1 00:00:01,101 --> 00:00:04,270 Narrator: TONIGHT, FROM DIRECTOR KEN BURNS... 2 00:00:04,270 --> 00:00:07,273 THEY HAD COME TO THE FAR EDGE OF THE GREAT PLAINS 3 00:00:07,273 --> 00:00:11,444 IN SEARCH OF A NEW BEGINNING IN THE LAST PLACE IN AMERICA 4 00:00:11,444 --> 00:00:20,053 WHERE A FAMILY COULD CLAIM A HOMESTEAD AND BUILD A FUTURE. 5 00:00:20,053 --> 00:00:22,122 AND EVERYTHING WAS LOOKING UP. 6 00:00:22,122 --> 00:00:23,723 Narrator: A SEA OF GRASS, 7 00:00:23,723 --> 00:00:26,526 ONCE THE DOMAIN OF INDIANS AND BUFFALO, 8 00:00:26,526 --> 00:00:29,295 DISAPPEARED BENEATH THE BLADE OF A PLOW. 9 00:00:29,295 --> 00:00:33,800 Woman, voice-over: I SAW THE WHOLE COUNTRY TRANSFORMED IN THE SUNSET GLOW-- 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,237 ALL THE BROWN PRAIRIE TURNED TO GOLD. 11 00:00:39,973 --> 00:00:43,877 Narrator: BUT THEN IT WAS AS IF THE LAND REJECTED THEM. 12 00:00:43,877 --> 00:00:47,147 THE RAINS STOPPED AND THE WINDS CAME. 13 00:00:47,147 --> 00:00:49,149 Woman: WE SAW THIS CLOUD COMING IN. 14 00:00:49,149 --> 00:00:50,483 BLACK, BLACK DIRT. 15 00:00:50,483 --> 00:00:53,653 AND I'LL NEVER FORGET, MY GRANDMOTHER, SHE SAID, 16 00:00:53,653 --> 00:00:55,655 "YOU KIDS RUN AND GET TOGETHER. 17 00:00:55,655 --> 00:00:57,490 THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING." 18 00:00:57,490 --> 00:00:59,759 Narrator: IT CAME LIKE A BLACK WALL, 19 00:00:59,759 --> 00:01:03,763 A TIDE OF DESTRUCTION THAT CRASHED OVER THE BROKEN PLAINS, 20 00:01:03,763 --> 00:01:06,933 CHOKING THE LIFE OUT OF EVERYTHING IN ITS PATH. 21 00:01:06,933 --> 00:01:09,436 Man: YOU NEVER REALLY ESCAPED THE DUST. 22 00:01:09,436 --> 00:01:11,271 IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN. 23 00:01:11,271 --> 00:01:13,773 AND THAT'S, I THINK, WHAT DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY. 24 00:01:13,773 --> 00:01:16,276 Narrator: SOME WOULD PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE ON. 25 00:01:16,276 --> 00:01:17,944 BUT MOST STAYED, 26 00:01:17,944 --> 00:01:21,448 ALWAYS LOOKING TO THE PROMISE THAT NEXT YEAR WOULD BE BETTER. 27 00:01:21,448 --> 00:01:23,616 Man: WE WERE JUST TOO SELFISH 28 00:01:23,616 --> 00:01:25,452 AND WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE MONEY. 29 00:01:25,452 --> 00:01:29,956 AND IT DIDN'T WORK OUT. 30 00:01:29,956 --> 00:01:34,127 Narrator: KEN BURNS TELLS THE STORY OF A GENERATION THAT WAS BURIED, 31 00:01:34,127 --> 00:01:36,629 AND WHAT IT TOOK TO DIG OUT. 32 00:01:36,629 --> 00:01:40,233 "THE DUST BOWL" COMING UP NEXT ON PBS. 33 00:01:42,001 --> 00:01:42,035 AND WHAT IT TOOK TO DIG OUT. 34 00:01:48,541 --> 00:01:51,444 [WIND BLOWING] 35 00:02:02,021 --> 00:02:05,758 Don Wells: LET ME TELL YOU HOW IT WAS. 36 00:02:05,825 --> 00:02:08,294 I DON'T CARE WHO DESCRIBES THAT TO YOU, 37 00:02:08,361 --> 00:02:12,065 NOBODY CAN TELL IT ANY WORSE THAN WHAT IT WAS. 38 00:02:12,132 --> 00:02:13,766 NO ONE EXAGGERATES THAT. 39 00:02:13,833 --> 00:02:16,736 THERE IS NO WAY FOR IT TO BE EXAGGERATED. 40 00:02:16,803 --> 00:02:19,372 IT WAS THAT BAD. 41 00:02:19,439 --> 00:02:22,509 Pauline Robertson: IT WAS JUST UNBELIEVABLE. 42 00:02:22,575 --> 00:02:25,545 IT'D BLISTER YOUR FACE. 43 00:02:25,612 --> 00:02:29,649 IT WOULD PUT YOUR EYES OUT. 44 00:02:29,716 --> 00:02:32,452 WELL, I GUESS I CAN'T DESCRIBE IT. 45 00:02:32,519 --> 00:02:35,021 IT WAS JUST... IT WAS JUST CONSTANT, 46 00:02:35,088 --> 00:02:39,626 JUST THAT STEADY BLOW OF DIRT. 47 00:02:39,692 --> 00:02:41,127 Floyd Coen: AS FAR AS YOU COULD SEE, 48 00:02:41,194 --> 00:02:43,363 THERE WAS A DUST STORM COMING RIGHT TOWARDS YOU. 49 00:02:43,429 --> 00:02:46,966 THIS GIANT WALL JUST COMING TOWARDS YOU. 50 00:02:47,033 --> 00:02:48,968 AND YOU STILL HAD THE FEELING, 51 00:02:49,035 --> 00:02:52,071 WHETHER YOU WOULD ADMIT IT, 52 00:02:52,138 --> 00:02:57,243 THAT SOMETHING WAS GOING TO RUN OVER YOU AND JUST CRUSH YOU. 53 00:02:57,310 --> 00:03:02,315 Dorothy Williamson: IT WAS ALMOST SURREAL, THE DUST. 54 00:03:02,382 --> 00:03:05,518 THERE'S NOWHERE YOU CAN RUN. 55 00:03:05,585 --> 00:03:07,053 YOU CAN TRY TO GET OUT OF IT 56 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,523 BUT IT'S AS IF IT FOLLOWS YOU, FOLLOWS YOU, FOLLOWS YOU. 57 00:03:10,590 --> 00:03:13,359 YOU CAN'T ESCAPE IT. 58 00:03:13,426 --> 00:03:15,094 LOOKING BACK ON IT, 59 00:03:15,161 --> 00:03:17,163 I THINK IT CARRIED WITH IT 60 00:03:17,230 --> 00:03:22,135 A FEELING OF... 61 00:03:22,202 --> 00:03:26,239 I DON'T KNOW THE WORD EXACTLY, OF... 62 00:03:26,306 --> 00:03:30,577 WELL, BEING UNREAL, BUT ALMOST BEING, UM... 63 00:03:30,643 --> 00:03:31,978 EVIL. 64 00:03:39,652 --> 00:03:42,689 Narrator: IT WAS A DECADE-LONG NATURAL CATASTROPHE 65 00:03:42,755 --> 00:03:44,891 OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS-- 66 00:03:44,958 --> 00:03:47,827 WHEN THE SKIES REFUSED THEIR RAINS; 67 00:03:47,894 --> 00:03:50,763 WHEN PLAGUES OF GRASSHOPPERS AND SWARMS OF RABBITS 68 00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:53,533 DESCENDED ON PARCHED FIELDS; 69 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,836 WHEN BEWILDERED FAMILIES HUDDLED IN DARKENED ROOMS 70 00:03:56,903 --> 00:03:59,672 WHILE ANGRY WINDS SHOOK THEIR HOMES, 71 00:03:59,739 --> 00:04:03,276 PILLARS OF DUST CHOKED OUT THE MID-DAY SUN, 72 00:04:03,343 --> 00:04:06,913 AND THE LAND ITSELF-- THE SOIL THEY HAD DEPENDED UPON 73 00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:10,683 FOR THEIR SURVIVAL AND COUNTED ON FOR THEIR PROSPERITY-- 74 00:04:10,750 --> 00:04:14,220 TURNED AGAINST THEM WITH A LETHAL VENGEANCE. 75 00:04:19,826 --> 00:04:22,428 IT WAS THE WORST MAN-MADE ECOLOGICAL DISASTER 76 00:04:22,495 --> 00:04:24,697 IN AMERICAN HISTORY, 77 00:04:24,764 --> 00:04:27,300 WHEN THE IRRESISTIBLE PROMISE OF EASY MONEY 78 00:04:27,367 --> 00:04:30,770 AND THE HEEDLESS ACTIONS OF THOUSANDS OF FARMERS, 79 00:04:30,837 --> 00:04:34,941 ENCOURAGED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT, RESULTED IN A COLLECTIVE TRAGEDY 80 00:04:35,008 --> 00:04:40,680 THAT NEARLY SWEPT AWAY THE BREADBASKET OF THE NATION. 81 00:04:40,747 --> 00:04:42,949 IT'S A CLASSIC TALE OF HUMAN BEINGS PUSHING 82 00:04:43,016 --> 00:04:45,585 TOO HARD AGAINST NATURE AND NATURE PUSHING BACK. 83 00:04:45,652 --> 00:04:48,054 AND THEN IT'S AN AMERICAN BUBBLE STORY, TOO, 84 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:50,323 LIKE STOCKS AND LIKE REAL ESTATE. 85 00:04:50,390 --> 00:04:53,326 WE THINK THAT EVERYTHING THAT GOES UP WILL NOT COME DOWN, 86 00:04:53,393 --> 00:04:57,463 THAT WE CAN DEFY GRAVITY, AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID HERE. 87 00:04:57,530 --> 00:05:00,066 Donald Worster: THE DUST BOWL BELONGS ON THE LIST 88 00:05:00,133 --> 00:05:06,939 OF THE TOP 3, 4, 5 ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHES IN WORLD HISTORY. 89 00:05:07,006 --> 00:05:09,475 BUT THOSE CATASTROPHES TOOK PLACE 90 00:05:09,542 --> 00:05:13,479 OVER HUNDREDS AND EVEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF DEFORESTATION. 91 00:05:13,546 --> 00:05:17,116 WE CREATED A WORLD-CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER 92 00:05:17,183 --> 00:05:19,986 IN A MATTER OF 40 OR 50 YEARS. 93 00:05:20,053 --> 00:05:23,189 Narrator: IT WAS AN EPIC OF HUMAN PAIN AND SUFFERING, 94 00:05:23,256 --> 00:05:26,592 WHEN NORMALLY SELF-RELIANT FATHERS FOUND THEMSELVES 95 00:05:26,659 --> 00:05:30,296 UNABLE TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES, 96 00:05:30,363 --> 00:05:33,132 WHEN EVEN THE VIGILANTMOTHE RE UNABLE 97 00:05:33,199 --> 00:05:36,102 TO STOP THE DIRT THAT INVADED THEIR HOUSES 98 00:05:36,169 --> 00:05:39,739 FROM KILLING THEIR CHILDREN, 99 00:05:39,806 --> 00:05:42,108 WHEN THOUSANDS OF DESPERATE AMERICANS 100 00:05:42,175 --> 00:05:45,445 WERE TORN FROM THEIR HOMES AND FORCED ON THE ROAD 101 00:05:45,511 --> 00:05:51,117 IN AN EXODUS UNLIKE ANYTHING THE UNITED STATES HAS EVER SEEN. 102 00:05:51,184 --> 00:05:56,189 BUT IT IS ALSO THE STORY OF HEROIC PERSEVERANCE, 103 00:05:56,255 --> 00:06:00,193 OF A RESILIENT PEOPLE WHO SOMEHOW MANAGED TO ENDURE 104 00:06:00,259 --> 00:06:03,963 ONE UNIMAGINABLE HARDSHIP AFTER ANOTHER 105 00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:07,433 TO HOLD ONTO THEIR LIVES, THEIR LAND, 106 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:10,803 AND THE ONES THEY LOVED. 107 00:06:10,870 --> 00:06:13,940 Egan: WHAT KIND OF PLACE WAS THIS 108 00:06:14,006 --> 00:06:17,310 WHERE CHILDREN COULDN'T GO OUTSIDE, 109 00:06:17,377 --> 00:06:22,215 WHERE THE AIR ITSELF COULD KILL YOU, 110 00:06:22,281 --> 00:06:26,853 WHERE THE SKY SHOWERED DOWN THIS SUFFOCATING BLACKNESS 111 00:06:26,919 --> 00:06:30,356 THAT COULD ERASE THE SUN AT MIDDAY? 112 00:06:30,423 --> 00:06:32,091 WHO COULD DO THAT? 113 00:06:32,158 --> 00:06:34,761 AND WE DIDN'T PLAN THIS. WE DIDN'T SET OUT AND SAY, 114 00:06:34,827 --> 00:06:39,499 "LET'S RUIN THE SECOND-GREATEST ECOSYSTEM IN NORTH AMERICA." 115 00:06:39,565 --> 00:06:41,868 IT WAS A RESULT OF A WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS 116 00:06:41,934 --> 00:06:44,470 THAT ARE JUST INNATE TO HUMAN BEINGS. 117 00:06:50,877 --> 00:06:52,845 [BIRD SINGING] 118 00:06:56,315 --> 00:06:59,318 Woman: "APRIL 28, 1908. 119 00:06:59,385 --> 00:07:03,089 "HERE I AM, AWAY OUT IN THAT NARROW STRIP OF OKLAHOMA 120 00:07:03,156 --> 00:07:06,926 "BETWEEN KANSAS AND THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS. 121 00:07:06,993 --> 00:07:11,831 "I WISH YOU COULD SEE THIS WIDE, FREE, WESTERN COUNTRY, 122 00:07:11,898 --> 00:07:15,301 "WITH ITS REAL STRETCHES OF ALMOST LEVEL PRAIRIE, 123 00:07:15,368 --> 00:07:18,938 "COVERED WITH THE THICK, SHORT BUFFALO GRASS, 124 00:07:19,005 --> 00:07:23,176 "THE MARVELOUS GLORY OF ITS SUNRISES AND SUNSETS, 125 00:07:23,242 --> 00:07:27,914 THE BRILLIANCY OF ITS STAR-LIT SKY AT NIGHT." 126 00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:30,149 CAROLINE HENDERSON. 127 00:07:30,216 --> 00:07:32,852 Narrator: FROM THE TIME SHE WAS A YOUNG GIRL 128 00:07:32,919 --> 00:07:36,889 GROWING UP IN IOWA, CAROLINE BOA HENDERSON DREAMED 129 00:07:36,956 --> 00:07:40,359 OF HAVING A PIECE OF LAND SHE COULD CALL HER OWN. 130 00:07:40,426 --> 00:07:43,062 EVEN WHEN SHE WENT EAST TO MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE, 131 00:07:43,129 --> 00:07:45,965 WHERE SHE STUDIED LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE, 132 00:07:46,032 --> 00:07:48,234 HER SENIOR CLASS PROPHECY PREDICTED 133 00:07:48,301 --> 00:07:53,739 THAT HER FUTURE WOULD BE FOUND "SOMEWHERE ON A WESTERN RANCH." 134 00:07:53,806 --> 00:07:58,144 IN 1907, THE YEAR OF OKLAHOMA'S STATEHOOD, 135 00:07:58,211 --> 00:08:01,981 SHE FOLLOWED THAT DREAM TO THE NEWLY CREATED TEXAS COUNTY, 136 00:08:02,048 --> 00:08:04,650 WHERE SHE STAKED OUT A HOMESTEAD CLAIM 137 00:08:04,717 --> 00:08:09,589 AND MOVED INTO A ONE-ROOM SHACK, 14 FEET BY 16, 138 00:08:09,655 --> 00:08:12,291 WHICH SHE CALLED HER "CASTLE." 139 00:08:12,358 --> 00:08:15,194 A YEAR LATER, SHE MARRIED WILL HENDERSON, 140 00:08:15,261 --> 00:08:19,832 A LANKY KANSAS COWBOY SHE HAD HIRED TO DIG HER WELL. 141 00:08:19,899 --> 00:08:22,134 THEY SOON HAD A DAUGHTER, ELEANOR, 142 00:08:22,201 --> 00:08:25,705 AND WILL BUILT AN ADDITION TO THEIR HOME. 143 00:08:25,771 --> 00:08:28,741 NOW THEY WERE CLOSE TO GAINING TITLE TO THE FARM, 144 00:08:28,808 --> 00:08:32,345 WHERE THEY RAISED BROOM CORN, MILLET, AND MAIZE, 145 00:08:32,411 --> 00:08:35,615 TURKEYS, CHICKENS, AND A FEW CATTLE, 146 00:08:35,681 --> 00:08:38,885 PUTTING WHAT LITTLE CASH THEY EARNED INTO IMPROVEMENTS, 147 00:08:38,951 --> 00:08:42,188 PARTICULARLY A NEW WINDMILL TO DRAW UP WATER 148 00:08:42,255 --> 00:08:46,025 FOR THEIR ANIMALS, HOUSE, AND HALF-ACRE GAENRD 149 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,696 TO BRING IN EXTRA MONEY, CAROLINE BEGAN 150 00:08:50,763 --> 00:08:53,266 SUBMITTING ARTICLES ABOUT LIFE ON THE PLAINS 151 00:08:53,332 --> 00:08:55,601 TO MAGAZINES IN THE EAST. 152 00:08:55,668 --> 00:08:57,436 SHE WROTE FOR "LADIES' WORLD," 153 00:08:57,503 --> 00:09:00,473 WHERE HER COLUMN ENTITLED "THE HOMESTEAD LADY" 154 00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:02,942 BECAME A POPULAR FEATURE, 155 00:09:03,009 --> 00:09:06,312 AND EVENTUALLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE "ATLANTIC MONTHLY," 156 00:09:06,379 --> 00:09:09,849 THE NATION'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS PUBLICATION. 157 00:09:14,921 --> 00:09:17,857 Henderson portrayer: OUT HERE IN THIS WILDERNESS 158 00:09:17,924 --> 00:09:21,060 HAS COME TO ME THE VERY GREATEST AND SWEETEST 159 00:09:21,127 --> 00:09:25,731 AND MOST HOPEFUL HAPPINESS OF ALL MY LIFE. 160 00:09:28,467 --> 00:09:31,504 Charles Shaw: YOU LIVE WITH THE WIND WHEN YOU'RE OUT THERE. 161 00:09:31,571 --> 00:09:33,272 IT'S NOT MEG THAT'S CONSTANT, 162 00:09:33,339 --> 00:09:36,409 BUT IT BLOWS MORE THAN IT DOESN'T BLOW. 163 00:09:36,475 --> 00:09:38,611 THE TIMES THAT IT BLOWS REALLY HARD 164 00:09:38,678 --> 00:09:40,212 MAY NOT BE THAT OFTEN, 165 00:09:40,279 --> 00:09:42,081 BUERE'S JUST 166 00:09:42,148 --> 00:09:43,849 A CONSTANT BREEZE, 167 00:09:43,916 --> 00:09:46,886 A LITTLE MURMUR OF THE WIND ACROSS THE FIELDS 168 00:09:46,953 --> 00:09:50,690 AND IN THE WHEAT AND IN WHAT TREES ARE THERE. 169 00:09:50,756 --> 00:09:54,293 YOU FEEL IT, YOU SENSE IT MORE THAN YOU HEAR IT. 170 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,629 THAT COUNTRY WAS SO FLAT. 171 00:09:56,696 --> 00:09:59,565 YOU COULD SEE FOR JUST MILES. 172 00:09:59,632 --> 00:10:01,000 THEY USED TO SAY THAT 173 00:10:01,067 --> 00:10:04,670 WASN'T A FENCE BETWEEN THERE AND THE NORTH POLE. 174 00:10:04,737 --> 00:10:06,906 BUT GOD, IT WAS GOOD GRASS COUNTRY. 175 00:10:06,973 --> 00:10:09,742 MAN, IT WAS PERFECT. 176 00:10:09,809 --> 00:10:12,745 Calvin Crabill: IT'S SAID THAT BUFFALO GRASS 177 00:10:12,812 --> 00:10:14,580 WOULD HOLD THE MOISTURE 178 00:10:14,647 --> 00:10:19,652 SO IF YOU WENT DOWN 12 INCHES, YOU WOULD FIND MOIST EARTH. 179 00:10:19,719 --> 00:10:21,787 AND I REMEMBER US DIGGING DOWN, 180 00:10:21,854 --> 00:10:23,689 AND THE EARTH WAS MOIST DOWN THERE. 181 00:10:23,756 --> 00:10:25,157 IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SOIL. 182 00:10:25,224 --> 00:10:27,994 IT WAS BEAUTIFUL SOIL. 183 00:10:28,060 --> 00:10:29,729 Worster: NATURE TOOK SEVERAL MILLION YEARS 184 00:10:29,795 --> 00:10:33,966 TO FIND A SOLUTION TO THESE UNSTABLE SOILS, 185 00:10:34,033 --> 00:10:37,136 THESE HIGH WINDS, THESE TURBULENT WEATHER CONDITIONS, 186 00:10:37,203 --> 00:10:38,938 WHICH WAS THE GRASSES. 187 00:10:39,005 --> 00:10:42,675 THEY ARE AN EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTATION. 188 00:10:42,742 --> 00:10:45,077 THEY WORKED PRETTY WELL, FOR THE MOST PART. 189 00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:48,681 THEY HAVE SURVIVED HERE FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS. 190 00:10:48,748 --> 00:10:53,619 OUR AGRICULTURE HASN'T BEEN HERE FOR MUCH MORE THAN A CENTURY. 191 00:10:53,686 --> 00:10:55,721 Narrator: THE GREAT PLAINS STRETCH 192 00:10:55,788 --> 00:10:58,190 FROM CANADA TO SOUTHERN TEXAS, 193 00:10:58,257 --> 00:11:00,893 FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS-- 194 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:07,166 A LAND OF FEW TREES, INFREQUENT RAINS, AND CONSTANT WINDS. 195 00:11:07,233 --> 00:11:09,802 ONE OF THE EARLIEST AMERICAN EXPLORERS CALLED IT 196 00:11:09,869 --> 00:11:12,872 "ALMOST WHOLLY UNFIT FOR CULTIVATION, 197 00:11:12,938 --> 00:11:18,244 AND UNINHABITABLE BY A PEOPLE DEPENDING UPON AGRICULTURE." 198 00:11:18,310 --> 00:11:21,947 THE PLAINS INDIANS CONSIDERED IT HOME. 199 00:11:22,014 --> 00:11:25,017 THE SHORT GRASSES THAT COVERED THE TREELESS EXPANSE 200 00:11:25,084 --> 00:11:28,387 SENT TANGLED ROOTS 5 FEET BELOW THE GROUND, 201 00:11:28,454 --> 00:11:31,657 FORMING A DENSE SOD THAT COULD WITHSTAND THE REGION'S 202 00:11:31,724 --> 00:11:35,695 PERIODIC DROUGHTS AND VIOLENT WEATHER EXTREMES, 203 00:11:35,761 --> 00:11:38,597 NURTURING THE VAST HERDS OF BUFFALO 204 00:11:38,664 --> 00:11:43,202 WHO GRAZED IN NUMBERS BEYOND COUNTING. 205 00:11:43,269 --> 00:11:45,438 AFTER THE BISON WERE ELIMINATED 206 00:11:45,504 --> 00:11:49,041 AND THE NATIVE AMERICANS HAD BEEN DRIVEN ONTO RESERVATIONS, 207 00:11:49,108 --> 00:11:54,580 CATTLEMEN TOOK OVER IN WHAT WAS CALLED THE BEEF BONANZA. 208 00:11:54,647 --> 00:11:58,584 BUT SEVERE WINTERS IN THE 1880s KILLED OFF THEIR HERDS, 209 00:11:58,651 --> 00:12:02,054 AND THE BONANZA WENT BUST. 210 00:12:02,121 --> 00:12:04,290 HOMESTEADERS CAME NEXT, 211 00:12:04,356 --> 00:12:08,728 SWARMING ONTO LAND ONCE CONSIDERED UNSUITABLE FOR CROPS 212 00:12:08,794 --> 00:12:13,699 BECAUSE IT AVERAGED LESS THAN 20 INCHES OF RAIN A YEAR. 213 00:12:13,766 --> 00:12:16,168 UNSCRUPULOUS PROMOTERS PROMISED THAT 214 00:12:16,235 --> 00:12:20,239 THE VERY ACT OF FARMING WOULD INCREASE THE PRECIPITATION-- 215 00:12:20,306 --> 00:12:23,609 "RAIN FOLLOWS THE PLOW," THEY SAID. 216 00:12:23,676 --> 00:12:27,146 A SEVERE DROUGHT IN THE 1890s PROVED THEM WRONG, 217 00:12:27,213 --> 00:12:30,716 AND COUNTIES THAT HAD TRIPLED AND QUADRUPLED IN POPULATION 218 00:12:30,783 --> 00:12:32,485 IN LESS THAN A DECADE 219 00:12:32,551 --> 00:12:36,021 EMPTIED JUST AS QUICKLY. 220 00:12:36,088 --> 00:12:39,125 THEN, IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20th CENTURY, 221 00:12:39,191 --> 00:12:42,661 CONGRESS ENLARGED THE ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD ACT, 222 00:12:42,728 --> 00:12:46,732 ENTICING FARMERS TO SETTLE ON SOME OF THE LAST UNCLAIMED 223 00:12:46,799 --> 00:12:48,968 AND MOST MARGINAL SECTIONS 224 00:12:49,034 --> 00:12:51,704 OF PUBLIC LAND IN THE NATION. 225 00:12:51,771 --> 00:12:55,775 THE NEWCOMERS, NEARLY ALL OF THEM WHITE, CAME FROM EUROPE, 226 00:12:55,841 --> 00:13:04,116 WHERE LAND WAS UNAVAILABLE, 227 00:13:04,183 --> 00:13:07,186 AND IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, MANY OF THEM CONVERGED 228 00:13:07,253 --> 00:13:11,857 ON A NARROW STRIP OF OKLAHOMA THAT BORDERED 4 OTHER STATES-- 229 00:13:11,924 --> 00:13:16,095 KANSAS, TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, AND COLORADO-- 230 00:13:16,162 --> 00:13:18,798 A FORMERLY LAWLESS AND UNGOVERNABLE PLACE 231 00:13:18,864 --> 00:13:21,600 CALLED NO MAN'S LAND, THE PLACE WHERE 232 00:13:21,667 --> 00:13:25,271 CAROLINE HENDERSON WOULD STAKE HER FUTURE. 233 00:13:27,973 --> 00:13:30,609 Henderson portrayer: FARMING HERE OFTEN REMINDS ME 234 00:13:30,676 --> 00:13:33,412 OF THE MAN WHO, WHEN ASKED TO EMBARK UPON 235 00:13:33,479 --> 00:13:36,916 SOME RATHER DOUBTFUL BUSINESS VENTURE, REPLIED 236 00:13:36,982 --> 00:13:40,820 THAT IF HE WANTED TO GAMBLE, HE WOULD PREFER ROULETTE, 237 00:13:40,886 --> 00:13:45,224 WHERE THE CHANCES WERE ONLY 32-1 AGAINST HIM. 238 00:13:47,426 --> 00:13:49,662 Worster: THE SOUTHERN PLAINS ARE A HIGH-RISK AREA 239 00:13:49,728 --> 00:13:52,665 BECAUSE THEY'RE NEITHER DESERT NOR HUMID FOREST 240 00:13:52,731 --> 00:13:54,767 OR HUMID GRASSLAND, EVEN. 241 00:13:54,834 --> 00:13:57,870 THEY'RE ON THE EDGES OF VULNERABILITY. 242 00:13:57,937 --> 00:14:00,306 YOU'VE GOT AN AREA THAT THE RAINFALL 243 00:14:00,372 --> 00:14:03,475 IS LESS THAN 20 INCHES A YEAR. 244 00:14:03,542 --> 00:14:05,511 IN SOME YEARS, YOU GET ENOUGH RAINFALL 245 00:14:05,578 --> 00:14:06,879 YOU CAN MAKE A GOOD CROP; 246 00:14:06,946 --> 00:14:10,416 THE NEXT YEAR, YOU GET HALF THAT AMOUNT OF RAINFALL. 247 00:14:10,482 --> 00:14:13,252 IT IS ONE OF THE RISKIEST AREAS IN THE WORLD 248 00:14:13,319 --> 00:14:15,454 FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. 249 00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:18,457 R. Douglas Hurt: THE FARM MEN AND WOMEN OF THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS 250 00:14:18,524 --> 00:14:21,360 ARE THE GREATEST "NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. 