All language subtitles for The.Dust.Bowl.S01E01.1080p.Bluray.x265.10bit.AAC.5.1-LION[UTR]

Narrator: HISTORY, AS SEEN
THROUGH THE EYES OF KEN BURNS,

IS JUST
COLLECTION OF STORIES

ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED
IN THE .

TO REFLECT ON HOW TO BUILD
A STRONGER TOMORROW.

WE'RE PROUD
TO SUPPORT HIS EFFORTS.

FUNDING FOR
THIS IS PROVIDED BY:

MEMBERS OF
THE ANGELS SOCIETY,

DEDICATED TO HELPING KEN BURNS
TELL AMERICA'S STORIES,

INCLUDING THE DANA A. HAMEL
FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST,

ROBERT
BEVERLY GRAPPONE;

THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS,

DEDICATED TO STRENGTHENING
AMERICA'S FUTURE

THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,

EXPLORING THE HUMAN ENDEAVOR;

THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION;

THE WALLACE GENETIC FOUNDATION;

THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

AND BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION

FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

Wells: LET ME TELL YOU
HOW IT WAS.

I DON'T CARE WHO
DESCRIBES THAT TO YOU,

NOBODY CAN TELL IT ANY

THERE IS NO WAY
FOR IT TO BE EXAGGERATED.

Pauline Robertson:
IT WAS JUST UNBELIEVABLE.

IT'D BLISTER YOUR FACE.

IT WOULD PUT YOUR EYES OUT.

WELL, I GUESS I CAN'T
DESCRIBE IT.

IT WAS JUST...
IT WAS JUST CONSTANT,

JUST THAT STEADY
BLOW OF DIRT.

Floyd Coen:
FAR AS YOU COULD SEE,

THIS GIANT WALL JUST

YOU STILL THE FEELING,

WHETHER YOU WOULD ADMIT IT,

Williamson: IT WAS
ALMOST SURREAL, THE DUST.

YOU TRY TO GET OUT OF IT

BUT IT'S AS IF IT FOLLOWS YOU,
FOLLOWS YOU, FOLLOWS YOU.

LOOKING BACK ON IT,

I THINK IT CARRIED WITH IT

FEELING OF...

I DON'T KNOW THE
EXACTLY, OF...

WELL, BEING UNREAL,
BUT ALMOST BEING, UM...

EVIL.

Narrator: IT WAS A DECADE-LONG
NATURAL CATASTROPHE

OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS--

WHEN THE SKIES REFUSED
THEIR RAINS;

WHEN PLAGUES OF GRASSHOPPERS
AND SWARMS OF RABBITS

DESCENDED ON PARCHED FIELDS;

WHEN BEWILDERED FAMILIES
HUDDLED IN DARKENED ROOMS

WHILE ANGRY WINDS
SHOOK THEIR HOMES,

PILLARS OF DUST CHOKED OUT
THE MID-DAY SUN,

THE ITSELF--
THE SOIL THEY DEPENDED UPON

FOR THEIR SURVIVAL COUNTED
ON FOR THEIR PROSPERITY--

TURNED AGAINST THEM
WITH A LETHAL VENGEANCE.

IT WAS THE WORST MAN-MADE

WHEN THE IRRESISTIBLE

AND THE HEEDLESS ACTIONS

ENCOURAGED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT,
RESULTED IN A COLLECTIVE TRAGEDY

BREADBASKET OF THE NATION.

IT'S A CLASSIC TALE
OF HUMAN BEINGS PUSHING

TOO HARD AGAINST NATURE
AND NATURE PUSHING BACK.

THEN IT'S AN AMERICAN
BUBBLE STORY, TOO,

LIKE STOCKS
LIKE ESTATE.

WE THINK THAT EVERYTHING THAT

AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID HERE.

Worster: THE DUST BOWL
BELONGS ON THE LIST

OF THE TOP 3, 4, 5 ENVIRONMENTAL

BUT THOSE
CATASTROPHES TOOK PLACE

OVER HUNDREDS AND EVEN THOUSANDS
OF YEARS OF DEFORESTATION.

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER

INA MATTER OF
40 OR 50 YEARS.

Narrator: IT WAS AN EPIC OF
HUMAN PAIN AND SUFFERING,

WHEN NORMALLY SELF-RELIANT
FATHERS FOUND THEMSELVES

UNABLE TO PROVIDE
FOR THEIR FAMILIES,

WHEN EVEN THE MOST VIGILANT
MOTHERS WERE UNABLE

TO STOP THE DIRT THAT
INVADED THEIR HOUSES

FROM KILLING THEIR CHILDREN,

WERE TORN FROM THEIR HOMES
AND FORCED ON THE ROAD

IN AN EXODUS UNLIKE ANYTHING
THE UNITED STATES HAS EVER SEEN.

BUT IT IS ALSO THE STORY
OF HEROIC PERSEVERANCE,

OF A RESILIENT PEOPLE WHO
SOMEHOW MANAGED TO ENDURE

ONE UNIMAGINABLE HARDSHIP
ANOTHER

TO HOLD ONTO THEIR
LIVES, THEIR LAND,

AND THE ONES THEY LOVED.

Egan: WHAT KIND

WHERE CHILDREN
COULDN'T GO OUTSIDE,

WHERE THE ITSELF
COULD KILL YOU,

THAT COULD ERASE
THE SUN AT MIDDAY?

WHO COULD DO THAT?

WE DIDN'T THIS.
WE DIDN'T SET OUT SAY,

"LET'S RUIN THE SECOND-GREATEST
ECOSYSTEM IN NORTH AMERICA."

IT WAS A RESULT OF
WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS

THAT ARE JUST INNATE

[BIRD SINGING]

Woman: "APRIL 28, 1908.

"HERE I AM, AWAY OUT IN THAT
NARROW STRIP OF OKLAHOMA

"BETWEEN KANSAS AND
THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS.

"I WISH YOU COULD SEE THIS
WIDE, FREE, WESTERN COUNTRY,

"WITH ITS REAL STRETCHES
OF ALMOST LEVEL PRAIRIE,

"COVERED WITH THE THICK,
SHORT BUFFALO GRASS,

"THE MARVELOUS GLORY OF

THE BRILLIANCY OF ITS
STAR-LIT SKY AT NIGHT."

CAROLINE HENDERSON.

Narrator: FROM THE TIME
SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL

GROWING UP IN IOWA,
CAROLINE HENDERSON DREAMED

OF HAVING A PIECE OF LAND
SHE COULD CALL HER OWN.

WHERE SHE STUDIED
LANGUAGES LITERATURE,

PROPHECY PREDICTED

THAT HER FUTURE WOULD BE FOUND
"SOMEWHERE ON A WESTERN RANCH."

IN 1907, THE OF
OKLAHOMA'S STATEHOOD,

SHE FOLLOWED THAT TO
THE NEWLY CREATED COUNTY,

A HOMESTEAD CLAIM

MOVED INTO A ONE-ROOM
SHACK, 14 FEET BY 16,

LATER, SHE MARRIED
WILL HENDERSON,

HAD HIRED TO DIG HER WELL.

THEY SOON
DAUGHTER, ELEANOR,

WILL BUILT
ADDITION TO THEIR HOME.

GAINING TITLE TO THE FARM,

WHERE THEY RAISED BROOM
CORN, MILLET, AND MAIZE,

TURKEYS, CHICKENS,
FEW CATTLE,

PUTTING WHAT LITTLE CASH
THEY EARNED INTO IMPROVEMENTS,

PARTICULARLY A NEW
WINDMILL TO DRAW UP WATER

FOR THEIR ANIMALS, HOUSE,
AND HALF-ACRE GARDEN.

TO BRING IN MONEY,
CAROLINE BEGAN

SUBMITTING ARTICLES
ABOUT LIFE ON THE PLAINS

TO MAGAZINES IN THE EAST.

SHE WROTE FOR "LADIES' WORLD,"

WHERE HER COLUMN ENTITLED
"THE HOMESTEAD LADY"

BECAME A POPULAR FEATURE,

EVENTUALLY CONTRIBUTED
TO THE "ATLANTIC MONTHLY,"

THE NATION'S MOST
PRESTIGIOUS PUBLICATION.

Henderson
OUT HERE IN THIS WILDERNESS

MOST HOPEFUL HAPPINESS
OF ALL MY LIFE.

Charles Shaw: YOU LIVE WITH
THE WIND WHEN YOU'RE OUT THERE.

IT'S NOT SOMETHING

THAN IT DOESN'T BLOW.

THE TIMES THAT
IT BLOWS REALLY

MAY NOT BE THAT OFTEN,

A LITTLE MURMUR OF THE
WIND ACROSS THE FIELDS

AND IN THE WHEAT AND IN
WHAT TREES ARE THERE.

YOU FEEL IT, YOU SENSE IT
MORE THAN YOU HEAR IT.

YOU COULD SEE FOR JUST MILES.

THERE AND THE NORTH POLE.

BUT GOD, IT WAS
GOOD GRASS COUNTRY.

MAN, IT WAS PERFECT.

Calvin Crabill: IT'S SAID
THAT BUFFALO GRASS

WOULD HOLD THE MOISTURE

SO IF YOU WENT DOWN 12 INCHES,
YOU WOULD FIND MOIST EARTH.

AND I REMEMBER US
DIGGING DOWN,

AND THE EARTH WAS
MOIST DOWN THERE.

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SOIL.

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SOIL.

Worster: NATURE TOOK
SEVERAL MILLION YEARS

TO FIND A SOLUTION TO

THESE HIGH WINDS, THESE
TURBULENT WEATHER CONDITIONS,

THEY
EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION.

THEY WELL,
FOR THE MOST .

THEY HAVE SURVIVED HERE
FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS.

OUR AGRICULTURE HASN'T BEEN HERE
FOR MUCH MORE THAN A CENTURY.

Narrator:
THE GREAT PLAINS STRETCH

FROM CANADA
TO SOUTHERN TEXAS,

FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER
TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS--

OF FEW TREES, INFREQUENT
RAINS, CONSTANT WINDS.

ONE OF THE EARLIEST AMERICAN
EXPLORERS CALLED IT

"ALMOST WHOLLY UNFIT
FOR CULTIVATION,

AND UNINHABITABLE BY A PEOPLE
DEPENDING UPON AGRICULTURE."

THE PLAINS INDIANS
CONSIDERED IT HOME.

SENT TANGLED ROOTS 5 FEET
BELOW THE GROUND,

FORMING A DENSE SOD THAT
COULD WITHSTAND THE REGION'S

PERIODIC DROUGHTS AND
VIOLENT WEATHER EXTREMES,

NURTURING THE VAST
HERDS OF BUFFALO

WHO GRAZED IN NUMBERS
BEYOND COUNTING.

AFTER THE BISON
WERE ELIMINATED

AND THE NATIVE AMERICANS HAD
BEEN DRIVEN ONTO RESERVATIONS,

CATTLEMEN TOOK OVER IN WHAT

BUT SEVERE WINTERS IN THE 1880s
KILLED OFF THEIR HERDS,

CONSIDERED UNSUITABLE FOR CROPS

BECAUSE IT AVERAGED LESS
INCHES OF RAIN

UNSCRUPULOUS PROMOTERS
PROMISED THAT

THE VERY ACT OF FARMING WOULD
INCREASE THE PRECIPITATION--

"RAIN FOLLOWS
THE PLOW," THEY SAID.

A SEVERE DROUGHT IN THE
1890s PROVED THEM WRONG,

AND COUNTIES THAT HAD TRIPLED
AND QUADRUPLED IN POPULATION

EMPTIED JUST AS QUICKLY.

THEN, IN THE EARLY
OF THE CENTURY,

ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD ACT,

ENTICING FARMERS TO SETTLE
ON SOME OF THE LAST UNCLAIMED

THEM WHITE, CAME FROM EUROPE,

WHERE LAND WAS UNAVAILABLE,

AND PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES

IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,

ON A NARROW STRIP OF OKLAHOMA
THAT BORDERED 4 OTHER STATES--

KANSAS, TEXAS,
NEW MEXICO, COLORADO--

A FORMERLY LAWLESS
AND UNGOVERNABLE PLACE

CALLED NO MAN'S LAND,
THE PLACE WHERE

CAROLINE HENDERSON
WOULD STAKE HER FUTURE.

Henderson
FARMING HERE OFTEN REMINDS ME

OF THE WHO,
WHEN ASKED TO EMBARK UPON

SOME RATHER DOUBTFUL
BUSINESS VENTURE, REPLIED

THAT IF HE WANTED TO GAMBLE,
HE WOULD PREFER ROULETTE,

Worster: THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
HIGH-RISK AREA

BECAUSE THEY'RE NEITHER
DESERT NOR HUMID FOREST

HUMID GRASSLAND, EVEN.

THEY'RE ON THE EDGES
OF VULNERABILITY.

THAT THE RAINFALL

IN SOME YEARS, YOU GET
ENOUGH RAINFALL

YOu GOOD CROP;

THE NEXT YOU GET HALF
THAT AMOUNT OF RAINFALL.

IT IS ONE OF THE RISKIEST
AREAS IN THE WORLD

FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.

Hurt:
THE FARM MEN AND WOMEN OF
THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS

THE GREATEST "NEXT YEAR"
PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.

THEY REALLY LIVE THEIR LIVES
WITH 3 LITTLE

"IF IT RAINS."

IF IT RAINS,
THE DUST WOULD SETTLE.

IF IT RAINED, THE DROUGHT
WOULD BE BROKEN.

IF IT RAINED, THE WHEAT

IF IT RAINED,
THINGS WERE GOOD.

IF IT DIDN'T, THEY WERE
A "NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE.

Narrator: NOT LONG AFTER
CAROLINE HENDERSON MOVED

TO NO MAN'S IN 1907,

THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
ENTERED A WET PERIOD,

THE PACE OF
SETTLEMENT QUICKENED.

AND CARVED THEM UP

INTO SMALLER PARCELS FOR SALE
AT 3 TIMES THE PRICE.

RAILROAD COMPANIES DID THE
SAME THING WITH THE VAST TRACTS

THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN
BY THE GOVERNMENT.

BROUGHT PROSPECTIVE BUYERS

TO THE REGION
BY THE THOUSANDS.

SALESMEN ASSURED THEM
THAT NONE OTHER

THAN THE FORMER CHANCELLOR

HAD DETERMINED THAT
THE CLIMATE WAS UNDERGOING

PERMANENT SHIFT--
PRECIPITATION WAS INCREASING,

WHILE THE WINDS
WERE SLOWING DOWN.

