:00:25,288
WHO HAD ONCE SLOWLY TURNED
THE SOIL BEHIND A TEAM OF MULES
1045
01:00:25,355 --> 01:00:28,091
SUDDENLY BECAME
A MECHANIZED FORCE
1046
01:00:28,157 --> 01:00:31,027
ARRAYED AGAINST NATURE ITSELF.
1047
01:00:32,662 --> 01:00:35,498
THE REACTION INSIDE
THE DUST BOWL ITSELF
1048
01:00:35,565 --> 01:00:37,233
WAS LARGELY NOT GOOD.
1049
01:00:37,300 --> 01:00:42,105
THEY DIDN'T LIKE SEEING
THEIR LAND OR THEMSELVES
1050
01:00:42,171 --> 01:00:46,743
AS CHARACTERS ON THE
BAD END OF A DRAMA.
1051
01:00:50,213 --> 01:00:51,914
Robertson: SOMETIMES
AT THE MOVIES,
1052
01:00:51,981 --> 01:00:54,984
THE NEWSREEL SHOWED
THE DUST BOWL,
1053
01:00:55,051 --> 01:00:59,088
AND THAT INFURIATED
THE LOCAL BOOSTERS,
1054
01:00:59,155 --> 01:01:01,157
BECAUSE THEY SAID,
"THAT'S BAD PUBLICITY.
1055
01:01:01,224 --> 01:01:04,193
WE DON'T NEED THAT
BAD PUBLICITY."
1056
01:01:04,260 --> 01:01:07,797
THE REST OF US BESIDES
THE BOOSTERS THOUGHT,
1057
01:01:07,864 --> 01:01:09,732
WELL, THEY GOT THAT RIGHT,
1058
01:01:09,799 --> 01:01:13,936
AND THEY'RE REALLY TELLING IT,
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO US--
1059
01:01:14,003 --> 01:01:16,105
THEY'RE REALLY
TELLING IT RIGHT.
1060
01:01:22,311 --> 01:01:25,081
Narrator:
IN THE SUMMER OF 1936,
1061
01:01:25,148 --> 01:01:29,185
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TOOK
A 4,000-MILE WHISTLE-STOP TOUR
1062
01:01:29,252 --> 01:01:31,721
ACROSS THE MIDWEST
AND NORTHERN PLAINS
1063
01:01:31,788 --> 01:01:33,823
TO SEE FOR HIMSELF THE EXTENT
1064
01:01:33,890 --> 01:01:37,593
OF THE NATION'S
AGRICULTURAL CRISIS.
1065
01:01:37,660 --> 01:01:39,796
Franklin Roosevelt:
MY FRIENDS,
1066
01:01:39,862 --> 01:01:43,466
I HAVE BEEN ON A
JOURNEY OF HUSBANDRY.
1067
01:01:43,533 --> 01:01:47,203
I TALKED WITH FAMILIES WHO
HAD LOST THEIR WHEAT CROP,
1068
01:01:47,270 --> 01:01:51,340
LOST THEIR CORN CROP,
LOST THEIR LIVESTOCK,
1069
01:01:51,407 --> 01:01:53,743
LOST THE WATER IN THEIR WELL,
1070
01:01:53,810 --> 01:01:56,212
AND COME THROUGH
TO THE END OF THE SUMMER
1071
01:01:56,279 --> 01:01:59,315
WITHOUT ONE DOLLAR
OF CASH RESOURCES,
1072
01:01:59,382 --> 01:02:02,852
FACING A WINTER
WITHOUT FEED OR FOOD,
1073
01:02:02,919 --> 01:02:04,821
FACING A PLANTING SEASON...
1074
01:02:04,887 --> 01:02:06,522
Narrator: AT THE SAME TIME,
1075
01:02:06,589 --> 01:02:09,692
HUGH BENNETT, THE HEAD OF
THE SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE,
1076
01:02:09,759 --> 01:02:13,696
WAS ON HIS OWN FACT-FINDING TOUR
WITH A COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS
1077
01:02:13,763 --> 01:02:16,766
EXPECTED TO MAKE
A REPORT TO FDR
1078
01:02:16,833 --> 01:02:20,002
ON THE FUTURE
OF THE GREAT PLAINS.
1079
01:02:20,069 --> 01:02:22,305
BENNETT'S FIRST STOP
WAS DALHART,
1080
01:02:22,371 --> 01:02:24,607
WHERE HOWARD FINNELL
WAS MAKING HEADWAY
1081
01:02:24,674 --> 01:02:27,944
WITH THE FARMERS HE WAS
TRYING TO CONVERT.
1082
01:02:28,010 --> 01:02:29,846
EARLIER IN THE YEAR,
1083
01:02:29,912 --> 01:02:33,516
FINNELL HAD PETITIONED SECRETARY
OF AGRICULTURE HENRY WALLACE
1084
01:02:33,583 --> 01:02:36,319
FOR $2 MILLION
IN EMERGENCY FUNDS
1085
01:02:36,385 --> 01:02:39,322
TO OFFER INCENTIVES
OF 20 CENTS AN ACRE
1086
01:02:39,388 --> 01:02:41,424
FOR THOSE WHO WOULD
TRY HIS METHOD
1087
01:02:41,491 --> 01:02:44,961
OF CONTOUR PLOWING
ON THEIR OWN LAND.
1088
01:02:45,027 --> 01:02:48,030
NEARLY 40,000 FARMERS
HAD SIGNED UP
1089
01:02:48,097 --> 01:02:52,835
AND GONE TO WORK
ON 5.5 MILLION ACRES.
1090
01:02:52,902 --> 01:02:55,171
Worster: THE ONLY PROGRAM
THAT WAS OUT THERE
1091
01:02:55,238 --> 01:02:57,907
THAT WAS EFFECTIVE
WAS THIS ONE,
1092
01:02:57,974 --> 01:03:02,245
AND FINNELL WAS THE POINT MAN
TO TRY TO MAKE IT WORK
1093
01:03:02,311 --> 01:03:05,148
AMONG THESE FARMERS WHO
HAD STILL NOT ADMITTED
1094
01:03:05,214 --> 01:03:07,083
THAT IT WAS THEIR FAULT,
1095
01:03:07,150 --> 01:03:10,253
FARMERS WHO BASICALLY SAID,
"THIS IS ALL NATURE'S DOING.
1096
01:03:10,319 --> 01:03:12,555
"LEAVE US ALONE.
THE RAINS WILL COME BACK,
1097
01:03:12,622 --> 01:03:15,091
AND WE WILL BE
BACK IN BUSINESS."
1098
01:03:15,158 --> 01:03:17,293
Narrator: BENNETT AND
HIS COMMITTEE MOVED ON
1099
01:03:17,360 --> 01:03:19,495
WITH THEIR TOUR,
PLANNING TO MEET UP
1100
01:03:19,562 --> 01:03:21,664
WITH THE PRESIDENT
IN NORTH DAKOTA
1101
01:03:21,731 --> 01:03:24,367
AND GIVE HIM THEIR FINDINGS.
1102
01:03:24,433 --> 01:03:26,302
THE FINAL REPORT ESTIMATED
1103
01:03:26,369 --> 01:03:31,040
THAT 80% OF THE GREAT PLAINS
WAS IN SOME STAGE OF EROSION
1104
01:03:31,107 --> 01:03:33,376
AND POINTED TO
WHAT BENNETT CALLED
1105
01:03:33,442 --> 01:03:36,412
"THE BASIC CAUSE"
OF THE PROBLEM--
1106
01:03:36,479 --> 01:03:40,850
"AN ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE UPON THE
REGION A SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE
1107
01:03:40,917 --> 01:03:44,420
TO WHICH THE PLAINS
ARE NOT ADAPTED."
1108
01:03:47,056 --> 01:03:48,825
BUT, IT CONCLUDED,
1109
01:03:48,891 --> 01:03:53,129
THE NATION "CANNOT AFFORD
TO LET THE FARMER FAIL."
1110
01:03:53,196 --> 01:03:56,899
HIS BOSS WAS NOT ABOUT
TO LET THAT HAPPEN.
1111
01:03:56,966 --> 01:03:58,835
Roosevelt:
BACK EAST, THERE HAVE BEEN
1112
01:03:58,901 --> 01:04:03,272
ALL KINDS OF REPORTS THAT
OUT IN THE DROUGHT AREA
1113
01:04:03,339 --> 01:04:09,178
THERE WAS DESPONDENCY,
A LACK OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE,
1114
01:04:09,245 --> 01:04:14,283
AND A GENERAL
ATMOSPHERE OF GLOOM.
1115
01:04:14,350 --> 01:04:17,286
BUT I HAD A HUNCH--
AND IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE--
1116
01:04:17,353 --> 01:04:19,088
WHEN I GOT OUT HERE,
1117
01:04:19,155 --> 01:04:23,259
I'D FIND THAT YOU PEOPLE
HAD YOUR CHINS OUT...
1118
01:04:23,326 --> 01:04:28,064
[APPLAUSE]
1119
01:04:28,130 --> 01:04:32,401
THAT YOU ARE NOT
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DAY
1120
01:04:32,468 --> 01:04:35,504
WHEN THIS COUNTRY
WOULD BE DEPOPULATED,
1121
01:04:35,571 --> 01:04:39,275
BUT THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN
EXPECT TO REMAIN HERE.
1122
01:04:39,342 --> 01:04:41,544
[APPLAUSE]
1123
01:04:48,351 --> 01:04:51,287
Frantz: TO US,
HE WAS A SAVIOR.
1124
01:04:51,354 --> 01:04:57,126
HE JUST...HE GAVE US HOPE
WHERE WE HAD NONE.
1125
01:04:57,193 --> 01:05:02,965
I CAN REMEMBER MY DAD SAYING
THAT HE NORMALLY DIDN'T
1126
01:05:03,032 --> 01:05:05,968
VOTE DEMOCRAT, BUT HE
THOUGHT HE WOULD THAT TIME,
1127
01:05:06,035 --> 01:05:09,305
AND I THINK HE BECAME A
STAUNCH DEMOCRAT AFTER THAT.
1128
01:05:09,372 --> 01:05:13,242
Roosevelt: NO CRACKED EARTH,
NO BLISTERING SUN,
1129
01:05:13,309 --> 01:05:17,446
NO BURNING WIND
ARE A PERMANENT MATCH
1130
01:05:17,513 --> 01:05:21,284
FOR THE INDOMITABLE AMERICAN
FARMERS AND STOCKMEN,
1131
01:05:21,350 --> 01:05:23,486
AND THEIR WIVES
AND CHILDREN,
1132
01:05:23,552 --> 01:05:26,656
WHO HAVE CARRIED ON
THROUGH DESPERATE DAYS.
1133
01:05:26,722 --> 01:05:30,593
HERE'S A LAND THAT GOD HIMSELF
SEEMS TO HAVE GIVEN UP ON...
1134
01:05:30,660 --> 01:05:33,529
Roosevelt: I SHALL NEVER FORGET
THE FIELDS OF WHEAT...
1135
01:05:33,596 --> 01:05:35,531
Egan: AND THE FACT THAT
THE PRESIDENT STILL
1136
01:05:35,598 --> 01:05:38,601
GAVE IT HIS ATTENTION--
SO THAT WAS A VERY BIG DEAL
1137
01:05:38,668 --> 01:05:41,604
AT A TIME WHEN THEY
FELT SO ABANDONED,
1138
01:05:41,671 --> 01:05:43,806
AND YOU CAN'T UNDERSTATE
THE IMPORTANCE
1139
01:05:43,873 --> 01:05:46,108
OF JUST GIVING IT
SOME ATTENTION.
1140
01:05:46,175 --> 01:05:49,545
Roosevelt: IT WAS THEIR
FATHERS' TASK TO MAKE HOMES,
1141
01:05:49,612 --> 01:05:53,015
IT IS THEIR TASK
TO KEEP THESE HOMES,
1142
01:05:53,082 --> 01:05:57,153
AND IT IS OUR TASK TO
HELP THEM WIN THEIR FIGHT.
1143
01:06:02,258 --> 01:06:04,060
Man: WE'RE CONTINUING WITH
1144
01:06:04,126 --> 01:06:06,195
MR. WOODY GUTHRIE'S
DUST BOWL SONGS
1145
01:06:06,262 --> 01:06:09,398
FROM TEXAS, OKLAHOMA,
AND CALIFORNIA.
1146
01:06:09,465 --> 01:06:11,934
Guthrie: AS I RAMBLED AROUND
OVER THE COUNTRY
1147
01:06:12,001 --> 01:06:14,036
AND KEPT LOOKING
AT ALL THESE PEOPLE,
1148
01:06:14,103 --> 01:06:17,873
SEEING HOW THEY LIVED
OUTSIDE LIKE COYOTES
1149
01:06:17,940 --> 01:06:20,910
AROUND IN THE TREES AND TIMBER
AND UNDER THE BRIDGES
1150
01:06:20,977 --> 01:06:22,378
AND ALONG ALL THE
RAILROAD TRACKS
1151
01:06:22,445 --> 01:06:24,814
AND IN THEIR LITTLE SHACK
HOUSES THATHT BUILT
1152
01:06:24,880 --> 01:06:27,016
OUT OF CARDBOARD
AND TOE SACKS
1153
01:06:27,083 --> 01:06:33,255
AND OLD CORRUGATED IRON THAT
THEY GOT OUT OF THE DUMPS--
1154
01:06:33,322 --> 01:06:37,793
THAT JUST STRUCK ME
TO WRITE THIS SONG.
1155
01:06:37,860 --> 01:06:41,530
♪ I AIN'T GOT NO HOME,
I'M JUST A-ROAMIN' ROUND ♪
1156
01:06:41,597 --> 01:06:44,333
Narrator: DURING THE 10 YEARS
OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION,
1157
01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:48,838
CALIFORNIA'S POPULATION
WOULD GROW MORE THAN 20%.