251 00:14:21,427 --> 00:14:24,363 THEY REALLY LIVE THEIR LIVES WITH 3 LITTLE WORDS-- 252 00:14:24,430 --> 00:14:25,698 "IF IT RAINS." 253 00:14:25,764 --> 00:14:28,300 IF IT RAINS, THE DUST WOULD SETTLE. 254 00:14:28,367 --> 00:14:30,402 IF IT RAINED, THE DROUGHT WOULD BE BROKEN. 255 00:14:30,469 --> 00:14:33,105 IF IT RAINED, THE WHEAT CROP WOULD GROW. 256 00:14:33,172 --> 00:14:35,274 IF IT RAINED, THINGS WERE GOOD. 257 00:14:35,341 --> 00:14:38,644 IF IT DIDN'T, THEY WERE A "NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE. 258 00:14:44,917 --> 00:14:47,353 Narrator: NOT LONG AFTER CAROLINE HENDERSON MOVED 259 00:14:47,419 --> 00:14:50,122 TO NO MAN'S LAND IN 1907, 260 00:14:50,189 --> 00:14:52,992 THE SOUTHERN PLAINS ENTERED A WET PERIOD, 261 00:14:53,058 --> 00:14:56,228 AND THE PACE OF SETTLEMENT QUICKENED. 262 00:14:56,295 --> 00:14:59,331 REAL-ESTATE SYNDICATES BEGAN BUYING BIG RANCHES 263 00:14:59,398 --> 00:15:02,134 FOR $5.00 AN ACRE AND CARVED THEM UP 264 00:15:02,201 --> 00:15:07,239 INTO SMALLER PARCELS FOR SALE AT 3 TIMES THE PRICE. 265 00:15:07,306 --> 00:15:11,010 RAILROAD COMPANIES DID THE SAME THING WITH THE VAST TRACTS 266 00:15:11,076 --> 00:15:13,913 THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN BY THE GOVERNMENT. 267 00:15:13,979 --> 00:15:17,516 SPECIAL EXCURSION TRAINS BROUGHT PROSPECTIVE BUYERS 268 00:15:17,583 --> 00:15:20,619 TO THE REGION BY THE THOUSANDS. 269 00:15:20,686 --> 00:15:23,055 SALESMEN ASSURED THEM THAT NONE OTHER 270 00:15:23,122 --> 00:15:26,558 THAN THE FORMER CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS 271 00:15:26,625 --> 00:15:28,961 HAD DETERMINED THAT THE CLIMATE WAS UNDERGOING 272 00:15:29,028 --> 00:15:32,665 A PERMANENT SHIFT-- PRECIPITATION WAS INCREASING, 273 00:15:32,731 --> 00:15:35,968 WHILE THE WINDS WERE SLOWING DOWN. 274 00:15:36,035 --> 00:15:38,203 ANOTHER EXPERT DECLARED THAT 275 00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:40,606 REMOVING THE COVER OF PRAIRIE GRASSES 276 00:15:40,673 --> 00:15:44,810 ALLOWED MORE RAINFALL TO PENETRATE THE SOIL. 277 00:15:44,877 --> 00:15:47,613 TOWNS SPRANG UP OVERNIGHT. 278 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:49,715 IN CIMARRON COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, 279 00:15:49,782 --> 00:15:53,185 THE DEVELOPERS OF BOISE CITY SOLD HOUSE LOTS TO BUYERS 280 00:15:53,252 --> 00:15:54,853 WHO DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER 281 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,057 TO COME FOR AN INSPECTION. 282 00:15:58,123 --> 00:16:01,994 Egan: BOISE CITY IS NAMED FOR THE FRENCH WORD "LES BOIS"--TREE. 283 00:16:02,061 --> 00:16:04,496 THERE WERE NO TREES. THIS IS IN THE PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA. 284 00:16:04,563 --> 00:16:07,866 THERE WERE NO TREES. THEY ADVERTISED IT AS HAVING ARTESIAN WELLS, 285 00:16:07,933 --> 00:16:11,704 BIG MAIN STREETS WHERE BANKERS COULD LIVE, AND STATELY ELMS AND MAPLES. 286 00:16:11,770 --> 00:16:13,539 THERE WERE NO TREES, THERE WAS NO WATER, 287 00:16:13,605 --> 00:16:16,442 THERE WERE NO HOUSES, BUT THEY SOLD LOTS HERE. 288 00:16:16,508 --> 00:16:18,344 THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW TIMES IN AMERICAN REAL ESTATE 289 00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:20,579 WHERE REAL-ESTATE PROMOTERS HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN CONVICTED, 290 00:16:20,646 --> 00:16:22,548 SENT TO FEDERAL PENITENTIARY, 291 00:16:22,614 --> 00:16:24,984 AND ONE OF THEM ROTTED AND DIED IN THAT PENITENTIARY 292 00:16:25,050 --> 00:16:28,487 AFTER THE REAL-ESTATE SCAM THAT WAS BOISE CITY. 293 00:16:28,554 --> 00:16:32,091 Narrator: "OKLAHOMA," ONE RAILROAD BROCHURE BRAGGED, 294 00:16:32,157 --> 00:16:34,860 "GROWS BETTER CATTLE THAN TEXAS, 295 00:16:34,927 --> 00:16:37,896 "BETTER CORN THAN KANSAS OR MINNESOTA, 296 00:16:37,963 --> 00:16:41,300 "BETTER COTTON THAN MISSISSIPPI OR ALABAMA, 297 00:16:41,367 --> 00:16:45,437 AND BETTER SWINE THAN ANYWHERE." 298 00:16:45,504 --> 00:16:48,640 BUT INCREASINGLY, IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA 299 00:16:48,707 --> 00:16:50,776 AND THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, 300 00:16:50,843 --> 00:16:54,480 THE FOCUS WAS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ON WHEAT. 301 00:16:58,183 --> 00:17:00,552 WHEN THE GREAT WAR BROKE OUT IN EUROPE, 302 00:17:00,619 --> 00:17:05,290 GERMAN BLOCKADES CUT OFF ACCESS TO RUSSIAN WHEAT. 303 00:17:05,357 --> 00:17:06,892 IN THE UNITED STATES, 304 00:17:06,959 --> 00:17:10,562 FARMERS MOBILIZED TO FEED THE ALLIES. 305 00:17:10,629 --> 00:17:13,499 UNDER THE SLOGAN, "WHEAT WILL WIN THE WAR," 306 00:17:13,565 --> 00:17:16,402 PRICES WERE SET AT $2.00 A BUSHEL, 307 00:17:16,468 --> 00:17:19,371 TWICE THE PREVIOUS RATE. 308 00:17:19,438 --> 00:17:23,509 IN 5 YEARS, MORE THAN 11 MILLION ACRES OF VIRGIN SOIL 309 00:17:23,575 --> 00:17:26,345 WERE PLOWED FOR THE FIRST TIME-- 310 00:17:26,412 --> 00:17:29,148 AN AREA TWICE THE SIZE OF NEW JERSEY 311 00:17:29,214 --> 00:17:33,185 CONVERTED FROM GRASSLANDS TO WHEAT FIELDS. 312 00:17:35,087 --> 00:17:38,257 WHEN THE WAR ENDED, WHEAT PRICES DROPPED, 313 00:17:38,323 --> 00:17:42,127 BUT THE PLOWING AND PLANTING ONLY INCREASED. 314 00:17:42,194 --> 00:17:45,330 IT WOULD COME TO BE CALLED "THE GREAT PLOW UP." 315 00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:51,370 Pamela Riney-Kehrberg: IF YOU HAD BEEN A WHEAT FARMER IN THE 1920s, 316 00:17:51,437 --> 00:17:54,239 IT WOULD HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY EASY TO MAKE MONEY. 317 00:17:54,306 --> 00:17:56,308 YOU NEEDED LESS LAND TO GROW WHEAT 318 00:17:56,375 --> 00:17:58,343 THAN YOU NEEDED TO RUN CATTLE. 319 00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:01,747 SO THE INVESTMENT WAS LESS. 320 00:18:01,814 --> 00:18:04,716 I HAD A FARMER TELL ME THAT YOU JUST PUT SEED 321 00:18:04,783 --> 00:18:07,986 IN THE GROUND AND BOOM, YOU HAD A CROP. 322 00:18:08,053 --> 00:18:11,056 Imogene Glover: IT WAS REALLY ADVERTISED ALL OVER THE NATION 323 00:18:11,123 --> 00:18:15,294 AS THE PLACE TO COME AND LIVE IN THE TWENTIES. 324 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:19,364 OH, IT WAS GREEN, LEVEL, AND PRETTY, 325 00:18:19,431 --> 00:18:21,467 AND THE GRASS WAS BEAUTIFUL. 326 00:18:21,533 --> 00:18:23,569 WE HAD TALL GRASS, 327 00:18:23,635 --> 00:18:27,272 AND I REMEMBER RUNNING BAREFOOTED ALONG IN THIS DITCH, 328 00:18:27,339 --> 00:18:32,644 WHICH WAS BIG CLODS OF COOL, DAMP GROUND. 329 00:18:32,711 --> 00:18:35,280 Narrator: IMOGENE GLOVER'S FAMILY HAD MOVED 330 00:18:35,347 --> 00:18:39,651 TO A 3-ROOM HOUSE ON LAND IN TEXAS COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, 331 00:18:39,718 --> 00:18:42,921 NOT FAR FROM CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON. 332 00:18:42,988 --> 00:18:48,460 HER FATHER RAISED CATTLE, TURKEYS, AND ESPECIALLY WHEAT. 333 00:18:48,527 --> 00:18:50,229 Glover: HE WAS A GAMBLER, 334 00:18:50,295 --> 00:18:53,699 BUT I THINK EVERY FARMER'S A GAMBLER. 335 00:18:53,765 --> 00:18:57,870 THEY HAVE TO GAMBLE THAT WHAT THEY'RE PUTTING INTO THE GROUND 336 00:18:57,936 --> 00:19:02,774 IS GOING TO GROW AND PRODUCE, AND THEY'LL GET BETTER OFF. 337 00:19:02,841 --> 00:19:07,479 THEY ALWAYS FEEL THAT WAY IF THEY'RE A FARMER. 338 00:19:07,546 --> 00:19:10,582 Narrator: IN THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF KANSAS, 339 00:19:10,649 --> 00:19:14,553 EDGAR COEN HAD TAKEN OVER 160 ACRES 340 00:19:14,620 --> 00:19:17,823 FROM A FAILED HOMESTEADER. 341 00:19:17,890 --> 00:19:21,093 AT FIRST, HE MOVED HIS WIFE RENA AND THEIR CHILDREN 342 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,463 INTO A ONE-ROOM 10-BY-12-FOOT DUGOUT 343 00:19:24,530 --> 00:19:28,367 THAT EXTENDED ONLY 2 1/2 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, 344 00:19:28,433 --> 00:19:32,271 WITH SMALL WINDOWS TO LET IN A LITTLE LIGHT. 345 00:19:32,337 --> 00:19:35,641 AS THE FAMILY GREW, EDGAR ADDED MORE ROOMS, 346 00:19:35,707 --> 00:19:40,179 THEN AN ABOVE-GROUND ENTRANCE BIG ENOUGH TO DOUBLE AS A KITCHEN. 347 00:19:40,245 --> 00:19:42,181 BY SCRIMPING AND SAVING, 348 00:19:42,247 --> 00:19:45,784 HE WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE 160 MORE ACRES 349 00:19:45,851 --> 00:19:49,521 AND BUILD A BARN FOR HIS LIVESTOCK. 350 00:19:49,588 --> 00:19:51,623 Dale Coen: OH, IT WAS REAL NICE. 351 00:19:51,690 --> 00:19:56,161 SUMMERTIME WAS PRETTY BALMY-- ALWAYS COOLED OFF GOOD AT NIGHT. 352 00:19:56,228 --> 00:19:59,064 A LOT OF TIMES, WE WOULD SLEEP OUT UNDERNEATH THE TREES 353 00:19:59,131 --> 00:20:01,033 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. 354 00:20:01,099 --> 00:20:03,302 IT WAS A REALLY GOOD ATMOSPHERE. 355 00:20:03,368 --> 00:20:05,804 OF COURSE, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ARID COUNTRY. 356 00:20:05,871 --> 00:20:08,674 IT NEVER HAS BEEN LOTS OF RAIN. 357 00:20:08,740 --> 00:20:14,313 BUT IT WAS A REALLY IDEAL PLACE TOSE A FAMILIL 358 00:20:14,379 --> 00:20:17,382 Egan: FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR FAMILY HISTORY, 359 00:20:17,449 --> 00:20:20,085 MOST OF THESE PEOPLE OWNED A PIECE OF DIRT. 360 00:20:20,152 --> 00:20:21,653 THEY WERE SCOTS-IRISH 361 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,456 WHO'D BEEN KICKED AROUND, THE OLD CONFEDERACY. 362 00:20:24,523 --> 00:20:27,826 THEY WERE SO-CALLED POOR WHITE TRASH. 363 00:20:27,893 --> 00:20:31,363 THEY WERE THESE GERMANS FROM THE RUSSIAN STEPPE. 364 00:20:31,430 --> 00:20:34,800 THEY WERE LATINOS WHO CAME UP FROM THE SOUTH. 365 00:20:34,866 --> 00:20:38,136 THEY WERE FOLKS THAT NEVER OWNED ANYTHING. 366 00:20:38,203 --> 00:20:41,807 AND THEY HAD WONDERFUL YEARS, 10, 12, 15, 367 00:20:41,873 --> 00:20:44,409 WHERE EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT. 368 00:20:44,476 --> 00:20:48,080 Narrator: MODERN MACHINERY MADE WHEAT FARMING MORE EFFICIENT 369 00:20:48,146 --> 00:20:53,118 AND STILL PROFITABLE EVEN AT PRICES OF $1.00 PER BUSHEL. 370 00:20:53,185 --> 00:20:55,320 POWERFUL GASOLINE TRACTORS 371 00:20:55,387 --> 00:20:58,357 PULLING BROAD ARRAYS OF DISC PLOWS 372 00:20:58,423 --> 00:21:01,593 TURNED THE SOD WITH EASE. 373 00:21:01,660 --> 00:21:05,597 Worster: IN THE 1920s, THERE WAS A CONCERTED MOVEMENT 374 00:21:05,664 --> 00:21:08,000 AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF AMERICAN SOCIETY 375 00:21:08,066 --> 00:21:11,770 TO TURN AGRICULTURE INTO AN INDUSTRIAL MODEL, 376 00:21:11,837 --> 00:21:15,007 TO MAKE EVERY FARM INTO A FACTORY. 377 00:21:15,073 --> 00:21:17,309 WELL, YOU COULD NEVER HAVE PLOWED UP 378 00:21:17,376 --> 00:21:19,344 30-SOME MILLION ACRES OF LAND 379 00:21:19,411 --> 00:21:23,248 WITH HORSE AND A WOODEN PLOW OR EVEN A STEEL PLOW. 380 00:21:23,315 --> 00:21:26,285 TRACTORS WERE GOING ALL NIGHT LONG WITH HEADLIGHTS BURNING 381 00:21:26,351 --> 00:21:30,022 TO PLOW UP THIS LAND, TO GET IT INTO PRODUCTION. 382 00:21:30,088 --> 00:21:32,557 Narrator: IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO, 383 00:21:32,624 --> 00:21:35,694 CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER HOPED TO MAKE A LIFE 384 00:21:35,761 --> 00:21:40,432 FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY RAISING HORSES AND CATTLE. 385 00:21:40,499 --> 00:21:42,367 BUT TO GET AHEAD, HE TOOK A JOB 386 00:21:42,434 --> 00:21:46,571 DRIVING A TRACTOR ON OTHER PEOPLE'S LAND. 387 00:21:46,638 --> 00:21:48,640 Calvin Crabill: HE WORKED NIGHTS. 388 00:21:48,707 --> 00:21:52,044 SOMEBODY ELSE WORKED DAYS, AND SO HE WORKED NIGHTS. 389 00:21:52,110 --> 00:21:55,814 HE KNEW THAT BUFFALO GRASS WAS THE NATURAL TURF 390 00:21:55,881 --> 00:21:59,651 OF THAT COUNTRY, AND IT WAS GRAZING COUNTRY. 391 00:21:59,718 --> 00:22:02,354 HE DIDN'T STAY WITH THE TRACTORING THING TOO LONG 392 00:22:02,421 --> 00:22:04,389 BECAUSE I THINK IT JUST GOT HIS HEART. 393 00:22:04,456 --> 00:22:05,724 HE COULDN'T STAND IT. 394 00:22:05,791 --> 00:22:07,693 EVEN THOUGH HE NEEDED THE MONEY, HE QUIT DOING IT. 395 00:22:07,759 --> 00:22:10,195 HE JUST COULDN'T STAND TO DO IT. 396 00:22:10,262 --> 00:22:13,732 HE WAS REALLY A STOCKMAN, AND HE KNEW IT WAS ALL WRONG, 397 00:22:13,799 --> 00:22:17,336 AND HE PAID THE PRICE FOR IT LATER. 398 00:22:17,402 --> 00:22:18,970 Narrator: IN PREVIOUS YEARS, 399 00:22:19,037 --> 00:22:21,773 FARMERS HAD USED A PLOW CALLED A LISTER 400 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,977 THAT SPLIT THE SOIL IN TWO DIRECTIONS AND DUG A DEEP FURROW 401 00:22:26,044 --> 00:22:29,448 THAT CAUGHT AND HELD BLOWING SOIL. 402 00:22:29,514 --> 00:22:33,685 NOW THE MOST COMMONLY USED PLOW WAS CALLED A ONE-WAY, 403 00:22:33,752 --> 00:22:36,488 WHICH WAS CHEAPER AND TORE THROUGH THE SOD 404 00:22:36,555 --> 00:22:39,491 AT A FASTER RATE. 405 00:22:39,558 --> 00:22:41,159 Wayne Lewis: IN THE LATE TWENTIES, 406 00:22:41,226 --> 00:22:44,696 THE CROPS WERE GOOD, THE PRICES WERE GOOD, 407 00:22:44,763 --> 00:22:48,066 AND SO EVERYBODY-- THE THING TO DO WAS 408 00:22:48,133 --> 00:22:51,403 TO BREAK OUT EVERYTHING AND GET IT IN WHEAT. 409 00:22:51,470 --> 00:22:55,607 AND PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY DID THAT. 410 00:22:55,674 --> 00:22:58,977 Egan: THIS BOOM WAS ONE OF THE GREAT CLASSIC AMERICAN BUBBLES. 411 00:22:59,044 --> 00:23:01,880 WE'VE HAD A LOT OF THEM IN OUR HISTORY, AND THIS WAS ONE. 412 00:23:01,947 --> 00:23:04,583 THEY HAD THESE SUITCASE FARMERS WHO WOULD GET OFF THE TRAIN, 413 00:23:04,649 --> 00:23:06,118 AND THEY CALLED THEM SUITCASE FARMERS BECAUSE 414 00:23:06,184 --> 00:23:08,220 THEY WERE JUST DANDIES FROM THE CITY. 415 00:23:08,286 --> 00:23:10,455 THEY WEREN'T FARMERS. THEY HAD THEIR SUITCASES, 416 00:23:10,522 --> 00:23:13,091 AND THEY'D GO OUT AND THEY'D CLAIM THEIR SQUARE MILE 417 00:23:13,158 --> 00:23:15,460 BECAUSE THEY ENLARGED THE HOMESTEAD ACT. 418 00:23:15,527 --> 00:23:19,798 THEN THEY'D GET SOMEONE TO PLOW UP THE GRASS, 419 00:23:19,865 --> 00:23:21,199 THROW SOME AND THEN GO BACK TO TOWN 420 00:23:21,266 --> 00:23:23,235 AND COME BACK IN THE SPRING AND HARVEST THIS THING. 421 00:23:23,301 --> 00:23:27,038 AND IT WAS A FOOL'S GAME. YOU COULD MAKE A LOT OF MONEY. 422 00:23:27,105 --> 00:23:29,775 Henderson portrayer: THE SUITCASE FARMERS HAVE HIRED 423 00:23:29,841 --> 00:23:33,545 THE PREPARATION OF LARGE AREAS OF LAND ALL AROUND US 424 00:23:33,612 --> 00:23:38,617 WHICH NO LONGER REPRESENT THE IDEA OF HOMES AT ALL, 425 00:23:38,683 --> 00:23:42,154 BUT JUST PARTS OF A POTENTIAL FACTORY 426 00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:44,890 FOR THE LOW-COST PRODUCTION OF WHEAT. 427 00:23:44,956 --> 00:23:49,494 Narrator: DURING THE LAST 5 YEARS OF THE 1920s ALONE, 428 00:23:49,561 --> 00:23:55,133 ANOTHER 5,260,000 ACRES OF NATIVE SOD-- 429 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,936 AN AREA THE SIZE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE-- 430 00:23:58,003 --> 00:24:01,406 WAS TURNED OVER ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 431 00:24:01,473 --> 00:24:05,310 "THE SOIL," A FEDERAL AGENCY CONFIDENTLY PROCLAIMED, 432 00:24:05,377 --> 00:24:09,047 "IS THE ONE INDESTRUCTIBLE, IMMUTABLE ASSET 433 00:24:09,114 --> 00:24:11,783 "THAT THE NATION POSSESSES. 434 00:24:11,850 --> 00:24:15,086 "IT IS THE ONE RESOURCE THAT CANNOT BE EXHAUSTED, 435 00:24:15,153 --> 00:24:18,757 THAT CANNOT BE USED UP." 436 00:24:18,824 --> 00:24:22,561 Worster: THE GREAT PLOW UP HAD GOING FOR IT 437 00:24:22,627 --> 00:24:27,098 AMPLE RAINFALL FOR A PERIOD OF 10 OR 15 YEARS, 438 00:24:27,165 --> 00:24:30,101 AND IT JUST KEPT ENCOURAGING MORE AND MORE. 439 00:24:30,168 --> 00:24:33,104 PEOPLE THOUGHT, AS THEY THINK AGAIN AND AGAIN, 440 00:24:33,171 --> 00:24:36,007 THAT WE HAVE TURNED THE CORNER ON CLIMATE HERE. 441 00:24:36,074 --> 00:24:39,211 WE CAN SEE FAR INTO THE FUTURE, AND IT'S ALL WET. 442 00:24:39,277 --> 00:24:42,914 THEY KNEW THAT THERE'D BEEN SEVERE DROUGHTS IN THE 1890s, 443 00:24:42,981 --> 00:24:44,983 BUT PEOPLE FORGOT ABOUT THOSE. 444 00:24:45,050 --> 00:24:46,518 THEY THOUGHT THAT WAS THE PAST, 445 00:24:46,585 --> 00:24:50,222 THIS IS NOW, AND THIS WILL BE THE FUTURE. 446 00:24:50,288 --> 00:24:52,591 Narrator: A HANDFUL OF OLD-TIMERS, 447 00:24:52,657 --> 00:24:54,459 ESPECIALLY THE CATTLEMEN, 448 00:24:54,526 --> 00:24:58,263 WHO HAD BEEN THROUGH THOSE DROUGHTS, WEREN'T SO SURE. 449 00:24:58,330 --> 00:25:01,833 TO THEM, THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WERE A GRASSLAND, 450 00:25:01,900 --> 00:25:05,504 AND THE SOD SHOULD NEVER BE TURNED. 451 00:25:05,570 --> 00:25:09,841 BAM WHITE, WHO WAS A HALF-APACHE, HALF-ANGLO COWBOY 452 00:25:09,908 --> 00:25:11,843 LIVING IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, 453 00:25:11,910 --> 00:25:15,747 SAID TO HIS SON WHO ASKED HIM WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM, 454 00:25:15,814 --> 00:25:17,249 HE SAID, "LOOK AT IT. 455 00:25:17,315 --> 00:25:21,086 WRONG SIDE UP. IT'S WRONG SIDE UP." 456 00:25:24,055 --> 00:25:25,991 Henderson portrayer: A FEW DAYS AGO, 457 00:25:26,057 --> 00:25:28,059 I RODE TO THE STORE FOR THE MAIL. 458 00:25:28,126 --> 00:25:31,162 COMING HOME, I SAW THE WHOLE COUNTRY 459 00:25:31,229 --> 00:25:34,266 TRANSFORMED IN THE SUNSET GLOW-- 460 00:25:34,332 --> 00:25:38,703 ALL THE BROWN PRAIRIE TURNED TO GOLD. 461 00:25:38,770 --> 00:25:43,174 I COULD FEEL ONCE MORE THE LURE OF THIS GREAT, LONELY LAND, 462 00:25:43,241 --> 00:25:47,579 WAITING WITH ITS STORES OF FERTILITY ALL UNTOUCHED 463 00:25:47,646 --> 00:25:52,183 FOR THOSE WHO SHALL ONE DAY LEARN TO MEET ITS DEMANDS, 464 00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:57,822 TO GIVE TO IT THEIR PATIENT THOUGHT AND LABOR. 465 00:25:57,889 --> 00:26:00,225 Narrator: AMONG CAROLINE HENDERSON'S NEIGHBORS 466 00:26:00,292 --> 00:26:01,960 IN TEXAS COUNTY 467 00:26:02,027 --> 00:26:04,896 WAS THE FAMILY OF HARRY FORESTER. 468 00:26:04,963 --> 00:26:08,433 HE HAD GROWN UP IN ARKANSAS AND EASTERN TEXAS 469 00:26:08,500 --> 00:26:12,404 BEFORE FILING ON A HOMESTEAD IN NO MAN'S LAND, 470 00:26:12,470 --> 00:26:16,641 WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE RAISED 9 CHILDREN. 471 00:26:16,708 --> 00:26:20,612 AS TIMES IMPROVED, HIS DREAMS HAD EXPANDED, 472 00:26:20,679 --> 00:26:24,449 ESPECIAL F HIS 5 SONS. 473 00:26:24,516 --> 00:26:27,919 ONE OF HIS GOALS WAS TO LEAVE AS A BEQUEST 474 00:26:27,986 --> 00:26:32,557 TO EACH OF HIS SONS A SECTION-- THAT, IS A SQUARE MILE-- 475 00:26:32,624 --> 00:26:36,261 OF GOOD, ARABLE, WHEAT PRODUCTION LAND, 476 00:26:36,328 --> 00:26:39,264 WHICH WAS SOMETHING THAT HE FELT WOULD GUARANTEE 477 00:26:39,331 --> 00:26:42,767 THEIR HAVING A GOOD LIVING AND A GOOD LIFE. 478 00:26:42,834 --> 00:26:45,337 THAT WAS HIS GOAL. 479 00:26:45,403 --> 00:26:48,440 Narrator: IN 1928, TO FULFILL HIS DREAM, 480 00:26:48,506 --> 00:26:51,643 FORESTER LEVERAGED THE HOMESTEAD HE ALREADY OWNED 481 00:26:51,710 --> 00:26:53,278 WITH A MORTGAGE 482 00:26:53,345 --> 00:26:58,016 TO BUY EVEN MORE WHEAT-GROWING LAND NEAR BOISE CITY. 483 00:26:58,083 --> 00:27:01,820 Forester: HE HAD USED ALL HIS PROPERTY AND ALL HIS LANDS 484 00:27:01,886 --> 00:27:06,157 AND ALL HE HAD ACCRUED FROM 1906 TO 1928. 485 00:27:06,224 --> 00:27:11,296 BECAUSE OF HIS DREAM, HE ESSENTIALLY PUT IT ALL AT RISK, 486 00:27:11,363 --> 00:27:16,334 AND ULTIMATELY, IT PROVED TO BE A BAD TIME TO MAKE A MOVE. 487 00:27:26,311 --> 00:27:29,514 Narrator: ON OCTOBER 29, 1929-- 488 00:27:29,581 --> 00:27:32,617 THE DAY THAT WOULD BE REMEMBERED AS "BLACK TUESDAY," 489 00:27:32,684 --> 00:27:35,620 THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED ON WALL STREET, 490 00:27:35,687 --> 00:27:37,389 PUNCTURING A SPECULATIVE BUBBLE 491 00:27:37,455 --> 00:27:41,526 THAT HAD BEEN BUILDING THROUGHOUT THE 1920s. 492 00:27:41,593 --> 00:27:44,629 BY THE END OF THE YEAR, THE FINANCIAL PANIC BEGAN 493 00:27:44,696 --> 00:27:47,432 TO SPREAD TO OTHER PARTS OF THE ECONOMY, 494 00:27:47,499 --> 00:27:51,569 THROWING ONE AND A HALF MILLION AMERICANS OUT OF WORK. 495 00:27:51,636 --> 00:27:54,606 A YEAR LATER, THAT NUMBER WOULD TRIPLE, 496 00:27:54,673 --> 00:28:00,045 AND THE NATION DESNDCE INTO THE GREAT DEPRESSION. 