ANOTHER EXPERT DECLARED THAT

REMOVING THE COVER

ALLOWED MORE RAINFALL
TO PENETRATE THE SOIL.

TOWNS SPRANG UP OVERNIGHT.

IN CIMARRON COUNTY,

THE DEVELOPERS OF BOISE CITY

WHO DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER

TO COME FOR AN INSPECTION.

NAMED FOR THE FRENCH

THERE WERE NO TREES. THIS IS
IN THE PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA.

THERE WERE NO TREES.
THEY ADVERTISED IT AS

BIG MAIN STREETS WHERE
BANKERS COULD LIVE, AND
STATELY ELMS AND MAPLES.

THERE WERE NO TREES,

BUT THEY SOLD LOTS HERE.

THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW TIMES
IN AMERICAN REAL ESTATE

WHERE REAL-ESTATE PROMOTERS

SENT TO FEDERAL PENITENTIARY,

ONE OF THEM ROTTED DIED
IN THAT PENITENTIARY

THE REAL-ESTATE
THAT WAS BOISE CITY.

Narrator: "OKLAHOMA," ONE
RAILROAD BROCHURE BRAGGED,

"GROWS
CATTLE TEXAS,

"BETTER COTTON THAN
MISSISSIPPI OR ALABAMA,

AND BETTER SWINE

BUT INCREASINGLY,
IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA

THROUGHOUT THE
SOUTHERN PLAINS,

WHEN THE GREAT WAR
BROKE OUT IN EUROPE,

IN THE UNITED STATES,

FARMERS MOBILIZED
TO FEED THE ALLIES.

UNDER THE SLOGAN,
"WHEAT WILL WIN THE WAR,"

TWICE THE PREVIOUS RATE.

IN 5 YEARS, MORE THAN 11
MILLION ACRES OF VIRGIN SOIL

WERE PLOWED FOR
THE FIRST TIME--

AN AREA TWICE THE

CONVERTED FROM GRASSLANDS
TO WHEAT FIELDS.

WHEN THE WAR ENDED,
WHEAT PRICES DROPPED,

BUT THE PLOWING AND
PLANTING ONLY INCREASED.

IT WOULD COME TO BE CALLED
"THE GREAT PLOW UP."

Riney-Kehrberg:
IF YOU BEEN A WHEAT
FARMER IN THE 1920s,

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY
TO MONEY.

YOU NEEDED LESS
TO GROW WHEAT

THAN YOU NEEDED
TO RUN CATTLE.

I HAD A FARMER TELL ME
THAT YOU JUST PUT SEED

IN THE GROUND
BOOM, YOU CROP.

Imogene Glover: IT WAS REALLY
ADVERTISED ALL OVER THE NATION

AND LIVE IN THE TWENTIES.

OH, IT WAS GREEN,
LEVEL, PRETTY,

AND THE GRASS WAS BEAUTIFUL.

WE TALL GRASS,

I REMEMBER RUNNING
BAREFOOTED ALONG IN THIS DITCH,

OF COOL, DAMP GROUND.

Narrator: IMOGENE GLOVER'S
FAMILY MOVED

TO A 3-ROOM HOUSE ON LAND

NOT FAR FROM CAROLINE
AND WILL HENDERSON.

HER FATHER RAISED CATTLE,
TURKEYS, ESPECIALLY WHEAT.

Glover: HE WAS A GAMBLER,

BUT I THINK EVERY

THEY HAVE TO GAMBLE THAT WHAT
THEY'RE PUTTING INTO THE GROUND

AND THEY'LL GET BETTER OFF.

THEY ALWAYS FEEL THAT WAY
IF THEY'RE A FARMER.

Narrator: IN THE SOUTHWESTERN
CORNER OF KANSAS,

FROM A FAILED HOMESTEADER.

AT FIRST, HE MOVED HIS WIFE
THEIR CHILDREN

INTO A ONE-ROOM
10-BY-12-FOOT DUGOUT

THAT EXTENDED ONLY
2 1/2 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND,

WITH SMALL WINDOWS TO
LET IN A LITTLE LIGHT.

THE FAMILY GREW,
EDGAR ADDED ROOMS,

THEN AN ABOVE-GROUND
ENTRANCE BIG ENOUGH
TO DOUBLE AS A KITCHEN.

HE WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE
160 ACRES

AND BUILD A BARN

Coen:
OH, IT WAS NICE.

SUMMERTIME WAS PRETTY BALMY--

A LOT OF TIMES, WE WOULD SLEEP
OUT UNDERNEATH THE TREES

OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

IT WAS A REALLY
GOOD ATMOSPHERE,

BEEN AN ARID COUNTRY.

IT NEVER BEEN
LOTS OF RAIN.

BUT IT WAS A REALLY IDEAL
PLACE TO RAISE A FAMILY.

Egan: FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THEIR FAMILY HISTORY,

MOST OF THESE PEOPLE
OWNED A PIECE OF DIRT.

WHO'D BEEN KICKED AROUND,
THE OLD CONFEDERACY.

POOR WHITE TRASH.

FROM THE RUSSIAN STEPPE.

CAME UP FROM THE SOUTH.

THEY WERE FOLKS THAT
NEVER OWNED ANYTHING.

THEY WONDERFUL
YEARS, 10, 12, 15,

Narrator: MODERN MACHINERY MADE
WHEAT FARMING MORE EFFICIENT

AND STILL PROFITABLE EVEN AT
PRICES OF $1.00 PER BUSHEL.

POWERFUL GASOLINE TRACTORS

PULLING ARRAYS
OF DISC PLOWS

TURNED THE SOD WITH EASE.

Worster: IN THE 1920s,
THERE WAS A CONCERTED MOVEMENT

AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS

TO TURN AGRICULTURE
INTO AN INDUSTRIAL MODEL,

TO EVERY FARM
INTO A FACTORY.

WELL, YOU COULD
NEVER HAVE PLOWED UP

30-SOME MILLION

WITH HORSE WOODEN PLOW
EVEN A STEEL PLOW.

TRACTORS WERE GOING ALL NIGHT
LONG WITH HEADLIGHTS BURNING

TO PLOW UP THIS LAND,
TO GET IT INTO PRODUCTION.

Narrator:
IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO,

CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER
HOPED TO MAKE A LIFE

FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY

BUT TO GET AHEAD,
HE TOOK A JOB

ON OTHER PEOPLE'S LAND.

Calvin Crabill:
HE NIGHTS.

AND SO HE WORKED NIGHTS.

HE KNEW THAT BUFFALO GRASS
WAS THE NATURAL TURF

OF THAT COUNTRY, AND IT

HE DIDN'T STAY WITH THE
TRACTORING THING TOO LONG

BECAUSE I THINK IT
JUST GOT HIS HEART.

HE COULDN'T STAND IT.

EVEN THOUGH HE NEEDED THE
MONEY, HE QUIT DOING IT.

HE JUST COULDN'T
STAND TO DOT.

HE WAS REALLY A STOCKMAN,
HE KNEW IT WAS ALL WRONG,

HE THE PRICE
FOR IT LATER.

Narrator: IN PREVIOUS YEARS,

FARMERS USED A PLOW
CALLED A LISTER

THAT SPLIT THE SOIL IN
DIRECTIONS DUG A DEEP FURROW

THAT CAUGHT HELD
BLOWING SOIL.

WHICH WAS CHEAPER
TORE THROUGH THE

AT A FASTER RATE.

Wayne Lewis:
IN THE LATE TWENTIES,

THE THING TO DO WAS

TO OUT EVERYTHING
GET IT IN WHEAT.

EVERYBODY DID THAT.

Egan: THIS BOOM WAS ONE OF THE
GREAT CLASSIC AMERICAN BUBBLES.

WE'VE LOT OF THEM IN
OUR HISTORY, THIS WAS ONE.

THEY THESE SUITCASE FARMERS
WHO WOULD GET OFF THE TRAIN,

AND THEY CALLED THEM

THEY WERE JUST DANDIES
FROM THE CITY.

THEY WEREN'T FARMERS.
THEY HAD THEIR SUITCASES,

THEY'D GO OUT THEY'D
CLAIM THEIR SQUARE MILE

THE HOMESTEAD ACT.

THEN THEY'D GET SOMEONE
TO PLOW UP THE GRASS,

RED WHEAT INTO THE GROUND,

AND COME BACK IN THE SPRING
AND HARVEST THIS THING.

IT WAS A FOOL'S GAME.
YOU COULD LOT OF MONEY.

Henderson
THE SUITCASE FARMERS HAVE HIRED

THE PREPARATION OF LARGE AREAS
OF ALL AROUND US

WHICH NO LONGER REPRESENT
THE IDEA OF HOMES AT ALL,

BUT JUST PARTS OF
POTENTIAL FACTORY

FOR THE LOW-COST
PRODUCTION OF WHEAT.

Narrator: DURING THE
5 YEARS OF THE 1920s ALONE,

ANOTHER 5,260,000 ACRES
OF

AN AREA THE SIZE
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE--

WAS TURNED OVER ON
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

"THE SOIL," A FEDERAL AGENCY
CONFIDENTLY PROCLAIMED,

"IS THE ONE INDESTRUCTIBLE,
IMMUTABLE ASSET

"IT IS THE ONE RESOURCE
THAT CANNOT BE EXHAUSTED,

Worster: THE GREAT PLOW UP
GOING FOR IT

AMPLE RAINFALL FOR A PERIOD
OF 10 OR 15 YEARS,

IT JUST KEPT
ENCOURAGING MORE.

PEOPLE THOUGHT, AS THEY
THINK AGAIN AGAIN,

THAT WE HAVE TURNED THE
CORNER ON CLIMATE HERE.

WE SEE FAR INTO THE
FUTURE, IT'S ALL WET.

THEY KNEW THAT THERE'D BEEN
SEVERE DROUGHTS IN THE 1890s,

BUT PEOPLE FORGOT ABOUT THOSE.

THEY THOUGHT
THAT WAS THE \

THIS IS NOW, AND THIS
WILL BE THE FUTURE.

Narrator: A HANDFUL
OF OLD-TIMERS,

ESPECIALLY THE CATTLEMEN,

WHO HAD BEEN THROUGH THOSE

TO THEM, THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
WERE A GRASSLAND,

AND THE SOD SHOULD
NEVER BE TURNED.

WHITE, WHO WAS
HALF-APACHE, HALF-ANGLO COWBOY

LIVING IN THE
PANHANDLE,

TO HIS SON WHO ASKED HIM
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM,

HE SAID, "LOOK AT IT.

WRONG SIDE UP.
IT'S WRONG SIDE UP."

Henderson portrayer:
A FEW DAYS AGO,

I RODE TO THE ST
FOR THE MAIL.

THE WHOLE COUNTRY

TRANSFORMED IN THE SUNSET GLOW--

ALL THE BROWN PRAIRIE
TURNED TO GOLD.

I COULD FEEL ONCE THE LURE
OF THIS GREAT, LONELY LAND,

WAITING WITH ITS STORES
OF FERTILITY ALL UNTOUCHED

FOR THOSE WHO SHALL ONE DAY
LEARN TO MEET ITS DEMANDS,

TO GIVE TO IT THEIR
PATIENT THOUGHT

Narrator: AMONG CAROLINE
HENDERSON'S NEIGHBORS

WAS THE FAMILY
OF HARRY FORESTER.

HE GROWN UP IN ARKANSAS
EASTERN

BEFORE FILING ON A HOMESTEAD
IN NO MAN'S LAND,

WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE
RAISED 9 CHILDREN.

TIMES IMPROVED,
HIS EXPANDED,

TO LEAVE AS A BEQUEST

TO EACH OF HIS SONS A SECTION--
THAT, IS A SQUARE MILE--

OF GOOD, ARABLE,
WHEAT PRODUCTION LAND,

WHICH WAS SOMETHING THAT
HE FELT WOULD GUARANTEE

THEIR HAVING A GOOD LIVING
GOOD LIFE.

Narrator: IN 1928,
TO FULFILL HIS DREAM,

FORESTER LEVERAGED THE
HOMESTEAD HE ALREADY OWNED

WITH A MORTGAGE

TO BUY EVEN WHEAT-GROWING
NEAR BOISE CITY.

Forester: HE USED ALL
HIS PROPERTY ALL HIS

ALL HE ACCRUED
FROM 1906 TO 1928.

BECAUSE OF HIS DREAM, HE
ESSENTIALLY PUT IT ALL AT RISK,

AND ULTIMATELY, IT PROVED TO
BE A BAD TIME TO MAKE A MOVE.

Narrator:
ON OCTOBER 29, 1929--

THE DAY THAT WOULD BE REMEMBERED
"BLACK TUESDAY,"

THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED
ON WALL STREET,

PUNCTURING
SPECULATIVE BUBBLE

THAT HAD BEEN BUILDING
THROUGHOUT THE 1920s.

BY THE END OF THE YEAR,
THE FINANCIAL PANIC BEGAN

TO SPREAD TO OTHER
PARTS OF THE ECONOMY,

THROWING ONE HALF MILLION
AMERICANS OUT OF

LATER,
THAT NUMBER WOULD TRIPLE,

AND THE NATION DESCENDED
INTO THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

BUT BACK IN NO MAN'S LAND,
THE FUTURE STILL LOOKED BRIGHT.

PRONOUNCED THE SOUTHERN PLAINS

AS ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS
AREAS IN THE ENTIRE NATION.

AN ADVERTISEMENT IN THE
"BOISE CITY NEWS" IMAGINED

MANHATTAN-STYLE SKYLINE,
WITH THE PREDICTION,

"SOON YOU WILL HAVE YOUR OWN
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING,

RIGHT ACROSS FROM

Pauline Hodges:
THE FIRST YEARS,

THEY THOUGHT
IT DIDN'T AFFECT THEM,

"THAT WAS NEW YORK.
IT WASN'T HERE.

THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US."

Glover: WE HAD THE BEST CROP
THAT WE IN 1929,

THAT'S WHEN THE
MARKET WAS GREAT,

THE PEOPLE THAT
DID WHEAT

THEY'D EVER HAD,

THEY JUST THOUGHT
THEY'D GET WEALTHY.

IT WAS A GREAT TIME,

AND EVERYTHING

Narrator: IN THE PANHANDLE

TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER
DECIDED TIMES WERE RIGHT

AND BUILD A NEW HOUSE.

Trixie Travis Brown:
HE HIS BROTHER

STORE IN FOLLETT.

