“The drought that began in the early 1930s wreaked havoc on the Great Plains. During the previous decade, farmers from Texas to North Dakota-the region that became known as the Dust Bowl-had used tractors to break up the

grasslands and plant millions of acres of new farmland. They exhausted the land through

overproduction of crops, and the grasslands became unsuitable for farming. When the

drought and winds began in the early 1930s, little grass and few trees were left on the

plains to hold the soil down. Dust traveled hundreds of miles. One windstorm in 1924 picked up millions of tons of dust from the

plains and carried it to East Coast cities. Even ships far out in the Atlantic Ocean reported

dust on their decks.”

The Dust BowlThe Dust Bowl

“The southern plains, including Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas were hardest hit. Plagued by dust storms and evictions,

thousands of farmers and share croppers left their land behind. They packed up their

families and their few belongings and traveled west, following Route 66 to California. Some

of these migrants-known as Okies (a term that originally referred to Oklahomans but came to be used negatively for all the migrants)-found work as farm hands. But others continued to search for work. By the end of the 1930s, the population of California had grown by more

than a million.”

The Migration WestThe Migration West

American author, John Steinbeck, wrote The Grapes of Wrath about an Okie

family that migrated west. The following two slides have quotes from the book about the migration. The last slide is a song and lyrics by Kris Kristofferson that is based on a story in the book.

“Highway 66 is the main migrant road… 66 is the path of a people in flight,

refugees from the dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and

shrinking ownership, from the desert’s slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of

Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little

richness is there… 66 is the mother road, the road of flight.”

“In the daylight they scuttled like bugs to the westward; and as the dark caught them, they

clustered like bugs near to shelter and to water. And because they were lonely and

perplexed, because they had all come from a place of sadness and worry and defeat, and

because they were all going to a new mysterious place, they huddled together; they talked together; they shared their lives, their

food, and the things they hoped for in the new country… In the evening a strange think

happened: the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the

golden time in the West was one dream.”

The scene was a small roadside cafe, The waitress was sweeping the floor.

Two truck drivers drinking their coffee.And two Okie kids by the door.

"How much are them candies?" they asked her."How much have you got?" she replied.

"We've only a penny between us.""Them's two for a penny," she lied.

And the daylight grew heavy with thunder,With the smell of the rain on the wind.

Ain't it just like a human.Here comes that rainbow again.

One truck driver called to the waitress,After the kids went outside.

"Them candies ain't two for a penny.""So what's it to you?" she replied.

In silence they finished their coffee,And got up and nodded goodbye.

She called: "Hey, you left too much money!""So what's it to you?" they replied.

And the daylight was heavy with thunder,With the smell of the rain on the wind.

Ain't it just like a human.Here comes that rainbow again.