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Randy Francis' University Dissertation on The Dust Bowl - The Texas Dust Bowl In Historical Perspective - What Happened and Could It Happen Again?

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I have retained the original American English spelling.

Randy has very kindly offered to assist with any inquiries which visitors to this page might have regarding the Dust Bowl. He says he's no expert, just a student, but will help where he can. Send EMail to Randol_Francis@baylor.edu

The Texas Dust Bowl In Historical Perspective: What Happened and Could It Happen Again?

Submitted By Randy Francis To Dr. Thomas Charlton In Partial Completion of the Requirements of the Course HIS 3380 Texas History

Waco, Texas. June 1998.

The Panhandle of Texas was a part of one of the worst disasters in U.S. agricultural history. As part of a five-state region affected by severe drought and soil erosion, the "Dust Bowl" was result of several factors. Cyclical drought and farming of marginally productive acreage was exacerbated by a lack of soil conservation methods. Because the disaster lasted throughout the 1930's, the lives of every Plains resident and expectations of farming the region changed forever.

The settlement and development of the Southern Plains came relatively late. Not recognizing the problems of initiating massive agricultural programs meant farmers had no contingency plans when the drought hit. Historian Donald Worster suggests they had "A Sense of Invulnerability":

"Around World War I they were talking about upsetting the balance of nature on the plains. People were worried about insect outbreaks, I think, more than anything else. But nobody had seen dust storms of a scale that the 30's would bring. Indians came along and told people to leave the grass where it was. There may have been a few obscure individuals who worried about what was going on. But most of the people living in the area were pretty well caught up in the dream of progress and turning this place into a bread basket. So if there were misgivings, they were not being published....I think particularly in the 20's when the great plow-up occurred, there was an enormous sense of invulnerability, at least in official circles, and I think to a large extent among settlers and farmers."

• A Nebraska scientist, Samuel Aughey, extrapolated in 1880 on the slogan, "Rain Follows The Plow:" "...after the soil is broken, a rain as it falls is absorbed by the soil like a huge sponge." Then the soil evaporates a little moisture into the atmosphere each day, receiving it back at night as a heavy dew.

• In addition it was widely believed that the spread of the railroads and electric wires, modified natural electrical cycles in an arid zone and induced the fall of moisture.

• Stories were also repeated that artillery fire such as at the Battle of Gettysburg, contributed to the heavy rains that followed. Cannon used to clear the Plains of Indians might even have the added benefit of bringing rain.

The drought cycle of the 1890's offered a warning to thoughtful observers. The newly opened lands were barren, and it was necessary for some state agencies and even the U.S. Army to provide assistance to indigent farmers. New legislation was enacted in an attempt to minimize farmers' further risk. These actions would have to be expanded by FDR's New Deal because few, if any, lasting changes in farm structure were made. "And after all, why should it?" was the prevailing perception. Rather than seeing the drought cycle, many farmers would have agreed with an assessment from 1880: "This is the sole remaining section of paradise in the western world."

An interesting side benefit of increased grain production was the opportunity advanced by Prohibition. Distilling became a common practice during the 20's and early 30's. The authorities largely tried restricting production rather than harsh punishment of bootleggers and moonshiners.

Amongst the myriad reasons for erosion, the farming practices of the 1920's and 30's were highly relevant. Prior to World War I, a variety of crops were being grown, which tended to allow the farmer to survive: if one failed another crop would carry him through. Since fewer brooms were made from broomcorn and few options were available to sell grain sorghums, these crops declined in production as wheat became the staple crop. The appearance of modern mechanical farm equipment encouraged farmers to plow up more land and to plant on marginal acreage. The combine, tractor, one way-plow and truck all made possible greater yields and higher profits. Unfortunately, these devices could not change the basic dynamics of wind and rain.

A variety of soil types have been classified on the South Plains, but basically the major components of all include clay and sand. These soils react differently to drought conditions and must be managed differently. Sandy soil can accept moisture quickly and make it useful to plants more readily. However, they also tend to dry out faster and therefore are quicker to blow away. Clay soils crack in dry weather, making openings for water to penetrate the surface. But the soil also closes these cracks without completely saturating the deeper soil, and in a hard rain, will clump together and absorb very little moisture at all. Soil temperature studies showed the results of prolonged exposure: while in 1934, the soil several inches down was cooler than the atmosphere, the baking effects of sun on bare ground raised the soil temperature thirty or more degrees over the surrounding air temperatures.