FOLLETT WAS
THRIVING LITTLE TOWN.

ON BOTH SIDES
OF THE STREET.

IT WAS GREAT. THINGS SEEMED
TO BE GOING WELL

FOR MY DAD, FOR GRANDPA.

Narrator:
MOST OF WHAT PEOPLE KNEW

ABOUT THE MISERY GRIPPING
THE REST OF AMERICA

THEY LEARNED FROM
READING NEWSPAPERS

PALACE THEATER IN BOISE CITY

THE MISSION THEATRE
IN DALHART, TEXAS.

BUT AS THE DEPRESSION
DEEPENED ELSEWHERE,

PRICES OF FARM
COMMODITIES COLLAPSED,

PLUNGING ALL OF RURAL
AMERICA INTO CRISIS.

IN 1930, WHEAT DROPPED FROM
A DOLLAR TO 70 CENTS A BUSHEL.

NOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
BEGGED FARMERS

TO REDUCE THEIR ACREAGE.

INSTEAD, FARMERS DECIDED
IF THEY COULDN'T MAKE

AS MUCH MONEY PER BUSHEL,

THEY WOULD SIMPLY
HARVEST MORE BUSHELS.

SO THEY PLOWED UP MORE LAND--
HALF A MILLION MORE ACRES

IN THE COUNTIES
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND.

THE WHOLE
ONE AGRICULTURAL AGENT SAID,

Worster: THE ANSWER TO FARMERS'
PROBLEMS ON THE GREAT PLAINS

IS BASICALLY ALWAYS MORE--
PRODUCTION.

IF YOU'RE HURTING FINANCIALLY,
IF YOUR CROP PRICES ARE LOW,

YOU PRODUCE MORE TO MAKE UP.

IF YOU'RE DOING WELL,
THE BUSHEL PRICES HIGH,

YOU PRODUCE MORE.

IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM.

IN 1930,
DESPITE LOW PRICES,

MORE WHEAT THAN EVER BEFORE.

Egan: THIS BIG PLOW UP

THAT CAME
WHEAT CRASHED.

AND YOU HAD TAKEN OUT

BANK LOAN TO SERVICE
YOUR 10,000 ACRES,

GETTING ONLY HALF

WHAT YOU GOT THAT YEAR BEFORE.

THE ONLY WAY YOU
COULD COVER YOUR NUT

WAS TO DOUBLE THE AMOUNT
OF LAND YOU PLOWED UP.

SO, IT SENT THEM
INTO THE FIELDS

FOR THIS FRANTIC LAST-MINUTE
EFFORT TO TURN THE LAND.

Worster: IT WAS A RECIPE
FOR ECONOMIC DISASTER

IN THE SENSE THAT
THEY WERE PRODUCING

AN ENORMOUS GLUT OF WHEAT
THAT DIDN'T HAVE A MARKET.

IT WAS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER IN
THAT IF A DROUGHT COMES ALONG,

THEY ARE LYING
THERE VULNERABLE

WITH SO MUCH LAND

Narrator: IT SNOWED
RAINED THAT WINTER,

THE SPRING OF 1931
BROUGHT ADEQUATE MOISTURE.

BY HARVEST TIME, THE WINTER
WHEAT WAS SHOULDER HIGH,

AND FARMERS REALIZED THEY HAD
A BONANZA ON THEIR HANDS.

Henderson portrayer:
I HAVE NEVER SEEN

A MORE BEAUTIFUL HARVEST--

ONE OF THE BEST WHEAT CROPS
THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER PRODUCED

Narrator: OVER THE YEARS,
CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON

HAD INCREASED THEIR HOLDINGS
TO 640 ACRES--A SQUARE MILE.

THEY HAD PURCHASED
MECHANIZED EQUIPMENT

TO REPLACE THEIR HORSES

MADE STEADY IMPROVEMENTS
TO THEIR PROPERTY.

THEY NOW HOUSE,
WITH A FULL BASEMENT,

5 ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR,

AND A BIG UNFINISHED
ROOM ON THE SECOND.

THEY
INDOOR BATHROOM--

BUT AS YET, NO RUNNING
WATER INSIDE THE HOUSE--

PURCHASED
TELEPHONE.

BUT WHEN THE BUMPER CROP
OF 1931 WAS HARVESTED,

AND GIANT DUNES OF WHEAT WERE
PILED OUT ON THE OPEN GROUND.

PRICES HAD ALREADY COLLAPSED
TO 25 CENTS A BUSHEL OR LOWER--

ROUGHLY HALF OF WHAT IT COST
THE FARMERS TO GROW IT.

TOO BIG TO CRY
ABOUT IT," CAROLINE WROTE,

"AND IT HURTS US
TOO MUCH TO LAUGH."

Hodges: I REMEMBER MY FATHER

TOLD HIM THAT PRICES
CERTAINLY WOULDN'T GO LOWER

CENTS A BUSHEL,
WHICH, TO

WHAT IT HAD BEEN IN THE

LAUGH IRONICALLY

SAY THE NEXT DAY IT
DROPPED TO 23 CENTS A BUSHEL--

IT WASN'T UNTIL THE PRICE OF
WHEAT DROPPED SO DRASTICALLY

THAT WE REALLY FELT THE
DEPRESSION OUT HERE.

Narrator: LIKE SO MANY
OF THEIR NEIGHBORS,

PAULINE HODGES'
PARENTS BELIEVED

THE SITUATION WOULD NOT
FOR LONG.

THEY WERE, AFTER ALL,
"NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE.

LITTLE NOONTIME
ON JANUARY 21, 1932,

DUST CLOUD
OUTSIDE OF AMARILLO, TEXAS.

UNCOMMON IN THE AREA,

BUT THIS ONE ROSE
10,000 FEET INTO THE

CARRIED WINDS
OF 60 MILES PER HOUR.

THE LOCAL WEATHER BUREAU DIDN'T
QUITE KNOW WHAT TO OF IT,

CALLING IT "AWE-INSPIRING"
AND "MOST SPECTACULAR."

EVEN OLD-TIMERS SAID

THEY'D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
LIKE IT IN THEIR LIVES.

Robert "Boots" McCoy:
SCARED US TO DEATH.

WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK.

WAS GONE,
LOOKING FOR CATTLE.

MOM AND SISTER AND I,

WE LOOKED AT THAT,

AND WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT IT WAS GONNA BE.

FIRST STARTED WAY OFF,
IT WAS DARK.

THE CLOSER IT GOT,
IT GOT BROWN,

WHEN IT HIT
IN 30 MINUTES,

YOU COULDN'T--
IT'S JUST LIKE MIDNIGHT.

JUST LIKE MIDNIGHT

WITH NO STARS--JUST DARK.

Narrator: BOOTS McCOY'S FAMILY
LIVED IN COUNTY,

HE HIS BIG SISTER,
RUBY PAULINE,

HUDDLED WITH THEIR MOTHER,
WHO WAS PREGNANT.

IT'D BE STILL, BE JUST
CALM AS IT COULD BE,

THEN WHEN THAT DUST
GOT THERE, WHAM!

IT WOULD HIT YOU.

IT WAS JUST A-ROLLIN'.

IT WAS SCARY. IT SCARED
THE HECK OUT OF US.

MOTHER WOULD PRAY
ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW.

US KIDS, OF COURSE,
WE WAS LITTLE,

WE STAYED CLOSE
TO I GUARANTEE YOU.

Narrator: THE STORM
PASSED QUICKLY,

BUT THAT WINTER OF 1931-32

THAT FOLLOWED.

THE FIERCE WINDS

BEGAN PICKING UP SAND AND SOIL
FROM THE BARE FIELDS AGAIN

MOVING IT ACROSS
THE LANDSCAPE.

THE WEATHER BUREAU BEGAN

BY THEIR SEVERITY.

FOR A FEW MILES
BEFORE DISAPPEARING;

OTHERS CREATED
LIGHT HAZE IN THE SKY.

REDUCED VISIBILITY

TO LESS THAN A QUARTER MILE.

NO MAN'S LAND HAD

Floyd Coen: THE DUST STORMS
WAS THE MOST FEARSOME LOOKING,

BUT AS FAR AS DAMAGE,
I WOULD SAY

THE SAND STORMS DID MORE
DAMAGE TO OUR LAND

AND OUR CATTLE
AND SO FORTH.

YOU DON'T HEAR MUCH
ABOUT THE STORMS,

BUT WE LOT OF THOSE.

IT WOULDN'T GET VERY DARK,

BUT THEY WERE A NUISANCE
TO BE OUT IN,

AND IT'D JUST PEPPER YOU,
LIKE SAND A-HITTIN' YOU,

IT'D BE VERY ABRASIVE.

AND THEY MIGHT LAST

ONE TIME, MY MOTHER MARKED

THAT WE
ST EVERY DAY.

Glover: I HAD TO RUN

WHEN WE'D SEE THEM A-COMIN',

IF I DIDN'T GET BACK TO THE
HOUSE OR TO THE CELLAR IN TIME,

MY BARE LEGS WOULD REALLY
FEEL THAT SAND AND GRIT.

BUT I KNEW THE WAY.

I THINK I COULD RUN BLINDFOLDED
FROM THE CHICKEN HOUSE

TO THE HOUSE
INTO THE CELLAR.

BY 8:00, THAT WIND WOULD
BE HITTING, DIRT,

BY THE TIME I WOULD WALK
FROM THAT HOUSE TO THAT ROAD,

WHICH WAS AS FAR AS FROM HERE
ACROSS THE STREET OUT THERE,

MY LEGS WOULD BE BLISTERED,

THAT DIRT WOULD BE COMING
AND HITTING THERE SO HARD.

Narrator: IN THE MIDST
OF THE RELENTLESS STORMS,

WENT INTO LABOR.

IT TURNED OUT SHE

SHE NAMED THEM ROY TROY,

BUT THEY WERE IN TROUBLE
FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.

THEY LASTED, BEST I COULD
REMEMBER, ABOUT 12 HOURS.

AND, THE DOCTOR JUST
COULDN'T SAVE THEM.

AND WHEN WE BURIED THEM,
THE NEIGHBORS BUILT A COFFIN,

AND ONE OF THEM WENT

GOT SOME
NUMBER 12 SHOE BOXES,

PUT THEM BOYS IN THAT--
PUT THEM IN THAT COFFIN.

THAT'S THE WAY
THEY WAS BURIED.

Henderson portrayer:
TIME,

I HAVE FOUND MYSELF
TIRED OUT FROM HAVING TRIED,

TO BRING THE DISTANT
RAIN CLOUDS NEARER

TO WATER OUR FIELDS.

I AM BEGINNING TO SEE

OF ONE'S OWN RESPONSIBILITY,

TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE
THE THOUGHT OF SOMEONE

"HE THAT OBSERVETH
THE WIND SHALL NOT SOW,

AND HE THAT REGARDETH
THE CLOUDS SHALL NOT REAP."

Narrator; FOR CAROLINE
AND WILL HENDERSON--

AND ALL THE OTHER
FARMERS IN THE AREA--

PRICES FOR WHEAT PLUMMETED EVEN
LOWER THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR,

AND THERE WASN'T MUCH OF

Henderson
JUDGING BY ANY STANDARDS

THAT THE WORLD

WE SHOULD HAVE
BEEN FURTHER AHEAD

IF WE COULD HAVE SPENT
THE IN SLEEP.

Narrator: THAT FALL,
FARMERS WENT BACK TO THE FIELDS

PLANTED WINTER WHEAT
FOR NEXT

Henderson
PEOPLE STILL TOIL AMAZINGLY

CONSCIOUS EFFORT
TO KEEP CHEERFUL,

BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE
EFFORT GROWS MORE APPARENT.

BEHIND THE CHARACTERISTIC
AMERICAN NONCHALANCE,

ONE DETECTS
GROWING ANXIETY,

THE COMING WINTER.

Clarence
YOU KEPT THINKING

THAT TOMORROW
THINGS WILL CHANGE,

YOU KEPT DOING
WHAT YOU WERE DOING.

YOU THOUGHT, MAYBE THERE ARE

THAT WILL BEA LITTLE
THE WAY THEY ARE.

WE COULDN'T LIVE
WITHOUT HOPING

THAT THINGS WERE GONNA
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.

Lewis: WE ALWAYS HAD HOPE.

NEXT WAS
GONNA BE

AND EVEN THIS YEAR

WE LEARNED SLOWLY,
WHAT DIDN'T

YOU TRIED IT HARDER
THE NEXT TIME.

YOU DIDN'T TRY
SOMETHING DIFFERENT;

YOU JUST TRIED HARDER
THE SAME THING THAT DIDN'T

Henderson BY
SACRIFICING THE SMALL RESERVES

WE HELD AGAINST THE DAYS
OF DROUGHT DISASTER,

WE HAVE SUCCEEDED SO FAR
IN KEEPING ON A CASH BASIS.

WE HAVE DISCONNECTED
THE TELEPHONE,

STOPPED THE DAILY PAPER,

SUBSTITUTED CHEAP LYE
FOR WASHING POWDER,

THAT MY
ROUGH UNCOMFORTABLE,

BUT OF ALL OUR LOSSES,

THE MOST DISTRESSING IS THE

HOW CAN WE FEEL THAT OUR WORK
HAS ANY DIGNITY OR IMPORTANCE

WHEN THE PLACES
LOW A VALUE

ON THE PRODUCTS OF OUR TOIL?

Narrator:
THINGS WERE EVEN WORSE

FOR CAROLINE'S NEIGHBORS,
THE FORESTERS.

HARRY FORESTER'S CROP HAD
WITHERED IN THE DROUGHT,

AND WHAT LITTLE WHEAT
HE HAD MANAGED TO HARVEST

BROUGHT IN ONLY

THE HE PURCHASED
NEAR BOISE CITY

TURNED OUT TO HAVE A
PRIOR CLAIM ON ITS TITLE

AND WAS TAKEN FROM HIM.

THE MORTGAGE ON HIS
ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD,

WHICH HE USED TO
BUY THE LAND,

COULD NOT BE PAID,
HE LOST IT, TOO.

HE WAS FORCED TO MOVE HIS WIFE
AND 9 CHILDREN TO RENTED LAND.

HARRY FORESTER'S DREAM OF

TO KEEP HIS LARGE FAMILY FED

AND WARM THROUGH THE WINTER.

Robert Forester: ONE THING,

FOR A YOUNGSTER LIKE ME

WAS RIDING ALONG ON THE WAGON
AND PICKING UP COW CHIPS

AND COMING IN AND PILING
THEM BEHIND THE HOUSE

THAT WE WOULD HAVE
FUEL FOR THE FIRES.