1158
01:06:48,904 --> 01:06:53,342
HALF OF THE NEWCOMERS CAME
FROM CITIES, NOT FARMS.
1159
01:06:53,409 --> 01:06:58,080
ONE IN 6 WERE PROFESSIONALS
OR WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS.
1160
01:06:58,147 --> 01:07:02,885
OF THE 315,000 WHO ARRIVED
FROM OKLAHOMA, TEXAS,
1161
01:07:02,952 --> 01:07:04,920
AND NEIGHBORING STATES,
1162
01:07:04,987 --> 01:07:09,692
ONLY 16,000 WERE FROM
THE DUST BOWL ITSELF.
1163
01:07:09,759 --> 01:07:13,262
BUT REGARDLESS OF WHERE
THEY ACTUALLY CAME FROM,
1164
01:07:13,329 --> 01:07:16,265
REGARDLESS OF THEIR SKILLS
AND THEIR EDUCATION
1165
01:07:16,332 --> 01:07:18,234
AND THEIR INDIVIDUAL REASONS
1166
01:07:18,300 --> 01:07:21,270
FOR SEEKING A NEW LIFE
IN A NEW PLACE,
1167
01:07:21,337 --> 01:07:24,974
TO MOST CALIFORNIANS--
AND TO THE NATION AT LARGE--
1168
01:07:25,041 --> 01:07:27,376
THEY WERE ALL THE SAME,
1169
01:07:27,443 --> 01:07:30,713
AND THEY ALL HAD
THE SAME NAME.
1170
01:07:30,780 --> 01:07:33,215
"OKIES." AND WE WERE
MADE FUN OF,
1171
01:07:33,282 --> 01:07:36,852
AND, "YOU TALK FUNNY,"
AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THAT.
1172
01:07:36,919 --> 01:07:40,189
OR, "TALK SOME MORE.
YOU TALK FUNNY."
1173
01:07:40,256 --> 01:07:42,925
AND YOU HATED THAT
BECAUSE IT SET YOU APART.
1174
01:07:42,992 --> 01:07:45,594
Worster: THERE WAS
A SIGN IN A MOVIE THEATER
1175
01:07:45,661 --> 01:07:47,630
IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY
OF CALIFORNIA
1176
01:07:47,696 --> 01:07:51,700
WHICH BASICALLY SAID
"NIGGERS AND OKIES UPSTAIRS."
1177
01:07:51,767 --> 01:07:56,472
THAT IS, YOU CAN'T SIT
DOWN HERE WITH REAL PEOPLE.
1178
01:07:58,307 --> 01:08:00,176
THEY WERE
HORRIBLY MISTREATED.
1179
01:08:00,242 --> 01:08:01,777
IN SOME CASES,
THEY WERE TREATED
1180
01:08:01,844 --> 01:08:04,080
THE WAY BLACKS WERE
TREATED IN THE SOUTH.
1181
01:08:04,146 --> 01:08:06,182
THERE WERE SIGNS
SIMILAR TO THE SIGNS
1182
01:08:06,248 --> 01:08:08,217
THEY HAD IN DALHART,
TEXAS, THAT SAID,
1183
01:08:08,284 --> 01:08:11,687
"BLACK MAN, DON'T LET THE
SUN GO DOWN ON YOU HERE."
1184
01:08:11,754 --> 01:08:14,056
SIMILARLY, THERE WERE SIGNS ALL
THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL VALLEY
1185
01:08:14,123 --> 01:08:17,093
SAYING, "OKIE, GO BACK.
WE DON'T WANT YOU."
1186
01:08:19,562 --> 01:08:22,832
Narrator: ABOUT A THIRD OF
ALL THE RECENT ARRIVALS,
1187
01:08:22,898 --> 01:08:24,700
MANY OF THEM
FORMER SHARECROPPERS
1188
01:08:24,767 --> 01:08:26,368
FROM THE COTTON BELT,
1189
01:08:26,435 --> 01:08:29,872
ENDED UP IN CALIFORNIA'S
AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS,
1190
01:08:29,939 --> 01:08:32,708
WHERE FARMERS HAD ALWAYS
RELIED ON MIGRANT LABOR
1191
01:08:32,775 --> 01:08:36,645
TO PICK THEIR COTTON,
VEGETABLES, AND FRUITS.
1192
01:08:36,712 --> 01:08:38,247
THEY SETTLED IN DEVELOPMENTS
1193
01:08:38,314 --> 01:08:41,450
CALLED "LITTLE OKLAHOMAS"
AND "OKIEVILLES"
1194
01:08:41,517 --> 01:08:43,285
OR MOVED WITH THE HARVESTS,
1195
01:08:43,352 --> 01:08:48,224
SOMETIMES TRAVELING 700 TO
1,000 MILES IN THE SEASON,
1196
01:08:48,290 --> 01:08:52,161
STAYING IN SQUALID ROADSIDE
CAMPS CALLED "JUNGLES"
1197
01:08:52,228 --> 01:08:54,296
OR SIMPLY PUTTING UP A TENT
1198
01:08:54,363 --> 01:08:57,766
ALONG THE ROAD
OR IN AN UNUSED FIELD.
1199
01:08:57,833 --> 01:09:00,035
AND THEY FOUND
THEMSELVES AT THE MERCY
1200
01:09:00,102 --> 01:09:03,105
OF THE CONTRACTORS,
WHO CONSPIRED WITH THE GROWERS
1201
01:09:03,172 --> 01:09:06,942
TO DRIVE DOWN THE
FIELD WORKERS' WAGES.
1202
01:09:07,009 --> 01:09:10,746
Woman: "THEY HAVE THE
SIMPLE AND STURDY VALUES
1203
01:09:10,813 --> 01:09:12,748
"OFTEN BEMOANED AS LOST.
1204
01:09:12,815 --> 01:09:15,885
"THEY ARE PROUD,
STRONG PEOPLE,
1205
01:09:15,951 --> 01:09:20,856
"PATIENT, UNCOMPLAINING,
INTELLIGENT.
1206
01:09:20,923 --> 01:09:23,659
"THEY WANT FIRST OF ALL TO WORK,
1207
01:09:23,726 --> 01:09:25,995
"TO HAVE A HOME
FOR THEIR FAMILIES,
1208
01:09:26,061 --> 01:09:28,631
"TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN.
1209
01:09:28,697 --> 01:09:33,035
"THESE SIMPLE RIGHTS ARE PART
OF THE HERITAGE OF AMERICANS.
1210
01:09:33,102 --> 01:09:35,471
"IT IS DIFFICULT
FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND
1211
01:09:35,538 --> 01:09:38,474
"THAT NONE OF THEM REMAIN.
1212
01:09:38,541 --> 01:09:41,610
"THEIR WHOLE LIVES
ARE CONCENTRATED NOW
1213
01:09:41,677 --> 01:09:44,947
"ON ONE INSTINCTIVE PROBLEM--
1214
01:09:45,014 --> 01:09:47,616
THAT OF KEEPING ALIVE."
1215
01:09:47,683 --> 01:09:49,552
SANORA BABB.
1216
01:09:51,554 --> 01:09:53,889
Narrator: SANORA BABB,
A FORMER REPORTER
1217
01:09:53,956 --> 01:09:57,193
WHO HAD GROWN UP IN THE AREA
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND,
1218
01:09:57,259 --> 01:10:01,997
HAD FOUND A NEW JOB WITH THE
FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.
1219
01:10:02,064 --> 01:10:04,099
WITH HER BOSS, TOM COLLINS,
1220
01:10:04,166 --> 01:10:06,702
SHE WENT UP AND DOWN
THE CENTRAL VALLEY,
1221
01:10:06,769 --> 01:10:10,039
INFORMING THE NEWLY ARRIVED
MIGRAN ATSUT PROGRAMS
1222
01:10:10,105 --> 01:10:12,875
TO PROVIDE THEM WITH FOOD
AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
1223
01:10:12,942 --> 01:10:16,712
FOR THEIR FAMILIES,
EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN,
1224
01:10:16,779 --> 01:10:18,948
AND BETTER LIVING CONDITIONS.
1225
01:10:21,917 --> 01:10:23,886
Sanora Babb portrayer:
ONLY A FEW DAYS AGO,
1226
01:10:23,953 --> 01:10:26,755
WE MET A YOUNG MAN WALKING
ALONG THE ROAD TO TOWN
1227
01:10:26,822 --> 01:10:29,358
IN SEARCH OF IMMEDIATE
WORK AND HELP.
1228
01:10:29,425 --> 01:10:32,294
HIS WIFE HAD HAD
A BABY 3 DAYS BEFORE
1229
01:10:32,361 --> 01:10:35,664
IN AN ABANDONED MILK HOUSE
SEPARATED FROM ANY CAMP,
1230
01:10:35,731 --> 01:10:39,435
WHERE THEY HAD TAKEN REFUGE
DURING THE RECENT STORMS.
1231
01:10:39,501 --> 01:10:41,537
HE WAS DESPERATE.
1232
01:10:41,604 --> 01:10:44,873
SINCE THE BIRTH, HIS WIFE,
THEIR OTHER CHILDREN,
1233
01:10:44,940 --> 01:10:47,810
AND HE HIMSELF HAD NOT
EATEN FOR 3 DAYS.
1234
01:10:47,876 --> 01:10:51,180
IF HE DID NOT GET SOMETHING
FOR THEM AT ONCE,
1235
01:10:51,247 --> 01:10:53,916
SHE AND THE BABY WOULD DIE.
1236
01:10:56,118 --> 01:10:58,220
Narrator: WHEN THE
REFUGEES LEARNED
1237
01:10:58,287 --> 01:11:00,823
SANORA HAD GROWN UP
ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
1238
01:11:00,889 --> 01:11:07,029
IT HELPED ESTABLISH A TRUST AND
RESPECT THAT EXTENDED BOTH WAYS.
1239
01:11:07,096 --> 01:11:09,465
THE GOVERNMENT
HAD ALSO ASKED
1240
01:11:09,531 --> 01:11:13,202
THE PHOTOGRAPHER DOROTHEA LANGE
TO COME BACK TO CALIFORNIA
1241
01:11:13,269 --> 01:11:17,373
TO DOCUMENT THE DEPLORABLE
CONDITIONS AMONG THE MIGRANTS.
1242
01:11:28,550 --> 01:11:31,887
TOM COLLINS AND THE FSA
USED HER PHOTOS
1243
01:11:31,954 --> 01:11:35,924
TO PH R CREATION OF A
HANDFUL OF GOVERNMENT CAMPS
1244
01:11:35,991 --> 01:11:38,594
WITH BETTER SHELTER
AND SANITATION FOR
1245
01:11:38,661 --> 01:11:44,366
THE STEADY STREAM OF REFUGEES
WHO WERE ARRIVING EVERY DAY.
1246
01:11:44,433 --> 01:11:47,803
COLLINS INSISTED THAT
THE CAMPS BE SELF-GOVERNED,
1247
01:11:47,870 --> 01:11:51,507
WITH ELECTED COMMITTEES
RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING FROM
1248
01:11:51,573 --> 01:11:56,912
SEWING CLUBS AND LIBRARIES
TO CHILDCARE AND CLEANLINESS.
1249
01:11:56,979 --> 01:12:02,284
BUT ONLY A LUCKY FEW WERE
ABLE TO FIND SPACE THERE.
1250
01:12:02,351 --> 01:12:06,221
AND WHILE THE GROWERS DEPENDED
ON THE MIGRANTS FOR CHEAP LABOR,
1251
01:12:06,288 --> 01:12:09,992
THE LOCALS, WHO WERE THEMSELVES
SUFFERING FROM THE DEPRESSION,
1252
01:12:10,059 --> 01:12:11,994
DIDN'T APPRECIATE ANYTHING
1253
01:12:12,061 --> 01:12:15,264
THAT ENCOURAGED
THE NEWCOMERS TO STAY,
1254
01:12:15,331 --> 01:12:19,935
NOR DID THE GROWERS
ONCE THE HARVEST WAS OVER.
1255
01:12:22,371 --> 01:12:24,373
Guthrie:
♪ IT TAKES A WORRIED MAN ♪
1256
01:12:24,440 --> 01:12:26,642
♪ TO SING A WORRIED SONG ♪
1257
01:12:26,709 --> 01:12:28,744
♪ TAKES A WORRIED MAN ♪
1258
01:12:28,811 --> 01:12:30,346
♪ TO SING A WORRIED SONG ♪
1259
01:12:30,412 --> 01:12:31,814
♪ I'M WORRIED NOW... ♪
1260
01:12:31,880 --> 01:12:33,549
Narrator: LIKE MANY
OF THE NEW ARRIVALS,
1261
01:12:33,615 --> 01:12:37,019
WOODY GUTHRIE HAD SETTLED IN
ONE OF CALIFORNIA'S CITIES--
1262
01:12:37,086 --> 01:12:39,688
LOS ANGELES, WHERE HE
WORKED WASHING DISHES
1263
01:12:39,755 --> 01:12:43,325
AND SINGING IN BARS
BEFORE FINALLY LANDING
1264
01:12:43,392 --> 01:12:48,464
HIS OWN SHOW
ON RADIO STATION KFVD.
1265
01:12:48,530 --> 01:12:51,800
EACH DAY, HE PERFORMED
HIS OWN SONGS, AS WELL AS
1266
01:12:51,867 --> 01:12:56,238
OLDER FOLK TUNES HE HAD LEARNED
IN OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS,
1267
01:12:56,305 --> 01:12:59,508
WHICH REMINDED MANY LISTENERS
IN HIS GROWING AUDIENCE
1268
01:12:59,575 --> 01:13:01,677
OF THE HOMES THEY HAD LEFT.
