The Black BlizzardsDuring the 1930s, the Great Plains was struck by an extended drought. Dry, loose dirt left on the fields from the farming techniques triggered huge dust storms. Farmers were dumbfounded as to what caused these black blizzards that turned day into night. They were desperate for help. However, the skies held back their rain, they continued to plow, and the dust continued to blow. The tide would turn only after things got worse.
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"We harvested eighty acres [of corn]... eighty acres and never got a silo a third full."
Catherine Renschler, survivor of the Dust Bowl |
"We had to drive the cows in the ditches because the fields were too dry."
Maxine Birkel, survivor of the Dust Bowl |
E. F. Schram collection University of Nebraska at Lincoln
"They were known as the Dirty Thirties. They were years of poverty.
May we never see a return of the Dust Bowl."
Sena Larsen, survivor of the Dust Bowl
May we never see a return of the Dust Bowl."
Sena Larsen, survivor of the Dust Bowl