OF COURSE, THEY DON'T SMELL
AT THAT POINT IN TIME,

UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO GET ONE
THAT'S ALITTLE BIT FRESH.

Riney-Kehrberg: AT THE BEGINNING
OF THIS WHOLE SITUATION,

MOST PEOPLE ARE THINKING THIS
IS A SHORT-TERM PROBLEM.

WE'VE HAD HIGH WINDS BEFORE,

YEAR THINGS WOULD BE BETTER.

THEN...THE NEXT

THEY ASSUME THINGS
WILL BE

AND IT DOESN'T GET BETTER.

Narrator: THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES,

AND BUSINESSES HAD FAILED.

IN JUST ONE DAY, ONE QUARTER OF
THE ENTIRE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

WENT UNDER THE
AUCTIONEER'S HAMMER.

FROM FRANCISCO
TO NEW YORK,

WERE REDUCED TO LIVING

IN SHANTYTOWNS CALLED
"HOOVERVILLES"

AFTER THE PRESIDENT THEY HAD
COME TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING.

THAT NOVEMBER, VOTERS TOOK
OUT THEIR DESPAIR

AND ANGER ON HERBERT HOOVER

AND ELECTED FRANKLIN
DELANO ROOSEVELT

TO LEAD THE NATION
THROUGH THE CRISIS.

THE NORMALLY REPUBLICAN
COUNTIES OF THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS WENT DEMOCRATIC.

ROOSEVELT, THEY HOPED, WOULD
AT LEAST TRY TO HELP THEM.

BUT EVEN A PRESIDENT COULDN'T
CONTROL THE WEATHER.

THERE WAS NO RAIN AT ALL

IN CIMARRON COUNTY,
IN MARCH OF 1933.

THE AGRICULTURAL AGENT THERE
PREDICTED THAT, AT BEST,

FARMERS MIGHT HARVEST 4 BUSHELS
OF WINTER WHEAT PER ACRE,

VERSUS THE PREVIOUS
YIELDS OF NEARLY 30.

AND NOW THE DUST STORMS
WERE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT.

INSTEAD OF THE 14 ST:
OF 1932 CLASSIFIED AS THE WORST,

ONE STORM IN APRIL
LASTED 24 HOURS.

Shirley Forester McKenzie:
YOU COULD HARDLY AVOID

LOOKING TO THE WEST

THIS RIM OF DUST THAT WAS
RISING ON THE HORIZON.

IT WAS EARTH COLORED.

WAY FAR AWAY,
BEGINNING TO RISE,

THE NEXT DAY,
PERHAPS IT WOULD BE BIGGER

AND COME QUICKER AND HIGHER,

THEN SUDDENLY,
YOU WERE JUST ENGULFED.

IT WAS OVERHEAD, AND YOU
COULDN'T SEE THE SUN.

THAT'S WHEN IT WAS
REALLY DAY.

DAY DAY,
IT WOULD BE THAT WAY--

DARK, BLACK, SCARY.

Robertson:
THE EXPERTS COULD TELL

WHERE THE DUST CAME FROM
BY THE COLOR.

COMING FROM
THE OTHER DIRECTION,

HAD ANOTHER COLOR.

AND THEY WOULD SAY, "WELL,

"WELL, WE'RE GETTING VISITED

BY ALL THE NEW MEXICANS
TODAY," FORTH.

Worster: THE BIG DUST STORMS
WERE FINE PARTICLES OF SOIL.

OTHERS WERE SANDIER BLOWS

THAT BLEW ALONG THE HIGHWAYS
AT LOW ELEVATION,

AND IT TOOK COULD TAKE THE
PAINT OFF YOUR AUTOMOBILE

OR YOUR HOUSE, LIKE SANDPAPER
BEING RUBBED AGAINST IT.

THE MOST TERRIFYING

WERE THE ONES THAT WERE BASED
ON THESE VERY FINE PARTICLES

THAT ROSE UP INTO THE
7,000, 8,000 FEET

IN THIS KIND OF BOILING WALL
OF DIRT COMING AT YOU

60-MILE-AN-HOUR WINDS.

THESE WERE THE
BLACK BLIZZARDS

THAT FRIGHTENED PEOPLE SO
MUCH DURING THOSE PERIODS.

Egan: WHEN ONE OF THESE DUSTERS
WOULD APPROACH FROM AFAR

THEY WOULD SEE IT
FOR THE FIRST TIME,

BECAUSE SOME CASES,
THE ST WERE 100 MILES,

150 MILES, 200 MILES WIDE
AND A MILE OR MORE HIGH.

SO IMAGINE DRIVING
ON A FLAT LAND

AND LOOKING OFF AND SEEING

MOUNTAIN RANGE ITSELF
STARTING TO MOVE.

DAYLIGHT ITSELF
WOULD BE OBLITERATED.

SOMEONE TOLD ME IT WAS LIKE
"TWO MIDNIGHTS IN A JUG."

Kleffman: ONE
PARTICULARLY BAD STORM WE HAD,

IT WAS IN THE DAYTIME,

IT ROLLED IN,
IT WAS SO BLACK

THAT YOU COULDN'T SEE YOUR
IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE.

SO WE ALL GATHERED IN THE
KITCHEN, THE WHOLE FAMILY.

WE LIT THE KEROSENE LAMP,
THAT DIDN'T HELP VERY MUCH.

AND MOTHER HAD TEA TOWELS THAT
WERE MADE OUT OF FLOUR SACKS

IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

WE JUST TOOK THEM
DRAPED THEM OVER OUR HEAD,

DOWN THE FACE--YOU KNOW,
JUST THE WHOLE HEAD.

YOU SAT THERE,
YOU COULDN'T TALK

VISIT WITH
ANYBODY VERY MUCH,

SOMETIMES THOSE TOWELS
WERE BLACK

BY THE TIME WE TOOK THEM OFF.

Ina Kay Labrier:
IT'D GET SO BAD,

YOU COULDN'T EVEN
SEE TO DRIVE.

YOU COULDN'T SEE THE SIDES
OF THE WITH YOUR LIGHTS ON.

YOU COULDN'T TELL WHETHER
YOU WAS ON THE

ON THE SIDES
WHERE YOU WERE.

Glover: SOMETIMES WE WERE CAUGHT
IN THE HOUSE OR IN THE

UNTIL IT ALL BLEW OVER.

IT JUST WAS OLD BROWN DIRT
A-BLOWIN' ALL AROUND THE

AND WE JUST SAT THERE UNTIL
IT KIND OF CLEARED UP ENOUGH

IT WAS GRITTY DIRTY,

YOU TO WASH
YOUR MOUTH OFF

WHENEVER YOU GOT IN THE HOUSE
SO YOU WEREN'T EATING DIRT.

IF YOU'D GO OUT PICK UP
HANDFUL OF DIRT

AND STICK IT IN YOUR MOUTH,

Egan: ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT HAPPENED JUST
BEFORE A DUSTER HIT WAS

STATIC ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR.

A CHAIN IN THEIR CAR

TO GROUND THE ELECTRICITY.

YOU DIDN'T DRIVE ANYWHERE
WITHOUT HAVING THIS CHAIN

THAT YOU'D THEN THROW OUT
AND DRAG IT ALONG THE GROUND

TO GROUND THE ELECTRICITY
BECAUSE YOUR RADIO WOULD GO OUT,

YOUR ELECTRICAL STUFF
WOULD SHORT.

HOW YOU LITERALLY COULDN'T
SHAKE ANOTHER PERSON'S HAND

BEFORE ONE OF THESE

IT WAS THE KINETIC ENERGY
THAT WAS IN THE
JUST BEFORE A DUSTER HIT.

I CAN REMEMBER
FEELING IT IN MY HAIR.

YOUR HEAD TINGLES
SOMETHING, YOU KNOW.

YOUR HAIR GETS KIND OF WIRY.

Beck: MORE DUST AND
THE LONGER THE RIDE,

THE HIGHER THE CHARGE,

UNTIL FINALLY IT'D GET
SUCH A POWERFUL CHARGE

THAT IF YOU REACH
OUT TO TOUCH YOUR

THE ELECTRICITY WILL JUMP OUT
ABOUT 6 INCHES TO MEET YOU

KNOCK YOU
FLAT ON YOUR BUTT.

DON'T FORGET,
THIS IS A STORM,

WHICH MEANS IT HAD
A BEGINNING AND AN END.

AND IN BETWEEN STORMS, COULDN'T
HAVE BEEN MORE BEAUTIFUL.

THE SKIES WERE CRYSTAL-BLUE,
THE CLOUDS WERE

THOSE PUFFY WHITE
SUMMERTIME CLOUDS,

WITHOUT OF WATER
IN 50 OF THEM.

BUT I CAN STILL REMEMBER MY
FATHER LOOKING UP AT THE SKY

AND PRAYING THAT IT'D RAIN.

BUT NATURALLY,
IT NEVER WOULD

BECAUSE THOSE WEREN'T
RAIN CLOUDS NEVER WOULD BE.

Narrator: IN THE TIMES

THE FARMERS TOWNSPEOPLE
TRIED THEIR BEST

TO CARRY ON
WITH THEIR LIVES,

BUT THE
THEY CALLED HOME

WAS BEING REARRANGED
BEFORE THEIR VERY EYES.

DIRT AROUND ANYTHING,

LIKE THE FENCE ROWS OR SOMETHING
LIKE A PLOW IMPLEMENT

ANYTHING OUT IN THE YARD,

IT MIGHT BE NEARLY
COVERED UP WITH DIRT.

ANYTHING LOOSE BANKED UP AROUND

Kleffman: IT WOULD DRIFT
UP THE SIDE OF THE BARN.

YOU JUST WALK UP LIKE
YOU LADDER THERE,

Narrator: THE STORMS
PUSHED

DRIED-UP RUSSIAN THISTLES--
TUMBLEWEEDS--

THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.

WHEREVER THEY PILED UP

THEY CREATED EDDIES IN THE WIND,
AND THE DIRT ACCUMULATED.

IN THE FENCE,

AND THEN THE SAND GOT IN THE

EVERY PLACE THERE
WAS A FENCE,

OVER MOST OF THEM.

Narrator; WHERE THE DIRT
AND SAND HADN'T PILED UP,

THE BEEN
SWEPT CLEAN OF TOPSOIL.

Kleffman: IT WAS BARE.
IT WAS HARD.

YOU COULD TAKE
SWEEP IT

JUST LIKE YOU COULD
FLOOR.

IT WAS HARD,
JUST LIKE CEMENT.

Worster: SO YOU COULD
WALK OUT ONTO YOUR FARM,

INSTEAD OF FINE DIRT,

YOU FOUND THIS
LAYER ON THE TOP.

IMPOSSIBLE TO CULTIVATE.

YOUR DIRT WOULD BE IN SOMEBODY

Glover: YOU KNOW, THE DUST WAS
SO BAD THAT THE CATTLE DIED.

THEY FOUND SMALL HERDS OF
CATTLE THAT WERE JUST FILLED UP

WITH DIRT IN THEIR
LUNGS THEIR NOSES.

I CAN REMEMBER SEEING

MUD ON THE END

WHERE THEY TRIED
TO BREATHE COULDN'T.

Worster: THEY DIED
OF SUFFOCATION.

WILDLIFE WAS OUT THERE
DIED OF SUFFOCATION.

BUT ANIMALS ALSO SIMPLY
WANDERED AWAY

NOT KNOWING WHERE
THEY BELONGED

AND WOULD CLIMB OVER THESE
DUST DRIFTS AND BE LOST.

IT WAS REALLY
DEVASTATING

FOR LIVESTOCK IN TERMS
OF LOSS OF LIFE.

Narrator: HOUSEWIVES NURTURED
THEIR GARDENS WITH WELL WATER,

BUT THE ABRASIVE WINDS,
THE SHIFTING DIRT--

EVEN, SOMETIMES, THE CHARGE OF
STATIC ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR--

OFTEN KILLED THE VEGETABLES
THEIR FAMILIES WERE COUNTING ON.

Virginia Frantz: A STORM WOULD
COME, AND THERE WOULD BE

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT OF IT.

AND MOTHER TRIED HER BEST
TO KEEP THAT FROM HAPPENING.

SHE WOULD DIG POSTHOLES
TO PLANT TOMATOES IN

THAT THE WIND
WOULDN'T CUT THEM OFF

UNTIL THEY GOT
BIGGER STRONGER

TO WHERE THEY MIGHT HAVE

SHE DUG DEEP ROWS
TO PUT ANYTHING IN.

OF COURSE, SOMETIMES THEY
WOULD FILL UP WITH DIRT.

Narrator: AFTER SURVEYING THE
RESIDENTS OF MEADE, KANSAS,

A REPORTER CALCULATED
THAT THE AVERAGE DAMAGE

FROM A SINGLE STORM

WHAT COULDN'T BE
MEASURED, HE SAID,

WAS "THE LOSS OF DISPOSITION
OF THE HOUSEWIVES."

Kleffman: MY MOTHER

AND SHE TRIED TO

SHE WOULD TAKE ALL HER
CURTAINS DOWN ONE DAY

AND WASH THEM AND
HANG THEM BACK UP.

A DIRT STORM WOULD
COME IN THAT NIGHT,

AND THEY WERE JUST LIKE THEY
WERE BEFORE SHE WASHED THEM.

THAT WENT ON
DAY DAY DAY,

ONCE IN A WHILE,
YOU WOULD HEAR OF SOME WOMAN

THAT JUST COULDN'T
TAKE IT ANYMORE,

AND SHE'D COMMIT SUICIDE.

Robertson: IT BLEW THAT DIRT
INTO THE ATTIC OF THE HOUSE.

LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE
WOULD GET UP OF A MORNING,

YOU COULD LOOK UP
AT THE CEILING

IF THERE WAS A SPLIT
BETWEEN BOARDS

THAT DIRT WOULD JUST
BE COMING RIGHT DOWN

LIKE THIS ON THE TABLE.

WHEN WE'D GET UP IN
THE MORNING, A LOT OF TIMES

THERE WOULD BE, SAY,
FROM AN INCH

TO 5 INCHES OF DIRT
JUST PILED LIKE THAT.

YOU CLEANED THAT OFF,
YOU EAT,

YOU EAT THE DIRT
IF IT'S THERE.

IF IT ISN'T,
WELL, YOU DO GOOD.