1269
01:13:01,744 --> 01:13:03,746
♪ I ASKED THAT JUDGE... ♪
1270
01:13:03,812 --> 01:13:05,514
Narrator: BUT THOUGH
HE WAS BECOMING
1271
01:13:05,581 --> 01:13:07,683
A WELL-KNOWN
RADIO PERSONALITY,
1272
01:13:07,750 --> 01:13:10,119
HE, TOO, FELT THE
STING OF BIGOTRY
1273
01:13:10,185 --> 01:13:14,523
AIMED AT ANYONE
CONSIDERED AN "OKIE."
1274
01:13:14,590 --> 01:13:17,192
HE BEGAN SPENDING
TIME TRAVELING
1275
01:13:17,259 --> 01:13:20,162
AND PERFORMING FOR FREE
IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY,
1276
01:13:20,229 --> 01:13:23,732
WHTHE TREATMENT OF THE
FAERENFARM WORKERS POLITICIZED ,
1277
01:13:23,799 --> 01:13:28,670
AND HIS MUSIC,
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
1278
01:13:28,737 --> 01:13:31,306
HE SANG AT PICKET
LINES OF WORKERS
1279
01:13:31,373 --> 01:13:33,375
HOLDING OUT FOR HIGHER WAGES
1280
01:13:33,442 --> 01:13:36,345
AND STARNEWSPAPERTER
COLUMN, "WOODY SEZ,"
1281
01:13:36,412 --> 01:13:39,648
IN THE LEFT-LEANING
"PEOPLE'S WORLD."
1282
01:13:39,715 --> 01:13:42,351
"I AIN'T A COMMUNIST
NECESSARILY," HE SAID,
1283
01:13:42,418 --> 01:13:45,587
"BUT I'VE BEEN IN THE RED
ALL MY LIFE."
1284
01:13:45,654 --> 01:13:48,190
Guthrie: ♪ LOTS OF FOLKS
BACK EAST, THEY SAY ♪
1285
01:13:48,257 --> 01:13:50,192
♪ IS LEAVIN' HOME EVERY DAY ♪
1286
01:13:50,259 --> 01:13:51,894
♪ BEATIN' A HOT OLD DUSTY WAY ♪
1287
01:13:51,960 --> 01:13:53,662
♪ TO THE CALIFORNIA LINE ♪
1288
01:13:53,729 --> 01:13:56,565
Narrator: GUTHRIE WAS OFFENDED
THAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE
1289
01:13:56,632 --> 01:13:59,101
NEARLY PASSED A LAW CLOSING
THE STATE'S BORDERS
1290
01:13:59,168 --> 01:14:01,136
TO PEOPLE IT CALLED
1291
01:14:01,203 --> 01:14:03,806
"PAUPERS AND PERSONS LIKELY
TO BECOME PUBLIC CHARGES."
1292
01:14:03,872 --> 01:14:07,509
Guthrie: ♪ NOW, THE POLICE
AT THE PORT OF ENTRY SAY ♪
1293
01:14:07,576 --> 01:14:12,181
♪ YOU'RE NUMBER 14,000
FOR TODAY... ♪
1294
01:14:12,247 --> 01:14:15,551
Narrator: THEN, WITHOUT ANY
LEGAL AUTHORITY,
1295
01:14:15,617 --> 01:14:21,223
THE LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF
DISPATCHED 125 OF HIS OFFICERS
1296
01:14:21,290 --> 01:14:26,094
TO THE MAIN ENTRY POINTS FROM
ARIZONA, NEVADA, AND OREGON.
1297
01:14:26,161 --> 01:14:28,330
FOR 6 WEEKS,
THEY INTIMIDATED
1298
01:14:28,397 --> 01:14:31,266
ANYONE THEY
CONSIDERED "VAGRANTS,"
1299
01:14:31,333 --> 01:14:34,970
INCLUDING CLARENCE AND
IRENE BECK'S FATHER SAM,
1300
01:14:35,037 --> 01:14:37,940
FROM WHEELESS, OKLAHOMA.
1301
01:14:38,006 --> 01:14:40,809
Beck: MY FATHER WAS
A DUST BOWL OKIE.
1302
01:14:40,876 --> 01:14:44,813
HE GOT PUT IN JAIL WHEN HE
CROSSED INTO CALIFORNIA
1303
01:14:44,880 --> 01:14:47,783
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T
HAVE 50 BUCKS.
1304
01:14:47,850 --> 01:14:53,322
WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED,
HE WAS ARRESTED AS A VAGRANT
1305
01:14:53,388 --> 01:14:57,025
AND WOULD HAVE GONE
TO JAIL EXCEPT THAT
1306
01:14:57,092 --> 01:15:01,396
ONE OF HIS EX-NEIGHBORS IN
OKLAHOMA KNEW HE WAS COMING
1307
01:15:01,463 --> 01:15:03,499
AND WAS PREPARED FOR THIS
1308
01:15:03,565 --> 01:15:08,904
MET HIM, ARRANGED THAT
HE COULD STAY WITH THEM
1309
01:15:08,971 --> 01:15:11,173
SO HE NO LONGER WAS A VAGRANT.
1310
01:15:13,175 --> 01:15:14,977
Narrator: FOR A WHILE,
1311
01:15:15,043 --> 01:15:17,379
BECK WAS ALLOWED TO STAY
AT A CHICKEN FARM,
1312
01:15:17,446 --> 01:15:20,816
WHERE HE WORKED IN EXCHANGE
FOR EGGS TO EAT.
1313
01:15:20,883 --> 01:15:22,718
BUT HE FINALLY LANDED A JOB
1314
01:15:22,784 --> 01:15:24,753
WITH THE LOS ANGELES
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
1315
01:15:24,820 --> 01:15:28,991
AND STARTED A NEW LIFE FOR
HIMSELF AND HIS DAUGHTER.
1316
01:15:29,057 --> 01:15:30,359
Hauer: IT'S A FRESH START.
1317
01:15:30,425 --> 01:15:33,395
I GUESS THAT'S THE WORDS
TO USE--A FRESH START,
1318
01:15:33,462 --> 01:15:35,097
WHICH IT WAS.
1319
01:15:35,163 --> 01:15:38,200
IT REALLY WAS.
1320
01:15:38,267 --> 01:15:40,869
SO THANK GOD OF THAT.
1321
01:15:40,936 --> 01:15:44,506
I WAS BLESSED THAT WAY.
1322
01:15:44,573 --> 01:15:50,679
Narrator: SAM BECK DIED OF A
HEART ATTACK IN 1947, AT AGE 54,
1323
01:15:50,746 --> 01:15:54,783
SPREADING BLACKTOP
ON A CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY.
1324
01:15:54,850 --> 01:15:57,452
Beck: HE HAD A TOUGH LIFE.
1325
01:15:57,519 --> 01:16:00,022
VERY TOUGH LIFE.
1326
01:16:00,088 --> 01:16:03,058
HE AND HIS LIFE WAS
THE REASON THAT I SAID,
1327
01:16:03,125 --> 01:16:09,865
"GOD, WHAT DO I HAVE
TO DO TO HAVE MONEY
1328
01:16:09,932 --> 01:16:12,668
"AND NOT BE A FARMER,
AND I'LL DO IT.
1329
01:16:12,734 --> 01:16:14,937
"I DON'T CARE WHETHER
IT'S BEING A PIMP.
1330
01:16:15,003 --> 01:16:17,940
"I DON'T CARE
WHETHER IT'S STEALING.
1331
01:16:18,006 --> 01:16:21,577
"WHATEVER IT TAKES,
I'M NOT GONNA FARM,
1332
01:16:21,643 --> 01:16:25,981
AND I'M NOT GOING
TO BE BROKE."
1333
01:16:26,048 --> 01:16:30,452
AND THAT'S BEEN
MY DRIVING FORCE.
1334
01:16:30,519 --> 01:16:33,055
IT HAS BEEN.
1335
01:16:33,121 --> 01:16:38,193
AND I'M NOT A FARMER,
AND I'M NOT BROKE.
1336
01:16:38,260 --> 01:16:41,129
I'M NOT A PIMP,
EITHER, THANK GOD.
1337
01:16:43,765 --> 01:16:48,570
Guthrie:
♪ I'M A DUST BOWL REFUGEE ♪
1338
01:16:48,637 --> 01:16:51,340
Narrator: CALVIN CRABILL'S
FATHER, JOHN,
1339
01:16:51,406 --> 01:16:53,609
HAD RESCUED
HIS WIFE AND FAMILY
1340
01:16:53,675 --> 01:16:55,978
FROM THE DUST
OF EASTERN COLORADO,
1341
01:16:56,044 --> 01:16:59,881
BUT THE HARD TIMES FOLLOWED
HIM TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
1342
01:16:59,948 --> 01:17:03,518
HE MOVED FROM ONE TEMPORARY
JOB TO ANOTHER--
1343
01:17:03,585 --> 01:17:08,090
A COLORADO COWBOY, FAR FROM
THE PLAINS HE LOVED.
1344
01:17:08,156 --> 01:17:11,093
Crabill: MY FATHER
WAS CALLED AN OKIE.
1345
01:17:11,159 --> 01:17:13,528
HE WAS A GENTLE, QUIET MAN,
1346
01:17:13,595 --> 01:17:16,598
SO I THINK HE COULD
TAKE IT PRETTY WELL.
1347
01:17:16,665 --> 01:17:20,135
IT MADE ME WITH A CHIP
ON MY SHOULDER
1348
01:17:20,202 --> 01:17:22,404
THAT I PROBABLY
CARRY TO THIS DAY,
1349
01:17:22,471 --> 01:17:24,806
THAT I WAS VERY AWARE
THAT I THOUGHT I WAS
1350
01:17:24,873 --> 01:17:27,242
THE POOREST KID
IN HIGH SCHOOL.
1351
01:17:27,309 --> 01:17:30,045
WE RENTED A LITTLE HOUSE
ON THE ALLEY IN BURBANK,
1352
01:17:30,112 --> 01:17:33,515
AND THE HOUSE IN FRONT,
THE PEOPLE HAD MORE MONEY,
1353
01:17:33,582 --> 01:17:35,984
AND THEY WERE
VERY AWARE THAT WE WERE
1354
01:17:36,051 --> 01:17:39,254
THE POOR PEOPLE
ON THE BLOCK.
1355
01:17:39,321 --> 01:17:40,956
IN THOSE DAYS,
YOU COULD GET SOMETHING
1356
01:17:41,023 --> 01:17:42,424
TO PUT ON YOUR LICENSE PLATE
1357
01:17:42,491 --> 01:17:44,326
THAT WOULD BE
SOME KIND OF A SLOGAN.
1358
01:17:44,393 --> 01:17:46,294
IT SAID "PEACEFUL VALLEY,"
1359
01:17:46,361 --> 01:17:48,030
AND SO MY FATHER
LIKED THAT PLACE,
1360
01:17:48,096 --> 01:17:49,931
SO HE PUT IT
ON HIS LICENSE PLATE.
1361
01:17:49,998 --> 01:17:53,535
THE PEOPLE AT HIS JOB
CROSSED OUT THE "V"
1362
01:17:53,602 --> 01:17:55,971
AND WROTE "PEACEFUL ALLEY"
1363
01:17:56,038 --> 01:18:00,442
BECAUSE THEY KNEW
HE LIVED ON AN ALLEY.
1364
01:18:00,509 --> 01:18:03,078
SO IF YOU'RE DOWN,
THEY PUSH YOU DOWN, FELLA,
1365
01:18:03,145 --> 01:18:04,680
THEY PUSH YOU DOWN,
1366
01:18:04,746 --> 01:18:06,248
AND THAT'S WHAT
HAPPENED TO HIM,
1367
01:18:06,314 --> 01:18:10,085
OVER AND OVER AND OVER,
OVER AND OVER.
1368
01:18:10,152 --> 01:18:14,423
Babb portrayer:
HOW BRAVE THEY ALL ARE.
1369
01:18:14,489 --> 01:18:17,025
I HAVE NOT HEARD
ONE COMPLAINT.
1370
01:18:17,092 --> 01:18:21,430
THEY ALL WANT WORK
AND HATE TO HAVE HELP.
1371
01:18:21,496 --> 01:18:24,199
Narrator: AS SHE MOVED
FROM CAMP TO CAMP,
1372
01:18:24,266 --> 01:18:26,768
SANORA BABB KEPT
A NIGHTLY JOURNAL,
1373
01:18:26,835 --> 01:18:29,204
WHICH SHE PLANNED TO
TURN INTO A NOVEL,
1374
01:18:29,271 --> 01:18:33,709
ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHE HAD MET
AND WHAT THEY HAD GONE THROUGH.
1375
01:18:33,775 --> 01:18:38,180
SHE ALSO WROTE DETAILED REPORTS
FOR HER BOSS TOM COLLINS,
1376
01:18:38,246 --> 01:18:40,382
WHO WAS REGULARLY
SHARING HER NOTES
1377
01:18:40,449 --> 01:18:43,218
WITH A WRITER WORKING
ON A MUCK-RAKING ARTICLE
1378
01:18:43,285 --> 01:18:48,090
FOR THE "SAN FRANCISCO NEWS"
NAMED JOHN STEINBECK.
1379
01:18:48,156 --> 01:18:50,192
Babb portrayer:
WHEN STEINBECK FIRST CAME,
1380
01:18:50,258 --> 01:18:53,662
HE HAD TO STOP SEEING THEM
BEFORE THE DAY WAS OUT.
1381
01:18:53,729 --> 01:18:55,731
TOM COLLINS SAID HE SAID,
1382
01:18:55,797 --> 01:18:58,366
"BY GOD, I CAN'T
STAND ANYMORE.
1383
01:18:58,433 --> 01:19:02,404
I'M GOING AWAY AND BLOW
THE LID OFF THIS PLACE."
1384
01:19:02,471 --> 01:19:04,840
Narrator: SANORA BABB
WOULD EVENTUALLY SEND
1385
01:19:04,906 --> 01:19:07,576
SOME CHAPTERS OF HER NOVEL
TO BENNETT CERF,
1386
01:19:07,642 --> 01:19:11,079
A PROMINENT EDITOR OF
RANDOM HOUSE IN NEW YORK CITY,
1387
01:19:11,146 --> 01:19:13,181
WHO WAS SO IMPRESSED
HE ASKED HER
1388
01:19:13,248 --> 01:19:16,084
TO COME EAST TO TALK ABOUT IT.