497 00:28:00,111 --> 00:28:04,482 BUT BACK IN NO MAN'S LAND, THE FUTURE STILL LOOKED BRIGHT. 498 00:28:04,549 --> 00:28:08,286 THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRONOUNCED THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 499 00:28:08,353 --> 00:28:13,491 AS ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS AREAS IN THE ENTIRE NATION. 500 00:28:13,558 --> 00:28:16,428 AN ADVERTISEMENT IN THE "BOISE CITY NEWS" IMAGINED 501 00:28:16,494 --> 00:28:20,098 A MANHATTAN-STYLE SKYLINE, WITH THE PREDICTION, 502 00:28:20,165 --> 00:28:23,568 "SOON YOU AVE YOUR OWN EMPIRE SWI O STATE BUILDING, 503 00:28:23,635 --> 00:28:27,472 RIGHT ACROSS FROM KIRBY'S KASH GROCERY." 504 00:28:27,539 --> 00:28:29,541 Pauline Hodges: THE FIRST TWO YEARS, 505 00:28:29,607 --> 00:28:31,376 THEY THOUGHT IT DIDN'T AFFECT THEM, 506 00:28:31,443 --> 00:28:32,877 THAT IT WAS BACK EAST-- 507 00:28:32,944 --> 00:28:34,479 "OH, WELL, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS CHICAGO. 508 00:28:34,546 --> 00:28:36,614 "THAT WAS NEW YORK. IT WASN'T HERE. 509 00:28:36,681 --> 00:28:38,683 THIS WON'T HAPPEN TO US." 510 00:28:38,750 --> 00:28:45,323 Glover: WE HAD THE BEST CROP THAT WE HAD HAD IN 1929. 511 00:28:45,390 --> 00:28:48,593 THAT'S WHEN THE MARKET WAS GREAT, 512 00:28:48,660 --> 00:28:51,496 AND THE PEOPLE THAT DID PLANT WHEAT 513 00:28:51,563 --> 00:28:55,900 HAD A BETTER YEAR THAN THEY'D EVER HAD, 514 00:28:55,967 --> 00:28:59,971 AND THEY JUST THOUGHT THEY'D GET WEALTHY. 515 00:29:00,038 --> 00:29:04,342 IT WAS A GREAT TIME, 516 00:29:04,409 --> 00:29:07,645 AND EVERYTHING WAS LOOKING UP. 517 00:29:07,712 --> 00:29:11,483 Narrator: IN THE PANHANDLE TOWN OF FOLLETT, TEXAS, 518 00:29:11,549 --> 00:29:15,420 TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER DECIDED TIMES WERE RIGHT 519 00:29:15,487 --> 00:29:19,357 TO START A NEW BUSINESS AND BUILD A NEW HOUSE. 520 00:29:19,424 --> 00:29:23,061 Trixie Travis Brown: HE AND HIS DAD AND BROTHER 521 00:29:23,128 --> 00:29:27,298 OPENED A HARDWARE STORE IN FOLLETT. 522 00:29:27,365 --> 00:29:31,436 FOLLETT WAS A THRIVING LITTLE TOWN. 523 00:29:31,503 --> 00:29:34,873 WE HAD A MAIN STREET THAT HAD BUSINESSES 524 00:29:34,939 --> 00:29:38,009 ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STREET. 525 00:29:38,076 --> 00:29:45,116 AFTER MY SISTER WAS BORN IN '29, WE MOVED INTO THE NEW HOUSE. 526 00:29:45,183 --> 00:29:48,686 IT WAS GREAT. THINGS SEEMED TO BE GOING WELL 527 00:29:48,753 --> 00:29:52,524 FOR MY DAD, FOR GRANDPA. 528 00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:54,292 Narrator: MOST OF WHAT PEOPLE KNEW 529 00:29:54,359 --> 00:29:56,895 ABOUT THE MISERY GRIPPING THE REST OF AMERICA 530 00:29:56,961 --> 00:29:58,997 THEY LEARNED FROM READING NEWSPAPERS 531 00:29:59,063 --> 00:30:03,067 AND WATCHING NEWSREELS AT THE PALACE THEATER IN BOISE CITY 532 00:30:03,134 --> 00:30:06,237 OR THE MISSION THEATRE IN DALHART, TEXAS. 533 00:30:08,106 --> 00:30:10,942 BUT AS THE DEPRESSION DEEPENED ELSEWHERE, 534 00:30:11,009 --> 00:30:13,812 PRICES OF FARM COMMODITIES COLLAPSED, 535 00:30:13,878 --> 00:30:18,616 PLUNGING ALL OF RURAL AMERICA INTO CRISIS. 536 00:30:18,683 --> 00:30:24,956 IN 1930, WHEAT DROPPED FROM A DOLLAR TO 70 CENTS A BUSHEL. 537 00:30:25,023 --> 00:30:27,725 NOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BEGGED FARMERS 538 00:30:27,792 --> 00:30:30,295 TO REDUCE THEIR ACREAGE. 539 00:30:30,361 --> 00:30:33,665 INSTEAD, FARMERS DECIDED IF THEY COULDN'T MAKE 540 00:30:33,731 --> 00:30:35,767 AS MUCH MONEY PER BUSHEL, 541 00:30:35,834 --> 00:30:39,470 THEY WOULD SIMPLY HARVEST MORE BUSHELS. 542 00:30:39,537 --> 00:30:43,074 SO THEY PLOWED UP MORE LAND-- HALF A MILLION MORE ACRES 543 00:30:43,141 --> 00:30:46,444 IN THE COUNTIES AROUND NO MAN'S LAND. 544 00:30:46,511 --> 00:30:49,914 THE WHOLE AREA, ONE AGRICULTURAL AGENT SAID, 545 00:30:49,981 --> 00:30:53,084 HAD GONE "WHEAT MAD." 546 00:30:53,151 --> 00:30:56,554 Worster: THE ANSWER TO FARMERS' PROBLEMS ON THE GREAT PLAINS 547 00:30:56,621 --> 00:31:00,291 IS BASICALLY ALWAYS MORE-- MORE PRODUCTION. 548 00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:04,162 IF YOU'RE HURTING FINANCIALLY, IF YOUR CROP PRICES ARE LOW, 549 00:31:04,229 --> 00:31:06,364 YOU PRODUCE MORE TO MAKE UP. 550 00:31:06,431 --> 00:31:10,068 IF YOU'RE DOING WELL, THE BUSHEL PRICES ARE HIGH, 551 00:31:10,134 --> 00:31:11,636 YOU PRODUCE MORE. 552 00:31:11,703 --> 00:31:14,038 IT'S ALWAYS "MORE PRODUCTION" IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM. 553 00:31:14,105 --> 00:31:16,708 SO IN 1930, E LOW PRICES, 554 00:31:16,774 --> 00:31:19,844 FARMERS WERE PRODUCING MORE WHEAT THAN EVER BEFORE. 555 00:31:19,911 --> 00:31:22,714 Egan: THIS BIG PLOW UP WAS THE FINAL SURGE 556 00:31:22,780 --> 00:31:27,218 THAT CAME AFTER WHEAT HAD CRASHED. 557 00:31:27,285 --> 00:31:30,321 IF YOU HAD 10,000 ACRES AND YOU HAD TAKEN OUT 558 00:31:30,388 --> 00:31:32,323 A BANK LOAN TO SERVICE YOUR 10,000 ACRES, 559 00:31:32,390 --> 00:31:34,025 SUDDENLY YOU'RE GETTING ONLY HALF 560 00:31:34,092 --> 00:31:35,660 WHAT YOU GOT THAT YEAR BEFORE. 561 00:31:35,727 --> 00:31:37,262 THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD COVER YOUR NUT 562 00:31:37,328 --> 00:31:40,431 WAS TO DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF LAND YOU PLOWED UP. 563 00:31:40,498 --> 00:31:42,367 SO, IT SENT THEM INTO THE FIELDS 564 00:31:42,433 --> 00:31:46,471 FOR THIS FRANTIC LAST-MINUTE EFFORT TO TURN THE LAND. 565 00:31:46,537 --> 00:31:48,773 Worster: IT WAS A RECIPE FOR ECONOMIC DISASTER 566 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,109 IN THE SENSE THAT THEY WERE PRODUCING 567 00:31:51,175 --> 00:31:54,679 AN ENORMOUS GLUT OF WHEAT THAT DIDN'T HAVE A MARKET. 568 00:31:54,746 --> 00:31:58,116 IT WAS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER IN THAT IF A DROUGHT COMES ALONG, 569 00:31:58,182 --> 00:31:59,851 THEY ARE LYING THERE VULNERABLE 570 00:31:59,918 --> 00:32:01,920 WITH SO MUCH LAND THAT HAS BEEN EXPOSED. 571 00:32:01,986 --> 00:32:04,822 Narrator: IT SNOWED AND RAINED THAT WINTER, 572 00:32:04,889 --> 00:32:09,093 AND THE SPRING OF 1931 BROUGHT ADEQUATE MOISTURE. 573 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,797 BY HARVEST TIME, THE WINTER WHEAT WAS SHOULDER HIGH, 574 00:32:12,864 --> 00:32:17,335 AND FARMERS REALIZED THEY HAD A BONANZA ON THEIR HANDS. 575 00:32:17,402 --> 00:32:19,604 Henderson portrayer: I HAVE NEVER SEEN 576 00:32:19,671 --> 00:32:21,572 A MORE BEAUTIFUL HARVEST-- 577 00:32:21,639 --> 00:32:24,943 ONE OF THE BEST WHEAT CROPS THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER PRODUCED 578 00:32:25,009 --> 00:32:28,079 IN OUR 24 YEARS OF FARMING. 579 00:32:30,481 --> 00:32:34,218 Narrator: OVER THE YEARS, CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON 580 00:32:34,285 --> 00:32:40,224 HAD INCREASED THEIR HOLDINGS TO 640 ACRES--A SQUARE MILE. 581 00:32:40,291 --> 00:32:42,927 THEY HAD PURCHASED MECHANIZED EQUIPMENT 582 00:32:42,994 --> 00:32:44,796 TO REPLACE THEIR HORSES 583 00:32:44,862 --> 00:32:48,833 AND MADE STEADY IMPROVEMENTS TO THEIR PROPERTY. 584 00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:52,437 THEY NOW HAD A REAL HOUSE, WITH A FULL BASEMENT, 585 00:32:52,503 --> 00:32:54,839 5 ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR, 586 00:32:54,906 --> 00:32:58,076 AND A BIG UNFINISHED ROOM ON THE SECOND. 587 00:32:58,142 --> 00:33:00,178 THEY HAD AN INDOOR BATHROOM-- 588 00:33:00,244 --> 00:33:03,414 BUT AS YET, NO RUNNING WATER INSIDE THE HOUSE-- 589 00:33:03,481 --> 00:33:06,451 AND HAD PURCHASED A TELEPHONE. 590 00:33:06,517 --> 00:33:10,254 BUT WHEN THE BUMPER CROP OF 1931 WAS HARVESTED, 591 00:33:10,321 --> 00:33:12,757 THERE WAS NO ONE TO BUY IT. 592 00:33:12,824 --> 00:33:15,193 GRAIN ELEVATORS OVERFLOWED, 593 00:33:15,259 --> 00:33:20,631 AND GIANT DUNES OF WHEAT WERE PILED OUT ON THE OPEN GROUND. 594 00:33:20,698 --> 00:33:25,770 PRICES HAD ALREADY COLLAPSED TO 25 CENTS A BUSHEL OR LOWER-- 595 00:33:25,837 --> 00:33:30,742 ROUGHLY HALF OF WHAT IT COST THE FARMERS TO GROW IT. 596 00:33:30,808 --> 00:33:34,312 "WE ARE TOO BIG TO CRY ABOUT IT," CAROLINE WROTE, 597 00:33:34,379 --> 00:33:37,882 "AND IT HURTS US TOO MUCH TO LAUGH." 598 00:33:37,949 --> 00:33:41,619 Hodges: I REMEMBER MY FATHER SAYING THAT HIS BANKER 599 00:33:41,686 --> 00:33:44,655 HAD TOLD HIM THAT PRICES CERTAINLY WOULDN'T GO ANY LOWER 600 00:33:44,722 --> 00:33:47,325 THAN 95 CENTS A BUSHEL, WHICH, COMPARED TO 601 00:33:47,392 --> 00:33:51,529 WHAT IT HAD BEEN IN THE 1920s, WAS REALLY LOW. 602 00:33:51,596 --> 00:33:53,831 AND MY DAD USED TO LAUGH IRONICALLY 603 00:33:53,898 --> 00:33:58,336 AND SAY THE NEXT DAY IT DROPPED TO 23 CENTS A BUSHEL-- 604 00:33:58,403 --> 00:34:00,972 60 CENTS IN ONE DAY. 605 00:34:01,039 --> 00:34:03,775 IT WASN'T UNTIL THE PRICE OF WHEAT DROPPED SO DRASTICALLY 606 00:34:03,841 --> 00:34:07,612 THAT WE REALLY FELT THE DEPRESSION OUT HERE. 607 00:34:07,678 --> 00:34:09,981 Narrator: LIKE SO MANY OF THEIR NEIGHBORS, 608 00:34:10,048 --> 00:34:12,150 PAULINE HODGES' PARENTS BELIEVED 609 00:34:12,216 --> 00:34:15,453 THE SITUATION WOULD NOT LAST FOR LONG. 610 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,724 THEY WERE, AFTER ALL, "NEXT YEAR" PEOPLE. 611 00:34:23,928 --> 00:34:23,961 [WINBLD ING] 612 00:34:32,804 --> 00:34:37,975 A LITTLE AFTER NOONTIME ON JANUARY 21, 1932, 613 00:34:38,042 --> 00:34:43,014 A DUST CLOUD APPEARED OUTSIDE OF AMARILLO, TEXAS. 614 00:34:43,081 --> 00:34:46,084 DUST STORMS WEREN'T UNCOMMON IN THE AREA, 615 00:34:46,150 --> 00:34:50,154 BUT THIS ONE ROSE 10,000 FEET INTO THE AIR, 616 00:34:50,221 --> 00:34:54,158 CARRIED WINDS OF 60 MILES PER HOUR. 617 00:34:54,225 --> 00:34:57,495 THE LOCAL WEATHER BUREAU DIDN'T QUITE KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT, 618 00:34:57,562 --> 00:35:01,966 CALLING IT "AWE-INSPIRING" AND "MOST SPECTACULAR." 619 00:35:02,033 --> 00:35:04,068 EVEN OLD-TIMERS SAID 620 00:35:04,135 --> 00:35:08,306 THEY'D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT IN THEIR LIVES. 621 00:35:08,372 --> 00:35:11,075 Robert "Boots" McCoy: SCARED US TO DEATH. 622 00:35:11,142 --> 00:35:13,111 WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. 623 00:35:13,177 --> 00:35:14,612 WE WAS AT HOME. 624 00:35:14,679 --> 00:35:17,715 DAD WAS GONE, LOOKING FOR CATTLE. 625 00:35:17,782 --> 00:35:20,451 MOM AND SISTER AND I, WE WAS OUTSIDE. 626 00:35:20,518 --> 00:35:21,886 WE LOOKED AT THAT, 627 00:35:21,953 --> 00:35:25,923 AND WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS GONNA BE. 628 00:35:25,990 --> 00:35:29,193 FIRST STARTED WAY OFF, IT WAS REAL DARK. 629 00:35:29,260 --> 00:35:31,762 THE CLOSER IT GOT, IT GOT BROWN, 630 00:35:31,829 --> 00:35:34,232 AND WHEN IT HIT IN 30 MINUTES, 631 00:35:34,298 --> 00:35:36,634 YOU COULDN'T-- IT'S JUST LIKE MIDNIGHT. 632 00:35:36,701 --> 00:35:38,636 MIDDLE OF DAY WAS JUST LIKE MIDNIGHT 633 00:35:38,703 --> 00:35:41,139 WITH NO STARS--JUST DARK. 634 00:35:41,205 --> 00:35:44,675 Narrator: BOOTS McCOY'S FAMILY LIVED IN TEXAS COUNTY, 635 00:35:44,742 --> 00:35:47,445 6 MILES WEST OF THE HENDERSONS. 636 00:35:47,512 --> 00:35:50,548 HE AND HIS BIG SISTER, RUBY PAULINE, 637 00:35:50,615 --> 00:35:54,085 HUDDLED WITH THEIR MOTHER, WHO WAS PREGNANT. 638 00:35:54,152 --> 00:35:58,356 IT'D BE STILL, BE JUST CALM AS IT COULD BE, 639 00:35:58,422 --> 00:36:01,292 AND THEN WHEN THAT DUST GOT THERE, WHAM! 640 00:36:01,359 --> 00:36:03,427 IT WOULD HIT YOU. 641 00:36:03,494 --> 00:36:05,463 IT WAS JUST A-ROLLIN'. 642 00:36:05,530 --> 00:36:09,100 IT WAS SCARY. IT SCARED THE HECK OUT OF US. 643 00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:11,335 MOTHER WOULD PRAY ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW. 644 00:36:11,402 --> 00:36:13,671 US KIDS, OF COURSE, WE WAS LITTLE, 645 00:36:13,738 --> 00:36:17,909 AND WE STAYED PRETTY CLOSE TO MA, I GUARANTEE YOU. 646 00:36:17,975 --> 00:36:20,278 Narrator: THE STORM PASSED QUICKLY, 647 00:36:20,344 --> 00:36:25,116 BUT THAT WINTER OF 1931-32 WAS UNCOMMONLY DRY. 648 00:36:25,183 --> 00:36:28,286 SO WAS THE SPRING THAT FOLLOWED. 649 00:36:28,352 --> 00:36:30,454 THE FIERCE WINDS COMMON TO THE SEASON 650 00:36:30,521 --> 00:36:34,725 BEGAN PICKING UP SAND AND SOIL FROM THE BARE FIELDS AGAIN 651 00:36:34,792 --> 00:36:37,962 AND MOVING IT ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE. 652 00:36:40,131 --> 00:36:43,134 THE WEATHER BUREAU BEGAN CLASSIFYING THE STORMS 653 00:36:43,201 --> 00:36:45,269 BY THEIR SEVERITY. 654 00:36:45,336 --> 00:36:48,372 SOME STORMS, TAKING THE COARSER, SANDIER SOILS, 655 00:36:48,439 --> 00:36:50,208 MOVED ALONG THE GROUND 656 00:36:50,274 --> 00:36:52,843 FOR A FEW MILES BEFORE DISAPPEARING; 657 00:36:52,910 --> 00:36:56,881 OTHERS CREATED A LIGHT HAZE IN THE SKY. 658 00:36:56,948 --> 00:36:59,317 THE WORST ONES REDUCED VISIBILITY 659 00:36:59,383 --> 00:37:02,086 TO LESS THAN A QUARTER MILE. 660 00:37:02,153 --> 00:37:07,892 NO MAN'S LAND HAD 14 OF THOSE IN 1932. 661 00:37:07,959 --> 00:37:11,262 Floyd Coen: THE DUST STORMS WAS THE MOST FEARSOME LOOKING, 662 00:37:11,329 --> 00:37:14,065 BUT AS FAR AS DAMAGE, I WOULD SAY 663 00:37:14,131 --> 00:37:17,602 THE SAND STORMS DID MORE DAMAGE TO OUR LAND 664 00:37:17,668 --> 00:37:19,837 AND OUR CATTLE AND SO FORTH. 665 00:37:19,904 --> 00:37:22,907 YOU DON'T HEAR MUCH ABOUT THE SAND STORMS, 666 00:37:22,974 --> 00:37:24,976 BUT WE HAD A LOT OF THOSE. 667 00:37:25,042 --> 00:37:26,544 IT WOULDN'T GET VERY DARK, 668 00:37:26,611 --> 00:37:29,413 BUT THEY WERE A NUISANCE TO BE OUT IN, 669 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:33,117 AND IT'D JUST PEPPER YOU, LIKE SAND A-HITTIN' YOU. 670 00:37:33,184 --> 00:37:36,120 IT'D BE VERY ABRASIVE. 671 00:37:36,187 --> 00:37:38,656 AND THEY MIGHT LAST TWO OR THREE DAYS. 672 00:37:38,723 --> 00:37:43,261 ONE TIME, MY MOTHER MARKED 21 DAYS ON THE CALENDAR 673 00:37:43,327 --> 00:37:46,497 THAT WE HAD SAND STORMS EVERY DAY. 674 00:37:46,564 --> 00:37:49,667 Glover: I HAD TO RUN GET THE CHICKENS IN 675 00:37:49,734 --> 00:37:52,069 WHEN WE'D SEE THEM A-COMIN', 676 00:37:52,136 --> 00:37:57,808 AND IF I DIDN'T GET BACK TO THE HOUSE OR TO THE CELLAR IN TIME, 677 00:37:57,875 --> 00:38:02,346 MY BARE LEGS WOULD REALLY FEEL THAT SAND AND GRIT. 678 00:38:02,413 --> 00:38:05,016 BUT I KNEW THE WAY. 679 00:38:05,082 --> 00:38:08,252 I THINK I COULD RUN BLINDFOLDED FROM THE CHICKEN HOUSE 680 00:38:08,319 --> 00:38:11,589 TO THE HOUSE AND INTO THE CELLAR. 681 00:38:11,656 --> 00:38:15,693 BY 8:00, THAT WIND WOULD BE HITTING, AND DIRT, 682 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:21,165 AND BY THE TIME I WOULD WALK FROM THAT HOUSE TO THAT ROAD, 683 00:38:21,232 --> 00:38:26,904 WHICH WAS AS FAR AS FROM HERE ACROSS THE STREET OUT THERE, 684 00:38:26,971 --> 00:38:29,106 MY LEGS WOULD BE BLISTERED, 685 00:38:29,173 --> 00:38:32,677 THAT DIRT WOULD BE COMING AND HITTING THERE SO HARD. 686 00:38:32,743 --> 00:38:35,713 Narrator: IN THE MIDST OF THE RELENTLESS STORMS, 687 00:38:35,780 --> 00:38:38,749 BOOTS McCOY'S MOTHER WENT INTO LABOR. 688 00:38:38,816 --> 00:38:41,285 IT TURNED OUT SHE WAS CARRYING TWINS. 689 00:38:41,352 --> 00:38:44,055 SHE NAMED THEM ROY AND TROY, 690 00:38:44,121 --> 00:38:47,958 BUT THEY WERE IN TROUBLE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING. 691 00:38:48,025 --> 00:38:53,097 McCoy: THEY LASTED, BEST I COULD REMEMBER, ABOUT 12 HOURS. 692 00:38:53,164 --> 00:38:58,302 AND, THE DOCTOR JUST COULDN'T SAVE THEM. 693 00:38:58,369 --> 00:39:05,409 AND WHEN WE BURIED THEM, THE NEIGHBORS BUILT A COFFIN, 694 00:39:05,476 --> 00:39:08,879 AND ONE OF THEM WENT TO JC PENNEY STORE 695 00:39:08,946 --> 00:39:13,951 AND GOT SOME NUMBER 12 SHOE BOXES, 696 00:39:14,018 --> 00:39:16,020 AND WE PUT SOME COTTON 697 00:39:16,087 --> 00:39:19,156 AND PUT THEM BOYS IN THAT-- PUT THEM IN THAT COFFIN. 698 00:39:19,223 --> 00:39:21,158 THAT'S THE WAY THEY WAS BURIED. 699 00:39:23,594 --> 00:39:25,496 Henderson portrayer: MANY A TIME, 700 00:39:25,563 --> 00:39:28,899 I HAVE FOUND MYSELF TIRED OUT FROM HAVING TRIED, 701 00:39:28,966 --> 00:39:30,901 UNCONSCIOUSLY AND WITHOUT SUCCESS, 702 00:39:30,968 --> 00:39:33,904 TO BRING THE DISTANT RAIN CLOUDS NEARER 703 00:39:33,971 --> 00:39:37,007 TO WATER OUR FIELDS. 704 00:39:37,074 --> 00:39:40,578 I AM BEGINNING TO SEE HOW WORSE THAN USELESS 705 00:39:40,644 --> 00:39:45,349 IS THIS EXAGGERATED FEELING OF ONE'S OWN RESPONSIBILITY, 706 00:39:45,416 --> 00:39:48,219 TO UNDERSTAND A LITTLE THE THOUGHT OF SOMEONE 707 00:39:48,285 --> 00:39:50,287 WHO WROTE LONG AGO, 708 00:39:50,354 --> 00:39:54,125 "HE THAT OBSERVETH THE WIND SHALL NOT SOW, 709 00:39:54,191 --> 00:39:59,430 AND HE THAT REGARDETH THE CLOUDS SHALL NOT REAP." 710 00:39:59,497 --> 00:40:01,899 Narrator: FOR CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON-- 711 00:40:01,966 --> 00:40:04,335 AND ALL THE OTHER FARMERS IN THE AREA-- 712 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:08,539 THE HARVEST OF 1932 WAS A DOUBLE DISASTER. 713 00:40:08,606 --> 00:40:12,910 PRICES FOR WHEAT PLUMMETED EVEN LOWER THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, 714 00:40:12,977 --> 00:40:16,947 AND THERE WASN'T MUCH OF A CROP TO HARVEST ANYWAY. 715 00:40:17,014 --> 00:40:19,083 Henderson portrayer: JUDGING BY ANY STANDARDS 716 00:40:19,150 --> 00:40:21,118 THAT THE WORLD WOULD RECOGNIZE, 717 00:40:21,185 --> 00:40:23,487 WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FURTHER AHEAD 718 00:40:23,554 --> 00:40:27,858 IF WE COULD HAVE SPENT THE YEAR IN SLEEP. 719 00:40:27,925 --> 00:40:31,429 Narrator: THAT FALL, FARMERS WENT BACK TO THE FIELDS 720 00:40:31,495 --> 00:40:35,332 AND PLANTED WINTER WHEAT FOR NEXT YEAR. 721 00:40:37,935 --> 00:40:41,038 Henderson portrayer: PEOPLE STILL TOIL AMAZINGLY 722 00:40:41,105 --> 00:40:44,074 AND MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO KEEP CHEERFUL, 723 00:40:44,141 --> 00:40:50,047 BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE EFFORT GROWS MORE APPARENT. 724 00:40:50,114 --> 00:40:53,517 BEHIND THE CHARACTERISTIC AMERICAN NONCHALANCE, 725 00:40:53,584 --> 00:40:56,654 ONE DETECTS A GROWING ANXIETY, 726 00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:00,424 ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE COMING WINTER. 727 00:41:00,491 --> 00:41:02,092 Clarence Beck: YOU KEPT THINKING 728 00:41:02,159 --> 00:41:04,161 THAT TOMORROW THINGS WILL CHANGE, 729 00:41:04,228 --> 00:41:07,431 SO YOU KEPT DOING WHAT YOU WERE DOING. 730 00:41:07,498 --> 00:41:09,834 YOU THOUGHT, MAYBE THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN DO 731 00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:14,672 THAT WILL BE A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE WAY THEY ARE. 732 00:41:14,738 --> 00:41:16,841 WE COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT HOPING 733 00:41:16,841 --> 00:41:20,978 THAT THINGS WERE GONNA CHANGE FOR THE BETTE 734 00:41:21,045 --> 00:41:23,481 R. WE COULDN'T LIVE Lewis: WE ALWAYS HAD HOPE. 735 00:41:23,547 --> 00:41:25,716 NEXT YEAR WAS GONNA BE BETTER, 736 00:41:25,783 --> 00:41:28,819 AND EVEN THIS YEAR WAS GONNA BE BETTER. 737 00:41:28,886 --> 00:41:33,491 WE LEARNED SLOWLY, AND WHAT DIDN'T WORK, 738 00:41:33,557 --> 00:41:36,794 YOU TRIED IT HARDER THE NEXT TIME. 739 00:41:36,861 --> 00:41:38,729 YOU DIDN'T TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT; 740 00:41:38,796 --> 00:41:42,566 YOU JUST TRIED HARDER THE SAME THING THAT DIDN'T WORK. 741 00:41:42,633 --> 00:41:45,903 Henderson portrayer: BY SACRIFICING THE SMALL RESERVES 742 00:41:45,970 --> 00:41:49,607 WE HAD HELD AGAINST THE DAYS OF DROUGHT AND DISASTER, 743 00:41:49,673 --> 00:41:54,144 WE HAVE SUCCEEDED SO FAR IN KEEPING ON A CASH BASIS. 