The Depression had beset many parts of the country in 1929 and 1930, but the Southern Plains continued to bring forth their bounty until 1931. The crisis came not from the economic collapse of states to the east and west; instead, nature dealt the first blow to farmers on the Plains: drought. To illustrate, climatilogical data shows the depth of the drought (see following table):

Instructions for reading Table 1 -- For each year, data as follows: Total Precipitation and (Snowfall) in inches; Variation of Total from Normal; and other notable statistics (if any).

Table 1 - Four County Climate reports for Years 1923-4,31-40
Year	Dallam County	Hansford County	Ochiltree County	Potter County
1923	33.40 (24.0) 16.31	31.52 (20.0) No norms	No Data	39.75 (36.6) 17.26
1924	15.32 (21.0) -1.77	16.10 (16.0) No norms	15.28 (No snow data) -3.51	17.90 (24.9) -4.69
1931	14.66 (21.4) -4.42	20.56 (24.0) -0.16	17.35 (23.0) -2.53	18.35 (39.2) -2.64
1932	20.09 (22.2) 1.01 [June Total +6.40]	20.20 (27.0) -0.52 [June +6.26]	19.40 (31.1) -0.48 [June +3.87]	21.14 (32.5) 0.13 [June +5.64]
1933	10.14 (0.8) -8.94 [Aug Total +2.94]	14.07 (1.1) -6.65 [Aug +3.91]	16.00 (0.0) -3.88 [Aug +2.71]	12.22 (2.9) -8.77 [Aug +2.78]
1934	9.78 (0.2) -9.3	13.92 (11.2) -6.8	14.23 (5.8) -5.65	13.33 (26.3) -7.66
1935	13.31 (Trace) -5.77	17.32 (2.0) -3.4	13.40 (1.0) -6.48	15.49 (8.3) -5.5
1936	9.93 (6.7) -9.37	22.63 (16.0) 2.99	16.37 (No snow data) -3.51	19.72 (15.6) -1.29
1937	14.48 (10.2) -4.82	16.83 (14.0) -2.81	15.88 (No snow data) -4.00	17.10 (12.9) -3.89
1938	14.08 (18.2) -5.22	21.99 (26.0) 2.35	No Data	19.10 (22.6) -1.89
1939	14.75 (18.7) -4.55	22.26 (26.5) -2.62	No Data	21.01 (24.2) 0.02
1940	12.74 (16.6) -6.56	20.53 (30.5) -0.89	No Data	13.62 (21.1) -7.39

Snowfall data is included since even heavy snow was less likely to cause soil erosion since there is no splashing and breaking up of the soil. In many cases in addition to those mentioned here, precipitation came in such a short period of time as to cause water-borne erosion rather than prevent topsoil loss.

Each year of the 1930's the concerns grew as fast as the dust storms. The severity and longevity of the drought made problems inevitable. The Palmer Drought Index is the standard measure of the impact of drought on cropland. According to Index reports 1934 and 1936 were two of the three worst years recorded--even up to the present.

The ruin of crops and livestock can be seen in production reports from the era.

Instructions for reading Table 2:

For each year, data as follows: [Bushels except Hay in tons] Corn; Oats; Hay; Grain Sorghums; Wheat; Cattle (number of head); $ value of all stock.

Table 2.--Four County Agricultural Data 1925,1930,1935.

[Table 2 information is not yet available - JC]

Table 3 - Statewide Number of Cattle and Estimated Value Per Head
Year	Statewide Number of Cattle	Estimated Value Per Head
1930	6,500,000	$37.50
1931	6,604,000	$23.90
1932	6,890,000	$17.40
1933	7,605,000	$13.40
1934	8,410,000	$11.40
1935	7,222,000	$13.00
1936	6,861,000	$22.20

Data on hay acreage indicates that hay became a sort of default crop for farmers who could grow little else (and still did not produce as much). The AAA payment figures show that in 1938 there were more payments than the average of 1933-35, so relief efforts were expanding. The increase in population between 1930 and 1940 in Potter County probably is due to the influence of transportation and oil and natural gas in shaping the Amarillo area economy.

Other than the loss of crops themselves, one of the first signs of calamity were the choking clouds of dust. Storms were not an unknown phenomenon on the Plains. In 1904 and 1923 dust storms of significant magnitude were recorded. What made the 30's unique was that the dust continually thickened and the storms came more often. In 1933, there were 70 dust storms. The following year, residents hoped that things were improving as there were only 22. However, in 1935, there were 53; 73 in the next year; and 134 in the first nine months of 1937.