1389
01:19:16,151 --> 01:19:20,355
BUT BY THE TIME SHE ARRIVED,
IN THE WINTER OF 1939,
1390
01:19:20,422 --> 01:19:22,157
STEINBECK HAD COME OUT WITH
1391
01:19:22,224 --> 01:19:24,526
HIS OWN PULITZER
PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL,
1392
01:19:24,593 --> 01:19:26,361
"THE GRAPES OF WRATH,"
1393
01:19:26,428 --> 01:19:29,397
WHICH CHRONICLED THE
TRIBULATIONS OF THE JOAD FAMILY,
1394
01:19:29,464 --> 01:19:32,267
TENANT FARMERS WHO HAD
MIGRATED TO CALIFORNIA
1395
01:19:32,334 --> 01:19:35,637
FROM THE COTTON FIELDS
OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA--
1396
01:19:35,704 --> 01:19:38,440
NOT THE DUST BOWL.
1397
01:19:38,507 --> 01:19:41,877
THE BOOK WAS SUCH A HIT THAT
THE MARKET COULDN'T SUPPORT
1398
01:19:41,943 --> 01:19:44,279
A SECOND NOVEL
ON THE SAME SUBJECT,
1399
01:19:44,346 --> 01:19:49,785
AND HER EDITOR ADVISED SANORA
TO PUT HER MANUSCRIPT ASIDE.
1400
01:19:49,851 --> 01:19:54,556
IT WAS FINALLY
PUBLISHED IN 2004,
1401
01:19:54,623 --> 01:19:57,793
A YEAR BEFORE HER DEATH.
1402
01:19:57,859 --> 01:20:00,695
Babb portrayer: YOU, WHO LIVE
IN ANY KIND OF COMFORT
1403
01:20:00,762 --> 01:20:03,799
OR CONVENIENCE, DO NOT
KNOW HOW THESE PEOPLE
1404
01:20:03,865 --> 01:20:07,169
CAN SURVIVE THESE
THINGS, DO YOU?
1405
01:20:07,235 --> 01:20:09,404
THEY WILL ENDURE BECAUSE
1406
01:20:09,471 --> 01:20:13,241
THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE
ESCAPE FROM ENDURANCE.
1407
01:20:13,308 --> 01:20:15,544
SOME WILL DIE.
1408
01:20:15,610 --> 01:20:17,612
THE REST MUST LIVE.
1409
01:20:26,855 --> 01:20:30,458
Henderson portrayer: THE WORST
STORM THUS FAR IN 1937
1410
01:20:30,525 --> 01:20:33,695
OCCURRED IMMEDIATELY
AFTER A SLIGHT SNOWFALL,
1411
01:20:33,762 --> 01:20:37,465
WHICH AGAIN ROUSED
DELUSIVE HOPES.
1412
01:20:37,532 --> 01:20:41,503
THAT SNOW MELTED
ON A TUESDAY.
1413
01:20:41,570 --> 01:20:45,006
WEDNESDAY MORNING,
WITH A RISING WIND,
1414
01:20:45,073 --> 01:20:48,243
THE DUST BEGAN TO MOVE AGAIN,
1415
01:20:48,310 --> 01:20:53,515
AND UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT,
THERE WAS LITTLE RESPITE.
1416
01:20:53,582 --> 01:20:57,752
WE ARE NOW RELUCTANT
FEEDING OUR LIVESTOCK
1417
01:20:57,819 --> 01:21:04,726
THE LAST SMALL REMAINDER
OF THE CROP OF 1931.
1418
01:21:04,793 --> 01:21:08,897
Narrator: IN MOST OF THE NATION,
THE DROUGHT HAD ENDED,
1419
01:21:08,964 --> 01:21:11,466
BUT FOR CAROLINE HENDERSON
AND HER NEIGHBORS
1420
01:21:11,533 --> 01:21:14,202
WHO HAD STAYED IN THE
HEART OF THE DUST BOWL,
1421
01:21:14,269 --> 01:21:18,640
1937 WOULD PROVE TO BE
THE WORST YEAR YET.
1422
01:21:18,707 --> 01:21:23,445
GUYMON, OKLAHOMA, JUST 30 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF HER HOMESTEAD,
1423
01:21:23,511 --> 01:21:27,983
WAS ENGULFED BY 6 BAD
DUST STORMS THAT JANUARY,
1424
01:21:28,049 --> 01:21:32,621
14 IN FEBRUARY,
AND THEN 13 MORE IN MARCH,
1425
01:21:32,687 --> 01:21:37,259
INCLUDING ONE THAT CLOSED
THE SCHOOLS IN NEARBY BOISE CITY
1426
01:21:37,325 --> 01:21:39,461
AND TORE ROOFS
OFF OF BUILDINGS
1427
01:21:39,527 --> 01:21:44,065
A HUNDRED MILES AWAY
IN DODGE CITY, KANSAS.
1428
01:21:46,768 --> 01:21:49,070
ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 21,
1429
01:21:49,137 --> 01:21:52,107
A LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER
NAMED FRANCIS CRAVER
1430
01:21:52,173 --> 01:21:54,175
NOTICED A DUST CLOUD APPEARING
1431
01:21:54,242 --> 01:21:58,680
OVER THE DORIC THEATRE
IN DOWNTOWN ELKHART, KANSAS.
1432
01:21:58,747 --> 01:22:02,784
HE GRABBED HIS CAMERA AND
CHRONICLED THE STORM'S DESCENT,
1433
01:22:02,851 --> 01:22:05,353
WHICH CAUSED THE
HIGH SCHOOL TO CANCEL
1434
01:22:05,420 --> 01:22:09,524
COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES
PLANNED FOR THAT EVENING.
1435
01:22:16,264 --> 01:22:19,634
TWO WEEKS LATER, 50 MILES
EAST OF THE HENDERSONS,
1436
01:22:19,701 --> 01:22:24,072
IN HOOKER, OKLAHOMA, A FURNITURE
SMAN NAMED GEORGE RISEN
1437
01:22:24,139 --> 01:22:27,275
SAW ANOTHER WALL
OF DIRT APPROACHING.
1438
01:22:27,342 --> 01:22:30,445
HE SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF
THE TALLEST BUILDING IN TOWN
1439
01:22:30,512 --> 01:22:34,316
AND BEGAN TAKING PICTURES
WITH HIS BROWNIE CAMERA.
1440
01:22:47,829 --> 01:22:51,499
AS IT PASSED, THE STORM
DROPPED 3 FEET OF DUST
1441
01:22:51,566 --> 01:22:55,103
ON HOOKER AND THE
SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.
1442
01:22:58,807 --> 01:23:01,776
BY THE END OF JULY, THE NUMBER
OF DESTRUCTIVE STORMS
1443
01:23:01,843 --> 01:23:04,779
WOULD RISE TO 79;
1444
01:23:04,846 --> 01:23:08,984
BY THE END OF
THE YEAR, TO 110.
1445
01:23:09,050 --> 01:23:11,686
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
1446
01:23:11,753 --> 01:23:15,023
AND THE SAHARA DESERT,
ONE RESIDENT SUGGESTED,
1447
01:23:15,090 --> 01:23:17,058
WAS THAT A LOT OF
"DAMNED FOOLS"
1448
01:23:17,125 --> 01:23:20,395
WEREN'T TRYING TO
FARM THE SAHARA.
1449
01:23:20,462 --> 01:23:22,397
Williamson:
IF YOU WERE A FARMER,
1450
01:23:22,464 --> 01:23:23,765
YOU PLOWED THE GROUND,
1451
01:23:23,832 --> 01:23:25,700
AND YOU PUT SEED IN IT,
AND IT GREW UP.
1452
01:23:25,767 --> 01:23:27,068
THAT WAS FARMING.
1453
01:23:27,135 --> 01:23:32,240
YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THIS DIRT
THAT WAS GIVING YOU THIS FOOD
1454
01:23:32,307 --> 01:23:38,546
TO TURN ON YOU LIKE THAT
AND DESTROY YOU LIKE IT DID.
1455
01:23:41,016 --> 01:23:43,885
Robert McCoy: THOSE PEOPLE
THAT WAS REAL RELIGIOUS
1456
01:23:43,952 --> 01:23:50,091
SAID THAT GOD WAS TRYING TO
DRIVE US OFF OF THE LAND.
1457
01:23:50,158 --> 01:23:52,494
I NEVER DID BELIEVE THAT,
OR DAD NEVER DID BELIEVE IT,
1458
01:23:52,560 --> 01:23:56,765
AND WE BELIEVED WHATEVER DAD
BELIEVED, YOU KNOW, AS KIDS.
1459
01:23:56,831 --> 01:23:59,768
DAD SAID THEY'LL JUST BE
TIMES THAT THEY'LL BE BAD
1460
01:23:59,834 --> 01:24:02,570
AND TIMES THAT THEY WON'T.
1461
01:24:02,637 --> 01:24:06,574
Frantz: BOTH OF MY PARENTS
WERE VERY, VERY GOOD CHRISTIAN.
1462
01:24:06,641 --> 01:24:11,479
NO MATTER WHAT CAME ALONG,
THEY SEEMED TO ACCEPT IT.
1463
01:24:11,546 --> 01:24:15,183
THEY BOTH JUST SEEMED LIKE
THEY WERE JUST GOING ON
1464
01:24:15,250 --> 01:24:16,885
DOING THE BEST THEY COULD,
1465
01:24:16,951 --> 01:24:19,487
AND THEY DIDN'T DO A WHOLE
LOT OF GRIPING ABOUT IT.
1466
01:24:19,554 --> 01:24:23,291
Narrator: AROUND THE HOUSE,
VIRGINIA FRANTZ'S MOTHER
1467
01:24:23,358 --> 01:24:26,461
OFTEN SANG HYMNS TO
TAKE HER CHILDREN'S MINDS
1468
01:24:26,528 --> 01:24:30,932
OFF THE TROUBLES
STARING THEM IN THE FACE.
1469
01:24:30,999 --> 01:24:34,269
Frantz: ♪ I'M PRESSING ON
THE UPWARD WAY ♪
1470
01:24:34,335 --> 01:24:37,939
♪ NEW HEIGHTS I'M GAINING
EVERY DAY ♪
1471
01:24:38,006 --> 01:24:41,676
♪ STILL PRAYING AS
I ONWARD BOUND ♪
1472
01:24:41,743 --> 01:24:45,747
♪ MY PRAYER, MY AIM,
IS HIGHER GROUND ♪
1473
01:24:45,814 --> 01:24:47,615
AND THEN IT WAS...
1474
01:24:47,682 --> 01:24:50,552
♪ OH, LIFT ME UP
AND LET ME STAND ♪
1475
01:24:50,618 --> 01:24:53,221
♪ BY FAITH,
ON HEAVEN'S TABLE LAND ♪
1476
01:24:53,288 --> 01:24:56,591
♪ A HIGHER FAITH
THAN I HAVE FOUND ♪
1477
01:24:56,658 --> 01:24:59,994
♪ OH, LIFT ME UP
ON HIGHER GROUND ♪
1478
01:25:00,061 --> 01:25:03,364
HA HA! IT'S BEEN
PROBABLY 60 YEARS
1479
01:25:03,431 --> 01:25:05,500
SINCE I'VE HEARD THAT SONG.
1480
01:25:07,268 --> 01:25:11,172
I REMEMBER WE HAD THE RADIO,
AND HE'S LISTENININ IT
1481
01:25:11,239 --> 01:25:14,709
TALKING ABOUT A FLOOD
ON THE OHIO RIVER
1482
01:25:14,776 --> 01:25:18,680
AND HOUSES FLOATING DOWN
AND PEOPLE ON THEM HOUSES.
1483
01:25:18,746 --> 01:25:20,482
MY DAD TURNED
TO US AND SAID,
1484
01:25:20,548 --> 01:25:23,218
"WE'VE GOT IT BETTER HERE
THAN THEY HAVE UP THERE."
1485
01:25:23,284 --> 01:25:25,086
AND THAT WAS IN '37.
1486
01:25:25,153 --> 01:25:28,223
SO HE THOUGHT THAT THE DIRT
WAS BETTER THAN THAT WATER.
1487
01:25:30,291 --> 01:25:32,861
Narrator: IN APRIL OF 1937,
1488
01:25:32,927 --> 01:25:37,532
FARMERS FROM 5 STATES MET
IN GUYMON, OKLAHOMA.
1489
01:25:37,599 --> 01:25:41,236
"THE PROBLEM IN THE DUST BOWL
IS ENTIRELY TOO LARGE
1490
01:25:41,302 --> 01:25:44,706
"FOR THE REMAINING GOOD FARMERS
TO EVEN MAKE A START
1491
01:25:44,772 --> 01:25:47,542
TO COPE WITH," THEY WROTE
THE GOVERNMENT.
1492
01:25:47,609 --> 01:25:53,047
"WE MUST HAVE HELP, AND IT'S
IMPERATIVE WE HAVE HELP NOW."
1493
01:25:53,114 --> 01:25:56,050
Riney-Kehrberg: I THINK
IT HAS TO BE PRETTY EXTREME
1494
01:25:56,117 --> 01:25:58,319
FOR A GROUP OF FARMERS,
1495
01:25:58,386 --> 01:26:01,756
VERY INDEPENDENT-MINDED,
VERY STUBBORN,
1496
01:26:01,823 --> 01:26:05,293
A GROUP THAT ON THE WHOLE
DOESN'T LIKE TO BE MEDDLED WITH
1497
01:26:05,360 --> 01:26:08,429
TO SAY, "PLEASE COME
AND MEDDLE WITH US."
