The Many Terrors of The Dust Bowl

Did you know during the dust bowl people’s homes were covered in dust therefore they could barely see the floor? The dust bowl affected many people and their everyday lives. Passage 1 is Letters From the Dust Bowl by Caroline A. Henderson, passage 2 is from The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan. It was crazy the amount of dust that people had in their homes, so the amount of cleaning they had to do was a great deal. They also made items they used to keep dust out and to also keep themselves safe. Then, when they thought everything was fine, they needed to sell their cattle. Also, people were forced out of their homes for their own safety. When they were on the road, they needed horses to travel the 500 mile trip so, therefore, they needed to sell their things and sometimes their family heirlooms.

When the dust bowl hit in the 1930’s Oklahoma was devastated. You can’t even imagine the amount of dust and cleaning there was wrapped up in this. In passage one it states, “Everything is covered again with a silt-like deposit which may vary in depth from a film to actual ripples on the kitchen floor.” That quote shows that there was dust that was laid so thick on the floor that it even formed ripples or small waves. Additionally, other people stuck in Oklahoma tried to come up with ways to keep as much of the dust out as possible. Passage one states, “I keep oiled cloths on the window sills and between the upper and lower sashes. They help just a little to retard or collect the dust. Some seal the windows with the gummed-paper strips used in wrapping parcels, but no method was fully effected.” That quote is important because you can see that no matter what people tried they couldn’t keep all the dust out. As you can imagine, it was hard keeping everything clean and safe but imagine keeping yourself clean. Passage 1 says, “Wearing our shade hats, with handkerchiefs tied over our faces and Vaseline in our nostrils.” Those are just some of the many ways people used to keep themselves clean. When there was no more grass, because of the little rain, the cattle couldn’t eat so their farmers wouldn’t make any money. Once again in Passage 1 it says, “Early in may, with no more grass or even weeds on our 640 acres than on your kitchen floor, and even the scanty remnants of dried grasses from the last year cut off and blown away, we decided, like most of our neighbors, to ship out cattle to grass in the central part of the state.” This quote shows that there was no grass in spring/summer, so most people’s last choices were to sell their cattle to the central states so they won’t die and when they come back they can make money again.

When the Dust Bowl hit it drove many people out of their homes and they would have to sell the thing they loved. Passage 2 states, “The family was not yet halfway into their exodus. Ahead were 209 miles of road over the high, dry roof of Texas, across the Canadian river, bypassing dozens of budding Panhandle hamlets.” This quote is an example of a family making a long journey to get away from the dust. As the quote states they were not halfway yet and they still have 209 miles until they are even there. Just think of how hard that would be, walking through rain and shine. Passage 1 says, “Bam’s wife, Lizzy, hated the feel of No Man’s Land. The chill, hurried along the wind, made it impossible to stay warm.” Like I said before it would be hard to stay warm and this quote confirms it. Some families had to sell the things they loved such as heirlooms. In paragraph 8 of passage 2 it says, “Thefamily considered dumping the organ, their prized possession. . . . Anyway, Bam White could not bring himself to give it up. Some of the best memories, through the hardest years, came with music pumped from that box.” As you can tell from that quote that the White’s organ has helped them through times they thought they might not make it through. It’s crazy that even the thought of selling it popped into his head.

The Dust Bowl was a crazy time period in our history. The thought that it forced people out of their homes for their safety is even crazier. The fact that come people couldn’t breathe without a bandana over their face is some way I never was to live like. I still can’t imagine what would happen if that ever happened again. You might think you're safe now, but you never know if another “Dust Bowl” is coming.