The initial response was to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause: "The Red Cross issued an urgent call for dust masks, especially for children." Although school children were provided with gauze masks, their effectiveness was meager as the dust was too fine and too prevalent for these stopgap actions. Perhaps at first this had to do with the natural optimism of those who lived on the Plains: they believed things HAD to get better. This hopeful nature led to the sobriquet: "America's Next Year People".

Sadly, dirt proved to be a constant problem with no easy palliative solutions. Vaseline and various fats were used to try and keep the throat clear. The windows and doors to most homes had wet sheets covering them to keep out the dust. Cracks were covered with tape or cloths soaked in paraffin, but these vain attempts still let enough dirt in to make even food and water gritty.

The "black blizzards" had some of the same effects as their more normally produced cousins. Judge Wilson Cohen of Dalhart remembers the dust would pile up to the window sills of farm houses. Because the doors would also be blocked, the residents would have to climb out of the window and shovel out the front door as if it were a snowstorm. Clella Schmidt of Spearman remembers seeing her family empty the dust out of the house after a storm. They filled large wheat scoops over and over with loads of dirt.

Rail traffic often was slowed by blinding dust. The Santa Fe Navajo arrived six hours late in Chicago. The Associated Press had this response from the Navajo's Conductor, Walter Knudsen: "Noon was like night. There was no sun and, at times, it was impossible to see a yard. The engineer could not see the signal-lights." When the Rock Island Colorado Express arrived in Chicago two and a half hours late, Conductor R. G. Goetze explained to the AP: "There was a heavy coating of dust on the streets when we left Denver. Then it snowed. The mixture put a plaster on the sides of the train."

The storms became a recognizable part of life during those years. By 1934, for example: "Residents believed they could pinpoint a storm's origins by the color of the dust: black from Kansas, red from Oklahoma, gray from Colorado or New Mexico."

The day remembered by many who lived through it as the worst day of the decade was "Black Sunday", April 14, 1935. An incredibly thick dust storm terrified those who saw it. Historian Paul Bonnifield calls this storm a "roller" because the cloud of black dirt seemed to roll across the region. In Pampa, Texas Woody Guthrie saw the storm coming and began to pen the famous song: "So Long, It's Been Good To Know You." His inspiration came from fear that his life had come to an end. Margie Daniels of Hooker, Oklahoma relates the reaction of some who had been on a jackrabbit roundup to "Black Sunday": "It was starting to get dark. And you know, some people felt that was the wrath of God coming up [sic.] on them when they'd killed all those rabbits like this." An Associated Press reporter, Robert Geiger wrote a story about "Black Sunday" and used the term "dust bowl"; throughout the nation this became the phrase applied to the Plains region.

After these great storms, most people adjusted to the presence of dust in their daily life. Many turned to sedation and some broke down in despair, but many managed to find levity in the midst of trials. One anecdote told about "the farmer who fainted when a drop of water struck him in the face and had to be revived by having three buckets of sand thrown over him". Residents also passed around the one about the motorist who came upon a ten-gallon hat resting on a dust drift. Under it he found a head looking at him. "Can I help you some way?" the motorist asked, "Give you a ride into town maybe?" "Thanks, but I'll make it on my own," was the reply, "I'm on a horse."

In general, hopefulness tended to be the dominant motif, although tinged with doubt: "Three little words, achingly [sic.] familiar on a Western farmer's tongue, rule life in the dust bowl... - - 'If it rains' ".

Other natural disasters occurred throughout the 1930's, including floods, freezing and baking temperatures, tornadoes, hail storms, and static electricity from all the blowing particles. One wag commented on the frigid Amarillo weather by claiming "a Confederate veteran statue there finally laid his gun down and stuck his hands in his pockets." Hail storms were especially frustrating in the northern Panhandle counties as on several occasions a decent crop was ruined.

Texans largely avoided the problem of "dust pneumonia" which was especially dangerous in Kansas, but hordes of jackrabbits, grasshoppers, and spiders made the situation even worse. Black widow spiders in particular caused a number of illnesses and deaths due to their abundance. Although not a direct health hazard, the rabbits and insects ate the meager crops which did come up, and their defoliation of abandoned property allowed more land to blow.

Many people gave up on their unprofitable farms and went to work in one of the few thriving industries on the South Plains: Oil. Along with natural gas, the exploration of oil had kept the Plains economy booming during the early depression years of 1929-31. New towns like Sunray, Texas grew to service drilling operations. The first influx of wealth was consumed in extensive public and private development. Paved streets, electric and telephone service even in some smaller towns, swimming pools and golf courses, airports, and highway construction were prevalent prior to the onset of the Dust Bowl.