1498
01:26:08,496 --> 01:26:09,998
BUT AT THIS POINT,
1499
01:26:10,064 --> 01:26:13,301
THEY'RE INTO THEIR
SIXTH YEAR OF NO INCOME,
1500
01:26:13,368 --> 01:26:16,371
THEIR FIFTH YEAR OF NO CROPS,
1501
01:26:16,437 --> 01:26:20,575
AND THEY'RE SEEING NEIGHBORS'
FIELDS BLOWING INTO THEIR OWN,
1502
01:26:20,642 --> 01:26:24,012
THEY'RE SEEING ENORMOUS
CLOUDS OF DIRT IN THE AIR,
1503
01:26:24,078 --> 01:26:26,714
AND THEY DON'T KNOW
WHAT ELSE TO DO.
1504
01:26:26,781 --> 01:26:29,817
AND WHEN YOU DON'T
KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO
1505
01:26:29,884 --> 01:26:32,587
AND YOU'RE AFRAID
OF LOSING YOUR FARM,
1506
01:26:32,654 --> 01:26:37,225
THEN YOU BEGIN TO ASK FOR
RATHER MORE EXTREME MEASURES
1507
01:26:37,292 --> 01:26:40,695
THAN YOU WOULD HAVE
ASKED FOR OTHERWISE.
1508
01:26:40,762 --> 01:26:43,765
IF ONE MAN
MISHANDLED HIS LAND,
1509
01:26:43,831 --> 01:26:47,035
EVERYBODY SUFFERED
UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.
1510
01:26:47,101 --> 01:26:49,571
ALL IT TOOK WAS ONE
THOUSAND-ACRE FARM
1511
01:26:49,637 --> 01:26:51,940
BLOWING DIRT BADLY
1512
01:26:52,006 --> 01:26:55,476
TO DISRUPT THE LIVES
OF EVERYBODY AROUND HIM.
1513
01:26:55,543 --> 01:26:58,012
AND IF THAT FARM OPERATOR
ACTUALLY HAPPENED
1514
01:26:58,079 --> 01:27:01,416
TO BE LIVING IN
AMARILLO OR DENVER
1515
01:27:01,482 --> 01:27:04,919
AND ONLY CAME OUT ON WEEKENDS
ANYWAY, WHO DID YOU TALK TO?
1516
01:27:04,986 --> 01:27:09,757
THERE WAS NO AUTHORITY TO
STOP THIS SORT OF PROCESS.
1517
01:27:09,824 --> 01:27:13,628
Narrator: THE FARMERS WANTED
EVERY LANDOWNER TO BE REQUIRED
1518
01:27:13,695 --> 01:27:16,631
TO LEAVE STUBBLE ON
ESTED FIELDS,
1519
01:27:16,698 --> 01:27:18,399
AND THEY WANTED SOME WAY
1520
01:27:18,466 --> 01:27:21,903
TO HAVE ABANDONED RE
PLANTED WITH COVER CROPS.
1521
01:27:21,970 --> 01:27:27,008
TO DO IT, THEY EVEN SUGGESTED
THAT MARTIAL LAW BE DECLARED.
1522
01:27:27,075 --> 01:27:29,711
Egan: THEY WANTED THE ABILITY TO
CONDEMN OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY
1523
01:27:29,777 --> 01:27:31,679
IF THEY WEREN'T KEEPING IT UP.
1524
01:27:31,746 --> 01:27:33,448
THIS WAS HUGELY ANTITHETICAL
1525
01:27:33,514 --> 01:27:35,583
TO HOW MOST OF
THESE PEOPLE THOUGHT.
1526
01:27:35,650 --> 01:27:37,619
IN SOME COUNTIES,
THEY WERE GRANTED AUTHORITY
1527
01:27:37,685 --> 01:27:39,020
TO GO OUT AND
CONDEMN SOMEONE,
1528
01:27:39,087 --> 01:27:41,222
TO SLAP THEM IN JAIL
IF NEED BE,
1529
01:27:41,289 --> 01:27:42,857
IF HE WAS LETTING
HIS LAND BLOW AGAIN.
1530
01:27:42,924 --> 01:27:47,195
VERY AUTHORITARIAN MEASURE
FOR FOLKS WHO
1531
01:27:47,262 --> 01:27:50,765
CONSIDERED THEMSELVES
HIGHLY INDIVIDUALISTIC.
1532
01:27:50,832 --> 01:27:52,400
WHEN YOUR BACK IS
AGAINST THE WALL,
1533
01:27:52,467 --> 01:27:55,003
ALL IDEOLOGY GOES OUT
THE WINDOW.
1534
01:27:55,069 --> 01:27:56,671
SO HERE IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE
1535
01:27:56,738 --> 01:27:59,107
WHO ARE VERY ANTI-STATE,
ANTI-GOVERNMENT,
1536
01:27:59,173 --> 01:28:01,075
WHO NEVER WANTED THE
GOVERNMENT INTERFERING
1537
01:28:01,142 --> 01:28:03,945
WITH ANYTHING THEY DID
OR TELLING THEM WHAT TO DO,
1538
01:28:04,012 --> 01:28:05,980
BUT WHO, WHEN THE
CHIPS ARE DOWN,
1539
01:28:06,047 --> 01:28:08,850
ARE GOING TO ASK FOR
THE ONLY HELP THEY C GAN,
1540
01:28:08,916 --> 01:28:11,519
AND THAT'S FROM THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
1541
01:28:11,586 --> 01:28:13,354
Narrator: EVTUENLY,
1542
01:28:13,421 --> 01:28:16,624
SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS
WERE ESTABLISHED,
1543
01:28:16,691 --> 01:28:21,529
MEANT TO ENFORCE BETTER FARMING
PRACTICES THROUGH CONSENSUS.
1544
01:28:24,032 --> 01:28:27,001
AT THE SAME TIME,
THE GOVERNMENT WAS BUYING BACK
1545
01:28:27,068 --> 01:28:31,005
AS MUCH LAND AS IT COULD
FROM DUSTED-OUT HOMESTEADERS
1546
01:28:31,072 --> 01:28:35,109
AND SLOWLY RETURNING IT
TO PERMANENT GRASSLAND.
1547
01:28:35,176 --> 01:28:39,113
FARMERS NOW GOT HELP TO BUY
GASOLINE FOR THEIR TRACTORS
1548
01:28:39,180 --> 01:28:42,283
IF THEY WERE DOING
SOIL-EROSION WORK.
1549
01:28:42,350 --> 01:28:44,385
AND IN SOME CASES,
1550
01:28:44,452 --> 01:28:49,324
THEY EVEN RECEIVED PAYMENTS
NOT TO GROW CASH CROPS AT ALL.
1551
01:28:49,390 --> 01:28:53,728
Worster: "WE HAVE GOT TO BEGIN
TO INDUCE PEOPLE TO PLANT LESS."
1552
01:28:53,795 --> 01:28:55,463
HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
1553
01:28:55,530 --> 01:28:57,365
YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE
THEIR LAND AWAY FROM THEM.
1554
01:28:57,432 --> 01:29:00,702
SO THE IDEA WAS TO PAY
THEM NOT TO PRODUCE.
1555
01:29:00,768 --> 01:29:03,438
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE GREAT
PLAINS, THIS WAS A SALVATION.
1556
01:29:03,504 --> 01:29:05,006
THEY COULD KEEP THEIR LAND,
1557
01:29:05,073 --> 01:29:09,110
THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO OUT EVERY
FALL AND PLANT WHEAT AGAIN,
1558
01:29:09,177 --> 01:29:11,145
THE GOVERNMENT WOULD
SEND THEM A CHECK,
1559
01:29:11,212 --> 01:29:13,681
AND YEAR AFTER YEAR,
THIS COULD GO ON,
1560
01:29:13,748 --> 01:29:16,250
AND UNTIL BETTER TIMES EMERGED.
1561
01:29:16,317 --> 01:29:18,219
R. Douglas Hurt:
NOBODY KNEW WHETHER
1562
01:29:18,286 --> 01:29:21,823
ANY OF THIS WOULD REALLY WORK
OR HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE.
1563
01:29:21,889 --> 01:29:25,993
MIGHT BE 50 YEARS,
MIGHT BE 70 YEARS; NOBODY KNEW.
1564
01:29:26,060 --> 01:29:28,162
IT'S A TIME PERIOD IN WHICH
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
1565
01:29:28,229 --> 01:29:32,400
ENTERED AGRICULTURE AS NEVER
BEFORE, AND IT'S NEVER LEFT.
1566
01:29:32,467 --> 01:29:35,903
Narrator: MEANWHILE,
NEAR DALHART,
1567
01:29:35,970 --> 01:29:39,006
DUNES THAT HAD ONCE
TOWERED 36 FEET
1568
01:29:39,073 --> 01:29:42,143
ABOVE ONE OF HOWARD
FINNELL'S EMPLOYEE'S CARS
1569
01:29:42,210 --> 01:29:47,749
HAD BEEN TAMED IN 18 MONTHS OF
PAINSTAKING RESTORATION WORK.
1570
01:29:47,815 --> 01:29:52,387
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN CONTOURED
FIELDS THAT CAPTURED THE RAIN
1571
01:29:52,453 --> 01:29:56,257
AND THOSE FARMED THE
OLD WAY WAS STRIKING.
1572
01:29:56,324 --> 01:29:58,493
WITH SUCH TANGIBLE RESULTS,
1573
01:29:58,559 --> 01:30:02,663
MORE AND MORE FARMERS DECIDED
TO TAKE FINNELL'S ADVICE.
1574
01:30:02,730 --> 01:30:06,968
BY THE END OF 1937, DESPITE
THE PERSISTENT DUST STORMS,
1575
01:30:07,034 --> 01:30:09,704
THE AMOUNT OF
DANGEROUSLY ERODED LAND
1576
01:30:09,771 --> 01:30:12,974
HAD BEEN REDUCED
BY MORE THAN HALF.
1577
01:30:17,545 --> 01:30:21,315
IN 1938, THE RAINFALL
EDGED UPWARD--
1578
01:30:21,382 --> 01:30:24,118
MORE THAN 18 INCHES
IN BOISE CITY--
1579
01:30:24,185 --> 01:30:27,855
AND ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF DUST
STORMS RECEDED ONLY SLIGHTLY,
1580
01:30:27,922 --> 01:30:30,024
SOME FARMERS IN NO MAN'S LAND
1581
01:30:30,091 --> 01:30:33,861
BROUGHT IN A WHEAT CROP
OF 10 BUSHELS PER ACRE--
1582
01:30:33,928 --> 01:30:36,364
NOTHING CLOSE TO A BUMPER CROP,
1583
01:30:36,431 --> 01:30:40,701
BUT ALMOST BOUNTIFUL
COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS.
1584
01:30:40,768 --> 01:30:46,107
THE DROUGHT SEEMED
TO BE LOSING ITS GRIP.
1585
01:30:46,174 --> 01:30:49,444
WHEN THE WORST
WAS ARGUABLY OVER,
1586
01:30:49,510 --> 01:30:52,380
WHEN THEY HAD SEEN THE
BACKHAND OF NATURE,
1587
01:30:52,447 --> 01:30:57,685
WHEN THEY'D SEEN MORE VENOM
AND ANGER AND OUTRIGHT EVIL,
1588
01:30:57,752 --> 01:31:00,188
AS THEY CALLED IT,
THAT THE SKY THROWN AT THEM,
1589
01:31:00,254 --> 01:31:02,156
THAT ANY HUMAN BEINGS
COULD EVER TAKE,
1590
01:31:02,223 --> 01:31:03,858
AND THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OVER,
1591
01:31:03,925 --> 01:31:06,027
CAME ONE MORE
ALMOST BIBLICAL PLAGUE.
1592
01:31:07,795 --> 01:31:10,097
McCoy: GRASSHOPPERS
MOSTLY WERE AWLICR,
1593
01:31:10,164 --> 01:31:14,035
BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU SCARE THEM,
THEY'D JUMP AND FLY.
1594
01:31:14,101 --> 01:31:16,504
BUT MOST OF THEM
WERE JUST CRAWLING,
1595
01:31:16,571 --> 01:31:19,407
JUST LIKE A WHOLE SEA OF THEM.
1596
01:31:19,474 --> 01:31:22,977
THEY ATE
EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.
1597
01:31:24,645 --> 01:31:28,082
IT IT ALMOST LOOKED LIKE
THE GROUND WAS MOVING,
1598
01:31:28,149 --> 01:31:30,051
AND THEY WOULD GET THAT BIG,
1599
01:31:30,117 --> 01:31:33,287
AND THEY WOULD EAT ON
THE BARK OF THE TREES,
1600
01:31:33,354 --> 01:31:35,022
AND THEY ATE EVERYTHING
1601
01:31:35,089 --> 01:31:38,159
THAT THEY COULD COME
IN CONTACT WITH.
1602
01:31:38,226 --> 01:31:39,961
AND THEY KEPT ON GOING.
1603
01:31:40,027 --> 01:31:43,998
FROM HERE, THEY LEFT ON,
AND WHAT I UNDERSTAND,
1604
01:31:44,065 --> 01:31:47,935
SOMEWHERES IN OKLAHOMA,
THEY GREW WINGS,
1605
01:31:48,002 --> 01:31:50,238
AND THEY ALL TOOK FLIGHT,
1606
01:31:50,304 --> 01:31:52,473
AND THEY SAID
THEY SHADED THE SUN
1607
01:31:52,540 --> 01:31:56,143
BECAUSE THEY WERE
ALL TOGETHER.
1608
01:31:56,210 --> 01:31:59,413
Narrator: FARMERS HOOKED UP
SLEDS TO THEIR TRACTORS
1609
01:31:59,480 --> 01:32:01,749
AND DRAGGED THEM
ACROSS THE FIELDS,
1610
01:32:01,816 --> 01:32:04,886
TRAPPING GRASSHOPPERS
IN VATS OF KEROSENE.
1611
01:32:04,952 --> 01:32:07,955
SOME TRIED CRUSHING THEM
UNDER ROLLERS.