744 00:41:54,211 --> 00:41:56,981 WE HAVE DISCONNECTED THE TELEPHONE, 745 00:41:57,047 --> 00:41:59,216 STOPPED THE DAILY PAPER, 746 00:41:59,283 --> 00:42:02,353 SUBSTITUTED CHEAP LYE FOR WASHING POWDER, 747 00:42:02,419 --> 00:42:05,890 SO THAT MY HANDS ARE ROUGH AND UNCOMFORTABLE, 748 00:42:05,956 --> 00:42:08,559 BUT OF ALL OUR LOSSES, 749 00:42:08,626 --> 00:42:13,063 THE MOST DISTRESSING IS THE LOSS OF OUR SELF-RESPECT. 750 00:42:13,130 --> 00:42:17,468 HOW CAN WE FEEL THAT OUR WORK HAS ANY DIGNITY OR IMPORTANCE 751 00:42:17,535 --> 00:42:20,604 WHEN THE WORLD PLACES SO LOW A VALUE 752 00:42:20,671 --> 00:42:23,641 ON THE PRODUCTS OF OUR TOIL? 753 00:42:26,310 --> 00:42:28,112 Narrator: THINGS WERE EVEN WORSE 754 00:42:28,178 --> 00:42:31,649 FOR CAROLINE'S NEIGHBORS, THE FORESTERS. 755 00:42:31,715 --> 00:42:35,052 HARRY FORESTER'S CROP HAD WITHERED IN THE DROUGHT, 756 00:42:35,119 --> 00:42:37,555 AND WHAT LITTLE WHEAT HE HAD MANAGED TO HARVEST 757 00:42:37,621 --> 00:42:41,258 BROUGHT IN ONLY 17 CENTS A BUSHEL. 758 00:42:41,325 --> 00:42:43,627 THE LAND HE HAD PURCHASED NEAR BOISE CITY 759 00:42:43,694 --> 00:42:46,497 TURNED OUT TO HAVE A PRIOR CLAIM ON ITS TITLE 760 00:42:46,564 --> 00:42:48,832 AND WAS TAKEN FROM HIM. 761 00:42:48,899 --> 00:42:51,135 THE MORTGAGE ON HIS ORIGINAL HOMESTEAD, 762 00:42:51,201 --> 00:42:53,971 WHICH HE HAD USED TO BUY THE EXTRA LAND, 763 00:42:54,038 --> 00:42:58,108 COULD NOT BE PAID, AND HE LOST IT, TOO. 764 00:42:58,175 --> 00:43:03,047 HE WAS FORCED TO MOVE HIS WIFE AND 9 CHILDREN TO RENTED LAND. 765 00:43:03,113 --> 00:43:07,084 HARRY FORESTER'S DREAM OF AMASSING ENOUGH PROPERTY 766 00:43:07,151 --> 00:43:13,157 TO GIVE EACH OF HIS 5 SONS 640 ACRES WAS IN SHAMBLES. 767 00:43:13,223 --> 00:43:17,194 NOW HE WOULD STRUGGLE SIMPLY TO KEEP HIS LARGE FAMILY FED 768 00:43:17,261 --> 00:43:19,730 AND WARM THROUGH THE WINTER. 769 00:43:19,797 --> 00:43:22,399 Robert Forester: ONE THING, WE WOULD DO CHORES. 770 00:43:22,466 --> 00:43:26,103 OF COURSE, DOING CHORES FOR A YOUNGSTER LIKE ME 771 00:43:26,170 --> 00:43:29,807 WAS RIDING ALONG ON THE WAGON AND PICKING UP COW CHIPS 772 00:43:29,873 --> 00:43:32,576 AND COMING IN AND PILING THEM BEHIND THE HOUSE 773 00:43:32,643 --> 00:43:35,579 SO THAT WE WOULD HAVE FUEL FOR THE FIRES. 774 00:43:35,646 --> 00:43:38,582 OF COURSE, THEY DON'T SMELL AT THAT POINT IN TIME, 775 00:43:38,649 --> 00:43:44,221 UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO GET ONE THAT'S A LITTLE BIT FRESH. 776 00:43:44,288 --> 00:43:48,258 Riney-Kehrberg: AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS WHOLE SITUATION, 777 00:43:48,325 --> 00:43:50,628 MOST PEOPLE ARE THINKING THIS IS A SHORT-TERM PROBLEM. 778 00:43:50,694 --> 00:43:54,031 WE'VE SEEN DROUGHTS BEFORE, WE'VE SEEN DUST STORMS BEFORE, 779 00:43:54,098 --> 00:43:58,902 WE'VE HAD HIGH WINDS BEFORE, AND YOU WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR. 780 00:43:58,969 --> 00:44:01,538 AND EVERYONE ASSUMED THAT NEXT YEAR THINGS WOULD BE BETTER. 781 00:44:01,605 --> 00:44:04,041 AND THEN...THE NEXT YEAR, 782 00:44:04,108 --> 00:44:06,076 THEY ASSUME THINGS WILL BE BETTER, 783 00:44:06,143 --> 00:44:08,646 AND IT DOESN'T GET BETTER. 784 00:44:08,712 --> 00:44:10,547 Narrator: THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, 785 00:44:10,614 --> 00:44:12,116 THINGS WERE GETTING WORSE. 786 00:44:12,182 --> 00:44:16,954 TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BANKS AND BUSINESSES HAD FAILED. 787 00:44:17,021 --> 00:44:21,158 IN JUST ONE DAY, ONE QUARTER OF THE ENTIRE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI 788 00:44:21,225 --> 00:44:24,828 WENT UNDER THE AUCTIONEER'S HAMMER. 789 00:44:24,895 --> 00:44:27,164 FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW YORK, 790 00:44:27,231 --> 00:44:29,700 THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS WERE REDUCED TO LIVING 791 00:44:29,767 --> 00:44:32,469 IN SHANTYTOWNS CALLED "HOOVERVILLES" 792 00:44:32,536 --> 00:44:37,975 AFTER THE PRESIDENT THEY HAD COME TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING. 793 00:44:38,042 --> 00:44:41,812 THAT NOVEMBER, VOTERS TOOK OUT THEIR DESPAIR 794 00:44:41,879 --> 00:44:43,981 AND ANGER ON HERBERT HOOVER 795 00:44:44,048 --> 00:44:46,450 AND ELECTED FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT 796 00:44:46,517 --> 00:44:49,486 TO LEAD THE NATION THROUGH THE CRISIS. 797 00:44:49,553 --> 00:44:55,459 THE NORMALLY REPUBLICAN COUNTIES OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WENT DEMOCRATIC. 798 00:44:55,526 --> 00:44:59,430 ROOSEVELT, THEY HOPED, WOULD AT LEAST TRY TO HELP THEM. 799 00:44:59,496 --> 00:45:03,467 BUT EVEN A PRESIDENT COULDN'T CONTROL THE WEATHER. 800 00:45:06,537 --> 00:45:08,405 THERE WAS NO RAIN AT ALL 801 00:45:08,472 --> 00:45:13,043 IN CIMARRON COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, IN MARCH OF 1933. 802 00:45:13,110 --> 00:45:17,047 THE AGRICULTURAL AGENT THERE PREDICTED THAT, AT BEST, 803 00:45:17,114 --> 00:45:21,018 FARMERS MIGHT HARVEST 4 BUSHELS OF WINTER WHEAT PER ACRE, 804 00:45:21,085 --> 00:45:25,723 VERSUS THE PREVIOUS YIELDS OF NEARLY 30. 805 00:45:25,789 --> 00:45:29,359 AND NOW THE DUST STORMS WERE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT. 806 00:45:29,426 --> 00:45:34,298 INSTEAD OF THE 14 STORMS OF 1932 CLASSIFIED AS THE WORST, 807 00:45:34,364 --> 00:45:38,502 THERE WERE 38 IN 1933. 808 00:45:38,569 --> 00:45:43,073 ONE STORM IN APRIL LASTED 24 HOURS. 809 00:45:43,140 --> 00:45:45,876 Shirley Forester McKenzie: YOU COULD HARDLY AVOID 810 00:45:45,943 --> 00:45:48,479 LOOKING TO THE WEST TO SEE IF YOU COULD SEE 811 00:45:48,545 --> 00:45:52,950 THIS RIM OF DUST THAT WAS RISING ON THE HORIZON. 812 00:45:53,016 --> 00:45:54,952 IT WAS EARTH COLORED. 813 00:45:55,018 --> 00:45:57,488 WAY FAR AWAY, BEGINNING TO RISE, 814 00:45:57,554 --> 00:46:00,457 AND THE NEXT DAY, PERHAPS IT WOULD BE BIGGER 815 00:46:00,524 --> 00:46:02,993 AND COME QUICKER AND HIGHER, 816 00:46:03,060 --> 00:46:07,030 AND THEN SUDDENLY, YOU WERE JUST ENGULFED. 817 00:46:07,097 --> 00:46:11,602 IT WAS OVERHEAD, AND YOU COULDN'T SEE THE SUN. 818 00:46:11,668 --> 00:46:14,605 AND THAT'S WHEN IT WAS A REALLY BAD DAY. 819 00:46:14,671 --> 00:46:17,441 AND DAY AFTER DAY, IT WOULD BE THAT WAY-- 820 00:46:17,508 --> 00:46:21,879 DARK, BLACK, SCARY. 821 00:46:21,945 --> 00:46:24,281 Robertson: THE EXPERTS COULD TELL 822 00:46:24,348 --> 00:46:27,417 WHERE THE DUST CAME FROM BY THE COLOR. 823 00:46:27,484 --> 00:46:29,720 NEW MEXICO HAD ONE COLOR, 824 00:46:29,787 --> 00:46:32,189 AND OKLAHOMA, COMING FROM THE OTHER DIRECTION, 825 00:46:32,256 --> 00:46:33,590 HAD ANOTHER COLOR. 826 00:46:33,657 --> 00:46:37,194 AND THEY WOULD SAY, "WELL, WE'RE ENJOYING OKLAHOMA TODAY. 827 00:46:37,261 --> 00:46:39,396 "WELL, WE'RE GETTING VISITED 828 00:46:39,463 --> 00:46:43,567 BY ALL THE NEW MEXICANS TODAY," AND SO FORTH. 829 00:46:43,634 --> 00:46:48,472 Worster: THE BIG DUST STORMS WERE FINE PARTICLES OF SOIL. 830 00:46:48,539 --> 00:46:50,574 OTHERS WERE SANDIER BLOWS 831 00:46:50,641 --> 00:46:54,311 THAT BLEW ALONG THE HIGHWAYS AT LOW ELEVATION, 832 00:46:54,378 --> 00:46:57,314 AND IT TOOK COULD TAKE THE PAINT OFF YOUR AUTOMOBILE 833 00:46:57,381 --> 00:47:00,884 OR YOUR HOUSE, LIKE SANDPAPER BEING RUBBED AGAINST IT. 834 00:47:00,951 --> 00:47:02,886 BUT THE ONES THAT WERE THE MOST TERRIFYING 835 00:47:02,953 --> 00:47:05,522 WERE THE ONES THAT WERE BASED ON THESE VERY FINE PARTICLES 836 00:47:05,589 --> 00:47:08,959 THAT ROSE UP INTO THE AIR 7,000, 8,000 FEET 837 00:47:09,026 --> 00:47:13,163 IN THIS KIND OF BOILING WALL OF DIRT COMING AT YOU 838 00:47:13,230 --> 00:47:17,434 WITH GALE FORCE, 40-, 50-, 60-MILE-AN-HOUR WINDS. 839 00:47:17,501 --> 00:47:19,536 THESE WERE THE BLACK BLIZZARDS 840 00:47:19,603 --> 00:47:23,240 THAT FRIGHTENED PEOPLE SO MUCH DURING THOSE PERIODS. 841 00:47:23,307 --> 00:47:26,510 Egan: WHEN ONE OF THESE DUSTERS WOULD APPROACH FROM AFAR 842 00:47:26,577 --> 00:47:28,412 AND THEY WOULD SEE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME, 843 00:47:28,478 --> 00:47:30,147 IT WAS LIKE A MOUNTAIN RANGE, 844 00:47:30,214 --> 00:47:32,549 BECAUSE SOME CASES, THE STORMS WERE 100 MILES, 845 00:47:32,616 --> 00:47:37,087 150 MILES, 200 MILES WIDE AND A MILE OR MORE HIGH. 846 00:47:37,154 --> 00:47:39,323 SO IMAGINE DRIVING ON A FLAT LAND 847 00:47:39,389 --> 00:47:41,124 AND LOOKING OFF AND SEEING 848 00:47:41,191 --> 00:47:44,361 A MOUNTAIN RANGE ITSELF STARTING TO MOVE. 849 00:47:44,428 --> 00:47:46,330 DAYLIGHT ITSELF WOULD BE OBLITERATED. 850 00:47:46,396 --> 00:47:50,234 SOMEONE TOLD ME IT WAS LIKE "TWO MIDNIGHTS IN A JUG." 851 00:47:50,300 --> 00:47:53,804 Dorothy Kleffman: ONE PARTICULARLY BAD STORM WE HAD, 852 00:47:53,871 --> 00:47:55,939 IT WAS IN THE DAYTIME, 853 00:47:56,006 --> 00:47:58,141 AND IT ROLLED IN, AND IT WAS SO BLACK 854 00:47:58,208 --> 00:48:01,979 THAT YOU COULDN'T SEE YOUR HAND IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE. 855 00:48:02,045 --> 00:48:05,249 SO WE ALL GATHERED IN THE KITCHEN, THE WHOLE FAMILY. 856 00:48:05,315 --> 00:48:09,786 WE LIT THE KEROSENE LAMP, AND THAT DIDN'T HELP VERY MUCH. 857 00:48:09,853 --> 00:48:14,291 AND MOTHER HAD TEA TOWELS THAT WERE MADE OUT OF FLOUR SACKS 858 00:48:14,358 --> 00:48:16,827 BECAUSE WE WERE ALSO IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION. 859 00:48:16,894 --> 00:48:18,929 WE JUST TOOK THEM AND DRAPED THEM OVER OUR HEAD, 860 00:48:18,996 --> 00:48:22,432 DOWN THE FACE--YOU KNOW, JUST THE WHOLE HEAD. 861 00:48:22,499 --> 00:48:23,967 YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING. 862 00:48:24,034 --> 00:48:26,336 YOU SAT THERE, AND YOU COULDN'T TALK 863 00:48:26,403 --> 00:48:28,538 OR VISIT WITH ANYBODY VERY MUCH, 864 00:48:28,605 --> 00:48:33,143 BUT THAT WET TOWEL WOULD CATCH THE DUST. 865 00:48:33,210 --> 00:48:36,079 AND SOMETIMES THOSE TOWELS WERE PRETTY BLACK 866 00:48:36,146 --> 00:48:38,181 BY THE TIME WE TOOK THEM OFF. 867 00:48:38,248 --> 00:48:40,384 Ina Kay Labrier: IT'D GET SO BAD, 868 00:48:40,450 --> 00:48:43,120 YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEE TO DRIVE. 869 00:48:43,186 --> 00:48:49,526 YOU COULDN'T SEE THE SIDES OF THE ROAD WITH YOUR LIGHTS ON. 870 00:48:49,593 --> 00:48:51,762 YOU COULDN'T TELL WHETHER YOU WAS ON THE ROAD 871 00:48:51,828 --> 00:48:54,698 OR ON THE SIDES OR WHERE YOU WERE. 872 00:48:54,765 --> 00:48:59,336 Glover: SOMETIMES WE WERE CAUGHT IN THE HOUSE OR IN THE CAR, 873 00:48:59,403 --> 00:49:02,973 AND WE'D JUST SAT THERE UNTIL IT ALL BLEW OVER. 874 00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:06,476 IT JUST WAS OLD BROWN DIRT A-BLOWIN' ALL AROUND THE CAR, 875 00:49:06,543 --> 00:49:09,846 AND WE JUST SAT THERE UNTIL IT KIND OF CLEARED UP ENOUGH 876 00:49:09,913 --> 00:49:13,984 SO YOU COULD SEE THE ROAD TO GO ON TO GET TO THE HOUSE. 877 00:49:14,051 --> 00:49:16,053 AND IT WAS GRITTY AND DIRTY, 878 00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:19,456 AND YOU HAD TO WASH YOUR MOUTH OFF 879 00:49:19,523 --> 00:49:24,094 WHENEVER YOU GOT IN THE HOUSE SO YOU WEREN'T EATING DIRT. 880 00:49:24,161 --> 00:49:26,697 IF YOU'D GO OUT AND PICK UP A HANDFUL OF DIRT 881 00:49:26,763 --> 00:49:30,133 AND STICK IT IN YOUR MOUTH, THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT'D FEEL. 882 00:49:33,136 --> 00:49:36,206 Egan: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED JUST BEFORE A DUSTER HIT WAS 883 00:49:36,273 --> 00:49:39,776 THERE WAS THIS AMAZING STATIC ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR. 884 00:49:39,843 --> 00:49:42,646 PEOPLE USED TO CARRY A CHAIN IN THEIR CAR 885 00:49:42,713 --> 00:49:44,348 TO GROUND THE ELECTRICITY. 886 00:49:44,414 --> 00:49:46,616 YOU DIDN'T DRIVE ANYWHERE WITHOUT HAVING THIS CHAIN 887 00:49:46,683 --> 00:49:48,552 THAT YOU'D THEN THROW OUT AND DRAG IT ALONG THE GROUND 888 00:49:48,618 --> 00:49:50,754 TO GROUND THE ELECTRICITY BECAUSE YOUR RADIO WOULD GO OUT, 889 00:49:50,821 --> 00:49:53,190 YOUR ELECTRICAL STUFF WOULD SHORT. 890 00:49:53,256 --> 00:49:55,058 AND EVERY PERSON WOULD TALK ABOUT 891 00:49:55,125 --> 00:49:57,828 HOW YOU LITERALLY COULDN'T SHAKE ANOTHER PERSON'S HAND 892 00:49:57,894 --> 00:50:00,931 BEFORE ONE OF THESE DUSTERS BECAUSE THE STATIC WAS SO STRONG. 893 00:50:00,998 --> 00:50:04,501 IT WAS THE KINETIC ENERGY THAT WAS IN THE AIR JUST BEFORE A DUSTER HIT. 894 00:50:04,568 --> 00:50:06,436 I CAN REMEMBER FEELING IT IN MY HAIR. 895 00:50:06,503 --> 00:50:08,138 IT WAS JUST KIND OF LIKE 896 00:50:08,205 --> 00:50:10,574 YOUR HEAD TINGLES OR SOMETHING, YOU KNOW. 897 00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:12,542 YOUR HAIR GETS KIND OF WIRY. 898 00:50:12,609 --> 00:50:16,480 Beck: MORE DUST AND THE LONGER THE RIDE, 899 00:50:16,546 --> 00:50:19,049 THE HIGHER THE CHARGE, 900 00:50:19,116 --> 00:50:23,086 UNTIL FINALLY IT'D GET SUCH A POWERFUL CHARGE 901 00:50:23,153 --> 00:50:26,056 THAT IF YOU REACH OUT TO TOUCH YOUR CAR, 902 00:50:26,123 --> 00:50:29,993 THE ELECTRICITY WILL JUMP OUT ABOUT 6 INCHES TO MEET YOU 903 00:50:30,060 --> 00:50:32,162 AND KNOCK YOU FLAT ON YOUR BUTT. 904 00:50:34,698 --> 00:50:36,933 BUT IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THAT. 905 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:38,402 DON'T FORGET, THIS IS A STORM, 906 00:50:38,468 --> 00:50:41,705 WHICH MEANS IT HAD A BEGINNING AND AN END. 907 00:50:41,772 --> 00:50:46,777 AND IN BETWEEN STORMS, COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE BEAUTIFUL. 908 00:50:46,843 --> 00:50:50,047 THE SKIES WERE CRYSTAL-BLUE, AND THE CLOUDS WERE 909 00:50:50,113 --> 00:50:52,749 THOSE PUFFY WHITE SUMMERTIME CLOUDS, 910 00:50:52,816 --> 00:50:56,853 WITHOUT A DROP OF WATER IN 50 OF THEM. 911 00:50:56,920 --> 00:51:00,490 BUT I CAN STILL REMEMBER MY FATHER LOOKING UP AT THE SKY 912 00:51:00,557 --> 00:51:04,227 AND PRAYING THAT IT'D RAIN. 913 00:51:04,294 --> 00:51:06,029 BUT NATURALLY, IT NEVER WOULD 914 00:51:06,096 --> 00:51:09,933 BECAUSE THOSE WEREN'T RAIN CLOUDS AND NEVER WOULD BE. 915 00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:13,136 Narrator: IN THE TIMES BETWEEN STORMS, 916 00:51:13,203 --> 00:51:15,906 THE FARMERS AND TOWNSPEOPLE TRIED THEIR BEST 917 00:51:15,972 --> 00:51:18,675 TO CARRY ON WITH THEIR LIVES, 918 00:51:18,742 --> 00:51:20,677 BUT THE LAND THEY CALLED HOME 919 00:51:20,744 --> 00:51:25,015 WAS BEING REARRANGED BEFORE THEIR VERY EYES. 920 00:51:25,082 --> 00:51:30,053 OH, JUST DIRT, PILES OF DIRT AROUND ANYTHING, 921 00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:35,859 LIKE THE FENCE ROWS OR SOMETHING LIKE A PLOW IMPLEMENT 922 00:51:35,926 --> 00:51:37,961 OR ANYTHING OUT IN THE YARD, 923 00:51:38,028 --> 00:51:41,031 IT MIGHT BE NEARLY COVERED UP WITH DIRT. 924 00:51:41,098 --> 00:51:47,671 ANYTHING LOOSE BANKED UP AROUND SOMETHING OR BLEW AWAY. 925 00:51:47,737 --> 00:51:50,841 Kleffman: IT WOULD DRIFT UP THE SIDE OF THE BARN. 926 00:51:50,907 --> 00:51:53,310 SO YOU COULD WALK UP ON THE ROOF OF THE BARN, YOU KNOW? 927 00:51:53,376 --> 00:51:57,280 YOU JUST WALK UP LIKE YOU HAD A LADD TRE, 928 00:51:57,347 --> 00:51:59,616 BUT IT WOULD BE DIRT. 929 00:51:59,683 --> 00:52:01,551 Narrator: THE STORMS HAD PUSHED 930 00:52:01,618 --> 00:52:03,820 DRIED-UP RUSSIAN THISTLES-- TUMBLEWEEDS-- 931 00:52:03,887 --> 00:52:07,457 ACROSS THE OPEN GROUND BY THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS. 932 00:52:07,524 --> 00:52:10,760 WHEREVER THEY PILED UP AGAINST BARBED WIRE FENCES, 933 00:52:10,827 --> 00:52:15,999 THEY CREATED EDDIES IN THE WIND, AND THE DIRT ACCUMULATED. 934 00:52:16,066 --> 00:52:17,567 THISTLES GOT IN THE FENCE, 935 00:52:17,634 --> 00:52:20,871 AND THEN THE SAND GOT IN THE THISTLES, SO CONSEQUENTLY, 936 00:52:20,937 --> 00:52:24,374 WHAT CATTLE WAS STILL ALIVE WALKED OVER THE FENCE. 937 00:52:24,441 --> 00:52:26,376 EVERY PLACE THERE WAS A FENCE, 938 00:52:26,443 --> 00:52:30,514 YOU COULD ALMOST WALK OVER MOST OF THEM. 939 00:52:30,580 --> 00:52:34,384 Narrator: WHERE THE DIRT AND SAND HADN'T PILED UP, 940 00:52:34,451 --> 00:52:38,522 THE LAND HAD BEEN SWEPT CLEAN OF TOPSOIL. 941 00:52:38,588 --> 00:52:41,558 Kleffman: IT WAS BARE. IT WAS HARD. 942 00:52:41,625 --> 00:52:43,326 YOU COULD TAKE A BROOM AND SWEEP IT 943 00:52:43,393 --> 00:52:45,729 JUST LIKE YOU COULD A WOOD FLOOR. 944 00:52:45,795 --> 00:52:48,298 IT WAS HARD, JUST LIKE CEMENT. 945 00:52:48,365 --> 00:52:50,333 Worster: SO YOU COULD WALK OUT ONTO YOUR FARM, 946 00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,068 AND INSTEAD OF FINE DIRT, 947 00:52:52,135 --> 00:52:54,671 YOU FOUND THIS HARDPAN LAYER ON THE TOP. 948 00:52:54,738 --> 00:52:56,773 IMPOSSIBLE TO CULTIVATE. 949 00:52:56,840 --> 00:53:00,977 YOUR DIRT WOULD BE IN SOMEBODY ELSE'S FARM OR A COUNTY AWAY. 950 00:53:01,044 --> 00:53:06,183 Glover: YOU KNOW, THE DUST WAS SO BAD THAT THE CATTLE DIED. 951 00:53:06,249 --> 00:53:10,687 THEY FOUND SMALL HERDS OF CATTLE THAT WERE JUST FILLED UP 952 00:53:10,754 --> 00:53:14,858 WITH DIRT IN THEIR LUNGS AND THEIR NOSES. 953 00:53:14,925 --> 00:53:17,561 I CAN REMEMBER SEEING OUR COWS' NOSES 954 00:53:17,627 --> 00:53:21,164 THAT WERE JUST MUD ON THE END 955 00:53:21,231 --> 00:53:25,168 WHERE THEY TRIED TO BREATHE AND COULDN'T. 956 00:53:25,235 --> 00:53:27,571 Worster: THEY DIED OF SUFFOCATION. 957 00:53:27,637 --> 00:53:31,808 WHATEVER WILDLIFE WAS OUT THERE DIED OF SUFFOCATION. 958 00:53:31,875 --> 00:53:34,010 BUT ANIMALS ALSO SIMPLY WANDERED AWAY 959 00:53:34,077 --> 00:53:35,545 NOT KNOWING WHERE THEY BELONGED 960 00:53:35,612 --> 00:53:39,149 AND WOULD CLIMB OVER THESE DUST DRIFTS AND BE LOST. 961 00:53:39,216 --> 00:53:41,051 SO IT WAS REALLY DEVASTATING 962 00:53:41,117 --> 00:53:43,987 FOR LIVESTOCK IN TERMS OF LOSS OF LIFE. 963 00:53:44,054 --> 00:53:47,991 Narrator: HOUSEWIVES NURTURED THEIR GARDENS WITH WELL WATER, 964 00:53:48,058 --> 00:53:51,194 BUT THE ABRASIVE WINDS, THE SHIFTING DIRT-- 965 00:53:51,261 --> 00:53:55,799 EVEN, SOMETIMES, THE CHARGE OF STATIC ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR-- 966 00:53:55,865 --> 00:54:00,237 OFTEN KILLED THE VEGETABLES THEIR FAMILIES WERE COUNTING ON. 967 00:54:00,303 --> 00:54:02,272 Virginia Frantz: A STORM WOULD COME, AND THERE WOULD BE 968 00:54:02,339 --> 00:54:04,374 ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LEFT OF IT. 969 00:54:04,441 --> 00:54:09,045 AND MOTHER TRIED HER BEST TO KEEP THAT FROM HAPPENING. 970 00:54:09,112 --> 00:54:13,483 SHE WOULD DIG POSTHOLES TO PLANT TOMATOES IN 971 00:54:13,550 --> 00:54:15,685 SO THAT THE WIND WOULDN'T CUT THEM OFF 972 00:54:15,752 --> 00:54:18,455 UNTIL THEY GOT BIGGER AND STRONGER 973 00:54:18,521 --> 00:54:21,758 TO WHERE THEY MIGHT HAVE SOME TOMATOES THEN. 974 00:54:21,825 --> 00:54:26,162 AND SHE DUG DEEP ROWS TO PUT ANYTHING IN. 975 00:54:26,229 --> 00:54:30,166 AND OF COURSE, SOMETIMES THEY WOULD FILL UP WITH DIRT. 976 00:54:30,233 --> 00:54:33,770 Narrator: AFTER SURVEYING THE RESIDENTS OF MEADE, KANSAS, 977 00:54:33,837 --> 00:54:36,773 A REPORTER CALCULATED THAT THE AVERAGE DAMAGE 978 00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:42,045 FROM A SINGLE STORM WAS $25 PER HOME. 979 00:54:42,112 --> 00:54:44,748 WHAT COULDN'T BE MEASURED, HE SAID, 980 00:54:44,814 --> 00:54:49,252 WAS "THE LOSS OF DISPOSITION OF THE HOUSEWIVES." 981 00:54:49,319 --> 00:54:51,955 Kleffman: MY MOTHER WAS VERY CLEAN. 982 00:54:52,022 --> 00:54:53,657 HER HOUSE WAS ALWAYS CLEAN, 983 00:54:53,723 --> 00:54:56,359 AND SHE TRIED TO KEEP US KIDS CLEAN. 984 00:54:56,426 --> 00:54:59,195 SHE WOULD TAKE ALL HER CURTAINS DOWN ONE DAY 985 00:54:59,262 --> 00:55:01,931 AND WASH THEM AND HANG THEM BACK UP. 986 00:55:01,998 --> 00:55:03,933 A DIRT STORM WOULD COME IN THAT NIGHT, 987 00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:07,203 AND THEY WERE JUST LIKE THEY WERE BEFORE SHE WASHED THEM. 988 00:55:07,270 --> 00:55:10,373 AND THAT WENT ON DAY AFTER DAY AFTER DAY, 989 00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,410 AND ONCE IN A WHILE, YOU WOULD HEAR OF SOME WOMAN 990 00:55:13,476 --> 00:55:16,112 THAT JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, 991 00:55:16,179 --> 00:55:18,682 AND SHE'D COMMIT SUICIDE. 