Compared to many areas of the country, the Plains were no worse off than most and better off than some. When even a small crop did come in, the farm family had a source of food. Some families ate wheat or cornmeal mush for three meals a day. The plague of jack rabbits were exploited for meat. Since well water was accessible in small quantities, some people were able to grow small gardens and can the produce.

Unlike many areas of the country, the banking system in the Plains was moderately sound. Few banks were closed outright, and the main impact of consolidation was that some small towns lost their community banks. However, with new highways and improved transportation, many residents of small towns were inclined to head to cities for the greater business services there. Some people prospered even at the worst of times. Automobile dealers continued to sell cars in the larger towns. In the oil boom towns, there were housing shortages rather than empty properties.

The perception fed by John Steinbeck's classic novel The Grapes of Wrath is that most people had to leave the Plains and went to California in search of farm work. As the population figures (see above) show, about 3 out of 4 people remained on the land in the Southern Plains:

"Most of the Okie migrants came from the deep poverty ridden, non-dust bowl areas of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas....Since the people went in all directions when they left the region, it is safe to assume that less than 50 percent went to California....The confusion...apparently results from the extensive news coverage given the dust bowl in 1935."

"In 1933, more than 2500 representatives of 60 Dust Bowl counties in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico met in Guymon, Oklahoma to demand federal aid. Farming communities, they claimed, were 'facing depopulation,' and farming families were 'facing actual starvation.' To remedy this situation, they pled for funding, particularly 'for the purpose of re-conditioning the lands of this section of the country, which have been ruined by the continued high winds and drought.' "

When dealing with government agencies, another problem was that relief did not always go to those who needed it the most. Smaller farmers often could not get the support they needed. Early production contracts were heavily weighted toward the largest farms. Geographic and political boundaries also made a difference. The Texas Panhandle had access to three times as much relief money as the Oklahoma Panhandle in 1936, while the average loan to Texas farmers that year was four times less than in the surrounding region. Texas had a powerful ally in Washington encouraging this trend: Congressman Marvin Jones of Amarillo was the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Even after Washington introduced New Deal relief and conservation programs, some farmers militantly called for greater activism. The Southwest Agricultural Association [SAA] was founded in 1937 by cultivators from all five affected states. They petitioned President Roosevelt and other state and local officials for greater government control over conservation of tracts throughout the Southern Plains. As careless farmers allowed the soil to blow onto the lands of their neighbors and financial pressures were universal and harsh, the SAA demanded powerful measures beyond the reach of individual landowners. In addition to government-mandated and structured replanting, SAA leaders also showed their desperation:

"They also requested that the government declare an emergency, and: 'place martial law in effect throughout the Dust Bowl,' in order to forestall the 'utter destruction of our soil.'...

[A] flood of similarly worded letters to area governors [warned]....'the problem in the "dust bowl" is entirely too large for the remaining good farmers to even make a start to cope with. They must have help and it's imperative they have help now.' "

The SAA also wanted crop coverage over cultivated, fallow, and unoccupied land as protection from soil erosion. Two years earlier the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] determined that "some areas should be retired completely from agriculture". But in 1937, SAA reintroduced the idea of allowing "sub-marginal" land to return to, and remain as, grasslands reminiscent of the time before increased cultivation.

Since the land had been stripped of much of its ability to hold moisture, floods often occurred when rain did come. One New Deal program, The Flood Control Act of 1936, gave USDA the responsibility of determining the best way to prevent floods. Although some projects to prevent the devastation of floodwaters were begun, departmental conflicts stymied most efforts during this period.

One source of direct relief was difficult for many ranchers to accept: getting rid of their stock. The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation [FSRC] began purchasing starving cattle from farmers who had no feed left and no money to buy it. This was intended to permit feed stocks to rise to levels where they could once again support large animal populations. In the first months of the program in mid-1934:

"[M]any cattle immediately offered for sale were 'culls'--cattle entirely unfit for shipment and slaughter. Consequently, at first, the condemnation rate was high, often exceeding 50 percent in some localities....Some calves were used for local relief purposes, but most were destroyed and buried."

Other resources also became available to cattle producers. Railroad rates for importing feed and exporting stock fell up to 50 percent on several occasions. When the desperate feed shortage reached 462,000 tons in the Panhandle, yucca or soap weed were recommended as inexpensive and fairly workable alternatives. Even weeds were in short supply on the Plains, however. Government programs for feed and forage loans, and the movement of stock to areas of the county where they could be supported, remained last resort measures for livestock producers.