Floyd Coen:
WHEN WE SET THE TABLE,

WE ALWAYS SET THE PLATE
UPSIDE-DOWN--

GLASSES OR CUPS,
IT WAS, UPSIDE-DOWN.

AND STILL I THINK YOU'D TURN
THEM OVER AND SHAKE THEM,

LOOK AT THEM BEFORE YOU
PUT ANYTHING IN THEM.

MY FAMILY THINKS THAT I'M KIND
OF STUPID, I GUESS I Al,

BUT I STILL--IF I GET
GLASS OUT OF A CABINET,

I RINSE IT OUT BEFORE
I DRINK OUT OF IT.

Kleffman: WHEN WE WOULD
GO TO BED AT NIGHT,

SOMETIMES A DUST ST
WOULD COME IN,

WHEN WE GOT UP
THE NEXT MORNING,

OUR COVERS WOULD BE COMPLETELY
COVERED WITH DUST,

AND THE ONLY CLEAN
PLACE ON OUR PILLOW

Henderson portrayer:
DUST TO EAT,

AND DUST TO BREATHE,
AND DUST TO DRINK.

DUST IN THE BEDS
IN THE FLOUR BIN,

ON DISHES WALLS
WINDOWS,

IN HAIR AND EYES AND EARS
AND TEETH AND THROATS,

TO SAY NOTHING OF THE HEAPED-UP
ACCUMULATION ON FLOORS

AND WINDOW SILLS AFTER

THIS WIND-DRIVEN DUST,
FINE AS THE FINEST FLOUR,

PENETRATES WHEREVER
GO.

Narrator: IF
THE WIND DUST

WEREN'T ENOUGH TO WITH,

HORDES OF JACKRABBITS,
DRIVEN BY HUNGER,

Kleffman: THEY ATE
EVERYTHING GREEN THERE WAS.

THE FARMERS
KILLED OFF THE COYOTES,

THAT UPSET THE
NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS,

THE RABBITS
JUST EXPLODED,

THEY WOULD EAT ANYTHING
GREEN THEY FOUND,

THEY WOULD EAT
YOUR GARDEN UP.

McCoy: THERE'D BE
THOUSANDS OF RABBITS.

THEY'D EAT EVERYTHING--EAT THE

PUT NEW POSTS UP ON OUR
PLACE WHEN HE'D DONE IT,

IT WAS CEDAR POST
THAT BARK ON IT,

THEY ATE THAT
BARK OFF OF IT.

Narrator: TO COMBAT
THE INVASION,

ENTIRE COMMUNITIES BEGAN
ORGANIZING "RABBIT DRIVES."

YOU'D ADVERTISE IT WITH FLYERS
ALL OVER THE PLACE IN ADVANCE--

"ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON
ON THE FARM OF JOE SMITH

"WWOULD BE A RABBIT DRIVE.

BRING THE FAMILY."

ON THAT AFTERNOON,

THERE MIGHT BE
TO 100 FAMILIES SHOW UP.

Wells: THE PEOPLE WOULD
GO OUT IN A SEMI-CIRCLE

AND THEN BRING THEM IN.

THEY CLUBS,

THEY'D USE
WAGON SPOKES FOR CLUBS.

WHAT STARTED OUT
AS A PEACEFUL PICNIC

SORT OF TURNED INTO A RIOT--

DOGS BARKING YIPPING,
PEOPLE YELLING,

SCREAMING,
RABBITS HOPPING IN THE

THEY JUST--WE'D KILL THEM
UNTIL WE JUST GIVE OUT.

THEN MORE KIDS WOULD GET IN
AND GO FIGHTING THEM.

THEY'D KILL THEM

Coen: YOU'D CLUB THE
RABBITS TO DEATH,

IT WAS A HORRIBLE
THING TO DO.

THEY WOULD SCREAM, I
STILL HEAR RABBITS,

THE NOISE THEY'D MAKE.

I WENT ON ONE, AND THAT

Narrator: IN THE EARLY
SPRING OF 1934,

SNOWSTORM BLANKETED
NO MAN'S LAND.

THE FLAKES, MIXED WITH AIRBORNE
DIRT, WERE DARKENED--

LOCALS CALLED IT
"SNUSTER"--

A LITTLE MOISTURE.

IN THE PANHANDLE,
LIGHT RAIN FELL.

MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT
THE DROUGHT HAD BROKEN.

A LOCAL NEWSPAPER REPORTED.

WITH BRIGHTER DAYS IN SIGHT
AND A SONG IN THEIR HEARTS."

Robertson: I REMEMBER
ONE TIME IT RAINED,

WE WERE ALL
JUST THRILLED,

AND THE CHILDREN WENT
OUT IN THE STREETS

BAREFOOT DANCING
IN THE RAIN

AND LET THE RAIN FALL
ON THEIR TONGUES.

WE WERE JUST ECSTATIC,

AND THE MOTHERS CALLED THAT IT
WAS TIME TO COME IN FOR SUPPER,

AND NOBODY WOULD GO IN.

SO FINALLY THE NEIGHBORS
ALL BROUGHT SUPPER

TO THE FRONT PORCHES,

AND WE HAD SUPPER ON
THE FRONT PORCHES

AND DANCING IN THE STREETS.

AND WE THOUGHT MAYBE
THE TIDE HAD TURNED.

BUT, YOU KNOW, AFTER THAT,
HERE CAME THE DUST AGAIN.

TO BE EVEN DRIER AND HOTTER

THE YEARS BEFORE--
OF A NATIONWIDE DROUGHT

THAT AFFECTED 46

IN MAY, THE TEMPERATURE HAD

IN NORTH DAKOTA, WHERE THE

PARTS OF NEBRASKA, WHERE
TEMPERATURES HIT 118,

WEATHER FRONT MOVING EASTWARD

BEGAN PICKING UP LOOSE SOIL
FROM WYOMING AND MONTANA,

THEN NEBRASKA

ULTIMATELY 350 MILLION
TONS OF IT,

LIFTED TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF FEET IN THE

CARRIED BY HIGH-LEVEL WINDS,

IT CROSSED IOWA, MINNESOTA,
WISCONSIN,

AND AS IT PASSED OVER
CHICAGO, IT DEPOSITED

ESTIMATED 12 MILLION
POUNDS OF DUST--

4 POUNDS FOR EACH
RESIDENT OF THE CITY.

ON MAY 10th,
IT DARKENED THE SKIES

OVER DETROIT, CLEVELAND,
BUFFALO.

BY THE MORNING OF THE 11th,
THE STORM ENVELOPED

THE EASTERN SEABOARD

IN NEW YORK CITY, STREET LIGHTS
WERE TURNED ON AT MID-DAY,

THE THICK HAZE OBSCURED
TOURISTS' VIEWS OF CENTRAL

FROM THE TOP OF THE
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING,

AND A SHIP DELAYED ITS
ENTRY INTO THE HARBOR

BECAUSE THE CAPTAIN HAD TROUBLE
SEEING THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.

THE NATIONAL MALL,

EVEN SIFTED INTO
THE WHITE HOUSE,

WHERE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

PROMISING RELIEF TO THE
DROUGHT-STRICKEN GREAT PLAINS.

MILES FROM THE COAST

REPORTED DIRT FALLING
ONTO THEIR DECKS.

Worster: PEOPLE WERE
SHOCKED IN THE EAST,

THEY BEGAN, FOR THE
FIRST TIME, TO ASK QUESTIONS--

WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT
ON THE GREAT PLAINS?

Narrator: THOUGH IT ORIGINATED
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,

EASTERNERS REFERRED TO IT
ALL AS "KANSAS DUST,"

AND MANY OF THEM QUICKLY

HOW TO STOP IT FROM BLOWING
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

ONE PROPOSED COVERING
THE PLAINS IN CONCRETE,

WITH HOLES CAREFULLY PLACED
FOR PLANTING SEEDS,

WHILE A STEEL MANUFACTURER
IN PITTSBURGH THOUGHT

ITS WIRE NETTING
MIGHT WORK BETTER.

THE BARBER ASPHALT COMPANY
OF NEW JERSEY ESTIMATED

IT COULD SPREAD ITS PRODUCT

WOMAN FROM
NORTH CAROLINA SUGGESTED

WOULD SIMULTANEOUSLY
BEAUTIFY HER STATE

WHILE STOPPING THE WIND
EROSION ON THE PLAINS.

WELL, EASTERNERS
IN PARTICULAR,

ANYONE WHO DIDN'T LIVE
ON THE GREAT PLAINS,

HAD NO IDEA OF THE
SCALE OF THIS PROBLEM

HOW TO GO ABOUT
SOLVING IT.

THEIR FIRST IDEA
WAS BASICALLY

TO COVER THE GREAT PLAINS
SOMEHOW, COVER THESE SOILS--

BRINGING ROCKS FROM
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,

I GUESS ROLLING THEM
DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE--

THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT
THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT

A HUNDRED MILLION ACRES.

Narrator:
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT

HIS SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE, HENRY WALLACE,

HAD IDEAS OF THEIR OWN--
FROM ENCOURAGING FARMERS

TO PLANT FEWER CROPS

THE LOOSE SOILS THROUGH
BETTER PLOWING TECHNIQUES--

STILL IN THEIR INFANCY.

DURING A STOP IN DROUGHT-RAVAGED
NORTH DAKOTA THAT SUMMER,

ROOSEVELT ADMITTED AS MUCH.

"I WOULD NOT TRY
TO FOOL YOU BY SAYING

WE KNOW THE SOLUTION" TO THE
CRISIS, THE PRESIDENT SAID.

DON'T. BUT WHAT
I TELL YOU

"FROM THE BOTTOM
OF MY HEART IS THIS--

"IF IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US
TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM,

SOME OF THE PEOPLE LINING
THE ROUTE OF HIS MOTORCADE

HELD UP SIGNS THAT
NOTED HOW ROOSEVELT

ALREADY ENDED PROHIBITION.

"YOU GAVE US BEER," THE PLACARDS
SAID. "NOW GIVE US WATER."

ROOSEVELT ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR

A SERIES OF RAINS FELL SHORTLY
AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT

AND HELPED EASE THE DROUGHT
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.

PEOPLE THERE CALLED IT

BUT FARTHER SOUTH,
THERE WAS NO SUCH RELIEF.

WHILE THE OUTLINES OF THE
WORST-HIT

WOULD SHIFT OVER THE YEARS,

SOMETIMES BROADENING
NARROWING,

BY THE SUMMER OF 1934,
THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALLY

IDENTIFIED THE GEOGRAPHIC
HEART OF THE DUST CRISIS.

IN CIMARRON COUNTY,

THE WESTERN TIP OF
IN NO MAN'S LAND.

ONE THIRD OF THE COUNTY'S
WAS BLOWING.

NATIVE BUFFALO GRASS

THAT NOT BEEN PLOWED
BEEN BURIED

UNDER DRIFTS OF DIRT AND
SAND, SOME 10 FEET HIGH.

FEW OF ROOSEVELT'S OTHER
NEW PROGRAMS,

AIMED AT EASING THE HUNGER
JOBLESSNESS

OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION,

HAD NOW REACHED
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

IN CIMARRON COUNTY ALONE,
NEEDY RESIDENTS RECEIVED

2 TONS OF SMOKED
16 TONS OF BEEF,

17 TONS OF FLOUR,
33 TONS OF COAL

THROUGH A SURPLUS
COMMODITIES PROGRAM.

ONE QUARTER OF THE

NOW DEPENDED ON
NEW DEAL JOBS.

BUT NONE OF THAT ADDRESSED
THE MAIN CALAMITY.

GETTING DEEPER
DEEPER IN DUST,"

THE "BOISE CITY NEWS"
REPORTED.

THE SAME WAS TRUE IN ALL
THE OTHER SURROUNDING COUNTIES

IN TEXAS, NEW MEXICO,

AND THE REST OF THE
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE.

Worster: BY 1934,
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE

ON THE GREAT PLAINS

IT WOULD HAVE,
AT THAT POINT, CLASSIFIED

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS

IN AMERICAN HISTORY ALREADY.

Henderson
WE TRYING TO HOPE

THAT THE WORST IS OVER,
YET TODAY, WE THOUGHT

THE DROUGHT HAD BEEN
EFFECTIVELY BROKEN,

WE ANOTHER TERRIBLE
DAY OF VIOLENT WIND,

DRIFTING CLOUDS OF DUST,

AND RUSSIAN THISTLES RACING
LIKE MAD ACROSS THE PLAINS

PILING UP IN HEAD-HIGH
IMPASSABLE BANKS.

WE FEEL AS IF THE
ADMINISTRATION IS REALLY MAKING

SINCERE EFFORT TO
IMPROVE GENERAL CONDITIONS,

BUT THEY HAVE
TREMENDOUS TASK,

MADE HARDER, OF COURSE,

TO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
OPPORTUNITIES OF THE .

Narrator: THAT SUMMER,
FARMERS GATHERED

AT THE PALACE THEATER
IN BOISE CITY

TO HEAR DETAILS ON
NEW GOVERNMENT

DESIGNED TO
STABILIZE BEEF PRICES

BY REDUCING THE SURPLUS OF

IN THE GREAT PLAINS, IT WAS ALSO
MEANT TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM

LACK OF ADEQUATE PASTURAGE.

ALREADY, HOMESTEADERS LIKE
CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON

TO
HARVESTING RUSSIAN THISTLES

OR BURNING OFF THE NETTLES
OF PRICKLY PEARS IN AN EFFORT

TO GIVE THEIR CATTLE
SOMETHING--ANYTHING--TO EAT.

Robertson: DADDY SAID,
DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY

"TO BUY FOOD FOR THE CATTLE,

"BUT IF WE CUT THISTLES
STACK THEM,

THERE'S MORE FOOD VALUE IN
THAT THAN NEARLY ANYTHING."

BAD JOB, THAT'S ONE.

THOSE THISTLES GET DOWN YOUR
LEGS INTO YOUR SHOES,

THOSE LITTLE STICKERS, YOU
STAND IT ABOUT SO LONG,

BUT SOON YOU GOT TO
STOP, GET OUT A STICKER.

Narrator: TO ENCOURAGE

TO CULL THEIR HERDS,

THE NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAM
WOULD PAY THEM UP TO $16 A HEAD

BE SHIPPED TO A PACKING HOUSE,

WHERE IT WOULD BE

FOR DISTRIBUTION
TO THE

CATTLE DEEMED UNFIT
FOR CONSUMPTION

WOULD BRING A MINIMUM
OF $1.00 A HEAD

BUT WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY
KILLED BURIED.