992 00:55:18,748 --> 00:55:23,486 Robertson: IT BLEW THAT DIRT INTO THE ATTIC OF THE HOUSE. 993 00:55:23,553 --> 00:55:27,123 A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE WOULD GET UP OF A MORNING, 994 00:55:27,190 --> 00:55:30,126 YOU COULD LOOK UP AT THE CEILING 995 00:55:30,193 --> 00:55:35,365 AND IF THERE WAS A SPLIT OR BETWEEN BOARDS OR WHATEVER, 996 00:55:35,432 --> 00:55:37,634 THAT DIRT WOULD JUST BE COMING RIGHT DOWN 997 00:55:37,701 --> 00:55:39,736 LIKE THIS ON THE TABLE. 998 00:55:39,803 --> 00:55:43,340 AND WHEN WE'D GET UP IN THE MORNING, A LOT OF TIMES 999 00:55:43,406 --> 00:55:45,342 THERE WOULD BE, SAY, FROM AN INCH 1000 00:55:45,408 --> 00:55:49,813 TO 5 INCHES OF DIRT JUST PILED LIKE THAT. 1001 00:55:49,879 --> 00:55:52,982 AND YOU CLEANED THAT OFF, AND YOU EAT, 1002 00:55:53,049 --> 00:55:55,685 AND YOU EAT THE DIRT IF IT'S THERE. 1003 00:55:55,752 --> 00:55:58,988 IF IT ISN'T, WELL, YOU DO GOOD. 1004 00:55:59,055 --> 00:56:01,124 Floyd Coen: WHEN WE SET THE TABLE, 1005 00:56:01,191 --> 00:56:03,326 WE ALWAYS SET THE PLATE UPSIDE-DOWN-- 1006 00:56:03,393 --> 00:56:06,663 GLASSES OR CUPS, WHATEVER IT WAS, UPSIDE-DOWN. 1007 00:56:06,730 --> 00:56:08,732 AND STILL I THINK YOU'D TURN THEM OVER AND SHAKE THEM, 1008 00:56:08,798 --> 00:56:11,101 LOOK AT THEM BEFORE YOU PUT ANYTHING IN THEM. 1009 00:56:11,167 --> 00:56:14,404 MY FAMILY THINKS THAT I'M KIND OF STUPID, AND I GUESS I AM, 1010 00:56:14,471 --> 00:56:17,240 BUT I STILL--IF I GET A GLASS OUT OF A CABINET, 1011 00:56:17,307 --> 00:56:20,110 I RINSE IT OUT BEFORE I DRINK OUT OF IT. 1012 00:56:20,176 --> 00:56:23,413 Kleffman: WHEN WE WOULD GO TO BED AT NIGHT, 1013 00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:26,182 SOMETIMES A DUST STORM WOULD COME IN, 1014 00:56:26,249 --> 00:56:28,518 AND WHEN WE GOT UP THE NEXT MORNING, 1015 00:56:28,585 --> 00:56:31,921 OUR COVERS WOULD BE COMPLETELY COVERED WITH DUST, 1016 00:56:31,988 --> 00:56:34,624 AND THE ONLY CLEAN PLACE ON OUR PILLOW 1017 00:56:34,691 --> 00:56:37,460 WOULD BE WHERE OUR HEAD HAD LAID. 1018 00:56:37,527 --> 00:56:39,529 Henderson portrayer: DUST TO EAT, 1019 00:56:39,596 --> 00:56:43,233 AND DUST TO BREATHE, AND DUST TO DRINK. 1020 00:56:43,299 --> 00:56:46,436 DUST IN THE BEDS AND IN THE FLOUR BIN, 1021 00:56:46,503 --> 00:56:49,572 ON DISHES AND WALLS AND WINDOWS, 1022 00:56:49,639 --> 00:56:55,011 IN HAIR AND EYES AND EARS AND TEETH AND THROATS, 1023 00:56:55,078 --> 00:56:58,515 TO SAY NOTHING OF THE HEAPED-UP ACCUMULATION ON FLOORS 1024 00:56:58,581 --> 00:57:02,685 AND WINDOW SILLS AFTER ONE OF THE BAD DAYS. 1025 00:57:02,752 --> 00:57:08,958 THIS WIND-DRIVEN DUST, FINE AS THE FINEST FLOUR, 1026 00:57:09,025 --> 00:57:13,163 PENETRATES WHEREVER AIR CAN GO. 1027 00:57:21,638 --> 00:57:23,673 Narrator: AS IF THE WIND AND DUST 1028 00:57:23,740 --> 00:57:25,775 WEREN'T ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH, 1029 00:57:25,842 --> 00:57:28,678 HORDES OF JACKRABBITS, DRIVEN BY HUNGER, 1030 00:57:28,745 --> 00:57:34,417 NOW INVADED WHAT PASTURES, CROPS, AND GARDENS WERE LEFT. 1031 00:57:34,484 --> 00:57:37,454 Kleffman: THEY ATE EVERYTHING GREEN THERE WAS. 1032 00:57:37,520 --> 00:57:40,190 THE FARMERS HAD KILLED OFF THE COYOTES, 1033 00:57:40,256 --> 00:57:44,461 AND THAT UPSET THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS, 1034 00:57:44,527 --> 00:57:46,563 AND THE RABBITS JUST EXPLODED, 1035 00:57:46,629 --> 00:57:49,365 AND THEY WOULD EAT ANYTHING GREEN THEY FOUND, 1036 00:57:49,432 --> 00:57:51,301 AND THEY WOULD EAT YOUR GARDEN UP. 1037 00:57:51,367 --> 00:57:53,703 McCoy: THERE'D BE THOUSANDS OF RABBITS. 1038 00:57:53,770 --> 00:57:57,874 THEY'D EAT EVERYTHING--EAT THE BARK OFF OF THE FENCE POSTS. 1039 00:57:57,941 --> 00:58:02,045 DAD PUT NEW POSTS UP ON OUR PLACE WHEN HE'D DONE IT, 1040 00:58:02,111 --> 00:58:05,615 AND IT WAS CEDAR POST THAT HAD BARK ON IT, 1041 00:58:05,682 --> 00:58:07,584 AND THEY ATE THAT BARK OFF OF IT. 1042 00:58:07,650 --> 00:58:09,652 Narrator: TO COMBAT THE INVASION, 1043 00:58:09,719 --> 00:58:14,891 ENTIRE COMMUNITIES BEGAN ORGANIZING "RABBIT DRIVES." 1044 00:58:14,958 --> 00:58:19,229 YOU'D ADVERTISE IT WITH FLYERS ALL OVER THE PLACE IN ADVANCE-- 1045 00:58:19,295 --> 00:58:24,968 "ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON ON THE FARM OF JOE SMITH 1046 00:58:25,034 --> 00:58:27,570 "WOULD BE A RABBIT DRIVE. 1047 00:58:27,637 --> 00:58:30,340 PLEASE COME. BRING THE FAMILY." 1048 00:58:30,406 --> 00:58:32,408 SO ON THAT AFTERNOON, 1049 00:58:32,475 --> 00:58:37,480 THERE MIGHT BE 50 TO 100 FAMILIES SHOW UP. 1050 00:58:37,547 --> 00:58:41,918 Wells: THE PEOPLE WOULD GO OUT IN A SEMI-CIRCLE 1051 00:58:41,985 --> 00:58:44,120 AND THEN BRING THEM IN. 1052 00:58:44,187 --> 00:58:45,855 AND THEY HAD CLUBS, 1053 00:58:45,922 --> 00:58:47,924 AND THEY'D USE WAGON SPOKES FOR CLUBS. 1054 00:58:47,991 --> 00:58:52,662 WHAT STARTED OUT AS A PEACEFUL PICNIC 1055 00:58:52,729 --> 00:58:55,565 SORT OF TURNED INTO A RIOT-- 1056 00:58:55,632 --> 00:58:59,302 DOGS BARKING AND YIPPING, PEOPLE YELLING, 1057 00:58:59,369 --> 00:59:04,807 KIDS SCREAMING, RABBITS HOPPING IN THE AIR. 1058 00:59:04,874 --> 00:59:08,211 AND THEY JUST--WE'D KILL THEM UNTIL WE JUST GIVE OUT. 1059 00:59:08,278 --> 00:59:10,713 THEN MORE KIDS WOULD GET IN AND GO FIGHTING THEM. 1060 00:59:10,780 --> 00:59:12,916 THEY'D KILL THEM BY THE THOUSANDS. 1061 00:59:12,982 --> 00:59:16,185 Dale Coen: YOU'D CLUB THE RABBITS TO DEATH, 1062 00:59:16,252 --> 00:59:18,521 WHICH WAS AN UNSIGHTLY THING, 1063 00:59:18,588 --> 00:59:21,024 AND IT WAS A HORRIBLE THING TO DO. 1064 00:59:21,090 --> 00:59:23,793 THEY WOULD SCREAM, AND I CAN STILL HEAR RABBITS, 1065 00:59:23,860 --> 00:59:27,330 THE NOISE THEY'D MAKE. 1066 00:59:27,397 --> 00:59:30,400 I WENT ON ONE, AND THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR ME. 1067 00:59:38,741 --> 00:59:42,278 Narrator: IN THE EARLY SPRING OF 1934, 1068 00:59:42,345 --> 00:59:45,515 A SNOWSTORM BLANKETED NO MAN'S LAND. 1069 00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:49,485 THE FLAKES, MIXED WITH AIRBORNE DIRT, WERE DARKENED-- 1070 00:59:49,552 --> 00:59:52,589 LOCALS CALLED IT A "SNUSTER"-- 1071 00:59:52,655 --> 00:59:55,725 BUT AT LEAST IT WAS A LITTLE MOISTURE. 1072 00:59:55,792 --> 00:59:59,462 IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, A LIGHT RAIN FELL. 1073 00:59:59,529 --> 01:00:02,465 MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT THE DROUGHT HAD BROKEN. 1074 01:00:02,532 --> 01:00:05,568 "THE GOOSE HANGS HIGH," A LOCAL NEWSPAPER REPORTED. 1075 01:00:05,635 --> 01:00:07,637 "FARMERS ARE GOING DOWN THE FURROW 1076 01:00:07,704 --> 01:00:12,141 WITH BRIGHTER DAYS IN SIGHT AND A SONG IN THEIR HEARTS." 1077 01:00:12,208 --> 01:00:15,311 Robertson: AND I REMEMBER ONE TIME IT RAINED, 1078 01:00:15,378 --> 01:00:17,580 AND WE WERE ALL JUST THRILLED, 1079 01:00:17,647 --> 01:00:19,782 AND THE CHILDREN WENT OUT IN THE STREETS 1080 01:00:19,849 --> 01:00:22,085 AND BAREFOOT AND DANCING IN THE RAIN 1081 01:00:22,151 --> 01:00:25,521 AND LET THE RAIN FALL ON THEIR TONGUES. 1082 01:00:25,588 --> 01:00:27,624 WE WERE JUST ECSTATIC, 1083 01:00:27,690 --> 01:00:32,462 AND THE MOTHERS CALLED THAT IT WAS TIME TO COME IN FOR SUPPER, 1084 01:00:32,528 --> 01:00:35,798 AND NOBODY WOULD GO IN. 1085 01:00:35,865 --> 01:00:38,635 SO FINALLY THE NEIGHBORS ALL BROUGHT SUPPER 1086 01:00:38,701 --> 01:00:40,236 TO THE FRONT PORCHES, 1087 01:00:40,303 --> 01:00:42,438 AND WE HAD SUPPER ON THE FRONT PORCHES 1088 01:00:42,505 --> 01:00:44,674 AND DANCING IN THE STREETS. 1089 01:00:44,741 --> 01:00:46,843 IT WAS WONDERFUL. 1090 01:00:46,909 --> 01:00:50,246 AND WE THOUGHT MAYBE THE TIDE HAD TURNED. 1091 01:00:50,313 --> 01:00:55,151 BUT, YOU KNOW, AFTER THAT, HERE CAME THE DUST AGAIN. 1092 01:00:57,220 --> 01:01:01,557 Narrator: 1934 WOULD TURN OUT TO BE EVEN DRIER AND HOTTER 1093 01:01:01,624 --> 01:01:04,827 THAN THE YEARS BEFORE-- PART OF A NATIONWIDE DROUGHT 1094 01:01:04,894 --> 01:01:09,298 THAT AFFECTED 46 OF THE 48 STATES. 1095 01:01:09,365 --> 01:01:12,468 IN MAY, THE TEMPERATURE HAD ALREADY REACHED 100 DEGREES 1096 01:01:12,535 --> 01:01:16,806 IN NORTH DAKOTA, WHERE THE DROUGHT WAS A YEAR OLDER. 1097 01:01:16,873 --> 01:01:20,543 PARTS OF NEBRASKA, WHERE TEMPERATURES HIT 118, 1098 01:01:20,610 --> 01:01:23,813 WERE ALREADY BLOWING. 1099 01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:28,184 THEN, ON MAY 9th, A MASSIVE WEATHER FRONT MOVING EASTWARD 1100 01:01:28,251 --> 01:01:32,522 BEGAN PICKING UP LOOSE SOIL FROM WYOMING AND MONTANA, 1101 01:01:32,588 --> 01:01:34,857 THEN NEBRASKA AND THE DAKOTAS-- 1102 01:01:34,924 --> 01:01:38,928 ULTIMATELY 350 MILLION TONS OF IT, 1103 01:01:38,995 --> 01:01:43,066 LIFTED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FEET IN THE AIR. 1104 01:01:43,132 --> 01:01:44,834 CARRIED BY HIGH-LEVEL WINDS, 1105 01:01:44,901 --> 01:01:48,071 IT CROSSED IOWA, MINNESOTA, AND WISCONSIN, 1106 01:01:48,137 --> 01:01:51,074 AND AS IT PASSED OVER CHICAGO, IT DEPOSITED 1107 01:01:51,140 --> 01:01:54,644 AN ESTIMATED 12 MILLION POUNDS OF DUST-- 1108 01:01:54,711 --> 01:01:58,581 4 POUNDS FOR EACH RESIDENT OF THE CITY. 1109 01:01:58,648 --> 01:02:00,817 ON MAY 10th, IT DARKENED THE SKIES 1110 01:02:00,883 --> 01:02:04,187 OVER DETROIT, CLEVELAND, AND BUFFALO. 1111 01:02:04,253 --> 01:02:06,889 BY THE MORNING OF THE 11th, THE STORM ENVELOPED 1112 01:02:06,956 --> 01:02:11,294 THE EASTERN SEABOARD FROM BOSTON TO SAVANNAH. 1113 01:02:11,360 --> 01:02:15,498 IN NEW YORK CITY, STREET LIGHTS WERE TURNED ON AT MID-DAY, 1114 01:02:15,565 --> 01:02:19,569 THE THICK HAZE OBSCURED TOURISTS' VIEWS OF CENTRAL PARK 1115 01:02:19,635 --> 01:02:22,105 FROM THE TOP OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, 1116 01:02:22,171 --> 01:02:25,007 AND A SHIP DELAYED ITS ENTRY INTO THE HARBOR 1117 01:02:25,074 --> 01:02:30,313 BECAUSE THE CAPTAIN HAD TROUBLE SEEING THE STATUE OF LIBERTY. 1118 01:02:30,379 --> 01:02:32,348 IN WASHINGTON, DC, 1119 01:02:32,415 --> 01:02:35,318 DUST DESCENDED ON THE NATIONAL MALL, 1120 01:02:35,384 --> 01:02:37,620 EVEN SIFTED INTO THE WHITE HOUSE, 1121 01:02:37,687 --> 01:02:40,490 WHERE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WAS HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE 1122 01:02:40,556 --> 01:02:45,695 PROMISING RELIEF TO THE DROUGHT-STRICKEN GREAT PLAINS. 1123 01:02:45,762 --> 01:02:49,565 THE NEXT DAY, SHIPS 300 MILES FROM THE COAST 1124 01:02:49,632 --> 01:02:54,036 REPORTED DIRT FALLING ONTO THEIR DECKS. 1125 01:02:54,103 --> 01:02:56,506 Worster: PEOPLE WERE SHOCKED IN THE EAST, 1126 01:02:56,572 --> 01:02:59,776 AND THEY BEGAN, FOR THE FIRST TIME, TO ASK QUESTIONS-- 1127 01:02:59,842 --> 01:03:03,479 WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT ON THE GREAT PLAINS? 1128 01:03:03,546 --> 01:03:06,516 Narrator: THOUGH IT ORIGINATED ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS, 1129 01:03:06,582 --> 01:03:10,686 EASTERNERS REFERRED TO IT ALL AS "KANSAS DUST," 1130 01:03:10,753 --> 01:03:13,356 AND MANY OF THEM QUICKLY HAD SUGGESTIONS ABOUT 1131 01:03:13,422 --> 01:03:16,993 HOW TO STOP IT FROM BLOWING ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 1132 01:03:17,059 --> 01:03:21,230 ONE COMPANY PROPOSED COVERING THE PLAINS IN CONCRETE, 1133 01:03:21,297 --> 01:03:25,201 WITH HOLES CAREFULLY PLACED FOR PLANTING SEEDS, 1134 01:03:25,268 --> 01:03:28,638 WHILE A STEEL MANUFACTURER IN PITTSBURGH THOUGHT 1135 01:03:28,704 --> 01:03:32,308 ITS WIRE NETTING MIGHT WORK BETTER. 1136 01:03:32,375 --> 01:03:35,945 THE BARBER ASPHALT COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY ESTIMATED 1137 01:03:36,012 --> 01:03:41,117 IT COULD SPREAD ITS PRODUCT OVER THE LAND FOR $5.00 AN ACRE. 1138 01:03:41,184 --> 01:03:43,786 A WOMAN FROM NORTH CAROLINA SUGGESTED 1139 01:03:43,853 --> 01:03:46,455 THAT SHIPPING JUNK AUTOS WEST 1140 01:03:46,522 --> 01:03:49,592 WOULD SIMULTANEOUSLY BEAUTIFY HER STATE 1141 01:03:49,659 --> 01:03:53,896 WHILE STOPPING THE WIND EROSION ON THE PLAINS. 1142 01:03:53,963 --> 01:03:55,665 WELL, EASTERNERS IN PARTICULAR, 1143 01:03:55,731 --> 01:03:57,934 OR ANYONE WHO DIDN'T LIVE ON THE GREAT PLAINS, 1144 01:03:58,000 --> 01:04:00,837 HAD NO IDEA OF THE SCALE OF THIS PROBLEM 1145 01:04:00,903 --> 01:04:03,105 OR HOW TO GO ABOUT SOLVING IT. 1146 01:04:03,172 --> 01:04:04,941 SO THEIR FIRST IDEA WAS BASICALLY 1147 01:04:05,007 --> 01:04:09,278 TO COVER THE GREAT PLAINS SOMEHOW, COVER THESE SOILS-- 1148 01:04:09,345 --> 01:04:11,581 BRINGING ROCKS FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, 1149 01:04:11,647 --> 01:04:13,816 I GUESS ROLLING THEM DOWN THE MOUNTAINSIDE-- 1150 01:04:13,883 --> 01:04:16,118 ANYTHING TO COVER THIS AREA. 1151 01:04:16,185 --> 01:04:18,120 THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT 1152 01:04:18,187 --> 01:04:19,989 A HUNDRED MILLION ACRES. 1153 01:04:20,056 --> 01:04:21,591 Narrator: PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT 1154 01:04:21,657 --> 01:04:24,393 AND HIS SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, HENRY WALLACE, 1155 01:04:24,460 --> 01:04:27,530 HAD IDEAS OF THEIR OWN-- FROM ENCOURAGING FARMERS 1156 01:04:27,597 --> 01:04:31,133 TO PLANT FEWER CROPS TO FINDING WAYS TO STABILIZE 1157 01:04:31,200 --> 01:04:35,004 THE LOOSE SOILS THROUGH BETTER PLOWING TECHNIQUES-- 1158 01:04:35,071 --> 01:04:38,407 BUT THOSE PROGRAMS WERE STILL IN THEIR INFANCY. 1159 01:04:38,474 --> 01:04:41,978 NO ONE KNEW IF THEY WOULD WORK. 1160 01:04:42,044 --> 01:04:45,815 DURING A STOP IN DROUGHT-RAVAGED NORTH DAKOTA THAT SUMMER, 1161 01:04:45,882 --> 01:04:48,718 ROOSEVELT ADMITTED AS MUCH. 1162 01:04:48,784 --> 01:04:50,987 "I WOULD NOT TRY TO FOOL YOU BY SAYING 1163 01:04:51,053 --> 01:04:54,757 WE KNOW THE SOLUTION" TO THE CRISIS, THE PRESIDENT SAID. 1164 01:04:54,824 --> 01:04:57,493 "WE DON'T. BUT WHAT I CAN TELL YOU 1165 01:04:57,560 --> 01:05:00,563 "FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART IS THIS-- 1166 01:05:00,630 --> 01:05:03,599 "IF IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM, 1167 01:05:03,666 --> 01:05:06,702 WE ARE GOING TO DO IT." 1168 01:05:06,769 --> 01:05:09,272 SOME OF THE PEOPLE LINING THE ROUTE OF HIS MOTORCADE 1169 01:05:09,338 --> 01:05:12,375 HELD UP SIGNS THAT NOTED HOW ROOSEVELT HAD 1170 01:05:12,441 --> 01:05:15,211 ALREADY ENDED PROHIBITION. 1171 01:05:15,278 --> 01:05:20,483 "YOU GAVE US BEER," THE PLACARDS SAID. "NOW GIVE US WATER." 1172 01:05:20,549 --> 01:05:24,086 ROOSEVELT ACKNOWLEDGED THEIR MESSAGE, AND RESPONDED, 1173 01:05:24,153 --> 01:05:28,090 "THAT BEER PART WAS EASY." 1174 01:05:28,157 --> 01:05:32,528 A SERIES OF RAINS FELL SHORTLY AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT 1175 01:05:32,595 --> 01:05:35,898 AND HELPED EASE THE DROUGHT ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS. 1176 01:05:35,965 --> 01:05:38,801 PEOPLE THERE CALLED IT "ROOSEVELT WEATHER." 1177 01:05:38,868 --> 01:05:43,139 BUT FARTHER SOUTH, THERE WAS NO SUCH RELIEF. 1178 01:05:43,205 --> 01:05:45,641 WHILE THE OUTLINES OF THE WORST-HIT AREA 1179 01:05:45,708 --> 01:05:47,510 WOULD SHIFT OVER THE YEARS, 1180 01:05:47,576 --> 01:05:49,946 SOMETIMES BROADENING OR NARROWING, 1181 01:05:50,012 --> 01:05:53,749 BY THE SUMMER OF 1934, THE GOVERNMENT HAD OFFICIALLY 1182 01:05:53,816 --> 01:05:58,287 IDENTIFIED THE GEOGRAPHIC HEART OF THE DUST CRISIS. 1183 01:05:58,354 --> 01:06:01,624 IT WAS NEAR BOISE CITY IN CIMARRON COUNTY, 1184 01:06:01,691 --> 01:06:06,262 THE WESTERN TIP OF OKLAHOMA-- IN NO MAN'S LAND. 1185 01:06:06,329 --> 01:06:09,699 ONE THIRD OF THE COUNTY'S LAND WAS BLOWING. 1186 01:06:09,765 --> 01:06:12,802 EVEN SOME PASTURES OF NATIVE BUFFALO GRASS 1187 01:06:12,868 --> 01:06:15,438 THAT HAD NOT BN EEOWED HAD BEEN BURIED 1188 01:06:15,504 --> 01:06:21,010 UNDER DRTSF DIRT AND SAND, SOME 10 FEET HIG 1189 01:06:21,077 --> 01:06:24,113 A FEW OF ROOSEVELT'S OTHER NEW DEAL PROGRAMS, 1190 01:06:24,180 --> 01:06:26,849 AIMED AT EASING THE HUNGER AND JOBLESSNESS 1191 01:06:26,916 --> 01:06:28,651 OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION, 1192 01:06:28,718 --> 01:06:31,253 HAD NOW REACHED THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 1193 01:06:31,320 --> 01:06:34,957 IN CIMARRON COUNTY ALONE, NEEDY RESIDENTS RECEIVED 1194 01:06:35,024 --> 01:06:39,228 2 TONS OF SMOKED PORK, 16 TONS OF BEEF, 1195 01:06:39,295 --> 01:06:43,666 17 TONS OF FLOUR, AND 33 TONS OF COAL 1196 01:06:43,733 --> 01:06:47,236 THROUGH A SURPLUS COMMODITIES PROGRAM. 1197 01:06:47,303 --> 01:06:49,572 ONE QUARTER OF THE COUNTY'S POPULATION 1198 01:06:49,638 --> 01:06:54,510 NOW DEPENDED ON NEW DEAL JOBS. 1199 01:06:54,577 --> 01:06:58,414 BUT NONE OF THAT ADDRESSED THE MAIN CALAMITY. 1200 01:06:58,481 --> 01:07:01,584 "WE ARE GETTING DEEPER AND DEEPER IN DUST," 1201 01:07:01,650 --> 01:07:04,787 THE "BOISE CITY NEWS" REPORTED. 1202 01:07:04,854 --> 01:07:08,524 THE SAME WAS TRUE IN ALL THE OTHER SURROUNDING COUNTIES 1203 01:07:08,591 --> 01:07:12,628 IN TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, COLORADO, KANSAS, 1204 01:07:12,695 --> 01:07:16,298 AND THE REST OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. 1205 01:07:16,365 --> 01:07:20,569 Worster: BY 1934, THE ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE 1206 01:07:20,636 --> 01:07:23,606 ON THE GREAT PLAINS WAS PRETTY CLEAR. 1207 01:07:23,672 --> 01:07:26,042 IT WOULD HAVE, AT THAT POINT, CLASSIFIED 1208 01:07:26,108 --> 01:07:28,411 AS ONE OF THE WORST ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS 1209 01:07:28,477 --> 01:07:31,347 IN AMERICAN HISTORY ALREADY. 1210 01:07:31,414 --> 01:07:33,816 Henderson portrayer: WE ARE TRYING TO HOPE 1211 01:07:33,883 --> 01:07:37,219 THAT THE WORST IS OVER, YET TODAY, AFTER WE THOUGHT 1212 01:07:37,286 --> 01:07:39,555 THE DROUGHT HAD BEEN EFFECTIVELY BROKEN, 1213 01:07:39,622 --> 01:07:42,758 WE HAD ANOTHER TERRIBLE DAY OF VIOLENT WIND, 1214 01:07:42,825 --> 01:07:45,027 DRIFTING CLOUDS OF DUST, 1215 01:07:45,094 --> 01:07:49,365 AND RUSSIAN THISTLES RACING LIKE MAD ACROSS THE PLAINS 1216 01:07:49,432 --> 01:07:54,170 AND PILING UP IN HEAD-HIGH IMPASSABLE BANKS. 1217 01:07:54,236 --> 01:07:57,740 WE FEEL AS IF THE ADMINISTRATION IS REALLY MAKING 1218 01:07:57,807 --> 01:08:01,744 A SINCERE EFFORT TO IMPROVE GENERAL CONDITIONS, 1219 01:08:01,811 --> 01:08:04,180 BUT THEY HAVE A TREMENDOUS TASK, 1220 01:08:04,246 --> 01:08:08,050 MADE HARDER, OF COURSE, BY ALL WHO CLING TENACIOUSLY 1221 01:08:08,117 --> 01:08:13,122 TO SPECIAL PRIVILEGES OR OPPORTUNITIES OF THE PAST. 1222 01:08:14,557 --> 01:08:17,626 Narrator: THAT SUMMER, FARMERS GATHERED 1223 01:08:17,693 --> 01:08:19,662 AT THE PALACE THEATER IN BOISE CITY 1224 01:08:19,728 --> 01:08:22,398 TO HEAR DETAILS ON A NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAM 1225 01:08:22,465 --> 01:08:25,201 DESIGNED TO STABILIZE BEEF PRICES 1226 01:08:25,267 --> 01:08:29,705 BY REDUCING THE SURPLUS OF CATTLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 1227 01:08:29,772 --> 01:08:33,075 IN THE GREAT PLAINS, IT WAS ALSO MEANT TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM 1228 01:08:33,142 --> 01:08:38,114 OF ANIMALS WASTING AWAY FOR LACK OF ADEQUATE PASTURAGE. 1229 01:08:38,180 --> 01:08:41,784 ALREADY, HOMESTEADERS LIKE CAROLINE AND WILL HENDERSON 1230 01:08:41,851 --> 01:08:44,720 HAD RESORTED TO HARVESTING RUSSIAN THISTLES 1231 01:08:44,787 --> 01:08:46,822 TO FEED THEIR COWS. 1232 01:08:46,889 --> 01:08:49,892 SOME RANCHERS WERE GRINDING UP YUCCA CACTUS 1233 01:08:49,959 --> 01:08:53,262 OR BURNING OFF THE NETTLES OF PRICKLY PEARS IN AN EFFORT 1234 01:08:53,329 --> 01:08:57,466 TO GIVE THEIR CATTLE SOMETHING--ANYTHING--TO EAT. 1235 01:08:57,533 --> 01:09:00,069 Robertson: DADDY SAID, "WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY 1236 01:09:00,136 --> 01:09:02,838 "TO BUY FOOD FOR THE CATTLE, 1237 01:09:02,905 --> 01:09:07,476 "BUT IF WE CAN CUT THISTLES AND STACK THEM, 1238 01:09:07,543 --> 01:09:12,081 THERE'S MORE FOOD VALUE IN THAT THAN NEARLY ANYTHING." 