1612
01:32:08,022 --> 01:32:10,892
SEVERAL STATES CALLED OUT
THEIR NATIONAL GUARDS
1613
01:32:10,958 --> 01:32:13,561
TO SPREAD POISON,
MIXED WITH SAWDUST
1614
01:32:13,628 --> 01:32:18,032
AND MOLASSES AND BANANA OIL,
ALONG THE ROADSIDES.
1615
01:32:18,099 --> 01:32:22,436
HOW MUCH MORE OUT
OF SYNC COULD NATURE BE
1616
01:32:22,503 --> 01:32:24,238
WHEN THEY'RE NOW
POURING STRYCHNINE
1617
01:32:24,305 --> 01:32:26,274
ON WHAT HAD BEEN THE
GREATEST GRASSLAND
1618
01:32:26,340 --> 01:32:29,510
TO KILL GRASSHOPPERS WHO
ARE CHEWING ON FENCE POSTS
1619
01:32:29,577 --> 01:32:32,179
BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING
ELSE LEFT TO LIVE?
1620
01:32:32,246 --> 01:32:35,016
THAT ITSELF, BY THE TIME
THEY WERE POURING POISON
1621
01:32:35,082 --> 01:32:37,418
ON THE LAND THAT HAD
BEEN KILLED BY THEM,
1622
01:32:37,485 --> 01:32:39,420
I THINK THEY HAD GONE
SO FAR DOWN THE ROAD
1623
01:32:39,487 --> 01:32:41,789
IN ALTERING THIS
GREAT GRASSLAND
1624
01:32:41,856 --> 01:32:44,492
THAT IT WAS ALMOST
BEYOND REPAIR.
1625
01:32:49,330 --> 01:32:52,366
Robertson: ALL THE
DEMOCRATS WERE EXCITED.
1626
01:32:52,433 --> 01:32:55,970
THERE WERE PEOPLE IN AMARILLO
WHO DID NOT LIKE ROOSEVELT,
1627
01:32:56,037 --> 01:33:00,608
AND THEY WERE USUALLY
THE WEALTHY PEOPLE.
1628
01:33:00,675 --> 01:33:04,645
I KNOW ONE OF THEM WAS--
ONE OF THE RICH MEN I HEARD SAY,
1629
01:33:04,712 --> 01:33:10,918
"THIS SOCIALISTIC REGIME
IS NOT AMERICAN.
1630
01:33:10,985 --> 01:33:13,487
IT'S ANTI-AMERICAN."
1631
01:33:13,554 --> 01:33:16,290
THOSE OF US WHO
WERE, YOU KNOW, POOR
1632
01:33:16,324 --> 01:33:20,661
APPRECIATED E THOGRAMS
TH RSEVELT STARTED.
1633
01:33:20,728 --> 01:33:23,464
Narrator: ON JULY 11, 1938,
1634
01:33:23,531 --> 01:33:27,068
A TRAIN BEARING THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES
1635
01:33:27,134 --> 01:33:30,004
PULLED INTO THE STATION
AT AMARILLO, TEXAS,
1636
01:33:30,071 --> 01:33:33,507
THE LARGEST CITY
IN THE DUST BOWL.
1637
01:33:33,574 --> 01:33:35,443
IN HONOR OF THE
PRESIDENT'S VISIT,
1638
01:33:35,509 --> 01:33:38,913
ORGANIZERS HAD ASSEMBLED
WHAT THEY CLAIMED TO BE
1639
01:33:38,980 --> 01:33:43,451
THE WORLD'S LARGEST MARCHING
BAND: 3,000 PEOPLE--
1640
01:33:43,517 --> 01:33:47,521
ANYONE, THEY SAID,
BETWEEN THE AGES OF 9 AND 90
1641
01:33:47,588 --> 01:33:51,892
WHO COULD PLAY "THE EYES OF
TEXAS" ON ANY INSTRUMENT.
1642
01:33:51,959 --> 01:33:55,596
AN ESTIMATED CROWD OF 200,000--
1643
01:33:55,663 --> 01:33:58,733
4 TIMES THE POPULATION
OF THE CITY ITSELF--
1644
01:33:58,799 --> 01:34:01,969
TURNED OUT,
LINING THE 3-MILE ROUTE
1645
01:34:02,036 --> 01:34:05,706
OF ROOSEVELT'S MOTORCADE
TO ELLWOOD PARK.
1646
01:34:08,042 --> 01:34:10,645
"PEOPLE WHO ARE IGNORANT
AND PEOPLE WHO THINK
1647
01:34:10,711 --> 01:34:14,348
ONLY IN TERMS OF THE MOMENT,"
THE PRESIDENT SAID,
1648
01:34:14,415 --> 01:34:16,550
"SCOFF AT OUR EFFORTS AND SAY,
1649
01:34:16,617 --> 01:34:19,787
"OH, LET THE NEXT GENERATION
TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
1650
01:34:19,854 --> 01:34:22,356
"IF PEOPLE OUT IN THE DRY
PARTS OF THE COUNTRY
1651
01:34:22,423 --> 01:34:25,926
CANNOT LIVE THERE,
LET THEM MOVE OUT."
1652
01:34:25,993 --> 01:34:28,696
Egan: AND THEN THE MOST
AMAZING THING HAPPENS.
1653
01:34:28,763 --> 01:34:31,298
REMEMBER, THE DROUGHT HAS
BEEN GOING ON FOR 8 YEARS.
1654
01:34:31,365 --> 01:34:33,134
IT STARTS TO RAIN.
1655
01:34:33,200 --> 01:34:34,435
THESE CLOUDS COME
OUT OF NOWHERE.
1656
01:34:34,502 --> 01:34:37,304
IT'S A JULY DAY.
IT'S PEAK HOT SEASON.
1657
01:34:37,371 --> 01:34:38,939
CLOUDS BUNCH, AND IT RAINS.
1658
01:34:39,006 --> 01:34:42,143
AND IT'S AN OLD-FASHIONED
GULLY-WASHER.
1659
01:34:42,209 --> 01:34:45,312
AND THE RAIN COMES OFF OF
ROOSEVELT, AND HE CONTINUES.
1660
01:34:45,379 --> 01:34:47,415
HE'S GOT HIS CLAMPED
KNEES UP THERE,
1661
01:34:47,481 --> 01:34:49,216
AND HE CONTINUES
TO GIVE HIS SPEECH.
1662
01:34:49,283 --> 01:34:51,819
"I'M NEVER GONNA DESERT YOU."
1663
01:34:51,886 --> 01:34:55,423
Narrator: "I THINK THIS
LITTLE SHOWER WE HAVE HAD,"
1664
01:34:55,489 --> 01:34:59,460
THE PRESIDENT BEAMED,
"IS A MIGHTY GOOD OMEN."
1665
01:34:59,527 --> 01:35:01,796
Robertson: AND WE HAD
BEEN WISHING FOR RAIN,
1666
01:35:01,862 --> 01:35:05,733
PRAYING FOR RAIN, AND IT
RAINED THE DAY HE CAME.
1667
01:35:05,800 --> 01:35:10,204
IT RAINED. SO HE TOOK
CREDIT FOR THAT.
1668
01:35:16,077 --> 01:35:20,715
Narrator: A SNOWSTORM IN
EARLY 1939 BROUGHT MORE HOPE,
1669
01:35:20,781 --> 01:35:23,384
WHICH GREW WHEN THE
SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE
1670
01:35:23,451 --> 01:35:26,454
ANNOUNCED THAT, THANKS TO
BETTER FARMING PRACTICES,
1671
01:35:26,520 --> 01:35:30,658
THE SOIL WAS IN ITS BEST
CONDITION IN 7 YEARS.
1672
01:35:30,725 --> 01:35:32,493
BY THE END OF THE YEAR,
1673
01:35:32,560 --> 01:35:38,199
THE DUST BOWL HAD SHRUNK
TO 1/5 ITS PREVIOUS SIZE.
1674
01:35:38,265 --> 01:35:40,267
I DON'T KNOW
HOW MANY WEEKS
1675
01:35:40,334 --> 01:35:42,903
WE'D GET A LITTLE RAIN
AND A LITTLE RAIN.
1676
01:35:42,970 --> 01:35:48,442
THE THING I REMEMBER,
THAT WHEN IT FIRST STARTED,
1677
01:35:48,509 --> 01:35:51,145
THE SUNFLOWERS
STARTED GROWING.
1678
01:35:51,212 --> 01:35:56,517
THEY WERE IN OUR PASTURE
THAT WAS CLOSE TO THE HOUSE.
1679
01:35:56,584 --> 01:35:59,186
WHEN WE WENT TO GET
OUR MILK COWS IN,
1680
01:35:59,253 --> 01:36:01,055
WHICH WE DID ON HORSEBACK--
1681
01:36:01,122 --> 01:36:04,225
YOU HAD TO HUNT THEM
BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T SEE THEM--
1682
01:36:04,291 --> 01:36:09,430
AND THE SUNFLOWERS WOULD
BE UP ABOVE OUR HEAD.
1683
01:36:09,497 --> 01:36:11,432
Narrator: IN FOLLETT, TEXAS,
1684
01:36:11,499 --> 01:36:14,902
TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER
HAD BEEN TRYING FOR YEARS
1685
01:36:14,969 --> 01:36:20,474
TO PERSUADE HIS WIFE TO PULL UP
STAKES AND MOVE TO IDAHO.
1686
01:36:20,541 --> 01:36:23,644
Trixie Travis Brown:
MY MOTHER WAS VERY RELUCTANT
1687
01:36:23,711 --> 01:36:27,014
BECAUSE ALL OF HER FAMILY--
YOU KNOW, WE HAD,
1688
01:36:27,081 --> 01:36:33,220
PROBABLY 50 PEOPLE
OF THE 437 IN FOLLETT
1689
01:36:33,287 --> 01:36:35,222
WERE ALL RELATIVES.
1690
01:36:35,289 --> 01:36:40,227
SHE JUST WAS NOT
WILLING TO SAY YES.
1691
01:36:40,294 --> 01:36:45,900
MY FATHER, HE EVEN HAD THE
LAND PICKED OUT IN IDAHO.
1692
01:36:45,966 --> 01:36:48,369
HE HAD THE MAP OUT.
1693
01:36:48,435 --> 01:36:51,438
AND MOTHER JUST KEPT
HOLDING OUT.
1694
01:36:53,407 --> 01:36:57,711
Narrator: THEN, SLOWLY,
THINGS BEGAN IMPROVING.
1695
01:37:00,214 --> 01:37:04,518
Brown: WE BEGAN TO GO OUT
ON A REGULAR BASIS.
1696
01:37:04,585 --> 01:37:08,789
MOTHER AND DAD LIKED
TO TAKE DRIVES ANYWAY.
1697
01:37:08,856 --> 01:37:12,893
MOTHER GOT SO WORN OUT WITH
ALL THE KIDS IN THE HOUSE
1698
01:37:12,960 --> 01:37:15,663
THAT SHE WOULD SAY,
"GEORGE, LET'S TAKE A DRIVE
1699
01:37:15,729 --> 01:37:18,399
OUT TO LOOK AT THE WHEAT."
1700
01:37:18,465 --> 01:37:20,868
WE WOULD GO OUT AND STAND
1701
01:37:20,935 --> 01:37:25,873
AND SEE HOW HIGH IT WAS
TO US CHILDREN.
1702
01:37:25,940 --> 01:37:28,209
WE'D STAND THERE,
1703
01:37:28,275 --> 01:37:32,046
AND THEY'D SORT OF MEASURE
THE HEIGHT OF THE WHEAT.
1704
01:37:32,112 --> 01:37:36,517
AND THEN WHEN IT BEGAN
TO REALLY DEVELOP,
1705
01:37:36,584 --> 01:37:41,722
IT WAS OBVIOUS IT WAS GOING TO
BE A REALLY GOOD WHEAT CROP.
1706
01:37:41,789 --> 01:37:44,525
AND IT WAS.
1707
01:37:44,592 --> 01:37:47,027
THE MAP WENT INTO A DRAWER,
1708
01:37:47,094 --> 01:37:54,535
AND THE TRIP TO IDAHO
WAS CANCELLED.
1709
01:37:54,602 --> 01:37:58,239
White: NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW
1710
01:37:58,305 --> 01:38:00,774
WHAT IT MEANT TO YOU
TO HAVE IT RAIN.
1711
01:38:00,841 --> 01:38:04,411
EVEN TO THIS DAY,
WE HAD RAIN THE OTHER DAY,
1712
01:38:04,478 --> 01:38:08,482
AND I THOUGHT WHEN IT WAS
RAINING HOW NICE THIS WAS,
1713
01:38:08,549 --> 01:38:11,619
WHAT A GOOD RAIN.
1714
01:38:11,685 --> 01:38:15,589
AND THAT'S WHAT WE WHAT WE
PRAYED, WHAT WE YEARNED FOR
1715
01:38:15,656 --> 01:38:20,094
WAS THE RAIN THAT CAME THAT
WOULD SOAK INTO THE GROUND
1716
01:38:20,160 --> 01:38:25,065
AND LET US RAISE A CROP
AND EVENTUALLY STOP THE DUST.
1717
01:38:39,813 --> 01:38:43,417
Floyd Coen: WELL, WHEN IT
DID START RAINING,
1718
01:38:43,484 --> 01:38:46,053
IT WAS JUST SUCH A BLESSING.
1719
01:38:46,120 --> 01:38:49,657
WE'D GO OUT IN THE RAIN
AND HOLD OUR HANDS UP
1720
01:38:49,723 --> 01:38:52,326
AND LET THAT HIT
OUR HANDS AND OUR FACE
1721
01:38:52,393 --> 01:38:54,962
AND JUST ALMOST
WORSHIPPED THAT RAIN
1722
01:38:55,029 --> 01:38:58,165
BECAUSE WE KNEW THEN THAT
WE WAS GONNA HAVE SOME CROPS.