The pattern of devastation was not mere randomness. "Surveys during the 1930's showed that failure in the plains came primarily among two groups, strict dry farmers who had no cattle, and cattlemen who grew no feed. those who combined ranching and farming most often succeeded." Diversification helped in times of drought or low prices to increase the potential for a profit in at least one farm product.

Soil conservation practices did begin to turn the tide. Investigation of better farming methods took place at wind erosion research stations. Dalhart, Texas served as the test ground for one of these stations. At first, the government concentrated on taking lands out of cultivation: Rita Blanca National Grassland remains a present reminder of efforts to rehabilitate Dallam County's lands. But soon real reclamation became the goal. One successful method developed by Fred Hoeme was known as chisel plowing. By digging deep into the soil and leaving large chunks of dirt intact, the ground itself could perform as a windbreak and slow erosion from fast-moving water. Andy James' farm north of Dalhart was nothing but bare ground and sand dunes: 57 dunes in a single field; some half a mile long and 26 feet high. Over a period of about a year, an agricultural expert from the Soil Conservation Service was able to bring the land back to fruition through a variety of methods. These included lister plowing, where furrows were cut deep for windbreaks, chiseling, planting of hardy plants like kaffir and Sudan grass, and spreading the sand out in thin patches to allow the wind to redeposit it.

The success of soil conservation practices allowed the renewal of the Great Plains. For example: "Henry Wallace's preface to the Western Range report in 1936 predicted it would take fifty years to restore the range to a condition that would support 17.3 million livestock units. That goal was reached in the mid 1970's." But the cycle of drought would return. A recent study has suggested that the Great Plains region has experienced a pattern of drought over thousands of years. The worst periods were in 200-370, 700-850, and 1000-1200 (all A. D.). In fact, the data seems to indicate that the last 700 years have been considerably wetter than usual.

According to some data, the droughts of the 1950's approached that of twenty years before. Drought cycles continued in the region in the 1970's and 1980's, although with less impact than in the 30's:

"The drought that drove half a million people off the land in the 1930's would not have the same effect in the 1980's. As many as 64 million acres of land had been abandoned 50 years earlier, compared to only 14 million acres in 1988. They dry spell was sever, even more severe for some Plains farmers than it was in the 1930's, but when a young farmer could raise three times more wheat per acre than his father or grandfather, or five times more corn, he had a greater capacity to recover in the next wetter season. Hence his borrowing power with the local banker war better and it could tide him over....Farmers were also protected by government subsidies and drought relief born out of the sufferings of the 1930's. After the 1930's experience, over 14 million acres on the High Plains--grasslands, fallow lands, conservation reserves--had been set aside as unsuited for farming."

"[L]ater days of May, 1950....

I heard folks talk and cry about the dust storms....I saw that lost gone look on their faces when they told me the government didn't follow the plan of FDR and so our land is still a dustbowl hit by dust-storms and the duststorms are getting higher and wilder and meaner, and the hearts of the people are sickly worried....I've lived in these duststorms just about all my life. (I mean, I tried to live). [sic.] I met millions of good folks trying to hang on and to stay alive with the dust cutting down every hope. I am made out of this dust and out of this fast wind and I know that I'm going to win out on top of both of them if only my government and my office holder will help me....

That old dustbowl is still there, and that high dirt-wind is still there. The government didn't fix that and Congress couldn't put a stop to it. Nobody tried very hard.

A repeat of the Dust Bowl might devastate more than merely the finances of local farmers. Modern agriculture is more international in scope and importance than six decades ago:

Drought in the 1980's and the 1990's would have a more global effect than in the 1930's because of the intensive high-yield farming that now prevails on the Plains. The high yields of modern industrial farming, with its reliance upon a small number of basic Plains crops--wheat, milo, alfalfa, and corn--matched to specific chemicals and irrigation methods, would be extremely vulnerable to lack of groundwater to overcome any future drought. The discovery and application of unused but more adaptable crops could take a decade. If the greenhouse effect took hold tomorrow, or a simple decade-long climate anomaly appeared in the 1990's (the opposite of the decade of extraordinary rain from 1876 to 1885), a long spell of hotter, drier conditions would find farmers once again vulnerable to extreme dryness.