1239 01:09:12,148 --> 01:09:15,584 AND OUR JOB WAS TO TRAMP THOSE THISTLES DOWN. 1240 01:09:15,651 --> 01:09:19,822 NOW, IF YOU WANT A BAD JOB, THAT'S ONE. 1241 01:09:19,889 --> 01:09:24,994 THOSE THISTLES GET DOWN YOUR PANT LEGS INTO YOUR SHOES, 1242 01:09:25,060 --> 01:09:30,065 THOSE LITTLE STICKERS, AND YOU CAN STAND IT ABOUT SO LONG, 1243 01:09:30,132 --> 01:09:33,235 BUT PRETTY SOON YOU GOT TO STOP, GET OUT A STICKER. 1244 01:09:33,302 --> 01:09:36,338 Narrator: TO ENCOURAGE FARMERS AND RANCHERS 1245 01:09:36,405 --> 01:09:38,174 TO CULL THEIR HERDS, 1246 01:09:38,240 --> 01:09:42,511 THE NEW GOVERNMENT PROGRAM WOULD PAY THEM UP TO $16 A HEAD 1247 01:09:42,578 --> 01:09:46,248 FOR A COW HEALTHY ENOUGH TO BE SHIPPED TO A PACKING HOUSE, 1248 01:09:46,315 --> 01:09:48,450 WHERE IT WOULD BE SLAUGHTERED AND CANNED 1249 01:09:48,517 --> 01:09:51,287 FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE POOR. 1250 01:09:51,353 --> 01:09:53,589 CATTLE DEEMED UNFIT FOR CONSUMPTION 1251 01:09:53,656 --> 01:09:56,525 WOULD BRING A MINIMUM OF $1.00 A HEAD 1252 01:09:56,592 --> 01:10:00,829 BUT WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY KILLED AND BURIED. 1253 01:10:00,896 --> 01:10:04,033 GOVERNMENT AGENTS FANNED OUT ACROSS NO MAN'S LAND 1254 01:10:04,099 --> 01:10:07,403 TO MAKE THE PURCHASES, OVERSEE THE SHIPMENTS, 1255 01:10:07,469 --> 01:10:08,904 AND WHERE NECESSARY, 1256 01:10:08,971 --> 01:10:13,842 PAY MEN TO PUT THEIR HERDS UNDER THE DRIFTING SOIL. 1257 01:10:13,909 --> 01:10:17,313 NATIONWIDE, THE PROGRAM WAS A SUCCESS. 1258 01:10:17,379 --> 01:10:22,551 $111 MILLION WAS SPENT TO PURCHASE 8.3 MILLION CATTLE, 1259 01:10:22,618 --> 01:10:26,088 AND PRICES WERE STABILIZED. 1260 01:10:26,155 --> 01:10:28,090 IN CIMARRON COUNTY, 1261 01:10:28,157 --> 01:10:34,563 THE GOVERNMENT PURCHASED 12,499 HEAD OF CATTLE IN 1934, 1262 01:10:34,630 --> 01:10:43,138 PAYING $164,449 IN MUCH-NEEDED CASH TO LOCAL RANCHERS. 1263 01:10:43,205 --> 01:10:46,108 DESPERATE AS THEY WERE FOR SOME INCOME, 1264 01:10:46,175 --> 01:10:49,411 IT WAS A BITTER PILL FOR MANY TO SWALLOW, 1265 01:10:49,478 --> 01:10:53,515 HARDER STILL ON THEIR CHILDREN. 1266 01:10:53,582 --> 01:10:56,652 WHAT THEY DID WAS, THEY TOOK A BULLDOZER 1267 01:10:56,719 --> 01:11:00,222 AND MADE A MAMMOTH DITCH, A MAMMOTH DITCH, 1268 01:11:00,289 --> 01:11:02,625 AND DROVE ALL THE CATTLE DOWN IN THERE. 1269 01:11:02,691 --> 01:11:04,893 THEN THERE WERE MEN ABOVE WITH RIFLES, 1270 01:11:04,960 --> 01:11:07,997 I WOULD SAY MAYBE 10 OR 20 MEN WITH RIFLES, 1271 01:11:08,063 --> 01:11:10,065 AND THEY SHOT THE CATTLE. 1272 01:11:10,132 --> 01:11:14,570 MY FATHER, WHEN OUR CATTLE WAS DRIVEN INTO THIS DITCH 1273 01:11:14,637 --> 01:11:18,040 TO BE SHOT, HE SAID, "THERE'S A LITTLE CALF. 1274 01:11:18,107 --> 01:11:20,909 CAN I BUTCHER THAT CALF FOR FOOD FOR US?" 1275 01:11:20,976 --> 01:11:24,380 THEY SAID, "NO. THEY ALL HAVE TO BE DESTROYED." 1276 01:11:24,446 --> 01:11:26,882 I'LL NEVER FORGET TO MY DYING DAY 1277 01:11:26,949 --> 01:11:29,885 STANDING THERE AS A LITTLE BOY, I WAS PROBABLY 8 OR 9 YEARS OLD, 1278 01:11:29,952 --> 01:11:33,856 WHEN THEY STARTED SHOOTING THOSE CATTLE. 1279 01:11:33,922 --> 01:11:36,825 AND IT'S A SIGHT TO THIS DAY THAT, 1280 01:11:36,892 --> 01:11:38,827 THE AVERAGE PERSON COULDN'T STAND IT, 1281 01:11:38,894 --> 01:11:40,062 BUT AS A LITTLE KID, 1282 01:11:40,129 --> 01:11:43,065 IT WAS VERY ROUGH BECAUSE THAT WAS OUR STOCK. 1283 01:11:43,132 --> 01:11:44,700 AND YOU GOT SOME MONEY FOR IT. 1284 01:11:44,767 --> 01:11:46,502 BUT THAT DIDN'T MATTER. 1285 01:11:46,568 --> 01:11:48,337 THEY KILLED THE STOCK. 1286 01:11:48,404 --> 01:11:51,974 Robertson: AND THEY SAID, "IF YOU CAN GET COWBOYS 1287 01:11:52,041 --> 01:11:55,444 "TO GET THOSE CATTLE TOGETHER, WE'LL JUST RUSH THEM, 1288 01:11:55,511 --> 01:11:57,780 "AND THEY'LL FALL IN THAT DITCH, 1289 01:11:57,846 --> 01:12:02,017 AND THEN WE'LL KILL THEM AND COVER THEM UP." 1290 01:12:02,084 --> 01:12:05,654 AND...AND DADDY COULD HARDLY... 1291 01:12:05,721 --> 01:12:07,022 [CHOKING UP] 1292 01:12:07,089 --> 01:12:08,857 I'M SORRY. 1293 01:12:08,924 --> 01:12:10,959 BUT HE COULD HARDLY DO THAT. 1294 01:12:11,026 --> 01:12:15,364 AND I NEVER WILL FORGET MY BROTHER AND I STANDING THERE 1295 01:12:15,431 --> 01:12:17,900 AND WATCHING THEM SHOOT THOSE LITTLE CALVES, 1296 01:12:17,966 --> 01:12:20,669 AND WE COULD HARDLY STAND IT. 1297 01:12:20,736 --> 01:12:23,105 BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY DID. 1298 01:12:31,280 --> 01:12:34,850 Riney-Kehrberg: ANYBODY WHO HAD LIVED ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1299 01:12:34,917 --> 01:12:38,787 FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME KNEW THAT THERE WERE PERIODIC DROUGHTS, 1300 01:12:38,854 --> 01:12:41,623 KNEW THAT THE WIND BLEW IN THE SPRING, 1301 01:12:41,690 --> 01:12:44,193 KNEW THAT THERE WERE GOING TO BE DUST STORMS. 1302 01:12:44,259 --> 01:12:48,831 WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT THE 1930s IS HOW LONG THE DROUGHT LASTS. 1303 01:12:48,897 --> 01:12:54,636 THEY WERE ALWAYS BATTLING AGAINST HOPE 1304 01:12:54,703 --> 01:12:58,874 BECAUSE YOU WOULD SEE THAT MAYBE THERE WAS 1305 01:12:58,941 --> 01:13:00,909 SOME RAIN ON THE HORIZON, BUT IT WOULD FALL 1306 01:13:00,976 --> 01:13:03,746 ON SOMEBODY ELSE'S FIELD AND NOT YOURS. 1307 01:13:03,812 --> 01:13:06,382 YOU WOULD SEE SOME CLOUDS GATHER, AND YOU WOULD HOPE 1308 01:13:06,448 --> 01:13:08,450 THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE GOOD NEWS, 1309 01:13:08,517 --> 01:13:10,819 BUT INSTEAD IT WAS GOING TO BE DIRT. 1310 01:13:10,886 --> 01:13:13,622 HOPE KEPT THEM GOING, BUT HOPE ALSO MEANT 1311 01:13:13,689 --> 01:13:17,092 THAT THEY WERE BEI CONSTANTLY DISAPPOINTED. 1312 01:13:17,159 --> 01:13:22,131 Brown: MY DAD COULD TELL IF IT WAS GONNBE REALLY BAD DAY 1313 01:13:22,197 --> 01:13:27,202 BY LOOKING OUT THE BACK DOOR AT THE SUNRISE, 1314 01:13:27,269 --> 01:13:29,638 AND IF THE SUN WAS RED, 1315 01:13:29,705 --> 01:13:34,510 HE'D SAY, "OH, IT'S GONNA BE A BAD DAY." 1316 01:13:34,576 --> 01:13:38,380 THAT DISCOURAGED ME EVEN WHEN I WAS LITTLE 1317 01:13:38,447 --> 01:13:41,250 IF I HEARD HIM SAY THAT. 1318 01:13:41,316 --> 01:13:45,621 Narrator: BY 1934, PROPERTY VALUES AROUND BOISE CITY 1319 01:13:45,687 --> 01:13:48,223 HAD DECLINED BY 90%, 1320 01:13:48,290 --> 01:13:50,259 AND MORE THAN HALF OF THE LANDOWNERS 1321 01:13:50,325 --> 01:13:52,995 WERE DELINQUENT ON THEIR TAXES. 1322 01:13:53,061 --> 01:13:55,864 EACH WEEK, THE LOCAL PAPER CARRIED NOTICES 1323 01:13:55,931 --> 01:13:57,833 OF UPCOMING SHERIFF'S SALES 1324 01:13:57,900 --> 01:14:00,502 OF FARMS BEING PUT ON THE AUCTION BLOCK 1325 01:14:00,569 --> 01:14:03,839 BECAUSE OF UNPAID MORTGAGES. 1326 01:14:03,906 --> 01:14:10,245 EVERY FAMILY, EVERY FARM, EVERY BUSINESS WAS AFFECTED. 1327 01:14:10,312 --> 01:14:12,247 THE TELEPHONE COMPANY THAT HAD OPENED 1328 01:14:12,314 --> 01:14:15,951 IN THE RURAL PART OF NO MAN'S LAND WENT UNDER. 1329 01:14:16,018 --> 01:14:18,520 THE PALACE THEATER SHUT ITS DOORS-- 1330 01:14:18,587 --> 01:14:22,224 UNTIL ENOUGH PEOPLE PERSUADED THE OWNER TO REOPEN. 1331 01:14:22,291 --> 01:14:24,126 THEY NEEDED MOVIES TO HELP 1332 01:14:24,193 --> 01:14:27,429 THEM TAKE THEIR MINDS OFF THEIR TROUBLES. 1333 01:14:27,496 --> 01:14:30,399 NO ONE KNEW WHAT THE NEXT CALAMITY WOULD BE 1334 01:14:30,466 --> 01:14:34,837 OR WHEN THE HARD TIMES MIGHT END. 1335 01:14:34,903 --> 01:14:37,673 WHEN HE LOST YET ANOTHER CROP TO THE DROUGHT, 1336 01:14:37,739 --> 01:14:40,142 PAULINE HODGES' FATHER FOUND HIMSELF 1337 01:14:40,209 --> 01:14:43,445 HARD UP AGAINST HIS MORTGAGE. 1338 01:14:43,512 --> 01:14:45,881 Hodges: I THINK HE MUST HAVE BEEN SCARED TO DEATH 1339 01:14:45,948 --> 01:14:48,484 BECAUSE HE HAD RELATIVE LITTLE EDUCATION. 1340 01:14:48,550 --> 01:14:51,920 FARMING WAS ALL HE KNEW HOW TO DO, ALL HE'D EVER DONE, 1341 01:14:51,987 --> 01:14:54,590 AND TO LOOK OUT AND SEE THAT FIELD 1342 01:14:54,656 --> 01:14:57,960 SOLID DUST, MOUNDS OF DUST. 1343 01:14:58,026 --> 01:15:00,562 HE'D SAY, "OH, DORA, IT'S GOING TO GET BETTER. 1344 01:15:00,629 --> 01:15:02,097 IT'LL GET BETTER." 1345 01:15:02,164 --> 01:15:04,566 AND HE WOULD TALK ABOUT HIS BANKER IN LIBERAL, 1346 01:15:04,633 --> 01:15:06,168 AND HE'D SAY, "OH, MR. IGO 1347 01:15:06,235 --> 01:15:09,137 IS GOING TO LET US CONTINUE FOR A LITTLE WHILE LONGER." 1348 01:15:09,204 --> 01:15:12,207 HE KEEPS SAYING, "OH, PAUL, IT WON'T GET ANY WORSE." 1349 01:15:12,274 --> 01:15:15,577 HE CARRIED US FOR PROBABLY 3 YEARS 1350 01:15:15,644 --> 01:15:19,548 BEYOND WHEN HE SHOULD HAVE, KEEPING THE HOPE 1351 01:15:19,615 --> 01:15:22,251 THAT WE WERE GOING TO GET RAIN AND TIMES WERE GONNA GET BETTER 1352 01:15:22,317 --> 01:15:25,921 AND IF WE JUST HAD A CROP, WE COULD PAY OFF THAT MORTGAGE. 1353 01:15:25,988 --> 01:15:28,223 FINALLY, THE BANK WAS DESPERATE, 1354 01:15:28,290 --> 01:15:32,628 AND IN THE WINTER OF '34-'35, THEY FORECLOSED. 1355 01:15:35,063 --> 01:15:38,734 Narrator: THEY MOVED INTO A VACANT 3-ROOM HOUSE IN TOWN, 1356 01:15:38,800 --> 01:15:41,603 AND HER FATHER MANAGED TO FIND A GOVERNMENT JOB 1357 01:15:41,670 --> 01:15:45,607 BUILDING ROADS THAT HELPED KEEP THE FAMILY FED. 1358 01:15:45,674 --> 01:15:48,577 Hodges: HE MADE $3.00 A DAY TO START WITH, 1359 01:15:48,644 --> 01:15:51,313 AND WHEN HE BECAME FOREMAN, HE MADE $5.00. 1360 01:15:51,380 --> 01:15:53,181 BUT EVEN AS YOUNG AS I WAS, 1361 01:15:53,248 --> 01:15:55,384 I REMEMBER SEEING THE CHANGE IN HIM 1362 01:15:55,450 --> 01:15:59,121 FROM THE SELF-CONFIDENT PERSON THAT HE'D BEEN 1363 01:15:59,187 --> 01:16:01,957 TO SOMEBODY WHO WAS REALLY DEFEATED. 1364 01:16:02,024 --> 01:16:04,626 AND FRANKLY, HE NEVER RECOVERED. 1365 01:16:04,693 --> 01:16:07,329 Narrator: OVER IN FOLLETT, TEXAS, 1366 01:16:07,396 --> 01:16:10,198 TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER AND GRANDFATHER 1367 01:16:10,265 --> 01:16:14,169 WERE TRYING TO HOLD ON TO THEIR HARDWARE BUSINESS. 1368 01:16:14,236 --> 01:16:17,105 AMONG THOSE HAVING TROUBLE PAYING THEIR BILLS WERE 1369 01:16:17,172 --> 01:16:22,644 A PAIR OF BROTHERS, VALUED CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS. 1370 01:16:22,711 --> 01:16:26,782 Brown: THE TWO OF THEM CAME IN TO THE HARDWARE STORE 1371 01:16:26,848 --> 01:16:28,584 AND TALKED TO GRANDPA 1372 01:16:28,650 --> 01:16:33,689 AND SAID, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO. 1373 01:16:33,755 --> 01:16:41,330 "WE'RE WIPED OUT, AND WE CANNOT PAY THIS BILL 1374 01:16:41,396 --> 01:16:44,800 THAT WE OWE YOU RIGHT NOW." 1375 01:16:44,866 --> 01:16:48,036 AND GRANDPA COULD SEE HOW DESPERATE THEY WERE, 1376 01:16:48,103 --> 01:16:50,939 AND HE SAID, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. 1377 01:16:51,006 --> 01:16:54,943 "WE'LL CARRY THIS. YOU'LL BE JUST FINE. 1378 01:16:55,010 --> 01:16:57,279 WE'LL GET OUR MONEY." 1379 01:16:57,346 --> 01:17:02,017 AND IT WAS NO TIME BEFORE THE TRAGEDY HAPPENED. 1380 01:17:02,084 --> 01:17:05,821 ONE OF THEM, HE HAD A FAMILY WITH CHILDREN 1381 01:17:05,887 --> 01:17:08,390 WHO WERE IN SCHOOL WITH ME. 1382 01:17:08,457 --> 01:17:11,860 HE HANGED HIMSELF AT HOME. 1383 01:17:11,927 --> 01:17:15,964 THIS SORT OF AGONY WAS GOING ON. 1384 01:17:16,031 --> 01:17:19,801 Narrator: SOON ENOUGH, TRIXIE'S FATHER AND GRANDFA 1385 01:17:19,868 --> 01:17:22,938 TH COULDN'T PAY THEIR DEBTS, EITHER. 1386 01:17:23,005 --> 01:17:26,308 Brown: THE HARDWARE STORE WENT BANKRUPT. 1387 01:17:26,375 --> 01:17:30,445 WE LOST IT, AND THE BANK TOOK THE HOUSE. 1388 01:17:30,512 --> 01:17:35,217 AND THE BANK FORECLOSED ON GRANDPA TRAVIS, 1389 01:17:35,283 --> 01:17:39,821 AND HE LOST HIS CATTLE, HE LOST HIS SECTION OF LAND, 1390 01:17:39,888 --> 01:17:46,595 HE LOST HIS HOME, AND HE LOST HIS HEALTH. 1391 01:17:46,662 --> 01:17:51,166 Narrator: IN BAZINE, KANSAS, A DOCTOR TOOK HIS OWN LIFE. 1392 01:17:51,233 --> 01:17:53,335 "HE TOLD US JUST A FEW DAYS AGO 1393 01:17:53,402 --> 01:17:55,437 THAT MONEY WAS AN IMPOSSIBILITY NOW," 1394 01:17:55,504 --> 01:17:58,540 THE LOCAL PAPER REPORTED, "AND THE LETTERS INDICATE 1395 01:17:58,607 --> 01:18:02,277 THAT FINANCIAL TROUBLES ARE THE CAUSE OF HIS ACT." 1396 01:18:02,344 --> 01:18:05,480 IN DODGE CITY, A 13-YEAR-OLD BOY, 1397 01:18:05,547 --> 01:18:08,250 SAID TO BE WORRIED THAT HIS PARENTS COULDN'T AFFORD 1398 01:18:08,316 --> 01:18:11,987 HIS SCHOOL BOOKS, COMMITTED SUICIDE. 1399 01:18:12,054 --> 01:18:14,856 DEVASTATED BY HIS INVESTMENT LOSSES, 1400 01:18:14,923 --> 01:18:20,529 CIMARRON COUNTY DOCTOR KILLED HIS WIFE AND THEN HIMSELF. 1401 01:18:20,595 --> 01:18:24,766 IN BOISE CITY, MILLARD FOWLER WAS FRESH OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL 1402 01:18:24,833 --> 01:18:27,102 AND READY TO BUILD A FUTURE. 1403 01:18:27,169 --> 01:18:28,837 HE HAD FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE DAUGHTER 1404 01:18:28,904 --> 01:18:31,840 OF A MAN WHO UNTIL RECENTLY HAD BEEN ONE 1405 01:18:31,907 --> 01:18:35,343 OF THE AREA'S MOST PROMINENT BUSINESSMEN. 1406 01:18:35,410 --> 01:18:38,313 FOWLER AND HIS SWEETHEART DECIDED TO GET MARRIED, 1407 01:18:38,380 --> 01:18:42,050 BUT FIRST HE WANTED TO GET HER FATHER'S BLESSING. 1408 01:18:42,117 --> 01:18:44,820 FOWLER FOUND HIS FUTURE FATHER-IN-LAW SITTING 1409 01:18:44,886 --> 01:18:49,057 IN HIS CAR IN FRONT OF THE FAMILY HOME. 1410 01:18:49,124 --> 01:18:51,393 Millard Fowler: WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR, 1411 01:18:51,460 --> 01:18:53,762 I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WAS UP TO. 1412 01:18:53,829 --> 01:18:57,265 I KNEW HE WAS IN THE CAR, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHY. 1413 01:18:57,332 --> 01:19:00,535 BUT WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR, I SAW THAT RIFLE, 1414 01:19:00,602 --> 01:19:02,671 POINTING AT HIS HEAD. 1415 01:19:02,738 --> 01:19:09,177 I OPENED THE DOOR AND GOT IN THE SEAT BESIDE HIM AND... 1416 01:19:09,244 --> 01:19:14,416 AND TOOK THAT RIFLE AND UNLOADED IT... 1417 01:19:14,483 --> 01:19:20,522 WITHOUT ANY CONVERSATION, AS I REMEMBER. 1418 01:19:20,589 --> 01:19:22,958 BUT I FINALLY GOT AROUND AND ASK HIM 1419 01:19:23,024 --> 01:19:26,294 IF IT'D BE ALL RIGHT IF WE GOT MARRIED, 1420 01:19:26,361 --> 01:19:30,198 AND HE FINALLY SAID YES. 1421 01:19:30,265 --> 01:19:34,202 A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER, HE COMMITTED SUICIDE. 1422 01:19:42,844 --> 01:19:46,381 Narrator: IN 1935, THE NUMBER OF "BLACK BLIZZARDS" DOUBLED 1423 01:19:46,448 --> 01:19:48,316 AROUND NO MAN'S LAND, 1424 01:19:48,383 --> 01:19:52,154 AND MANY OF THEM STRUCK IN THE FIRST 4 MONTHS. 1425 01:19:52,220 --> 01:19:55,290 IN THAT TIME, 7 DIFFERENT STORMS 1426 01:19:55,357 --> 01:19:59,294 REDUCED VISIBILITY TO ZERO IN AMARILLO. 1427 01:19:59,361 --> 01:20:05,367 DODGE CITY, KANSAS, REPORTED ONLY 13 DUST-FREE DAYS. 1428 01:20:05,433 --> 01:20:07,502 ONE SINGLE STORM DESTROYED 1429 01:20:07,569 --> 01:20:10,372 A QUARTER OF THE WHEAT CROP IN OKLAHOMA, 1430 01:20:10,438 --> 01:20:14,976 HALF OF THE KANSAS CROP, AND ALL OF NEBRASKA'S. 1431 01:20:15,043 --> 01:20:18,580 IT BLEW OUT 5 MILLION ACRES OF FIELDS, 1432 01:20:18,647 --> 01:20:22,651 AND IN THE SPACE OF A DAY, CARRIED OFF TWICE AS MUCH DIRT 1433 01:20:22,717 --> 01:20:25,554 AS HAD BEEN EXCAVATED BY THE UNITED STATES 1434 01:20:25,620 --> 01:20:30,392 IN THE DECADE IT TOOK TO DIG THE PANAMA CANAL. 1435 01:20:30,458 --> 01:20:32,327 Worster: THIS WAS MORE FRIGHTENING 1436 01:20:32,394 --> 01:20:34,663 THAN WINTER SNOW BLIZZARDS 1437 01:20:34,729 --> 01:20:38,400 BECAUSE IT WAS SO UNPRECEDENTED AND IT SEEMED SO CHOKING. 1438 01:20:38,466 --> 01:20:41,002 IT WAS IN THAT SENSE LIKE A WINTER BLIZZARD 1439 01:20:41,069 --> 01:20:44,806 WHERE THEY TIED, YOU KNOW, ROPES FROM THE HOUSE TO THE BARN 1440 01:20:44,873 --> 01:20:47,108 TO MAKE YOUR WAY BACK AND FORTH. 1441 01:20:47,175 --> 01:20:48,910 BUT PEOPLE WEREN'T PREPARED FOR 1442 01:20:48,977 --> 01:20:51,479 THIS KIND OF BLIZZARD, BLACK BLIZZARD. 1443 01:20:51,546 --> 01:20:54,416 THEY DIDN'T THINK ABOUT IT IN THE SAME TERMS AT FIRST. 1444 01:20:54,482 --> 01:20:57,452 THEY THOUGHT, "WELL, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA KILL ME." 1445 01:20:57,519 --> 01:20:59,387 BUT IT DID. I MEAN, IT CHOKED PEOPLE. 1446 01:20:59,454 --> 01:21:02,257 PEOPLE DIED IN DUST DRIFTS. 1447 01:21:02,324 --> 01:21:05,126 Narrator: DURING A "BLACK BLIZZARD" IN FEBRUARY, 1448 01:21:05,227 --> 01:21:08,864 A FARMER'S CAR WENT OFF THE ROAD TWO MILES FROM HIS HOME, 1449 01:21:08,930 --> 01:21:12,000 AND HE GOT OUT TO WALK THE REST OF THE WAY. 1450 01:21:12,067 --> 01:21:14,803 HE NEVER MADE IT. 1451 01:21:14,870 --> 01:21:18,373 IN MARCH, A 7-YEAR-OLD BOY NEAR HAYS, KANSAS, 1452 01:21:18,440 --> 01:21:20,976 GOT CAUGHT ALONE IN A STORM. 1453 01:21:21,042 --> 01:21:23,612 SEARCHERS FOUND HIM THE NEXT MORNING, 1454 01:21:23,678 --> 01:21:27,182 SUFFOCATED, SMOTHERED IN DIRT. 1455 01:21:27,249 --> 01:21:30,652 FARTHER WEST, A 9-YEAR-OLD WANDERED OFF ALONE 1456 01:21:30,719 --> 01:21:32,721 IN THE SAME STORM. 1457 01:21:32,787 --> 01:21:34,589 WHEN HE WAS DISCOVERED, 1458 01:21:34,656 --> 01:21:39,427 HE WAS TANGLED IN BARBED WIRE BUT STILL BREATHING. 1459 01:21:39,494 --> 01:21:42,998 THE TRAIN FROM KANSAS CITY TO DALHART, TEXAS, 1460 01:21:43,064 --> 01:21:44,633 WAS FORCED TO STOP 1461 01:21:44,699 --> 01:21:48,536 WHEN ITS PASSENGERS COMPLAINED THEY WERE CHOKING. 1462 01:21:48,603 --> 01:21:51,339 IT PAUSED LONG ENOUGH TO LET THE DUST SETTLE, 1463 01:21:51,406 --> 01:21:56,745 WHILE PEOPLE SCOOPED OUT THE DIRT ON THE FLOORS AND SEATS. 1464 01:21:56,811 --> 01:21:58,747 IN GARDEN CITY, KANSAS, 1465 01:21:58,813 --> 01:22:02,083 THE LOCAL HARDWARE STORE SOLD OUT OF GOGGLES. 1466 01:22:02,150 --> 01:22:05,954 THEN T THEIN DELIVERING A NEW SUPPLY WAS DELAYED-- 1467 01:22:06,021 --> 01:22:08,690 BY A DUST STORM. 1468 01:22:08,757 --> 01:22:12,394 WRITING FROM GREAT BEND, KANSAS, A JOURNALIST SAID, 1469 01:22:12,460 --> 01:22:15,163 "LADY GODIVA COULD RIDE THROUGH THE STREETS 1470 01:22:15,230 --> 01:22:18,400 WITHOUT EVEN THE HORSE SEEING HER." 1471 01:22:30,679 --> 01:22:33,381 THAT SPRING, A WAVE OF ILLNESSES 1472 01:22:33,448 --> 01:22:35,750 SWEPT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, 1473 01:22:35,817 --> 01:22:39,187 WITH SYMPTOMS OF COUGHING SPELLS AND HIGH TEMPERATURES, 1474 01:22:39,254 --> 01:22:43,491 NAUSEA, CHEST PAINS, AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH. 1475 01:22:43,558 --> 01:22:47,295 PEOPLE CALLED IT "DUST PNEUMONIA." 1476 01:22:47,362 --> 01:22:50,999 THE SOIL THEY HAD TURNED OVER DURING THE GREAT PLOW UP 1477 01:22:51,066 --> 01:22:55,470 HAD ALREADY KILLED THE SODBUSTERS' CROPS AND LIVESTOCK. 1478 01:22:55,537 --> 01:22:57,806 NOW IT SEEMED TO HAVE ZEROED IN 1479 01:22:57,872 --> 01:23:02,310 ON SOMETHING MUCH MORE PRECIOUS--THEIR CHILDREN. 1480 01:23:02,377 --> 01:23:04,546 Lorene White: THERE WERE TIMES WHEN 1481 01:23:04,612 --> 01:23:08,283 IT WAS HARD TO BREATHE BECAUSE OF THE DUST. 1482 01:23:08,350 --> 01:23:10,485 WE WORE LITTLE THINGS, 1483 01:23:10,552 --> 01:23:12,954 LITTLE STRIPS OF SHEET, 1484 01:23:13,021 --> 01:23:16,024 SOMETIMES OVER OUR NOSE AND MOUTH 1485 01:23:16,091 --> 01:23:18,760 SO WE WOULDN'T BREATHE SO MUCH OF IT. 1486 01:23:18,827 --> 01:23:20,428 I'M SURE MOM AND DAD WERE CONCERNED 1487 01:23:20,495 --> 01:23:22,464 ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD DO TO US. 1488 01:23:22,530 --> 01:23:24,199 YOU DIDN'T KNOW. 1489 01:23:24,265 --> 01:23:26,868 EACH PARTICLE OF SOIL IS ABOUT A TENTH OF THE SIZE 1490 01:23:26,935 --> 01:23:29,971 OF A PERIOD AT THE END OF A SENTENCE IN A BOOK-- 1491 01:23:30,038 --> 01:23:32,374 BARELY VISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE. 1492 01:23:32,440 --> 01:23:34,843 AND THAT'S JUST SMALL ENOUGH OF A PARTICLE 1493 01:23:34,909 --> 01:23:36,811 TO GET INTO THE LUNGS. 