GOVERNMENT AGENTS FANNED

PAY MEN TO PUT THEIR HERDS
UNDER THE DRIFTING SOIL.

NATIONWIDE, THE
WAS A SUCCESS.

$111 MILLION WAS SPENT
TO PURCHASE 8.3 MILLION CATTLE,

AND PRICES WERE STABILIZED.

IN CIMARRON COUNTY,

THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASED
12,499 HEAD OF CATTLE IN 1934,

PAYING $164,449 IN MUCH-NEEDED

DESPERATE AS THEY WERE
FOR SOME INCOME,

IT WAS PILL
FOR TO SWALLOW,

HARDER STILL
ON THEIR CHILDREN.

WHAT THEY DID WAS,
THEY TOOK A BULLDOZER

MADE A MAMMOTH DITCH,
MAMMOTH DITCH,

DROVE ALL THE CATTLE
DOWN IN THERE.

THEN THERE WERE
MEN ABOVE WITH RIFLES,

I WOULD SAY MAYBE
10 MEN WITH RIFLES,

AND THEY SHOT THE CATTLE.

MY FATHER, WHEN OUR CATTLE
WAS DRIVEN INTO THIS DITCH

TO BE SHOT, HE SAID,
"THERE'S A LITTLE CALF.

I BUTCHER THAT CALF
FOR FOOD FOR US?"

THEY SAID, "NO. THEY ALL
HAVE TO BE DESTROYED."

I'LL NEVER FORGET
TO MY DYING DAY

STANDING THERE AS A LITTLE BOY,

WHEN THEY STARTED

IT'S A SIGHT
TO THIS DAY THAT,

THE AVERAGE PERSON
COULDN'T ST. IT,

BUT LITTLE KID,

IT WAS VERY ROUGH BECAUSE
THAT WAS OUR STOCK.

YOU GOT
SOME MONEY FOR IT.

BUT THAT DIDN'T MATTER.

THEY KILLED THE STOCK.

Robertson: AND THEY SAID,

"TO GET THOSE CATTLE TOGETHER,
WE'LL JUST RUSH THEM,

"AND THEY'LL FALL IN THAT DITCH,

THEN WE'LL KILL THEM
COVER THEM UP."

COULD HARDLY...

[CHOKING UP]

BUT HE COULD HARDLY DO THAT.

AND I NEVER WILL FORGET MY
BROTHER AND I STANDING THERE

WATCHING THEM SHOOT
THOSE LITTLE CALVES,

AND WE COULD
HARDLY STAND IT.

BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY DID.

Riney-Kehrberg: ANYBODY WHO HAD
LIVED ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS

FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME KNEW THAT
THERE WERE PERIODIC DROUGHTS,

KNEW THAT THE WIND
BLEW IN THE SPRING,

KNEW THAT THERE WERE

WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE 1930s
IS HOW LONG THE DROUGHT LASTS.

BATTLING AGAINST HOPE

THAT MAYBE THERE WAS

SOME RAIN ON THE HORIZON,
BUT IT WOULD FALL

ON SOMEBODY ELSE'S FIELD
NOT YOURS.

GATHER, AND YOU WOULD HOPE

THAT THIS WAS GOING
TO BE GOOD NEWS,

BUT INSTEAD IT WAS
GOING TO BE DIRT.

HOPE KEPT THEM GOING,
BUT HOPE ALSO MEANT

THAT THEY WERE BEING
CONSTANTLY DISAPPOINTED.

Brown: MY DAD COULD TELL IF IT

BY LOOKING OUT THE BACK
AT THE SUNRISE,

IF THE SUN WAS RED,

HE'D SAY, "OH, IT'S
GONNA BE DAY."

THAT DISCOURAGED ME
EVEN WHEN I WAS LITTLE

IF I HEARD HIM SAY THAT.

Narrator: BY 1934, PROPERTY
VALUES AROUND BOISE CITY

HAD DECLINED BY 90%,

AND MORE THAN HALF
OF THE LANDOWNERS

WERE DELINQUENT

EACH WEEK, THE LOCAL PAPER
CARRIED NOTICES

OF FARMS BEING PUT
ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

EVERY FAMILY, EVERY FARM,

THE TELEPHONE
THAT OPENED

IN THE RURAL OF
NO MAN'S WENT UNDER.

THE PALACE THEATER
SHUT ITS DOORS--

UNTIL ENOUGH PEOPLE PERSUADED
THE OWNER TO REOPEN.

THEY NEEDED MOVIES TO HELP

THEM TAKE THEIR MINDS
OFF THEIR TROUBLES.

NEXT CALAMITY WOULD BE

OR WHEN THE HARD
TIMES MIGHT END.

WHEN HE LOST YET ANOTHER
CROP TO THE DROUGHT,

PAULINE HODGES' FATHER
FOUND HIMSELF

HARD UP AGAINST

Hodges: I THINK HE MUST
HAVE BEEN SCARED TO DEATH

BECAUSE HE
LITTLE EDUCATION.

FARMING WAS ALL HE KNEW HOW
TO DO, ALL HE'D EVER DONE,

AND TO LOOK OUT
AND SEE THAT FIELD

SOLID DUST,
MOUNDS OF DUST.

HE'D SAY, "OH,
IT'S GOING TO GET

IT'LL GET BETTER."

HE WOULD TALK ABOUT
HIS BANKER IN LIBERAL,

HE'D SAY, "OH, MR. IGO

FOR A LITTLE WHILE LONGER."

HE CARRIED US FOR

BEYOND WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE,
KEEPING THE HOPE

AND TIMES WERE GONNA GET BETTER

IF WE JUST CROP,
WE COULD PAY OFF THAT MORTGAGE.

FINALLY, THE BANK

IN THE WINTER OF '34-'35,
THEY FORECLOSED.

Narrator: THEY MOVED INTO
VACANT 3-ROOM HOUSE IN TOWN,

AND HER FATHER MANAGED
TO FIND A GOVERNMENT JOB

BUILDING ROADS THAT HELPED
KEEP THE FAMILY FED.

Hodges: HE MADE $3.00
A DAY TO START WITH,

AND WHEN HE BECAME

BUT EVEN AS YOUNG AS I WAS,

I REMEMBER SEEING
THE CHANGE IN HIM

FROM THE SELF-CONFIDENT
PERSON THAT HE'D BEEN

REALLY DEFEATED.

FRANKLY,
HE NEVER RECOVERED.

Narrator:
OVER IN FOLLETT, TEXAS,

TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S
FATHER AND GRANDFATHER

WERE TRYING TO HOLD ON TO
THEIR HARDWARE BUSINESS.

AMONG THOSE HAVING TROUBLE
PAYING THEIR BILLS WERE

A PAIR OF BROTHERS, VALUED

Brown: THE OF THEM CAME IN
TO THE HARDWARE ST

AND SAID, "I DON'T KNOW

"WE'RE WIPED OUT, AND WE
CANNOT PAY THIS BILL

HE SAID,
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

"WE'LL CARRY THIS.
YOU'LL BE JUST FINE.

AND IT WAS NO TIME BEFORE
THE TRAGEDY HAPPENED.

ONE OF THEM, HE HAD
A FAMILY WITH CHILDREN

HE HANGED HIMSELF AT HOME.

THIS OF AGONY
WAS GOING ON.

Narrator: SOON ENOUGH,
TRIXIE'S FATHER GRANDFATHER

COULDNT PAY
THEIR DEBTS, EITHER.

Brown: THE HARDWARE ST:
WENT BANKRUPT.

WE LOST IT, AND THE
BANK TOOK THE HOUSE.

THE BANK FORECLOSED
ON GRANDPA TRAVIS,

HE LOST HIS CATTLE,
HE LOST HIS SECTION OF LAND,

HE LOST HIS HOME,
HE LOST HIS HEALTH.

Narrator: IN BAZINE, KANSAS,
A DOCTOR TOOK HIS OWN LIFE.

"HE TOLD US JUST

THAT MONEY WAS
IMPOSSIBILITY NOW,"

THE LOCAL PAPER REPORTED,
"AND THE LETTERS INDICATE

THAT FINANCIAL TROUBLES

IN DODGE CITY,
13-YEAR-OLD BOY,

SAID TO BE WORRIED THAT
HIS PARENTS COULDN'T AFFORD

COMMITTED SUICIDE.

CIMARRON COUNTY DOCTOR KILLED
HIS WIFE THEN HIMSELF.

IN BOISE CITY, MILLARD FOWLER

AND READY TO BUILD A FUTURE.

HE HAD FALLEN IN LOVE
WITH THE DAUGHTER

OF A MAN WHO UNTIL
RECENTLY HAD BEEN ONE

PROMINENT BUSINESSMEN.

FOWLER AND HIS SWEETHEART
DECIDED TO GET MARRIED,

BUT FIRST HE WANTED TO GET
HER FATHER'S BLESSING.

FOWLER FOUND HIS FUTURE
FATHER-IN-LAW SITTING

IN HIS CAR IN FRONT
OF THE FAMILY HOME.

Millard Fowler:
WHEN I OPENED THE

I DIDN'T KNOW
WHAT HE WAS UP TO.

BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHY.

BUT WHEN I OPENED THE
I SAW THAT RIFLE,

POINTING AT HIS HEAD.

I OPENED THE DOOR AND GOT IN
THE SEAT BESIDE HIM AND...

TOOK THAT RIFLE
UNLOADED IT...

WITHOUT CONVERSATION,
I REMEMBER.

BUT I FINALLY GOT
AROUND AND ASK HIM

IF IT'D BE ALL RIGHT
IF WE GOT MARRIED,

A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER,
HE COMMITTED SUICIDE.

Narrator: IN 1935, THE NUMBER
OF "BLACK BLIZZARDS" DOUBLED

AROUND NO MAN'S LAND,

IN THE FIRST 4 MONTHS.

IN THAT TIME,
7 DIFFERENT ST:

REDUCED VISIBILITY
TO ZERO IN AMARILLO.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS,
ONLY 13 DUST-FREE DAYS.

QUARTER OF THE
WHEAT CROP IN

IT BLEW OUT 5 MILLION
ACRES OF FIELDS,

IN THE SPACE OF A DAY,
CARRIED OFF TWICE AS MUCH DIRT

BY THE UNITED STATES

IN THE DECADE IT TOOK
TO DIG THE CANAL.

Worster: THIS WAS
MORE FRIGHTENING

THAN WINTER SNOW BLIZZARDS

IT WAS IN THAT SENSE
LIKE A WINTER BLIZZARD

WHERE THEY TIED, YOU KNOW,
ROPES FROM THE HOUSE TO THE BARN

TO MAKE YOUR WAY
BACK AND FORTH.

BUT PEOPLE WEREN'T
FOR

THIS KIND OF BLIZZARD,
BLACK BLIZZARD.

THEY DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT
IN THE SAME TERMS AT FIRST.

THEY THOUGHT, "WELL, THIS IS NOT
SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA KILL ME."

BUT IT DID. I MEAN,
IT CHOKED PEOPLE.

PEOPLE DIED IN DUST DRIFTS.

Narrator; DURING A "BLACK
BLIZZARD" IN FEBRUARY,

FARMER'S WENT OFF THE
MILES FROM HIS HOME,

HE GOT OUT TO WALK
THE REST OF THE WAY.

HE NEVER MADE IT.

IN MARCH, A 7-YEAR-OLD

GOT CAUGHT ALONE IN A STORM.

SEARCHERS FOUND HIM
THE NEXT MORNING,

SUFFOCATED,
SMOTHERED IN DIRT.

FARTHER WEST, A 9-YEAR-OLD
WANDERED OFF ALONE

IN THE SAME STORM.

HE WAS TANGLED IN BARBED WIRE
BUT STILL BREATHING.

THE TRAIN FROM CITY TO
DALHART, TEXAS,

WAS FORCED TO STOP

WHEN ITS PASSENGERS COMPLAINED
THEY WERE CHOKING.

IT PAUSED LONG ENOUGH
TO LET THE DUST SETTLE,

WHILE PEOPLE SCOOPED OUT THE
DIRT ON THE FLOORS AND SEATS.

THE LOCAL HARDWARE STORE

THEN THE TRAIN DELIVERING

WRITING FROM GREAT BEND,

"LADY GODIVA COULD RIDE
THROUGH THE STREETS

WITHOUT EVEN
THE HORSE SEEING HER."

THAT SPRING, A WAVE
OF ILLNESSES

SWEPT ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,

WITH SYMPTOMS OF COUGHING SPELLS
HIGH TEMPERATURES,

AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH.

PEOPLE CALLED IT
"DUST PNEUMONIA."

THE SOIL THEY HAD TURNED OVER
DURING THE GREAT PLOW UP

ALREADY KILLED THE
SODBUSTERS' CROPS LIVESTOCK.

NOW IT SEEMED TO
HAVE ZEROED IN

ON SOMETHING MUCH MORE
PRECIOUS--THEIR CHILDREN.

White:
THERE WERE TIMES WHEN

IT WAS HARD TO BREATHE
BECAUSE OF THE DUST.

WE LITTLE THINGS,

LITTLE STRIPS OF SHEET,

SOMETIMES OVER
OUR NOSE AND MOUTH

WE WOULDN'T
BREATHE SO MUCH OF IT.

I'M SURE MOM AND DAD
WERE CONCERNED

ABOUT WHAT IT
WOULD DO TO US.

YOU DIDN'T KNOW.

EACH PARTICLE OF SOIL IS
ABOUT A TENTH OF THE SIZE

OF A PERIOD AT THE END
OF A SENTENCE IN A BOOK--

BARELY VISIBLE
TO THE HUMAN EYE.

AND THAT'S JUST SMALL
ENOUGH OF A PARTICLE

Frantz: ANYTIME YOU TOOK
A BREATH, YOU HAD DIRT.

IF YOU WERE COUGHING, AND...
I CALL IT GUNK.

IF YOU COUGHED
BUNCH OF GUNK UP,

THE GUNK YOU'D
COUGHED UP WAS MUD.

Hodges: THERE WERE DAYS WHEN
MY MOTHER PUT A DUST MASK

IT FRIGHTENED ME,
AT LEAST AT FIRST.

AS I REMEMBER,
I GOT OVER THAT

I THOUGHT IT WAS
UNCOMFORTABLE I HATED IT,

BUT IT WAS COUGHING
CHOKING ALL THE TIME.

GET A GOOD BREATH

IT'D BE SOAKED UP, THE DIRT
ON THE OUTSIDE OF THEM...