1723
01:38:58,232 --> 01:39:01,835
Glover: IT JUST SEEMED HAPPIER
EVERYWHERE YOU WENT--
1724
01:39:01,902 --> 01:39:05,072
EVERYBODY, NOT JUST MY FOLKS.
1725
01:39:05,139 --> 01:39:07,975
WHEN WE'D GO TO THE
NEIGHBORS EITHER SIDE,
1726
01:39:08,042 --> 01:39:10,644
THE THRASHERS
OR THE FREEMANS,
1727
01:39:10,711 --> 01:39:16,884
WE ALWAYS FELT LIKE
THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER.
1728
01:39:16,951 --> 01:39:19,153
I REMEMBER THE FIRST YEAR
1729
01:39:19,219 --> 01:39:24,591
THAT WE PROBABLY HAD A GOOD CROP
AFTER THE DIRTY THIRTIES,
1730
01:39:24,658 --> 01:39:27,094
WE GOT STUCK IN THE FIELD
1731
01:39:27,161 --> 01:39:29,496
AND DADDY DIDN'T
EVEN GRIPE ABOUT IT,
1732
01:39:29,563 --> 01:39:32,666
HE WAS SO GLAD THAT
WE WERE HAVING RAIN.
1733
01:39:32,733 --> 01:39:35,903
Narrator: AT HIS FARM
IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE,
1734
01:39:35,970 --> 01:39:39,373
DOROTHY KLEFFMAN'S FATHER
DECIDED IT WAS NOW SAFE
1735
01:39:39,440 --> 01:39:43,677
TO BRING HIS WIFE AND
CHILDREN BACK FROM ARKANSAS.
1736
01:39:43,744 --> 01:39:45,212
THEY HAVE A SAYING HERE
1737
01:39:45,279 --> 01:39:48,115
THAT IF YOU WEAR OUT A PAIR
OF BOOTS HERE IN THE PANHANDLE,
1738
01:39:48,182 --> 01:39:51,952
YOU'LL COME BACK,
AND WHEN WE DID COME BACK,
1739
01:39:52,019 --> 01:39:54,521
THE LAND HAD BEEN RECOVERED.
1740
01:39:54,588 --> 01:39:57,825
THEY HAD LEARNED HOW
TO TERRACE THE LAND.
1741
01:39:57,891 --> 01:40:02,296
AND I REMEMBER MY DAD
HAD A WHEAT CROP,
1742
01:40:02,363 --> 01:40:06,400
I THINK IN 1940, THAT WAS
A GOOD WHEAT CROP.
1743
01:40:06,467 --> 01:40:09,470
AND WE THOUGHT,
WE'RE BACK.
1744
01:40:09,536 --> 01:40:11,939
WE SURVIVED.
1745
01:40:21,382 --> 01:40:25,786
Henderson portrayer:
DECEMBER 13, 1944.
1746
01:40:25,853 --> 01:40:29,289
WE HAD FOR ONCE
A SUPER-ABUNDANCE OF RAIN
1747
01:40:29,356 --> 01:40:31,992
AND ALREADY 3 SNOWS.
1748
01:40:32,059 --> 01:40:34,495
WHEAT WAS A FAIR CROP.
1749
01:40:34,595 --> 01:40:38,098
WE SAVED MOSOFT T
BETWEEN RAINS.
1750
01:40:38,165 --> 01:40:41,835
WE HAVE AMPLE PASTURAGE
WITH THE INCREASED RAINFALL,
1751
01:40:41,902 --> 01:40:45,272
AND CATTLE HAVE DONE
REASONABLY WELL.
1752
01:40:45,339 --> 01:40:47,274
AND WE HAD A NICE GARDEN,
1753
01:40:47,341 --> 01:40:51,445
THWIOST OF OUR WINTER'S
LIVING STORED AWAY.
1754
01:40:51,512 --> 01:40:54,348
Narrator: JUST AS IT
HAD 30 YEARS EARLIER,
1755
01:40:54,415 --> 01:40:56,450
A WAR IN EUROPE
AND THE RETURN
1756
01:40:56,517 --> 01:40:58,752
OF A RELATIVELY WET
WEATHER CYCLE
1757
01:40:58,819 --> 01:41:02,589
BROUGHT PROSPERITY
TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.
1758
01:41:02,656 --> 01:41:07,194
WHEAT PRICES SKYROCKETED,
AND HARVESTS WERE BOUNTIFUL.
1759
01:41:08,729 --> 01:41:11,598
Henderson portrayer:
MAY 1945.
1760
01:41:11,665 --> 01:41:13,867
WE HAVE AT LAST ASSEMBLED
1761
01:41:13,934 --> 01:41:17,371
MOST OF THE MATERIALS FOR
PIPING WATER INTO THE HOUSE,
1762
01:41:17,438 --> 01:41:19,440
WITH A SINK IN THE KITCHEN
1763
01:41:19,506 --> 01:41:22,810
AND INDOOR TOILET
IN THE BATHROOM.
1764
01:41:22,876 --> 01:41:25,746
BUT WE NEED A SUPERMAN
TO DO THE WORK.
1765
01:41:25,813 --> 01:41:28,649
WE HAVE BOTH WORN DOWN FAST
1766
01:41:28,715 --> 01:41:34,788
DURING THE YEARS OF EXTREME
DESOLATION SINCE 1931.
1767
01:41:34,855 --> 01:41:38,792
EVERY SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENT
NOW SEEMS TO DEMAND
1768
01:41:38,859 --> 01:41:41,862
A GREATER OUTPUT
OF ENERGY AND RESOLUTION
1769
01:41:41,929 --> 01:41:46,066
THAN IN THE YEARS
THAT ARE GONE.
1770
01:41:46,133 --> 01:41:48,535
Narrator:
CAROLINE HENDERSON WAS GRATEFUL
1771
01:41:48,602 --> 01:41:51,105
FOR BETTER WEATHER
AND HIGHER PRICES,
1772
01:41:51,171 --> 01:41:55,109
BUT SHE AND HER HUSBAND WILL
WERE NOW NEARING 70.
1773
01:41:55,175 --> 01:41:58,579
SHE SUFFERED FROM ASTHMA,
HE HAD A HEART CONDITION,
1774
01:41:58,645 --> 01:42:00,647
AND NEITHER OF THEM COULD FORGET
1775
01:42:00,714 --> 01:42:04,785
THE STERN TEACHINGS
OF THE DUST BOWL.
1776
01:42:04,852 --> 01:42:07,387
Henderson portrayer:
IT IS GOOD TO REMEMBER
1777
01:42:07,454 --> 01:42:11,425
THAT THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE
RECOGNIZE NO FAVORITES
1778
01:42:11,492 --> 01:42:17,698
AND CHERISH NO HOSTILITY
OR SMALL VINDICTIVENESS;
1779
01:42:17,764 --> 01:42:21,835
THAT BEFORE SUN AND RAIN,
STORMY WINDS,
1780
01:42:21,902 --> 01:42:24,605
OR SUMMER'S
KIND BENEFICENCE,
1781
01:42:24,671 --> 01:42:28,408
WE ALL STAND UPON
ONE COMMON LEVEL.
1782
01:42:31,678 --> 01:42:35,349
Narrator: IN THE FIRST
5 YEARS OF THE 1940s,
1783
01:42:35,415 --> 01:42:40,554
LAND DEVOTED TO WHEAT EXPANDED
BY NEARLY 3 MILLION ACRES.
1784
01:42:40,621 --> 01:42:44,324
THE SPECULATORS AND
SUITCASE FARMERS RETURNED.
1785
01:42:44,391 --> 01:42:48,996
PARCELS THAT HAD SOLD FOR $5.00
AN ACRE DURING THE DUST BOWL
1786
01:42:49,062 --> 01:42:55,536
NOW COMMANDED PRICES OF 50, 60,
SOMETIMES 100 DOLLARS AN ACRE.
1787
01:42:55,602 --> 01:42:58,338
EVEN SOME OF
THE MOST MARGINAL LANDS
1788
01:42:58,405 --> 01:43:00,841
WERE PUT BACK
INTO PRODUCTION.
1789
01:43:00,908 --> 01:43:03,443
"THE SAME PROCESS,"
HOWARD FINNELL WARNED,
1790
01:43:03,510 --> 01:43:07,381
"IS STARTING AGAIN
IN THE VERY SAME PLACE."
1791
01:43:07,447 --> 01:43:10,150
"I ALWAYS SAID
I WAS THE ONLY ONE
1792
01:43:10,217 --> 01:43:12,352
WHO COULD REMEMBER
THOSE DREADFUL DAYS,"
1793
01:43:12,419 --> 01:43:15,556
CAROLINE CONFIDED
TO A FRIEND, ADDING,
1794
01:43:15,622 --> 01:43:20,360
"PEOPLE HAVE SIMPLY ASSUMED
IT COULDN'T HAPPEN AGAIN."
1795
01:43:21,862 --> 01:43:24,932
THEN, IN THE EARLY 1950s,
1796
01:43:24,998 --> 01:43:29,403
WHEN THE WET CYCLE ENDED AND
A TWO-YEAR DROUGHT REPLACED IT,
1797
01:43:29,469 --> 01:43:32,573
THE DUST STORMS
PICKED UP ONCE MORE.
1798
01:43:34,708 --> 01:43:39,346
BUT THE DAMAGE
TO THE LAND WAS MITIGATED
1799
01:43:39,413 --> 01:43:42,282
BY THOSE FARMERS WHO
HAD CONTINUED USING
1800
01:43:42,349 --> 01:43:46,019
HOWARD FINNELL'S
CONSERVATION PRACTICES,
1801
01:43:46,086 --> 01:43:50,023
AND BECAUSE NEARLY 4 MILLION
ACRES HAD BEEN PURCHASED
1802
01:43:50,090 --> 01:43:52,326
BY THE GOVERNMENT
DURING THE DUST BOWL
1803
01:43:52,392 --> 01:43:56,029
AND PERMANENTLY RESTORED
AS NATIONAL GRASSLANDS,
1804
01:43:56,096 --> 01:43:58,765
THE SOIL DIDN'T BLOW AS MUCH.
1805
01:43:58,832 --> 01:44:03,070
AT LEAST A FEW LESSONS
HAD BEEN LEARNED.
1806
01:44:03,136 --> 01:44:05,439
WE WANT IT NOW,
1807
01:44:05,505 --> 01:44:10,777
AND IF IT IF IT MAKES MONEY
NOW, IT'S A GOOD IDEA.
1808
01:44:10,844 --> 01:44:14,181
BUT IT ISN'T NECESSARILY
IT'S A GOOD IDEA.
1809
01:44:14,248 --> 01:44:19,720
IF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING ARE
GOING TO MESS UP THE FUTURE,
1810
01:44:19,786 --> 01:44:22,256
IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA.
1811
01:44:22,322 --> 01:44:25,826
DON'T DEAL ON THE MOMENT.
1812
01:44:25,892 --> 01:44:29,162
TAKE THE LONG-TERM
LOOK AT THINGS.
1813
01:44:32,032 --> 01:44:36,970
Egan: I THINK THAT THE MOST
BASIC LESSON WAS, BE HUMBLE.
1814
01:44:37,037 --> 01:44:39,039
RESPECT THE LAND ITSELF.
1815
01:44:39,106 --> 01:44:41,008
LISTEN TO WHAT
IT'S TRYING TO TELL YOU.
1816
01:44:41,074 --> 01:44:45,612
IF THE WIND BLOWS 60, 70 MILES
AN HOUR FOR 50% OF THE YEAR,
1817
01:44:45,679 --> 01:44:48,649
THERE'S A REASON WHY ONLY
ONE THING IS GROWING THERE,
1818
01:44:48,715 --> 01:44:50,183
AND IT'S NATIVE GRASS.
1819
01:44:50,250 --> 01:44:52,886
DON'T TRY TO PUT THINGS IN PLACE
THERE THAT DON'T BELONG THERE.
1820
01:44:52,953 --> 01:44:54,521
LISTEN TO THE LAND ITSELF.
1821
01:44:54,588 --> 01:44:59,293
Narrator: BUT NOW, INSTEAD OF
LOOKING TO THE SKIES FOR RAIN,
1822
01:44:59,359 --> 01:45:02,663
MANY FARMERS BEGAN
LOOKING BENEATH THE SOIL,
1823
01:45:02,729 --> 01:45:06,366
WHERE THEY BELIEVED A MORE
RELIABLE--AND IRRESISTIBLE--
1824
01:45:06,433 --> 01:45:09,603
SUPPLY OF WATER
COULD BE FOUND--
1825
01:45:09,670 --> 01:45:13,807
THE VAST OGALLALA AQUIFER,
AN UNDERGROUND RESERVOIR
1826
01:45:13,874 --> 01:45:16,943
STRETCHING FROM
NEBRASKA TO NORTH TEXAS,
1827
01:45:17,010 --> 01:45:20,380
FILLED WITH WATER THAT HAD
SEEPED DOWN FOR CENTURIES
1828
01:45:20,447 --> 01:45:23,483
AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE.
1829
01:45:23,550 --> 01:45:27,521
WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY, FARMERS
COULD PUMP THE ANCIENT WATER UP,
1830
01:45:27,587 --> 01:45:30,624
IRRIGATE THEIR LAND,
AND GROW OTHER CROPS,
1831
01:45:30,691 --> 01:45:33,627
LIKE FEED CORN
FOR CATTLE AND PIGS,
1832
01:45:33,694 --> 01:45:38,398
WHICH REQUIRE EVEN MORE
MOISTURE THAN WHEAT.
1833
01:45:39,666 --> 01:45:41,501
Charles Shaw:
THE ONLY THING
1834
01:45:41,568 --> 01:45:43,170
THAT'S HOLDING
THAT GROUND TOGETHER
1835
01:45:43,236 --> 01:45:46,173
IS THAT IRRIGATION WATER
THAT COMES OUT OF THE OGALLALA.