1494 01:23:36,878 --> 01:23:40,849 Frantz: ANYTIME YOU TOOK A BREATH, YOU HAD DIRT. 1495 01:23:40,915 --> 01:23:44,686 IF YOU WERE COUGHING, AND... I CALL IT GUNK. 1496 01:23:44,753 --> 01:23:47,288 IF YOU COUGHED A BUNCH OF GUNK UP, 1497 01:23:47,355 --> 01:23:49,357 THE GUNK YOU'D COUGHED UP WAS MUD. 1498 01:23:49,424 --> 01:23:53,228 Hodges: THERE WERE DAYS WHEN MY MOTHER PUT A DUST MASK 1499 01:23:53,294 --> 01:23:58,166 OVER MY FACE TO KEEP ME FROM CHOKING AND GASPING. 1500 01:23:58,233 --> 01:24:02,971 AND IT FRIGHTENED ME, AT LEAST AT FIRST. 1501 01:24:03,038 --> 01:24:05,206 AS I REMEMBER, I GOT OVER THAT 1502 01:24:05,273 --> 01:24:07,542 AND I THOUGHT IT WAS UNCOMFORTABLE AND I HATED IT, 1503 01:24:07,609 --> 01:24:10,812 BUT IT WAS BETTER THAN COUGHING AND CHOKING ALL THE TIME. 1504 01:24:10,879 --> 01:24:13,148 YOU JUST COULDN'T GET A GOOD BREATH 1505 01:24:13,214 --> 01:24:14,682 AFTER THEY WAS ON A WHILE. 1506 01:24:14,749 --> 01:24:17,886 IT'D BE SOAKED UP, AND THE DIRT ON THE OUTSIDE OF THEM... 1507 01:24:17,952 --> 01:24:19,587 WHAT I HEARD MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, 1508 01:24:19,654 --> 01:24:21,456 "FLOYD, PUT YOUR MASK BACK ON." 1509 01:24:21,523 --> 01:24:22,991 I HATED TO WEAR THEM. 1510 01:24:23,058 --> 01:24:24,859 I COULD GET A BETTER BREATH WITHOUT IT 1511 01:24:24,926 --> 01:24:26,795 THAN I COULD WITH IT, I THOUGHT. 1512 01:24:26,861 --> 01:24:29,097 Narrator: THE RED CROSS ISSUED A CALL 1513 01:24:29,164 --> 01:24:31,433 FOR 10,000 MORE MASKS. 1514 01:24:31,499 --> 01:24:33,868 IT WASN'T NEARLY ENOUGH. 1515 01:24:33,935 --> 01:24:36,037 MORE PEOPLE GOT SICK. 1516 01:24:36,104 --> 01:24:40,141 YOU DIDN'T GO TO THE DOCTOR BECAUSE HE WAS 60 MILES AWAY, 1517 01:24:40,208 --> 01:24:43,678 AND SO THE FOLKS DOCTORED US THEMSELVES. 1518 01:24:43,745 --> 01:24:47,449 AND SO I WAS DOCTORED WITH KEROSENE AND LARD 1519 01:24:47,515 --> 01:24:50,552 AND TURPENTINE THAT WAS RUBBED ON YOUR CHEST. 1520 01:24:50,618 --> 01:24:52,587 AND FOR COUGH SYRUP, YOU HAD SUGAR 1521 01:24:52,654 --> 01:24:54,956 WITH A DROP OR TWO OF KEROSENE IN IT. 1522 01:24:55,023 --> 01:24:57,158 THAT WAS YOUR COUGH SYRUP. 1523 01:24:59,994 --> 01:25:02,597 White: MY TEMPERATURE GOT REAL HIGH, 1524 01:25:02,664 --> 01:25:04,566 D KTH THERE WAS NO DOCTOR NEAR US. 1525 01:25:04,632 --> 01:25:06,701 BUT I KEPT GETTING WORSE, 1526 01:25:06,768 --> 01:25:10,305 AND IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO BREATHE WITH THE DUST. 1527 01:25:10,371 --> 01:25:12,941 Narrator: IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS, 1528 01:25:13,007 --> 01:25:16,044 LORENE WHITE'S PARENTS DECIDED THEIR ONLY HOPE 1529 01:25:16,111 --> 01:25:19,547 WAS TO MOVE THEIR DAUGHTER TO RELATIVES FARTHER EAST, 1530 01:25:19,614 --> 01:25:22,383 AWAY FROM THE EVER-PRESENT DUST. 1531 01:25:22,450 --> 01:25:24,052 HER MOTHER WOULD GO WITH HER, 1532 01:25:24,119 --> 01:25:29,190 BUT HER FATHER NEEDED TO STAY AND TRY TO MANAGE THE FARM. 1533 01:25:29,257 --> 01:25:34,729 White: THE DAY THEY CAME TO GET ME, THE DUST WAS TERRIBLE. 1534 01:25:34,796 --> 01:25:36,931 YOU COULD HARDLY SEE TO DRIVE. 1535 01:25:36,998 --> 01:25:44,873 AND I REMEMBER DAD WRAPPED ME IN A BLANKET... 1536 01:25:44,939 --> 01:25:48,109 AND HE CARRIED ME TO THE CAR. 1537 01:25:48,176 --> 01:25:51,679 HE TOLD ME THAT WHEN HE CARRIED ME TO THE CAR, 1538 01:25:51,746 --> 01:25:55,517 HE THOUGHT HE WOULD NEVER SEE ME ALIVE AGAIN. 1539 01:25:55,583 --> 01:25:59,787 BUT FROM THEN, I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING. 1540 01:25:59,854 --> 01:26:01,990 Narrator: AT HER RELATIVES' HOME, 1541 01:26:02,056 --> 01:26:04,559 HER TEMPERATURE FINALLY WENT DOWN, 1542 01:26:04,626 --> 01:26:07,495 BUT HER COUGHING WOULDN'T STOP. 1543 01:26:07,562 --> 01:26:10,331 DOCTORS SAVED HER WITH AN OPERATION THAT DRAINED 1544 01:26:10,398 --> 01:26:13,902 THE FLUID IN HER INFLAMED LUNGS. 1545 01:26:13,968 --> 01:26:17,639 White: AND ONE DAY, I WAS LYING ON THE COUCH, 1546 01:26:17,705 --> 01:26:23,378 AND I LOOKED INTO THE KITCHEN, AND THE DOOR WAS SWINGING OPEN, 1547 01:26:23,444 --> 01:26:25,413 AND YOU KNOW THERE'S A LITTLE CRACK 1548 01:26:25,480 --> 01:26:27,148 THAT YOU CAN SEE THROUGH. 1549 01:26:27,215 --> 01:26:31,786 AND I WAS LOOKING, AND I SAW MY DAD. 1550 01:26:31,853 --> 01:26:37,725 NO WORDS CAN TELL YOU HOW TICKLED I WAS TO SEE MY DAD. 1551 01:26:37,792 --> 01:26:40,361 Narrator: BACK IN NO MAN'S LAND, 1552 01:26:40,428 --> 01:26:43,998 THE RED CROSS DECLARED A MEDICAL CRISIS. 1553 01:26:44,065 --> 01:26:46,734 EMERGENCY HOSPITAL WARDS WERE OPENED 1554 01:26:46,801 --> 01:26:48,870 WHEREVER SPACE COULD BE FOUND, 1555 01:26:48,937 --> 01:26:53,841 INCLUDING THE BASEMENTS OF TWO CHURCHES IN GUYMON, OKLAHOMA. 1556 01:26:53,908 --> 01:26:58,112 OVER IN BACA COUNTY, COLORADO, THE HIGH SCHOOL'S SENIOR PLAY 1557 01:26:58,179 --> 01:27:03,251 WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE COTS NOW COVERED THE GYM FLOOR. 1558 01:27:03,318 --> 01:27:06,120 Floyd Coen: WITHIN A TWO-WEEK PERIOD, 1559 01:27:06,187 --> 01:27:09,857 THERE WERE 3 LITTLE GIRLS DIED OF DUST PNEUMONIA. 1560 01:27:09,924 --> 01:27:13,394 IT WAS CLOSE ENOUGH WE COULD SAY THEY WAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. 1561 01:27:13,461 --> 01:27:15,063 TWO OF THEM WAS OVER IN OKLAHOMA, 1562 01:27:15,129 --> 01:27:17,265 AND ONE OF THEM WAS IN KANSAS. 1563 01:27:17,332 --> 01:27:20,868 BUT THERE WAS-- THERE WAS QUITE A FEW. 1564 01:27:20,935 --> 01:27:24,472 IT SEEMED TO GET ABOUT THAT AGE, YOU KNOW, 1565 01:27:24,539 --> 01:27:28,276 JUST BEFORE THEY WENT TO SCHOOL OR A LITTLE YOUNGER. 1566 01:27:28,343 --> 01:27:33,248 Narrator: BY 1935, EDGAR AND RENA COEN HAD 8 CHILDREN. 1567 01:27:33,314 --> 01:27:36,284 6 YEARS EARLIER, COEN HAD STARTED BUILDING 1568 01:27:36,351 --> 01:27:38,853 A PROPER HOME FOR HIS FAMILY, 1569 01:27:38,920 --> 01:27:40,722 BUT BECAUSE OF THE DEPRESSION, 1570 01:27:40,788 --> 01:27:43,625 CONSTRUCTION HAD ENDED AT THE BASEMENT. 1571 01:27:43,691 --> 01:27:48,162 THEY COVERED IT WITH A SHEET IRON ROOF AND MOVED IN. 1572 01:27:48,229 --> 01:27:50,999 IT WAS LARGER THAN THEIR OLD HOME-- 1573 01:27:51,065 --> 01:27:53,601 SPACE FOR TWO BEDROOMS AND A LARGE ROOM 1574 01:27:53,668 --> 01:27:57,038 THAT SERVED AS A KITCHEN, DINING ROOM, AND LIVING ROOM-- 1575 01:27:57,105 --> 01:28:01,909 BUT IT WAS STILL UNDERGROUND. 1576 01:28:01,976 --> 01:28:06,881 IN 1932, TWINS HAD ARRIVED-- RALPH AND RENA MARIE, 1577 01:28:06,948 --> 01:28:11,653 THEIR ONLY DAUGHTER, WHO QUICKLY BECAME THE FAMILFAY RITE. 1578 01:28:11,719 --> 01:28:15,490 Dale Coen: RA RIE WAS OUR ONLY SISTER. 1579 01:28:15,556 --> 01:28:18,526 SHE WAS SO PRECIOUS TO US BECAUSE THE FOLKS 1580 01:28:18,593 --> 01:28:21,629 HAD BEEN TRYING FOR A GIRL ALL THE TIME. 1581 01:28:21,696 --> 01:28:24,399 IT ALWAYS COME OUT BOYS. 1582 01:28:24,465 --> 01:28:30,405 SHE WAS FRAIL, BUT SHE WAS A PRETTY LITTLE GIRL. 1583 01:28:30,471 --> 01:28:32,907 Floyd Coen: SHE WAS JUST THE SWEETEST LITTLE THING 1584 01:28:32,974 --> 01:28:35,410 THAT YOU'D EVEREE S 1585 01:28:35,476 --> 01:28:37,845 SHE WAS SMALLER THAN RALPH, 1586 01:28:37,912 --> 01:28:41,649 AND SHE WAS ALWAYS JUST BUSY DOING THINGS, JUST ALL THE TIME. 1587 01:28:41,716 --> 01:28:44,385 SHE WAS JUST A JOY FOR ALL OF US. 1588 01:28:44,452 --> 01:28:47,955 AT NIGHT, SINCE MAMA HAD A LOT OF WORK TO DO 1589 01:28:48,022 --> 01:28:51,025 WITH 7 BOYS AND WASHING ON THE BOARD AND STUFF, 1590 01:28:51,092 --> 01:28:52,760 SHE NEEDED HER REST, 1591 01:28:52,827 --> 01:28:55,697 SO RENA MARIE WOULD SLEEP CLOSE TO ME. 1592 01:28:55,763 --> 01:28:58,232 AND I'M GLAD I WAS ABLE TO DO IT. 1593 01:28:58,299 --> 01:29:01,102 I SPENT AN AWFUL LOT OF TIME WITH HER. 1594 01:29:01,169 --> 01:29:05,440 Narrator: THAT SPRING, 4 OF THE COEN CHILDREN GOT SICK-- 1595 01:29:05,506 --> 01:29:10,545 FLOYD, RICHARD, AND THE 2-1/2-YEAR-OLD TWINS. 1596 01:29:10,611 --> 01:29:15,216 ONE NIGHT, RENA MARIE'S TEMPERATURE SKYROCKETED. 1597 01:29:15,283 --> 01:29:17,418 Dale Coen: WE WERE SITTING AT THE TABLE EATING, 1598 01:29:17,485 --> 01:29:22,056 AND SHE JUST IMMEDIATELY WAS BATHED IN WATER. 1599 01:29:22,123 --> 01:29:25,059 SHE JUST SWEAT-- HER HEAD JUST WAS... 1600 01:29:25,126 --> 01:29:27,428 WATER RUNNING OFF HER FACE AND HEAD. 1601 01:29:27,495 --> 01:29:30,164 Narrator: SHE BECAME TOO WEAK TO BE MOVED 1602 01:29:30,231 --> 01:29:32,867 FROM THE BED IN THE PARENTS' ROOM. 1603 01:29:32,934 --> 01:29:36,971 THE DOCTOR WAS SENT FOR AND USHERED IN TO SEE HER. 1604 01:29:37,038 --> 01:29:42,210 Dale Coen: WE WAS ALL AWAKE, ALL SETTING AROUND THE FIRE. 1605 01:29:42,276 --> 01:29:44,212 I REMEMBER I WAS SETTING IN BEHIND THE STOVE, 1606 01:29:44,278 --> 01:29:47,415 BETWEEN THE STOVE AND THE WALL-- PLENTY OF ROOM THERE-- 1607 01:29:47,482 --> 01:29:51,386 AND SHE WAS CRYING, CALLING FOR ME TO COME TO HER. 1608 01:29:51,452 --> 01:29:55,923 SHE CALLED FOR ME--NOT MAMA, NOT DAD, BUT FOR DALE. 1609 01:29:55,990 --> 01:30:00,495 AND I...I HAVEN'T REALLY EVER GOT OVER IT. 1610 01:30:00,561 --> 01:30:03,464 IT WAS BAD, BAD, BAD. 1611 01:30:03,531 --> 01:30:05,800 Floyd Coen: DR. MEREDITH WAS THERE, 1612 01:30:05,867 --> 01:30:09,370 AND HE KNEW SHE WAS PASSING AWAY. 1613 01:30:09,437 --> 01:30:11,939 4 OF US HAD DUST PNEUMONIA AT THAT TIME. 1614 01:30:12,006 --> 01:30:17,245 I AND RALPH AND RICHARD WAS IN BED ALSO. 1615 01:30:17,311 --> 01:30:22,116 THE HARDEST PART WAS WE WAS IN BED OUT IN THE FRONT ROOM, 1616 01:30:22,183 --> 01:30:26,187 AND WHEN I HEARD THE DOCTOR SAY, "DO YOU HAVE A BOARD?" 1617 01:30:26,254 --> 01:30:31,926 AND MY DAD SAID, "WELL, WE HAVE LEAVES FOR THE TABLE." 1618 01:30:31,993 --> 01:30:35,329 AND HE TOOK THE LEAF TO THE TABLE AND TOOK IT IN THERE 1619 01:30:35,396 --> 01:30:39,567 AND PUT HER LITTLE BODY ON THAT LEAF AND BROUGHT IT OUT 1620 01:30:39,634 --> 01:30:43,638 AND SHOWED US BOYS BEFORE HE TOOK HER. 1621 01:30:43,704 --> 01:30:46,741 AND THE DOCTOR PUT HER IN THE REAR SEAT OF HIS CAR 1622 01:30:46,808 --> 01:30:49,544 AND TOOK HER INTO THE MORTUARY. 1623 01:30:49,610 --> 01:30:53,181 BUT THAT WAS THE HARDEST THING ON ME... 1624 01:30:53,247 --> 01:30:56,150 AND STILL IS. 1625 01:30:56,217 --> 01:31:00,421 SHE WAS SUCH A PERFECT LITTLE THING. 1626 01:31:00,488 --> 01:31:04,091 Narrator: TWO WEEKS LATER, THE COENS' FIRST GRANDCHILD, 1627 01:31:04,158 --> 01:31:08,563 VERLE'S SON DWAYNE, DIED AT AGE 5 WEEKS. 1628 01:31:08,629 --> 01:31:12,467 HE AND RENA MARIE WOULD BE TWO OF THE 31 PEOPLE 1629 01:31:12,533 --> 01:31:17,071 WHO PERISHED FROM DUST PNEUMONIA THAT SPRING IN MORTON COUNTY, 1630 01:31:17,138 --> 01:31:21,142 POPULATION 4,092. 1631 01:31:21,209 --> 01:31:25,480 THE TOWN OF LIBERAL LOST 9 TO THE ILLNESS. 1632 01:31:25,546 --> 01:31:28,516 IN THE 7 SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS COUNTIES, 1633 01:31:28,583 --> 01:31:32,954 NEARLY 1,500 PEOPLE BECAME SICK WITH IT. 1634 01:31:33,020 --> 01:31:36,991 SOME BEGAN TO BLAME THEMSELVES FOR WHAT WAS HAPPENING. 1635 01:31:37,058 --> 01:31:40,394 ON ITS FRONT PAGE, THE "BOISE CITY NEWS" PUBLISHED 1636 01:31:40,461 --> 01:31:44,665 A QUOTATION FROM THE BIBLE, THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL-- 1637 01:31:44,732 --> 01:31:48,269 "BEHOLD, THEREFORE, I HAVE SMITTEN MY HAND 1638 01:31:51,906 --> 01:31:57,011 AND AT THY BLOOD WHICH HAS BEEN IN THE MIDST OF THEE." 1639 01:31:57,078 --> 01:31:59,547 McCoy: SOME PEOPLE LEFT ON ACCOUNT OF THAT, 1640 01:31:59,614 --> 01:32:02,049 THINKING GOD WANTED THEM TO LEAVE. 1641 01:32:02,116 --> 01:32:08,623 AFTER THEY HAD THE DUST STORM WHERE THE PEOPLE IN BOISE CITY 1642 01:32:08,689 --> 01:32:13,160 COULD SEE THE IMAGE OF CHRIST INTO IT, 1643 01:32:13,227 --> 01:32:16,964 PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT CHRIST WAS CAUSING THIS. 1644 01:32:17,031 --> 01:32:20,334 THERE WAS JUST LOTS OF TALK THAT GOD WAS TORMENTING US 1645 01:32:20,401 --> 01:32:24,372 BECAUSE THEY PLOWED UP THAT GOOD SOD. 1646 01:32:24,438 --> 01:32:27,808 Egan: YOU NEVER REALLY ESCAPED THE DUST. 1647 01:32:27,875 --> 01:32:29,810 IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN, 1648 01:32:29,877 --> 01:32:33,481 AND THAT'S, I THINK, WHAT DROVE PEOPLE CRAZY. 1649 01:32:33,548 --> 01:32:37,051 ONE WOMAN TOLD ME IT WAS LIKE A SNAKE. 1650 01:32:37,118 --> 01:32:39,453 SHE COULD HEAR IT SLITHERING ALONG THE CEILING 1651 01:32:39,520 --> 01:32:41,155 AND THEN ALONG THE SIDE OF THE WALL. 1652 01:32:41,222 --> 01:32:42,990 SHE SAID SHE JUST WAITED FOR THAT SNAKE 1653 01:32:43,057 --> 01:32:44,425 TO STRIKE FROM ANY PLACE. 1654 01:32:44,492 --> 01:32:46,727 SHE KNEW IT WAS ALWAYS THERE. 1655 01:32:46,794 --> 01:32:49,130 IT WAS THAT KIND OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL BLOW. 1656 01:32:49,196 --> 01:32:51,566 WHEN YOU THOUGHT THAT IT WAS AT LAST BEHIND YOU, 1657 01:32:51,632 --> 01:32:55,937 THIS MONSTER CAME ALONG AND JUST CLOBBERED YOU. 1658 01:33:04,412 --> 01:33:06,013 Woman: "IT SEEMED THAT 1659 01:33:06,080 --> 01:33:09,283 "THE BLACK DUST WAS ALWAYS WITH US. 1660 01:33:09,350 --> 01:33:12,286 "IF A QUIET DAY HAPPENED TO BE OUR LOT, 1661 01:33:12,353 --> 01:33:14,488 "THE TIME WAS SPENT SCOOPING OUT 1662 01:33:14,555 --> 01:33:18,159 "THE SAND OF THE STORM OF YESTERDAY. 1663 01:33:18,225 --> 01:33:22,930 "IT SEEMED THAT WE LIVED IN A LAND OF HAZE. 1664 01:33:22,997 --> 01:33:26,934 "THE ATMOSPHERE SEEMED TO ALWAYS BE CLOSING IN AROUND US, 1665 01:33:27,001 --> 01:33:31,305 CREATING AN EERIE AND UNEASY FEELING." 1666 01:33:31,372 --> 01:33:34,642 HAZEL LUCAS SHAW. 1667 01:33:34,709 --> 01:33:37,945 MOM SAID SHE HAD EVERY CRACK STUFFED WITH RAGS, 1668 01:33:38,012 --> 01:33:40,047 AND SHE WOULD WET THEM DOWN. 1669 01:33:40,114 --> 01:33:42,583 SHE'D HANG SHEETS OVER EVERYTHING 1670 01:33:42,650 --> 01:33:46,187 WHERE DUST MIGHT COME IN, BUT IT DIDN'T KEEP IT OUT. 1671 01:33:46,253 --> 01:33:48,489 IT WOULD COME IN SOMEWHERE. 1672 01:33:48,556 --> 01:33:52,059 Narrator: IN EARLY APRIL OF 1935, 1673 01:33:52,126 --> 01:33:56,530 THE SHAWS OF BOISE CITY, OWNERS OF THE LOCAL MORTUARY, 1674 01:33:56,597 --> 01:33:59,634 BEGAN PLANNING A DOUBLE FUNERAL. 1675 01:33:59,700 --> 01:34:02,603 THEY HAD JUST LOST THE OLDEST AND YOUNGEST MEMBERS 1676 01:34:02,670 --> 01:34:05,940 OF THEIR OWN FAMILY TO THE DUST PNEUMONIA. 1677 01:34:06,007 --> 01:34:10,811 HAZEL'S BEAUTIFUL, PRECOCIOUS YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER RUTH NELL 1678 01:34:10,878 --> 01:34:14,515 HAD DIED JUST A FEW HOURS BEFORE HAZEL'S GRANDMOTHER, 1679 01:34:14,582 --> 01:34:19,220 THE MATRIARCH OF THE CLAN, HAD PASSED AWAY. 1680 01:34:19,286 --> 01:34:22,657 "GRANDMA LOU" WAS TO BE BURIED IN TEXHOMA, 1681 01:34:22,723 --> 01:34:25,993 NEAR HER HOMESTEAD, WHILE RUTH NELL WAS TO BE TAKEN 1682 01:34:26,060 --> 01:34:29,964 TO ENID, IN THE CENTRAL PART OF OKLAHOMA. 1683 01:34:30,031 --> 01:34:31,499 THE MAIN REASON FOR THAT 1684 01:34:31,565 --> 01:34:36,537 WAS THE FACT THAT ENID CEMETERY WAS VISIBLE. 1685 01:34:36,604 --> 01:34:40,141 THEY WOULD HAVE BURIED RUTH NELL IN THE BOISE CITY CEMETERY 1686 01:34:40,207 --> 01:34:43,944 EXCEPT YOU COULDN'T EVEN FIND THE TOMBSTONES, THE HEADSTONES 1687 01:34:44,011 --> 01:34:47,682 IN THE CEMETERY, IT WAS SO DRIFTED FULL OF DIRT. 1688 01:34:52,520 --> 01:34:55,289 Narrator: ON APRIL 14th, 1935, 1689 01:34:55,356 --> 01:34:58,626 THE DAY OF THE DOUBLE FUNERAL ARRIVED. 1690 01:34:58,693 --> 01:35:03,364 IT WAS PALM SUNDAY, A WEEK BEFORE EASTER. 1691 01:35:03,431 --> 01:35:07,368 AND THEY WERE EXCITED WHEN THEY GOT UP THAT DAY 1692 01:35:07,435 --> 01:35:10,871 BECAUSE IT WAS A DAY WHEN IT WAS CLEAR. 1693 01:35:10,938 --> 01:35:12,907 A PRETTY DAY. 1694 01:35:12,973 --> 01:35:16,277 AND IF YOU'VE GOT TO DO A JOB LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, 1695 01:35:16,343 --> 01:35:18,679 THAT'S A BLESSING TO YOUR HEART 1696 01:35:18,746 --> 01:35:22,583 IF YOU HAVE A NICE DAY FOR A FUNERAL FOR A LOVED ONE. 1697 01:35:22,650 --> 01:35:24,351 Narrator: THROUGHOUT THE AREA 1698 01:35:24,418 --> 01:35:26,754 AROUND NO MAN'S LAND THAT MORNING, 1699 01:35:26,821 --> 01:35:29,690 AS MANY FAMILIES PREPARED FOR CHURCH, 1700 01:35:29,757 --> 01:35:34,428 RESIDENTS WERE BEING GREETED BY A GLORIOUS BREAK IN THE WEATHER. 1701 01:35:34,495 --> 01:35:38,632 Egan: THE SUNDAY ITSELF WAS SO GORGEOUS AND WINDLESS, 1702 01:35:38,699 --> 01:35:40,935 AND PEOPLE CAME OUT OF THEIR DUGOUTS 1703 01:35:41,001 --> 01:35:44,472 AND CLEANED THEIR SHEETS AND OPENED UP THEIR WINDOWS. 1704 01:35:44,538 --> 01:35:47,208 IT WAS LIKE A DAWN. IT WAS LIKE A NEW DAY, 1705 01:35:47,274 --> 01:35:51,979 AND YOU THOUGHT, "MY GOD, THIS LAND CAN MAKE US WHOLE AGAIN. 1706 01:35:52,046 --> 01:35:54,181 MY GOD, THE WORST IS OVER." 1707 01:35:54,248 --> 01:35:55,883 Narrator: IN FOLLETT, TEXAS, 1708 01:35:55,950 --> 01:35:59,587 TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S MOTHER HUNG LAUNDRY OUT ON THE LINE, 1709 01:35:59,653 --> 01:36:03,224 FLUNG OPEN THE WINDOWS OF HER HOUSE TO LET IN THE FRESH AIR, 1710 01:36:03,290 --> 01:36:05,593 AND ANNOUNCED THAT THE FAMILY WOULD ENJOY 1711 01:36:05,659 --> 01:36:08,929 THE REST OF THE DAY OUT IN THE COUNTRY. 1712 01:36:08,996 --> 01:36:14,135 THE SKY WAS BLUE. THERE WASN'T A BREATH OF WIND. 1713 01:36:14,201 --> 01:36:18,672 WE WERE JUST EXHILARATED, THE WHOLE FAMILY, 1714 01:36:18,739 --> 01:36:21,041 AND WE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND IT, EITHER, 1715 01:36:21,108 --> 01:36:24,145 BECAUSE IT JUST WAS SO ABNORMAL. 1716 01:36:24,211 --> 01:36:28,783 MOTHER AND DAD DECIDED WE WOULD TAKE A PICNIC, 1717 01:36:28,849 --> 01:36:32,853 AND WE WENT DOWN ON WOLF CREEK. 1718 01:36:32,920 --> 01:36:38,592 Narrator: BY MID-DAY, THE TEMPERATURE HAD RISEN INTO THE HIGH 70s. 1719 01:36:38,659 --> 01:36:42,897 BUT FARTHER NORTH, A COLD FRONT SWEEPING DOWN FROM CANADA 1720 01:36:42,963 --> 01:36:46,767 HAD BEGUN MOVING SOUTH AND EAST ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS, 1721 01:36:46,834 --> 01:36:48,936 PUSHING A WIND BEFORE IT, 1722 01:36:49,003 --> 01:36:54,575 PICKING UP MORE AND MORE LOOSE SOIL WITH EACH MILE IT TRAVELED. 1723 01:36:54,642 --> 01:36:58,546 DENVER, ON THE FRONT'S WESTERN EDGE, WAS COVERED BY A HAZE, 1724 01:36:58,612 --> 01:37:04,018 AND TEMPERATURES DROPPED 25 DEGREES IN AN HOUR'S TIME. 1725 01:37:04,084 --> 01:37:06,620 A LITTLE LATER, IT REACHED UNION COUNTY, 1726 01:37:06,687 --> 01:37:09,323 IN THE NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF NEW MEXICO, 1727 01:37:09,423 --> 01:37:12,726 WHERE SAM ARGUELLO AND HIS FAMILY LIV. 1728 01:37:12,793 --> 01:37:15,496 Sam Arguello: I WAS PLAYING OUT IN THE FRONT YARD. 1729 01:37:15,563 --> 01:37:17,998 IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL DAY, BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY. 1730 01:37:18,065 --> 01:37:19,800 ALL OF A SUDDEN, I LOOKED UP, AND THERE WAS 1731 01:37:19,867 --> 01:37:24,905 A BIG BLACK, BLACK CLOUD COMING IN FROM UP ON THE NORTHEAST. 1732 01:37:24,972 --> 01:37:27,274 WE WERE RIGHT AT THE TURN OF A CANYON, 1733 01:37:27,341 --> 01:37:30,878 DEEP CANYON, I'D SAY PROBABLY 60 FOOT DEEP 1734 01:37:30,945 --> 01:37:34,148 FROM THE TOP DOWN TO THE BOTTOM--OR MORE THAN THAT. 1735 01:37:34,215 --> 01:37:36,183 AND WHEN THAT THING CAME OVER, 1736 01:37:36,250 --> 01:37:38,853 I RUN INTO THE HOUSE AND I TOLD THEM, I SAYS, 1737 01:37:38,919 --> 01:37:41,322 "THERE'S A BIG BLACK CLOUD COMING OUT THERE." 1738 01:37:41,388 --> 01:37:43,591 EVERYBODY SAYS, "THERE'S NO CLOUDS OUT THERE." 1739 01:37:43,657 --> 01:37:45,993 IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SUNNY DAY. 1740 01:37:46,060 --> 01:37:48,195 BY THE TIME THEY GOT TO THE DOOR, IT WAS JUST BLACK. 