WHAT I HEARD
ANYTHING ELSE,

"FLOYD, PUT YOUR MASK BACK ON."

I COULD GET A BETTER
BREATH WITHOUT IT

I COULD WITH IT,
I THOUGHT.

Narrator:
THE CROSS ISSUED A CALL

IT WASN'T NEARLY ENOUGH.

MORE PEOPLE GOT SICK.

YOU DIDN'T GO TO THE DOCTOR

THE FOLKS
DOCTORED US THEMSELVES.

WITH KEROSENE AND LARD

AND TURPENTINE THAT WAS
RUBBED ON YOUR CHEST.

FOR COUGH SYRUP,
YOU SUGAR

WITH A DROP OR TWO
OF KEROSENE IN IT.

White: MY TEMPERATURE
GOT HIGH,

THEY KNEW THAT IT WAS
PROBABLY PNEUMONIA.

THERE WAS NO DOCTOR NEAR US.

BUT I KEPT GETTING WORSE,

AND IT WAS HARD FOR ME
TO BREATHE WITH THE DUST.

Narrator:
IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS,

DECIDED THEIR ONLY HOPE

WAS TO MOVE THEIR DAUGHTER
TO RELATIVES FARTHER EAST,

AWAY FROM THE
EVER-PRESENT DUST.

HER MOTHER WOULD
GO WITH HER,

BUT HER FATHER NEEDED TO STAY
AND TRY TO MANAGE THE FARM.

White: THE DAY THEY CAME TO
GET ME, THE DUST WAS TERRIBLE.

AND I REMEMBER DAD
WRAPPED ME IN A BLANKET...

AND HE CARRIED ME TO THE CAR.

HE TOLD ME THAT WHEN HE
CARRIED ME TO THE

HE THOUGHT HE WOULD NEVER
SEE ME ALIVE AGAIN.

BUT FROM THEN, I DON'T
REMEMBER ANYTHING.

Narrator: AT HER
RELATIVES' HOME,

HER TEMPERATURE

BUT HER COUGHING

AN OPERATION THAT DRAINED

THE FLUID IN HER
INFLAMED LUNGS.

White: ONE DAY,
I WAS LYING ON THE COUCH,

AND I LOOKED INTO THE KITCHEN,

YOU KNOW THERE'S
LITTLE CRACK

AND I WAS LOOKING,

NO TELL YOU
HOW TICKLED I WAS TO SEE MY DAD.

Narrator:
BACK IN NO MAN'S LAND,

THE CROSS DECLARED
MEDICAL CRISIS.

EMERGENCY HOSPITAL WARDS
WERE OPENED

COULD BE FOUND,

INCLUDING THE BASEMENTS OF TWO

THE HIGH SCHOOL'S SENIOR PLAY

NOW COVERED THE GYM FLOOR.

Floyd Coen:
WITHIN A TWO-WEEK PERIOD,

THERE WERE 3 LITTLE GIRLS
DIED OF DUST PNEUMONIA.

THEY WAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

OVER IN OKLAHOMA,

AND ONE OF THEM

BUT THERE WAS--
THERE WAS QUITE A FEW.

IT SEEMED TO GET ABOUT
THAT AGE, YOU KNOW,

JUST BEFORE THEY WENT TO
SCHOOL OR A LITTLE YOUNGER.

Narrator: BY 1935, EDGAR AND
RENA COEN HAD 8 CHILDREN.

YEARS EARLIER,
COEN STARTED BUILDING

A PROPER HOME
FOR HIS FAMILY,

BUT BECAUSE OF

CONSTRUCTION ENDED
AT THE BASEMENT.

THEY COVERED IT WITH
SHEET IRON ROOF MOVED IN.

IT WAS LARGER THAN
THEIR OLD HOME--

SPACE FOR TWO BEDROOMS
AND A LARGE ROOM

THAT SERVED KITCHEN,
DINING ROOM, LIVING

BUT IT WAS STILL
UNDERGROUND.

IN 1932, TWINS ARRIVED--
RALPH MARIE,

THEIR ONLY DAUGHTER, WHO QUICKLY
BECAME THE FAMILY FAVORITE.

Dale Coen: RENA MARIE

HAD BEEN TRYING FOR
A GIRL ALL THE TIME.

WAS A PRETTY LITTLE GIRL.

Floyd Coen: SHE WAS JUST
THE SWEETEST LITTLE THING

SHE WAS SMALLER RALPH,

DOING THINGS, JUST ALL THE TIME.

SHE WAS JUST A JOY
FOR ALL OF US.

AT NIGHT, SINCE
LOT OF WORK TO

ON THE BOARD AND STUFF,

SHE NEEDED HER REST,

SO RENA MARIE WOULD

I'M GLAD I WAS
ABLE TO DO IT.

I SPENT AN AWFUL LOT
OF TIME WITH HER.

Narrator: THAT SPRING, 4 OF

FLOYD, RICHARD, AND THE

ONE NIGHT, RENA MARIE'S

Coen: WE WERE SITTING
AT THE TABLE EATING,

AND SHE JUST IMMEDIATELY

SHE JUST SWEAT--
HER HEAD JUST WAS...

WATER RUNNING OFF
HER FACE AND HEAD.

Narrator: SHE BECAME
TOO WEAK TO BE MOVED

FROM THE BED
IN THE PARENTS' ROOM.

AND USHERED IN TO SEE HER.

Dale Coen: WE WAS ALL AWAKE,
ALL SETTING AROUND THE FIRE.

I REMEMBER I WAS SETTING
IN BEHIND THE STOVE,

BETWEEN THE STOVE THE WALL--
PLENTY OF THERE--

FOR ME TO COME TO HER.

SHE CALLED FOR ME--NOT
NOT DAD, BUT FOR DALE.

l...l HAVEN'T
REALLY EVER GOT OVER IT.

IT WAS BAD, BAD, BAD.

Floyd Coen:
MEREDITH WAS THERE,

OF US DUST
PNEUMONIA AT THAT TIME.

I AND RALPH RICHARD
WAS IN BED ALSO.

IN BED OUT IN THE FRONT ROOM,

WHEN I HEARD THE DOCTOR
SAY, "DO YOU HAVE A BOARD?"

MY SAID, "WELL, WE HAVE
LEAVES FOR THE TABLE."

AND HE TOOK THE LEAF TO THE
TABLE AND TOOK IT IN THERE

AND PUT HER LITTLE BODY ON
THAT LEAF AND BROUGHT IT OUT

BEFORE HE TOOK HER.

AND THE DOCTOR PUT HER
IN THE REAR SEAT OF HIS CAR

TOOK HER
INTO THE MORTUARY.

BUT THAT WAS THE
HARDEST THING ON ME...

AND STILL IS.

SHE WAS SUCH A PERFECT
LITTLE THING.

Narrator: TWO WEEKS LATER,
THE COENS' FIRST GRANDCHILD,

HE AND RENA MARIE WOULD
BE TWO OF THE 31 PEOPLE

WHO PERISHED FROM DUST PNEUMONIA
THAT SPRING IN MORTON COUNTY,

POPULATION 4,092.

THE TOWN OF LIBERAL
LOST 9 TO THE ILLNESS.

IN THE 7 SOUTHWESTERN
COUNTIES,

NEARLY 1,500 PEOPLE
BECAME SICK WITH IT.

SOME BEGAN TO BLAME THEMSELVES
FOR WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

ON ITS FRONT PAGE, THE "BOISE
CITY NEWS" PUBLISHED

QUOTATION FROM THE BIBLE,
THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL--

"BEHOLD, THEREFORE,
I HAVE SMITTEN MY HAND

AND AT THY BLOOD WHICH HAS
BEEN IN THE MIDST OF THEE."

SOME PEOPLE LEFT
ON ACCOUNT OF THAT,

THINKING GOD WANTED
THEM TO LEAVE.

AFTER THEY HAD THE DUST STORM
WHERE THE PEOPLE IN BOISE CITY

COULD SEE THE IMAGE
OF CHRIST INTO IT,

PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT

BECAUSE THEY PLOWED UP
THAT GOOD SOD.

Egan: YOU NEVER REALLY
ESCAPED THE DUST.

IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN,

THAT'S, I THINK,
WHAT DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY.

ONE WOMAN TOLD ME
IT WAS LIKE A SNAKE.

SHE COULD HEAR IT SLITHERING
ALONG THE CEILING

THEN ALONG THE
SIDE OF THE WALL.

SHE SHE JUST
WAITED FOR THAT SNAKE

IT WAS THAT KIND OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL BLOW.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT THAT
IT WAS AT BEHIND YOU,

THIS MONSTER CAME ALONG
AND JUST CLOBBERED YOU.

Woman: "IT SEEMED THAT

"THE BLACK DUST
WAS ALWAYS WITH US.

"IF A QUIET DAY HAPPENED
TO BE OUR LOT,

"THE TIME WAS SPENT
SCOOPING OUT

"THE OF THE ST:
OF YESTERDAY.

"IT SEEMED THAT WE LIVED
IN OF HAZE.

"THE ATMOSPHERE SEEMED TO ALWAYS
BE CLOSING IN AROUND US,

CREATING AN EERIE
AND UNEASY FEELING."

MOM SAID SHE HAD EVERY

AND SHE WOULD WET THEM DOWN.

OVER EVERYTHING

WHERE DUST MIGHT COME IN,
BUT IT DIDN'T KEEP IT OUT.

IT WOULD COME IN SOMEWHERE.

Narrator:
IN EARLY APRIL OF 1935,

THE SHAWS OF BOISE CITY,
OWNERS OF THE LOCAL MORTUARY,

BEGAN PLANNING
A DOUBLE FUNERAL.

THEY JUST LOST THE
OLDEST YOUNGEST MEMBERS

OF THEIR OWN FAMILY
TO THE DUST PNEUMONIA.

HAZEL'S BEAUTIFUL, PRECOCIOUS
YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER RUTH NELL

HAD DIED JUST A FEW HOURS
BEFORE HAZEL'S GRANDMOTHER,

THE MATRIARCH OF THE CLAN,
PASSED AWAY.

"GRANDMA LOU" WAS TO
BE BURIED IN TEXHOMA,

NEAR HER HOMESTEAD,
WHILE RUTH NELL WAS TO BE TAKEN

TO ENID, IN THE CENTRAL
OF

THE MAIN REASON FOR THAT

WAS THE FACT THAT ENID

THEY WOULD HAVE BURIED RUTH NELL
IN THE BOISE CITY CEMETERY

EXCEPT YOU COULDN'T EVEN FIND

IN THE CEMETERY, IT WAS
SO DRIFTED FULL OF DIRT.

Narrator:
ON APRIL 14th, 1935,

THE DAY OF THE
DOUBLE FUNERAL ARRIVED.

A WEEK BEFORE EASTER.

THEY WERE EXCITED
WHEN THEY GOT UP THAT DAY

WHEN IT WAS CLEAR.

DAY.

IF YOU'VE GOT TO JOB
LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW,

THAT'S A BLESSING TO YOUR HEART

IF YOU HAVE A NICE DAY FOR
A FUNERAL FOR A LOVED ONE.

Narrator:
THROUGHOUT THE

AROUND NO MAN'S
THAT MORNING,

FAMILIES
FOR CHURCH,

RESIDENTS WERE BEING GREETED BY
A GLORIOUS BREAK IN THE WEATHER.

Egan: THE SUNDAY ITSELF WAS

AND PEOPLE CAME OUT
OF THEIR DUGOUTS

AND CLEANED THEIR SHEETS
AND OPENED UP THEIR WINDOWS.

IT WAS LIKE A DAWN.
IT WAS LIKE A NEW DAY,

AND YOU THOUGHT,
"MY GOD, THIS LAND CAN
MAKE US WHOLE AGAIN.

MY GOD, THE WORST
IS OVER."

Narrator: IN FOLLETT, TEXAS,

TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S MOTHER
HUNG LAUNDRY OUT ON THE LINE,

FLUNG OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HER
HOUSE TO LET IN THE FRESH AIR,

AND ANNOUNCED THAT
THE FAMILY WOULD ENJOY

THE REST OF THE DAY
OUT IN THE COUNTRY.

THE SKY WAS BLUE.
THERE WASN'T A BREATH OF WIND.

WE WERE JUST EXHILARATED,
THE WHOLE FAMILY,

WE COULDN'T
UNDERSTAND IT, EITHER,

BECAUSE IT JUST WAS
ABNORMAL.

MOTHER AND DAD DECIDED

Narrator: BY MID-DAY,
THE TEMPERATURE RISEN
INTO THE HIGH 70s.

BUT FARTHER NORTH, A COLD FRONT

BEGUN MOVING SOUTH
ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS,

PUSHING A WIND BEFORE IT,

PICKING UP MORE AND MORE LOOSE
SOIL WITH EACH MILE IT TRAVELED.

DENVER, ON THE FRONT'S WESTERN

AND TEMPERATURES DROPPED
25 DEGREES IN AN HOUR'S TIME.

LITTLE LATER, IT REACHED
UNION COUNTY,

IN THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER
OF NEW MEXICO,

AND HIS FAMILY LIVED.

Sam Arguello: I WAS PLAYING
OUT IN THE FRONT YARD.

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY,
BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY.

ALL OF A SUDDEN,
I LOOKED UP, THERE WAS

A BIG BLACK, BLACK CLOUD COMING
IN FROM UP ON THE NORTHEAST.

WE WERE RIGHT AT
THE TURN OF A CANYON,

DEEP CANYON, I'D SAY
PROBABLY 60 FOOT DEEP

FROM THE TOP DOWN TO THE
BOTTOM--OR MORE THAN THAT.

AND WHEN THAT
THING CAME OVER,

I RUN INTO THE HOUSE
I TOLD THEM, 1 SAYS,

"THERE'S A BIG BLACK CLOUD
COMING OUT THERE."

EVERYBODY SAYS,
"THERE'S NO CLOUDS OUT THERE."

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL
SUNNY DAY.

BY THE TIME THEY GOT TO
THE IT WAS JUST BLACK.

Narrator; THE RESIDENTS
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND

ALREADY YEARS
OF EXPERIENCE

WITH DUST ST
OF ALL KINDS,

BUT TO A PERSON, THIS ONE
SEEMED DIFFERENT--

BIGGER, BLACKER,
MORE SINISTER.

Robertson: WE SAW
THIS CLOUD COMING IN.

IT WOULD JUST ROLL IN--
BLACK, BLACK DIRT.