1836
01:45:46,239 --> 01:45:51,378
THE OGALLALA IS ABOUT
100 FEET DEEP ON THE AVERAGE.
1837
01:45:51,445 --> 01:45:55,449
WE'VE USED OVER
50 FEET OF IT NOW.
1838
01:45:55,515 --> 01:45:57,951
WE'VE GOT ABOUT
20 YEARS OF WATER LEFT
1839
01:45:58,018 --> 01:46:02,022
UNDER THESE 8 STATES OR THE
PORTIONS OF THESE 8 STATES,
1840
01:46:02,089 --> 01:46:03,523
AND IT'S DISAPPEARING.
1841
01:46:03,590 --> 01:46:06,493
IT'S GONNA BE
GONE IN 20 YEARS.
1842
01:46:06,560 --> 01:46:10,897
IF YOU LOSE THE WATER,
YOU'RE GONNA LOSE THE LAND.
1843
01:46:10,964 --> 01:46:13,834
AND THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL.
1844
01:46:13,900 --> 01:46:18,438
Lewis: MY FOLKS PUT IN ONE
OF THE FIRST IRRIGATION WELLS,
1845
01:46:18,505 --> 01:46:21,108
AND WE THOUGHT
IT WAS A GREAT IDEA.
1846
01:46:21,174 --> 01:46:27,214
AS I LOOK BACK AT IT NOW, IT WAS
THE BEGINNING OF A BAD IDEA.
1847
01:46:27,280 --> 01:46:32,452
HAVING IRRIGATION WATER
PERMITTED US TO DO SOME THINGS
1848
01:46:32,519 --> 01:46:36,923
THAT WEREN'T GOOD
FOR THE LONG TERM.
1849
01:46:36,990 --> 01:46:41,528
AND SOME OF THESE DAYS...
I'LL BE GONE,
1850
01:46:41,595 --> 01:46:45,298
BUT SOMEBODY IS GONNA
BE OUT OF WATER.
1851
01:46:45,365 --> 01:46:49,569
FOLKS ARE GONNA HAVE TROUBLE
GETTING ENOUGH DRINKING WATER,
1852
01:46:49,636 --> 01:46:51,905
AND THEY'LL LOOK BACK AND SAY,
1853
01:46:51,972 --> 01:46:56,543
"AND TO THINK BACK THERE
IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES,
1854
01:46:56,610 --> 01:47:01,081
THEY USED UP OUR DRINKING
WATER TO RAISE HOG FEED."
1855
01:47:01,148 --> 01:47:04,084
Worster: I THINK THE DUST BOWL
CAN HAPPEN AGAIN--
1856
01:47:04,151 --> 01:47:06,420
MOST EMPHATICALLY
CAN HAPPEN AGAIN.
1857
01:47:06,486 --> 01:47:08,755
IT CAN BECOME
A CREEPING SAHARA.
1858
01:47:08,822 --> 01:47:11,458
THE SAHARA DESERT, A FEW
THOUSAND YEARS AGO,
1859
01:47:11,525 --> 01:47:13,293
WAS A SAVANNAH.
1860
01:47:13,360 --> 01:47:15,796
WE KNOW THAT IT'S POSSIBLE
1861
01:47:15,862 --> 01:47:20,333
TO TURN FROM SAVANNAH
TO A STARK DESERT,
1862
01:47:20,400 --> 01:47:23,336
AND THERE'S NO REASON TO
THINK THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN
1863
01:47:23,403 --> 01:47:25,338
IN THE MIDDLE
OF NORTH AMERICA.
1864
01:47:28,708 --> 01:47:32,579
Henderson portrayer:
AUGUST 1, 1965.
1865
01:47:32,646 --> 01:47:35,248
ANOTHER HOT
AND DESOLATE DAY.
1866
01:47:35,315 --> 01:47:39,419
WE ARE BOTH QUITE WEAKENED
BY OUR STRUGGLES,
1867
01:47:39,486 --> 01:47:43,890
EITHER WITH ASTHMA
OR A DESPERATE COUGH,
1868
01:47:43,957 --> 01:47:48,562
I BELIEVE LARGELY THE RESULT
OF WORKING WITH THE DUSTY WHEAT.
1869
01:47:48,628 --> 01:47:53,200
WE HAD REASON TO HOPE FOR
A GOOD RAIN FOR THE FEED CROP,
1870
01:47:53,266 --> 01:47:56,169
JUST NOW IN NEED
OF ENCOURAGEMENT,
1871
01:47:56,236 --> 01:48:00,941
BUT THE MOISTURE WAS CUT OFF
WITH ONLY A LIGHT SHOWER.
1872
01:48:02,976 --> 01:48:06,179
Narrator: ON HER HOMESTEAD
IN NO MAN'S LAND,
1873
01:48:06,246 --> 01:48:09,382
CAROLINE HENDERSON
CARRIED ON WITHOUT RESORTING
1874
01:48:09,449 --> 01:48:13,320
TO IRRIGATION WATER FROM
THE OGALLALA AQUIFER.
1875
01:48:13,386 --> 01:48:17,123
IT HAD BEEN NEARLY 60 YEARS
SINCE SHE FIRST ARRIVED,
1876
01:48:17,190 --> 01:48:20,026
FULL OF DREAMS OF
FARMING HER OWN LAND
1877
01:48:20,093 --> 01:48:23,029
AND PROSPERING FROM ITS BOUNTY.
1878
01:48:23,096 --> 01:48:24,831
IN THOSE 60 YEARS,
1879
01:48:24,898 --> 01:48:28,535
SHE AND WILL HAD SEEN
ONLY 10 BUMPER CROPS--
1880
01:48:28,602 --> 01:48:30,370
AND OFTENTIMES,
SHE EXPRESSED
1881
01:48:30,437 --> 01:48:33,940
FEELINGS OF FAILURE
TO THOSE SHE KNEW BEST.
1882
01:48:34,007 --> 01:48:36,243
AS THEY APPROACHED
THE AGE OF 80,
1883
01:48:36,309 --> 01:48:38,311
THEY WERE STILL
USING THE FARM EQUIPMENT
1884
01:48:38,378 --> 01:48:41,348
THEY HAD PURCHASED
IN THE 1920s BECAUSE
1885
01:48:41,414 --> 01:48:46,920
CAROLINE REFUSED TO BORROW MONEY
FOR LAND OR MACHINERY.
1886
01:48:46,987 --> 01:48:49,055
BUT THEY WERE FREE OF DEBT,
1887
01:48:49,122 --> 01:48:51,758
THEIR DAUGHTER HAD BECOME
A SUCCESSFUL DOCTOR
1888
01:48:51,825 --> 01:48:55,896
AND HAD GIVEN THEM A GRANDSON
WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE.
1889
01:48:55,962 --> 01:48:59,866
IN HER OLD AGE, CAROLINE
STEADFASTLY REFUSED
1890
01:48:59,933 --> 01:49:03,570
TO TURN HER LAND OVER TO
A FARM MANAGEMENT COMPANY--
1891
01:49:03,637 --> 01:49:07,340
"STRANGERS OF SOME FAR-AWAY
MONEY-GATHERING CORPORATION,"
1892
01:49:07,407 --> 01:49:10,176
SHE CALLED THEM,
"WITH NO POSSIBLE INTEREST
1893
01:49:10,243 --> 01:49:13,980
IN THIS SMALL BIT
OF THE GOOD EARTH."
1894
01:49:14,047 --> 01:49:18,084
IN 1965, WITH BOTH
OF THEM IN BAD HEALTH,
1895
01:49:18,151 --> 01:49:20,854
SHE FINALLY AGREED
TO COME TO ARIZONA
1896
01:49:20,921 --> 01:49:23,757
TO LIVE WITH THEIR DAUGHTER.
1897
01:49:23,823 --> 01:49:26,192
THEY RETURNED TO
NO MAN'S LAND
1898
01:49:26,259 --> 01:49:29,396
THE NEXT SPRING
FOR A FINAL VISIT.
1899
01:49:29,462 --> 01:49:33,066
WILL DIED 3 DAYS LATER.
1900
01:49:33,133 --> 01:49:35,635
CAROLINE JOINED HIM--
1901
01:49:35,702 --> 01:49:39,005
PASSING THROUGH WHAT SHE
CALLED "THE WESTERN GATE"--
1902
01:49:39,072 --> 01:49:41,074
WITHIN A FEW MONTHS.
1903
01:49:41,141 --> 01:49:43,610
IN ACCORDANCE WITH HER WISHES,
1904
01:49:43,677 --> 01:49:46,613
THE HOMESTEAD WAS
PLACED IN TRUST,
1905
01:49:46,680 --> 01:49:51,918
ON THE CONDITION THAT IT
NEVER BE PLOWED AGAIN.
1906
01:49:51,985 --> 01:49:56,623
Henderson portrayer: TO PREPARE
THE GROUND AS WELL AS WE MAY,
1907
01:49:56,690 --> 01:50:00,760
TO SOW OUR SEEDS,
TO CULTIVATE AND CARE FOR--
1908
01:50:00,827 --> 01:50:03,697
THAT IS OUR PART.
1909
01:50:03,763 --> 01:50:07,834
YET HOW DIFFICULT IT IS
FOR SOME OF US TO LEARN
1910
01:50:07,901 --> 01:50:10,337
THAT THE RESULTS
WE MUST LEAVE
1911
01:50:10,403 --> 01:50:15,408
TO THE GREAT SILENT
UNSEEN FORCES OF NATURE,
1912
01:50:15,475 --> 01:50:21,181
WHETHER THE CROP BE CORN
OR CHARACTER.
1913
01:50:21,247 --> 01:50:23,783
CAROLINE HENDERSON.
1914
01:50:30,090 --> 01:50:33,026
[CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
FRIENDS OF NCI]
1915
01:50:35,261 --> 01:50:39,032
♪ TT HAD DUST STORM
LLED MY BABY ♪
1916
01:50:39,032 --> 01:50:43,403
♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪
1917
01:50:43,403 --> 01:50:47,240
♪ THAT OLD DUST STORM,
WELL, IT KILLED MY FAMILY ♪
1918
01:50:47,240 --> 01:50:51,578
♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪
1919
01:50:51,578 --> 01:50:55,415
♪ THAT OLD LANDLORD,
AND HE GOT MY HOMESTEAD ♪
1920
01:50:55,415 --> 01:50:59,552
♪ BUT HE CAN'T GET ME, LORD,
AND HE CAN'T GET ME ♪
1921
01:50:59,552 --> 01:51:03,490
♪ THAT OLD DRY SPELL
KILLED MY CROP, BOYS ♪
1922
01:51:03,490 --> 01:51:07,093
♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪
1923
01:51:29,749 --> 01:51:32,252
Esperanza Spalding:
ONE TREMENDOUS THING ABOUT PBS
1924
01:51:32,252 --> 01:51:35,922
IS THAT IT MAKES ART ACCESSIBLE
BY PUTTING IT ON A PLATFORM
1925
01:51:35,922 --> 01:51:38,191
WHERE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
CAN ACCESS IT FOR FREE.
1926
01:51:38,191 --> 01:51:39,526
AND WE NEED IT.
1927
01:51:39,526 --> 01:51:42,195
WE NEED MUSIC. WE NEED DANCE.
WE NEED GREAT THEATER.
1928
01:51:42,195 --> 01:51:44,864
FOR OUR SOUL.
FOR JOY IN OUR LIVES.
1929
01:51:44,864 --> 01:51:46,866
A LOT OF PEOPLE FLIP ON PBS
1930
01:51:46,866 --> 01:51:50,537
AND HEAR OR SEE SOMETHING THAT
WAKES UP THAT INTEGRAL PART
1931
01:51:50,537 --> 01:51:52,706
OF BEING A HUMAN BEING
WHICH IS ENJOYING
1932
01:51:52,706 --> 01:51:54,374
THE ARTS OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
1933
01:51:54,374 --> 01:51:59,713
SO I'M GRATEFUL FOR PBS
AS AN ARTIST AND AS A VIEWER.
1934
01:51:59,713 --> 01:52:01,548
Announcer: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
"THE DUST BOWL,"
1935
01:52:01,548 --> 01:52:03,550
WATCH WEB-EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS,
1936
01:52:03,550 --> 01:52:05,385
EXPLORE OUR PHOTO GALLERY,
1937
01:52:05,385 --> 01:52:08,221
AND GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH
THE PRODUCERS OF THE FILM,
1938
01:52:08,221 --> 01:52:12,726
VISIT US ONLINE AT
PBS.ORG/DUSTBOWL.
1939
01:52:12,726 --> 01:52:16,062
THE DUST BOWL IS AVAILABLE
ON DVD OR BLU-RAY.
1940
01:52:16,062 --> 01:52:18,231
THE COMPANION BOOK
IS ALSO AVAILABLE.
1941
01:52:18,231 --> 01:52:21,501
TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG
1942
01:52:21,501 --> 01:52:24,604
OR CALL 1-800-PLAYPBS.
1943
01:52:24,604 --> 01:52:27,073
ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
FROM iTUNES.
1944
01:52:27,073 --> 01:52:29,676
♪ ...BUT IT CAN'T GET ME, BOYS,
AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪
1945
01:52:36,750 --> 01:52:40,687
♪ THAT OLD DUST STORM,
WELL, IT BLOWED MY BARN DOWN ♪
1946
01:52:40,687 --> 01:52:45,024
♪ BUT IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN,
AND IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN ♪
1947
01:52:45,024 --> 01:52:48,862
♪ THAT OLD WIND MIGHT
BLOW THIS WORLD DOWN ♪
1948
01:52:48,862 --> 01:52:53,099
♪ BUT IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN,
IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪
1949
01:52:53,099 --> 01:52:57,036
♪ THAT OLD DUST STORM
KILLED MY BABY ♪
1950
01:52:57,036 --> 01:52:57,036
♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪
159542
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.