Even to some veteran farmers, prospects for the future were filled with dread. Whereas in the past, the return of the rains and one bountiful harvest would sustain the farmer, modern agribusiness depends at least as much on capital as on farm production. Comparing the past to the present and future projections leads to some disquieting concerns:

"An 88-year-old Montana rancher, who had weathered the 1930's, told a reporter, 'Back then, things cost less and everybody had a little money to get by. That's all you needed was a little income. Our expenses today are 10 times higher, maybe 20 times higher. So even if you make a little money, you're still going to be short.' "

WORKS CITED

Bonnifield, Paul. The Dust Bowl: Men, Dirt, and Depression. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1979.

Caufield, John H. "The Dust Storm Serves Notice". Newspaper article ("Farm and Ranch" section) from September 15, 1934. Photocopy from Vertical File: Droughts 1950's [sic.] -- 1992. Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

"Climatological Data: Texas Section". Annual Reports for years 1923-4, 1931- 40. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, [published on years indicated].

"Dust and the Nation's Bread Basket". Literary Digest , Volume 119 , 20 April 1935, 10. As found on Internet site: "www-person.umich.edu/~mcarmona/dustbowl.html".

Guthrie, Woody. "Dust Bowl Ballads", (sound recording), liner notes. Folkways Records Album No. FH 5212. New York: Folkways Records and Service Corp, 1964.

Helms, Douglas. "Conserving the Plains: The Soil Conservation Service in the Great Plains". Agricultural History. 64, no. 2, Spring 1990: 58-73.

Hurt, R. Douglas. The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History . Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1981.

"Once and Future Dust Bowl, The". Discover. ("In The News: Breakthroughs in Science, Technology, and Medicine" section.) 18, no. 4, April 1997: 16-24.

Opie, John. "The Drought of 1988, the Global Warming Experiment, and its Challenge to Irrigation in the Old Dust Bowl Region". Agricultural History. 66, no. 2, Spring 1992: 279-306.

________. "100 Years of Climate Risk Assessment on the High Plains: Which Farm Paradigm Does Irrigation Serve?" Agricultural History. 63, no. 2, Spring 1989: 243-269.

Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. "From The Horse's Mouth: Dust Bowl Farmers and Their Solutions to the Problem of Aridity". Agricultural History. 66, no. 2, Spring 1992: 137-150. With quotations from "Proceedings of a Meeting Held at Guymon, Oklahoma, June 16,1933," Alfred M. Landon Governor's Papers, Box 3, Folder 11 (Drought 1933), Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas [KSHS]; Telegram to Walter Huxman from Giles Miller and H. A. Kinney (Copy of telegram sent to Franklin Roosevelt), April 23, 1937, and H. A. Kinney to Walter Huxman, April 29, 1937, Walter A Huxman, Governor's Papers, Box 1, Dust Bowl, Manuscripts Division, KSHS; United States Department of Agriculture, "Aftermath of the Drought," Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1935 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1935), 51.

"Surviving the Dust Bowl". Produced by Chana Gazit. The American Experience (PBS Television documentary). February 1998. Videocassette.

The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide. 1929 edition. Dallas: A.H. Belo Corp, 1929. [All publication data same for all editions except for year of issue.] 1933 edition; 1936 edition; and 1943-4 edition.

Worster, Donald. "A Sense of Invulnerability" ("RealAudio Interviews"). As found on "Surviving the Dust Bowl". The American Experience PBS Internet site. ("www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/dustbowl/interviews/worster3.html").

________. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930's. New York and Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1979.

OTHER WORKS CONSULTED

Helms, Douglas. "Eroding the Color Line: The Soil Conservation Service and the Civil Rights Act of 1964." Agricultural History. 65, no. 2, Spring 1991: 35-53.

"Miracle In The Dust Bowl". (Condensed from the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, 1947) Photocopy from Vertical File: Droughts 1950's [sic.] -- 1992. Texas Collection, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

Riney-Kehrberg, Pamela. " 'In God We Trusted, In Kansas We Busted.....[sic.]Again.' " Agricultural History. 63, no. 2, Spring 1989: 187- 201.

Texas Cities and the Great Depression. Miscellaneous Papers Number Three. W. W. Newcomb, Jr., Director. Wilena C. Adams, Editor. Austin: The Texas Memorial Museum, 1973.

Whisenhunt, Donald W, ed. The Depression in the Southwest. Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press, 1980.

Worster, Donald. "Dust Bowl" in The New Handbook of Texas. Volume 2 (of 6). Austin: The Texas State Historical Association, 1996.

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EMail me While I have an interest in the subject of the Dust Bowl, I am not an expert. Therefore I regrettably cannot offer any information on the subject other than that which appears on these pages.

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