I'LL NEVER FORGET,
MY GRANDMOTHER,

CHRISTIAN, AND SHE SAID,

"YOU RUN
GET TOGETHER.

THE END OF THE
IS COMING."

BOY, WE--THAT WAS
LAW GOSPEL

WE ALL GOT
TOGETHER, YOU KNOW,

THAT CLOUD JUST
ROLLED LIKE THAT,

Wayne Lewis:
WE SAT THERE WATCHED IT.

I REMEMBER THE THING
ROLLING, THAT IT...

IT WAS LIKE A TORNADO
THAT WAS ON ITS SIDE.

Wells: ALL THE BIRDS,
EVERYTHING WAS FLYING SOUTH.

WE COULD SEE
THIS THING ROLLING IN.

MY BROTHER TOLD ME HE THOUGHT
THE END OF THE WORLD WAS COMING.

OF COURSE, THAT SCARED ME
HALF TO DEATH,

I WASN'T
SURE ABOUT IT.

Narrator: BY NOW,
IT WAS EVEN BIGGER

THE MONSTROUS
"BLACK BLIZZARD" OF 1934,

AND AS IT MOVED
SOUTH AND EAST

IT GOT BIGGER STILL.

IT WAS 200 MILES WIDE,
MOVING AT 65 MILES PER HOUR,

AND IT BEGAN CATCHING MORE AND
MORE PEOPLE OUT IN THE OPEN.

TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FAMILY
WAS AT WOLF CREEK,

IN THE MIDST OF THEIR PICNIC,
MILES FROM HOME.

Brown: WE NOTICED WHAT
LOOKED LIKE RAIN CLOUDS

FORMING IN THE NORTH.

RAIN CLOUDS HAVE A BLUE CAST
TO THEM, A NAVY BLUE CAST,

NO BLUE IN THIS ONE.

IT WAS BLACK.

WE ALL GOT INTO
THE VERY QUICKLY.

WET ANYTHING
THAT WAS IN THE CAR--

HANDKERCHIEFS--

PUT EVERYTHING AROUND
ALL OF OUR FACES.

AND WHEN IT HIT, THE CAR JUST
DID A JIGGLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE.

I DON'T REMEMBER ANY
SOUND FROM ANY PEOPLE.

Narrator:
IN GUYMON,

THE PARENTS OF BOOTS McCOY
DROPPED HIM

HIS SISTER, RUBY PAULINE,
OFF FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL,

PROMISING TO PICK THEM UP

THEN THE STORM HIT.

McCoy: THEY FINALLY
STOPPED THE CHURCH

PEOPLE WAS GETTING UP

THE EXCUSED
EVERYBODY WITH A PRAYER,

WE WENT THERE,
THEY RAIL.

I CAN REMEMBER HOLDING
THAT RAIL AND HOLDING RUBY'S--

SHE WAS--SHE WAS
SCARED I WAS.

Narrator:
THROUGH THE DARKNESS,

MAKE THEIR WAY HOME

RELYING ON MEMORY

THEY FINALLY MADE IT HOME,
BUT THE HOUSE WAS EMPTY.

THEIR PARENTS WERE
FRANTICALLY SEARCHING

FOR THEM OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
AND ALONG THE MAIN STREETS.

THEN THE FOLKS CAME,

IT WAS SO DARK IN THE HOUSE
THAT THEY COULDN'T SEE US.

MOM WAS CRYING AND HOLLERED
THAT WE WEREN'T HOME

SHE WAS WANTING TO GO BACK
TO SEE IF THEY COULD FIND US.

I HOLLERED
"WE'RE HOME," YOU KNOW,

IT RELIEVED THEM
QUITE A LOT.

THEN WE ALL JUST--JUST SAT,
JUST CRIED.

WE HAD TO HUG LOT
TO GET HER TO HUSH.

Shaw: THEY JUST
COMPLETED THE FUNERAL.

THEY HAD TAKEN RUTH NELL

FROM ST. PAUL'S METHODIST
CHURCH TO THE FUNERAL HOME,

AND THEY HAD JUST SENT
THE FUNERAL PROCESSION

WITH GRANDMA LOU

A LITTLE BIT MORE

THAN 6 MILES OUT OF BOISE CITY

WHEN THE FUNERAL PROCESSION SAW
THE BLACK DUSTER BEHIND THEM.

Narrator: HAZEL LUCAS SHAW
HER HUSBAND

HAD NOT ACCOMPANIED

HEADED FOR GRANDMA LOU'S

THEY HAD REMAINED BEHIND,

NOT WANTING TO LEAVE
THE BODY OF RUTH NELL.

THEIR YOUNG NIECE, CAROL,
BEEN TOLD TO STAY WITH THEM.

MY COUSIN HAD BEEN
WITH DAD AND MOM,

SHE'D GONE
OUTSIDE THE HOUSE,

SHE SAW THE BLACK
DUSTER COMING.

SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE
IN THE GRADES,

I DON'T KNOW, PROBABLY
6, 7 YEARS OLD.

SO SHE HEADED FOR HOME, WHICH

BY THE TIME THE DUSTER HIT, DAD

HE HOPED THAT SHE HAD
GOTTEN HOME ALL RIGHT,

BUT WHEN ONE OF THOSE
BLACK DUSTERS HIT,

THE STATIC ELECTRICITY
WAS SO TERRIBLE

THAT YOU COULDN'T
TELEPHONE CALL.

AS RINGING UP YOUR BROTHER

AND ASKING IF THEIR CHILD
HAD GOTTEN HOME ALL RIGHT.

SO DAD GOT HIS FLASHLIGHT.

HE GOT DOWN ON HIS STOMACH,

AND HE ELBOWED HIS WAY
UNDERNEATH THE DUST.

THE VISIBILITY WAS SLIGHT.

YOU COULD SEE A LITTLE BIT
UNDERNEATH THE DUST.

HIS BROTHER'S HOUSE.

FORTUNATELY, CAROL WAS THERE,
AND SHE HAD ARRIVED HOME SAFELY.

BUT DIDN'T
WANT TO WORRY MOM,

TO THE FUNERAL HOME.

IN THE MEANTIME,
THE FUNERAL PROCESSION

THAT HAD STARTED TO TEXHOMA
TURNED AROUND AND RETURNED.

IN ORDER TO FIND A ROAD BACK,
THERE WERE 4 MEN IN WHITE SHIRTS

THAT HELD
STRETCHED THEMSELVES

ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE ROAD,

RIGHT BEHIND THEM.

TOOK THEM A NUMBER OF HOURS
TO GET BACK THAT WAY

THE MILES
THEY TO WALK BACK.

I THINK THEY GOT BACK
ABOUT 10:00 THAT NIGHT.

Narrator: APRIL 14, 1935,

CAME TO BE CALLED
"BLACK SUNDAY,"

NO ONE WHO LIVED THROUGH
IT WOULD EVER FORGET

THE STORM'S SIZE OR FEROCITY--

OR WHAT THEY DID TO SURVIVE IT.

AFTER HUDDLING IN
THEIR PARKED CAR

WHILE THE BLACKNESS
ENGULFED THEM,

TRIXIE BROWN'S FAMILY
INCHED THEIR WAY HOME.

Brown: WE COULDN'T GET
INTO THE HOUSE.

THAT WE COULDN'T OPEN
THE SCREEN

TOGO TO
THE GARAGE TO GET A SHOVEL,

AND HE HAD TO SHOVEL THE DIRT
AWAY FROM THE SCREEN DOOR

BEFORE WE COULD GET IN.

WE HAD LEFT THE HOUSE OPEN

BECAUSE MOTHER SAID,
"WE'LL AIR OUT THINGS."

THE HOUSE WAS TOTALLY
LOADED WITH DIRT.

Arguello: BY SUNDOWN,
BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED

ABOUT 1:30 WHEN THAT THING CAME
OFF THE TOP OF THAT CANYON,

AND BY SUNDOWN,
IT HAD GONE PAST

IT WAS JUST AS
IT COULD BE TO THE WEST,

YOU KNOW, WHERE THE
SUN WAS HITTING IT.

BUT IT WAS JUST RED ALL OVER.

MY GRANDMOTHER SCARED
THE TAR OUT OF ME.

I WENT OUT THERE, I
SAID, "WHAT IS THAT,

ALL THAT RED OUT THERE,

SHE SAID, "IT'S FIRE, FIRE.

THE WORLD'S
COMING TO AN END."

I WENT CRAWLED
UNDER THE BED.

THEY WERE TOUGH TIMES--
REALLY, REALLY TOUGH TIMES.

DEATHLY SCARY, YOU KNOW.

AN EERIE, EERIE TIME FOR OLDER
PEOPLE AND US KIDS, YOU KNOW.

WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE DEVIL

Narrator: WITHIN A MONTH,

AND HIS SISTER
RUBY PAULINE

WOULD COME DOWN WITH
DUST PNEUMONIA.

HE WOULD SUFFER LUNG AILMENTS
THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

SHE DIED BEFORE

SHE WAS
MY BEST BUDDY. YEAH.

WE WENT THROUGH THEM HARD

Narrator: "AT LEAST,"
HER MOTHER SAID,

"SHE WON'T HAVE TO LIVE
THROUGH ANOTHER DUST STORM."

BY CHANCE, A REPORTER

NAMED ROBERT GEIGER HAD BEEN
IN NO MAN'S LAND ON BLACK SUNDAY

AND MANAGED TO FIND
SHELTER IN BOISE CITY

DURING THE WORST OF THE STORM.

THE STORY GEIGER FILED
THE NEXT DAY BEGAN,

"ACHINGLY FAMILIAR ON
WESTERN FARMER'S TONGUE--

"RULE LIFE TODAY IN THE DUST
BOWL OF THE CONTINENT --

IF IT RAINS..."

BUT INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THOSE
3 LITTLE WORDS, "IF IT RAINS,"

MORE PEOPLE FASTENED ONTO
THE 3 WORDS HE HAD USED

TO DESCRIBE THE PLACE THAT RAIN
HAD FORSAKEN: "THE DUST BOWL."

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
ANYONE USED THAT TERM.

Riney-Kehrberg: BLACK SUNDAY
IS THE DIRT ST:

THAT EVERYBODY REMEMBERED.

SO MUCH MORE INTENSE,

OF THE OTHERS HAD BEEN.

AND I DON'T THINK THAT IT'S

THAT THE OUTWARD MIGRATION

CAME AFTER BLACK SUNDAY.

Narrator: IN THE
MONTHS TO COME,

THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,

WHILE THE PRESIDENT AND HIS
ADMINISTRATION WOULD STRUGGLE

TO COME UP WITH NEW STRATEGIES
TO MEET THE CRISIS.

IN THE HEART OF THE DUST BOWL,

FAMILIES WOULD
DESPERATELY TRY TO HANG ON,

BUT SOME WOULD
RELUCTANTLY DECIDE

TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES BEHIND

TRY TO BEGIN A NEW LIFE
SOMEWHERE ELSE.

AMONG THEM WOULD BE
22-YEAR-OLD ITINERANT SONGWRITER

WHO HAD FOUND REFUGE FROM
THE FURY OF BLACK SUNDAY

IN A SMALL HOUSE WITH
HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS

IN TEXAS,
JUST SOUTH OF NO MAN'S LAND.

Woody Guthrie: WE WATCHED
THE DUST STORM COME UP,

LIKE THE SEA CLOSING IN
ON THE ISRAEL CHILDREN,

I'M TELLING YOU, IT GOT
BLACK WHEN THAT THING HIT,

WE ALL RUN INTO THE HOUSE.

AND A LOT OF THE PEOPLE IN THE
CROWD THAT WAS RELIGIOUS-MINDED

THEY WAS UP WELL
ON THEIR SCRIPTURES,

THEY SAID, "WELL, BOYS,
GIRLS, FRIENDS, RELATIVES,

"THIS IS THE END.

THIS IS THE END
OF THE WORLD."

EVERYBODY JUST SAID,
"WELL, SO LONG.

I MADE UP A LITTLE SONG.

LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD
TO KNOW YA

LONG,
BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD
TO KNOW YA

IS A-BLOWIN' ME HOME §

I'VE GOT TO BE ROLLIN' ALONG

I'LL SING THIS SONG,
BUT I'LL SING IT AGAIN

OF THE PLACE THAT I LIVED
ON THE WEST PLAINS

IN THE CITY OF
IN THE COUNTY OF GRAY

HERE'S WHAT ALL OF
THE PEOPLE THERE SAY

WELL, IT'S SO LONG,
BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

LONG,
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

§ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN

IS A-DRIVIN' ME HOME §

I'VE GOT TO BE
DRIFTIN' ALONG

THE CHURCH HOUSES
WERE JAMMED PACKED

PEOPLE WAS SETTIN'

FROM FRONT TO THE BACK

§ IT WAS SO DUSTY §

THE PREACHER COULDN'T
HIS

HE FOLDED HIS SPECKS,
HE TOOK UP COLLECTION

SAID, SO LONG,
BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

§ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN

LONG,
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

IS A-DRIVIN' ME HOME §

I'VE GOT TO BE
DRIFTIN' ALONG

THE TELEPHONE RANG,
AN' IT JUMPED OFF THE WALL

THAT WAS THE PREACHER,
PAYIN' HIS CALL

§ HE SAID §

LOOK AT THE SHAPE
THAT THE IS IN

I'VE TO CUT PRICE
ON SALVATION SIN

WELL, IT'S SO LONG,
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

§ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN

LONG,
IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA

§ THIS DUSTY OLD DUST
IS A-ROLLIN' ME HOME §

GOT TO BE DRIFTIN' ALONG

Narrator: HISTORY, AS SEEN
THROUGH THE EYES OF KEN BURNS,

IS JUST
COLLECTION OF STORIES

ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED
IN THE .

TO REFLECT ON HOW TO BUILD
A STRONGER TOMORROW.

WE SHARE IN HIS VISION,

WE'RE PROUD
TO SUPPORT HIS EFFORTS.

FUNDING FOR
THIS IS PROVIDED BY:

MEMBERS OF
THE ANGELS SOCIETY,

DEDICATED TO HELPING KEN BURNS
TELL AMERICA'S STORIES,

INCLUDING THE HAMEL
FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST,

ROBERT
BEVERLY GRAPPONE;

THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS,

DEDICATED TO STRENGTHENING
AMERICA'S FUTURE

THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,

EXPLORING THE HUMAN ENDEAVOR;

THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION;

THE WALLACE GENETIC FOUNDATION;

THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

AND BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION

FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.