1741 01:37:48,262 --> 01:37:51,565 EVERYTHING WAS BLACK. YOU COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING. 1742 01:37:51,632 --> 01:37:54,301 Narrator: THE RESIDENTS AROUND NO M'N'S LAND 1743 01:37:54,368 --> 01:37:56,937 ALREADY HAD 4 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE 1744 01:37:57,004 --> 01:37:59,540 WITH DUST STORMS OF ALL KINDS, 1745 01:37:59,607 --> 01:38:03,310 BUT TO A PERSON, THIS ONE SEEMED DIFFERENT-- 1746 01:38:03,377 --> 01:38:08,115 BIGGER, BLACKER, MORE SINISTER. 1747 01:38:08,182 --> 01:38:10,918 Robertson: WE SAW THIS CLOUD COMING IN. 1748 01:38:10,985 --> 01:38:15,155 IT WOULD JUST ROLL IN-- BLACK, BLACK DIRT. 1749 01:38:15,222 --> 01:38:17,424 AND I'LL NEVER FORGET, MY GRANDMOTHER, 1750 01:38:17,491 --> 01:38:20,928 SHE WAS PRETTY MUCH CHRISTIAN, AND SHE SAID, 1751 01:38:20,995 --> 01:38:22,997 "YOU KIDS RUN AND GET TOGETHER. 1752 01:38:23,063 --> 01:38:25,165 THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING." 1753 01:38:25,232 --> 01:38:28,235 AND BOY, WE--THAT WAS LAW AND GOSPEL 1754 01:38:28,302 --> 01:38:30,204 BECAUSE GRANDMA SAID SO. 1755 01:38:30,271 --> 01:38:32,072 AND WE ALL GOT TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, 1756 01:38:32,139 --> 01:38:33,974 AND WE WERE SCARED TO DEATH. 1757 01:38:34,041 --> 01:38:36,644 AND THAT CLOUD JUST ROLLED LIKE THAT, 1758 01:38:36,710 --> 01:38:40,481 JUST KEPT COMING, AND IT JUST GOT DARK AS COULD BE. 1759 01:38:40,547 --> 01:38:44,318 Wayne Lewis: WE SAT THERE AND WATCHED IT. 1760 01:38:44,385 --> 01:38:49,323 I REMEMBER THE THING ROLLING, THAT IT... 1761 01:38:49,390 --> 01:38:54,161 IT WAS LIKE A TORNADO THAT WAS ON ITS SIDE. 1762 01:38:54,228 --> 01:38:58,332 Wells: ALL THE BIRDS, EVERYTHING WAS FLYING SOUTH. 1763 01:38:58,399 --> 01:39:01,635 WE COULD SEE THIS THING ROLLING IN. 1764 01:39:01,702 --> 01:39:04,138 MY BROTHER TOLD ME HE THOUGHT THE END OF THE WORLD WAS COMING. 1765 01:39:04,204 --> 01:39:06,106 OF COURSE, THAT SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH, 1766 01:39:06,173 --> 01:39:08,642 AND I WASN'T SO SURE ABOUT IT. 1767 01:39:08,709 --> 01:39:10,377 Narrator: BY NOW, IT WAS EVEN BIGGER 1768 01:39:10,444 --> 01:39:14,081 THAN THE MONSTROUS "BLACK BLIZZARD" OF 1934, 1769 01:39:14,148 --> 01:39:15,983 AND AS IT MOVED SOUTH AND EAST 1770 01:39:16,050 --> 01:39:20,587 ACROSS THE OPEN FIELDS OF KANSAS, OKLAHOMA, AND TEXAS, 1771 01:39:20,654 --> 01:39:22,823 IT GOT BIGGER STILL. 1772 01:39:22,890 --> 01:39:28,929 IT WAS 200 MILES WIDE, MOVING AT 65 MILES PER HOUR, 1773 01:39:28,996 --> 01:39:33,901 AND IT BEGAN CATCHING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE OUT IN THE OPEN. 1774 01:39:33,968 --> 01:39:37,471 TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FAMILY WAS AT WOLF CREEK, 1775 01:39:37,538 --> 01:39:41,842 IN THE MIDST OF THEIR PICNIC, 20 MILES FROM HOME. 1776 01:39:41,909 --> 01:39:47,014 Brown: WE NOTICED WHAT LOOKED LIKE RAIN CLOUDS 1777 01:39:47,081 --> 01:39:49,516 FORMING IN THE NORTH. 1778 01:39:49,583 --> 01:39:55,189 RAIN CLOUDS HAVE A BLUE CAST TO THEM, A NAVY BLUE CAST, 1779 01:39:55,255 --> 01:39:58,892 AND THERE WAS NO BLUE IN THIS ONE. 1780 01:39:58,959 --> 01:40:01,095 IT WAS BLACK. 1781 01:40:01,161 --> 01:40:04,164 WE ALL GOT INTO THE CAR VERY QUICKLY. 1782 01:40:04,231 --> 01:40:09,236 DAD AND MOM WET ANYTHING THAT WAS IN THE CAR-- 1783 01:40:09,303 --> 01:40:12,239 SHIRTS, TOWELS, HANDKERCHIEFS-- 1784 01:40:12,306 --> 01:40:15,909 PUT EVERYTHING AROUND ALL OF OUR FACES. 1785 01:40:15,976 --> 01:40:22,750 AND WHEN IT HIT, THE CAR JUST DID A JIGGLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE. 1786 01:40:22,816 --> 01:40:27,621 DON'T'MEMBERNY A SOUNFRD ANY PEOPLE. 1787 01:40:27,688 --> 01:40:30,457 BUT ITAS WLACK. 1788 01:40:30,524 --> 01:40:33,460 IT WAS TOTLYALLACK. 1789 01:40:35,262 --> 01:40:37,364 Narrator: IN GUYMON, OKLAHOMA, 1790 01:40:37,431 --> 01:40:39,933 THE PARENTS OF BOOTS McCOY HAD DROPPED HIM 1791 01:40:40,000 --> 01:40:43,971 AND HIS SISTER, RUBY PAULINE, OFF FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL, 1792 01:40:44,038 --> 01:40:47,541 PROMISING TO PICK THEM UP WHEN SERVICES WERE OVER. 1793 01:40:47,608 --> 01:40:50,344 THEN THE STORM HIT. 1794 01:40:50,411 --> 01:40:53,113 McCoy: THEY FINALLY STOPPED THE CHURCH 1795 01:40:53,180 --> 01:40:55,182 BECAUSE IT WAS GETTING SO BAD. 1796 01:40:55,249 --> 01:40:58,052 PEOPLE WAS GETTING UP AND LEAVING ANYWAY. 1797 01:40:58,118 --> 01:41:01,688 THE PASTORXC EED EVERYBODY WITH A PRAYER, 1798 01:41:01,755 --> 01:41:05,826 AND AS WE WENT THERE, THEY HAD A RAIL. 1799 01:41:05,893 --> 01:41:09,329 I CAN REMEMBER HOLDING THAT RAIL AND HOLDING RUBY'S-- 1800 01:41:09,396 --> 01:41:12,499 SHE WAS--SHE WAS MORE SCARED THAN I WAS. 1801 01:41:12,566 --> 01:41:16,603 SO I JUST TOOK SISTER, AND WE STARTED OFF. 1802 01:41:16,670 --> 01:41:18,439 Narrator: THROUGH THE DARKNESS, 1803 01:41:18,505 --> 01:41:20,941 THEY STRUGGLED TO MAKE THEIR WAY HOME 1804 01:41:21,008 --> 01:41:23,710 THROUGH BACK ALLEYS AND NEIGHBORS' YARDS, 1805 01:41:23,777 --> 01:41:28,248 RELYING ON MEMORY MORE THAN EYESIGHT. 1806 01:41:28,315 --> 01:41:31,285 THEY FINALLY MADE IT HOME, BUT THE HOUSE WAS EMPTY. 1807 01:41:31,351 --> 01:41:33,587 THEIR PARENTS WERE FRANTICALLY SEARCHING 1808 01:41:33,654 --> 01:41:38,125 FOR THEM OUTSIDE THE CHURCH AND ALONG THE MAIN STREETS. 1809 01:41:38,192 --> 01:41:40,194 McCoy: THEN THE FOLKS CAME, 1810 01:41:40,260 --> 01:41:43,230 AND IT WAS SO DARK IN THE HOUSE THAT THEY COULDN'T SEE US. 1811 01:41:43,297 --> 01:41:46,467 MOM WAS CRYING AND HOLLERED THAT WE WEREN'T HOME 1812 01:41:46,533 --> 01:41:49,570 AND SHE WAS WANTING TO GO BACK TO SEE IF THEY COULD FIND US. 1813 01:41:49,636 --> 01:41:52,106 I HOLLERED AND SAID "WE'RE HOME," YOU KNOW, 1814 01:41:52,172 --> 01:41:54,908 AND IT RELIEVED THEM QUITE A LOT. 1815 01:41:54,975 --> 01:41:59,046 THEN WE ALL JUST--JUST SAT, AND MOM JUST CRIED. 1816 01:41:59,113 --> 01:42:02,416 WE HAD TO HUG MOM A LOT TO GET HER TO HUSH. 1817 01:42:05,018 --> 01:42:08,322 Shaw: THEY HAD JUST COMPLETED THE FUNERAL. 1818 01:42:08,388 --> 01:42:10,824 THEY HAD TAKEN RUTH NELL BACK ACROSS THE STREET 1819 01:42:10,891 --> 01:42:14,595 FROM ST. PAUL'S METHODIST CHURCH TO THE FUNERAL HOME, 1820 01:42:14,661 --> 01:42:17,831 AND THEY HAD JUST SENT THE FUNERAL PROCESSION 1821 01:42:17,898 --> 01:42:21,768 WITH GRANDMA LOU OFF TOWARDS TEXHOMA. 1822 01:42:21,835 --> 01:42:24,838 THEY GOT ABOUT... A LITTLE BIT MORE 1823 01:42:24,905 --> 01:42:27,841 THAN 6 MILES OUT OF BOISE CITY 1824 01:42:27,908 --> 01:42:35,415 WHEN THE FUNERAL PROCESSION SAW THE BLACK DUSTER BEHIND THEM. 1825 01:42:35,482 --> 01:42:38,318 Narrator: HAZEL LUCAS SHAW AND HER HUSBAND 1826 01:42:38,385 --> 01:42:40,587 HAD NOT ACCOMPANIED THE CARAVAN OF CARS 1827 01:42:40,654 --> 01:42:44,324 HEADED FOR GRANDMA LOU'S GRAVESIDE SERVICE. 1828 01:42:44,391 --> 01:42:46,160 THEY HAD REMAINED BEHIND, 1829 01:42:46,226 --> 01:42:50,164 NOT WANTING TO LEAVE THE BODY OF RUTH NELL. 1830 01:42:50,230 --> 01:42:54,768 THEIR YOUNG NIECE, CAROL, HAD BEEN TOLD TO STAY WITH THEM. 1831 01:42:54,835 --> 01:42:59,039 MY COUSIN HAD BEEN WITH DAD AND MOM, 1832 01:42:59,106 --> 01:43:01,875 AND SHE'D GONE OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, 1833 01:43:01,942 --> 01:43:04,645 AND SHE SAW THE BLACK DUSTER COMING. 1834 01:43:04,711 --> 01:43:06,513 SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE TYKE IN THE GRADES, 1835 01:43:06,580 --> 01:43:09,249 I DON'T KNOW, PROBABLY 6, 7 YEARS OLD. 1836 01:43:09,316 --> 01:43:13,453 SO SHE HEADED FOR HOME, WHICH WAS ABOUT 5 OR 6 BLOCKS AWAY. 1837 01:43:13,520 --> 01:43:17,524 BY THE TIME THE DUSTER HIT, DAD DISCOVERED THAT SHE WAS GONE. 1838 01:43:17,591 --> 01:43:20,994 HE HOPED THAT SHE HAD GOTTEN HOME ALL RIGHT, 1839 01:43:21,061 --> 01:43:23,197 BUT WHEN ONE OF THOSE BLACK DUSTERS HIT, 1840 01:43:23,263 --> 01:43:26,800 THE STATIC ELECTRICITY WAS SO TERRIBLE 1841 01:43:26,867 --> 01:43:29,336 THAT YOU COULDN'T MAKE A TELEPHONE CALL. 1842 01:43:29,403 --> 01:43:32,806 THERE WASN'T SUCH A THING AS RINGING UP YOUR BROTHER 1843 01:43:32,873 --> 01:43:36,877 AND ASKING IF THEIR CHILD HAD GOTTEN HOME ALL RIGHT. 1844 01:43:36,944 --> 01:43:40,080 SO DAD GOT HIS FLASHLIGHT. 1845 01:43:40,147 --> 01:43:42,683 HE GOT DOWN ON HIS STOMACH, 1846 01:43:42,749 --> 01:43:46,486 AND HE ELBOWED HIS WAY UNDERNEATH THE DUST. 1847 01:43:46,553 --> 01:43:48,655 THE VISIBILITY WAS SLIGHT. 1848 01:43:48,722 --> 01:43:51,758 YOU COULD SEE A LITTLE BIT UNDERNEATH THE DUST. 1849 01:43:51,825 --> 01:43:53,760 SO HE ELBOWED HIS WAY 1850 01:43:53,827 --> 01:43:56,296 THOSE 5 BLOCKS TO HIS BROTHER'S HOUSE. 1851 01:43:56,363 --> 01:44:03,136 FORTUNATELY, CAROL WAS THERE, AND SHE HAD ARRIVED HOME SAFELY. 1852 01:44:03,203 --> 01:44:05,505 BUT DAD DIDN'T WANT TO WORRY MOM, 1853 01:44:05,572 --> 01:44:07,574 SO HE CRAWLED ON HIS STOMACH 1854 01:44:07,641 --> 01:44:11,211 THE 5 BLOCKS BACK TO THE FUNERAL HOME. 1855 01:44:11,278 --> 01:44:14,248 IN THE MEANTIME, THE FUNERAL PROCESSION 1856 01:44:14,314 --> 01:44:19,286 THAT HAD STARTED TO TEXHOMA TURNED AROUND AND RETURNED. 1857 01:44:19,353 --> 01:44:25,092 IN ORDER TO FIND A ROAD BACK, THERE WERE 4 MEN IN WHITE SHIRTS 1858 01:44:25,158 --> 01:44:28,462 THAT HELD HANDS AND STRETCHED THEMSELVES 1859 01:44:28,528 --> 01:44:30,731 ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE ROAD, 1860 01:44:30,797 --> 01:44:34,334 AND THE LEAD CAR GOT RIGHT BEHIND THEM. 1861 01:44:34,401 --> 01:44:37,604 TOOK THEM A NUMBER OF HOURS TO GET BACK THAT WAY 1862 01:44:37,671 --> 01:44:40,907 THE 6 OR SO MILES THEY HAD TO WALK BACK. 1863 01:44:40,974 --> 01:44:43,710 THAT'S AS FAST AS THE PROCESSION CAME BACK. 1864 01:44:43,777 --> 01:44:47,114 I THINK THEY GOT BACK ABOUT 10:00 THAT NIGHT. 1865 01:44:47,180 --> 01:44:50,450 Narrator: APRIL 14, 1935, 1866 01:44:50,517 --> 01:44:53,587 CAME TO BE CALLED "BLACK SUNDAY," 1867 01:44:53,654 --> 01:44:56,156 AND NO ONE WHO LIVED THROUGH IT WOULD EVER FORGET 1868 01:44:56,223 --> 01:44:59,059 THE STORM'S SIZE OR FEROCITY-- 1869 01:44:59,126 --> 01:45:03,130 OR WHAT THEY DID TO SURVIVE IT. 1870 01:45:03,196 --> 01:45:05,632 AFTER HUDDLING IN THEIR PARKED CAR 1871 01:45:05,699 --> 01:45:07,701 WHILE THE BLACKNESS ENGULFED THEM, 1872 01:45:07,768 --> 01:45:11,638 TRIXIE BROWN'S FAMILY INCHED THEIR WAY HOME. 1873 01:45:11,705 --> 01:45:15,442 Brown: WE COULDN'T GET INTO THE HOUSE. 1874 01:45:15,509 --> 01:45:18,445 THE DUST AND DIRT WAS SO HIGH 1875 01:45:18,512 --> 01:45:21,381 THAT WE COULDN'T OPEN THE SCREEN DOOR. 1876 01:45:21,448 --> 01:45:25,719 SO DAD HAD TO GO TO THE GARAGE TO GET A SHOVEL, 1877 01:45:25,786 --> 01:45:30,424 AND HE HAD TO SHOVEL THE DIRT AWAY FROM THE SCREEN DOOR 1878 01:45:30,490 --> 01:45:32,659 BEFORE WE COULD GET IN. 1879 01:45:32,726 --> 01:45:35,562 WE HAD LEFT THE HOUSE OPEN 1880 01:45:35,629 --> 01:45:41,034 BECAUSE MOTHER SAID, "WE'LL AIR OUT THINGS." 1881 01:45:41,101 --> 01:45:46,840 SO THE HOUSE WAS TOTALLY LOADED WITH DIRT. 1882 01:45:46,907 --> 01:45:49,009 Arguello: BY SUNDOWN, BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED 1883 01:45:49,076 --> 01:45:52,512 ABOUT 1:30 WHEN THAT THING CAME OFF THE TOP OF THAT CANYON, 1884 01:45:52,579 --> 01:45:54,648 AND BY SUNDOWN, IT HAD GONE PAST 1885 01:45:54,715 --> 01:45:57,017 AND IT WAS JUST AS RED AS IT COULD BE TO THE WEST, 1886 01:45:57,084 --> 01:45:59,619 YOU KNOW, WHERE THE SUN WAS HITTING IT. 1887 01:45:59,686 --> 01:46:02,289 BUT IT WAS JUST RED ALL OVER. 1888 01:46:02,356 --> 01:46:05,192 MY GRANDMOTHER SCARED THE TAR OUT OF ME. 1889 01:46:05,258 --> 01:46:08,061 I WENT OUT THERE, AND I SAID, "WHAT IS THAT, 1890 01:46:08,128 --> 01:46:11,264 ALL THAT RED OUT THERE, COMING ON THE WEST SIDE?" 1891 01:46:11,331 --> 01:46:12,999 SHE SAID, "IT'S FIRE, FIRE. 1892 01:46:13,066 --> 01:46:15,135 THE WORLD'S COMING TO AN END." 1893 01:46:15,202 --> 01:46:18,004 AND I WENT AND CRAWLED UNDER THE BED. 1894 01:46:19,840 --> 01:46:24,544 McCoy: THEY WERE TOUGH TIMES-- REALLY, REALLY TOUGH TIMES. 1895 01:46:24,611 --> 01:46:26,480 DEATHLY SCARY, YOU KNOW. 1896 01:46:26,546 --> 01:46:31,351 AN EERIE, EERIE TIME FOR OLDER PEOPLE AND US KIDS, YOU KNOW. 1897 01:46:31,418 --> 01:46:35,188 WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE DEVIL WAS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT. 1898 01:46:35,255 --> 01:46:38,125 Narrator: WITHIN A MONTH, BOTH BOOTS McCOY 1899 01:46:38,191 --> 01:46:40,227 AND HIS SISTER RUBY PAULINE 1900 01:46:40,293 --> 01:46:43,196 WOULD COME DOWN WITH DUST PNEUMONIA. 1901 01:46:43,263 --> 01:46:47,501 HE WOULD SUFFER LUNG AILMENTS THE REST OF HIS LIFE. 1902 01:46:47,567 --> 01:46:51,405 SHE DIED BEFORE SUMMER ARRIVED. 1903 01:46:51,471 --> 01:46:53,573 McCoy: SHE WAS MY BEST BUDDY. YEAH. 1904 01:46:53,640 --> 01:46:57,778 WE WENT THROUGH THEM HARD TIMES TOGETHER, YOU KNOW? 1905 01:46:57,844 --> 01:47:00,914 Narrator: "AT LEAST," HER MOTHER SAID, 1906 01:47:00,981 --> 01:47:04,684 "SHE WON'T HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH ANOTHER DUST STORM." 1907 01:47:09,322 --> 01:47:12,726 BY CHANCE, A REPORTER FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 1908 01:47:12,793 --> 01:47:16,696 NAMED ROBERT GEIGER HAD BEEN IN NO MAN'S LAND ON BLACK SUNDAY 1909 01:47:16,763 --> 01:47:19,699 AND MANAGED TO FIND SHELTER IN BOISE CITY 1910 01:47:19,766 --> 01:47:23,370 DURING THE WORST OF THE STORM. 1911 01:47:23,437 --> 01:47:28,608 THE STORY GEIGER FILED THE NEXT DAY BEGAN, 1912 01:47:28,675 --> 01:47:30,010 "THREE LITTLE WORDS-- 1913 01:47:30,076 --> 01:47:32,112 "ACHINGLY FAMILIAR ON A WESTERN FARMER'S TONGUE-- 1914 01:47:32,179 --> 01:47:36,283 "RULE LIFE TODAY IN THE DUST BOWL OF THE CONTINENT-- 1915 01:47:36,349 --> 01:47:39,252 IF IT RAINS..." 1916 01:47:39,319 --> 01:47:43,757 BUT INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON THOSE 3 LITTLE WORDS, "IF IT RAINS," 1917 01:47:43,824 --> 01:47:46,993 MORE PEOPLE FASTENED ONTO THE 3 WORDS HE HAD USED 1918 01:47:47,060 --> 01:47:52,332 TO DESCRIBE THE PLACE THAT RAIN HAD FORSAKEN: "THE DUST BOWL." 1919 01:47:52,399 --> 01:47:59,539 IT WAS THE FIRST TIME ANYONE HAD USED THAT TERM. 1920 01:47:59,606 --> 01:48:02,042 Riney-Kehrberg: BLACK SUNDAY IS THE DIRT STORM 1921 01:48:02,108 --> 01:48:04,878 THAT EVERYBODY REMEMBERED. 1922 01:48:04,945 --> 01:48:08,982 IT WAS SO MUCH DARKER, SO MUCH MORE INTENSE, 1923 01:48:09,049 --> 01:48:13,620 SO MUCH SCARIER THAN MOST OF THE OTHERS HAD BEEN. 1924 01:48:13,687 --> 01:48:17,390 AND I DON'T THINK THAT IT'S REALLY ANY COINCIDENCE 1925 01:48:17,457 --> 01:48:21,461 THAT THE OUTWARD MIGRATION OF THOSE WHO WERE GOING TO GO 1926 01:48:21,528 --> 01:48:24,397 CAME AFTER BLACK SUNDAY. 1927 01:48:24,464 --> 01:48:26,733 Narrator: IN THE MONTHS TO COME, 1928 01:48:26,800 --> 01:48:28,802 DUST STORMS WOULD CONTINUE 1929 01:48:28,869 --> 01:48:31,805 TO WREAK HAVOC ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, 1930 01:48:31,872 --> 01:48:34,941 WHILE THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION WOULD STRUGGLE 1931 01:48:35,008 --> 01:48:38,945 TO COME UP WITH NEW STRATEGIES TO MEET THE CRISIS. 1932 01:48:39,012 --> 01:48:41,214 IN THE HEART OF THE DUST BOWL, 1933 01:48:41,281 --> 01:48:44,885 MANY FAMILIES WOULD DESPERATELY TRY TO HANG ON, 1934 01:48:44,951 --> 01:48:47,454 BUT SOME WOULD RELUCTANTLY DECIDE 1935 01:48:47,521 --> 01:48:49,556 TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES BEHIND 1936 01:48:49,623 --> 01:48:53,927 AND TRY TO BEGIN A NEW LIFE SOMEWHERE ELSE. 1937 01:48:53,994 --> 01:48:58,431 AMONG THEM WOULD BE A 22-YEAR-OLD ITINERANT SONGWRITER 1938 01:48:58,498 --> 01:49:02,135 WHO HAD FOUND REFUGE FROM THE FURY OF BLACK SUNDAY 1939 01:49:02,202 --> 01:49:05,038 IN A SMALL HOUSE WITH HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS 1940 01:49:05,105 --> 01:49:09,442 IN PAMPA, TEXAS, JUST SOUTH OF NO MAN'S LAND. 1941 01:49:09,509 --> 01:49:13,179 HIS NAME WAS WOODY GUTHRIE. 1942 01:49:13,246 --> 01:49:16,049 Woody Guthrie: WE WATCHED THE DUST STORM COME UP, 1943 01:49:16,116 --> 01:49:20,387 LIKE THE RED SEA CLOSING IN ON THE ISRAEL CHILDREN, 1944 01:49:20,453 --> 01:49:23,890 AND I'M TELLING YOU, IT GOT SO BLACK WHEN THAT THING HIT, 1945 01:49:23,957 --> 01:49:26,593 WE ALL RUN INTO THE HOUSE. 1946 01:49:26,660 --> 01:49:32,232 AND A LOT OF THE PEOPLE IN THE CROWD THAT WAS RELIGIOUS-MINDED 1947 01:49:32,299 --> 01:49:34,768 AND THEY WAS UP PRETTY WELL ON THEIR SCRIPTURES, 1948 01:49:34,834 --> 01:49:40,440 AND THEY SAID, "WELL, BOYS, GIRLS, FRIENDS, AND RELATIVES, 1949 01:49:40,507 --> 01:49:42,309 "THIS IS THE END. 1950 01:49:42,375 --> 01:49:45,078 THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD." 1951 01:49:45,145 --> 01:49:47,981 AND EVERYBODY JUST SAID, "WELL, SO LONG. 1952 01:49:48,048 --> 01:49:50,717 IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YOU." 1953 01:49:50,784 --> 01:49:53,019 I MADE UP A LITTLE SONG. 1954 01:49:54,387 --> 01:49:57,791 ♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 1955 01:49:57,857 --> 01:50:01,428 ♪ SO LONG, BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 1956 01:50:01,494 --> 01:50:04,698 ♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 1957 01:50:04,764 --> 01:50:09,169 ♪ THIS DUSTY OLD DUST IS A-BLOWIN' ME HOME ♪ 1958 01:50:09,235 --> 01:50:12,339 ♪ I'VE GOT TO BE ROLLIN' ALONG ♪ 1959 01:50:27,587 --> 01:50:31,958 ♪ I'LL SING THIS SONG, BUT I'LL SING IT AGAIN ♪ 1960 01:50:32,025 --> 01:50:36,296 ♪ OF THE PLACE THAT I LIVED ON THE WEST TEXAS PLAINS ♪ 1961 01:50:39,032 --> 01:50:44,070 ♪ IN THE CITY OF PAMPA IN THE COUNTY OF GRAY ♪ 1962 01:50:44,137 --> 01:50:46,840 ♪ HERE'S WHAT ALL OF THE PEOPLE THERE SAY ♪ 1963 01:50:46,906 --> 01:50:50,777 ♪ WELL, IT'S SO LONG, BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 1964 01:50:50,844 --> 01:50:54,514 ♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 1965 01:50:54,681 --> 01:50:56,149 ♪ SO LONG... ♪ 1966 01:50:56,216 --> 01:50:58,351 Announcer: NEXT TIME ON "THE DUST BOWL"... 1967 01:50:58,451 --> 01:51:00,186 Man: GRASSHOPPERS MOSTLY WERE CRAWLING. 1968 01:51:00,286 --> 01:51:02,856 Announcer: A NEW PLAGUE DESCENDS ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 1969 01:51:02,989 --> 01:51:04,724 Man: THEY ATE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. 1970 01:51:04,791 --> 01:51:07,260 Announcer: SOME FAMILIES PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE ON. 1971 01:51:07,394 --> 01:51:09,996 WE HAD NOTHING LEFT. THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY. 1972 01:51:10,063 --> 01:51:11,564 Announcer: AND A PRESIDENT MUST DECIDE 1973 01:51:11,698 --> 01:51:13,933 IF THE PLAINS CAN BE SAVED. 1974 01:51:14,067 --> 01:51:15,835 Man: "MR. PRESIDENT, LET'S JUST GET O." 1975 01:51:15,902 --> 01:51:18,238 Franklin Roosevelt: UNLESS IMMEDIATE STEPS ARE TAKEN, 1976 01:51:18,304 --> 01:51:21,274 WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR HANDS A NEW MANMADE SAHARA. 1977 01:51:21,408 --> 01:51:23,276 Narrator: DON'T MISS 1978 01:51:23,410 --> 01:51:26,379 THE CONCLUSION OF "THE DUST BOWL" 1979 01:51:26,379 --> 01:51:28,782 Esperanza Spalding: ONE TREMENDOUS THING ABOUT PBS 1980 01:51:28,782 --> 01:51:32,619 IS THAT IT MAKES ART ACCESSIBLE BY PUTTING IT ON A PLATFORM 1981 01:51:32,619 --> 01:51:34,788 WHERE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CAN ACCESS IT FOR FREE. 1982 01:51:34,788 --> 01:51:36,122 AND WE NEED IT. 1983 01:51:36,122 --> 01:51:39,125 WE NEED MUSIC. WE NEED DANCE. WE NEED GREAT THEATER. 1984 01:51:39,125 --> 01:51:41,461 FOR OUR SOUL. FOR JOY IN OUR LIVES. 1985 01:51:41,461 --> 01:51:43,463 A LOT OF PEOPLE FLIP ON PBS 1986 01:51:43,463 --> 01:51:47,067 AND HEAR OR SEE SOMETHING THAT WAKES UP THAT INTEGRAL PART 1987 01:51:47,067 --> 01:51:49,402 OF BEING A HUMAN BEING WHICH IS ENJOYING 1988 01:51:49,402 --> 01:51:51,237 THE ARTS OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. 1989 01:51:51,237 --> 01:51:55,408 SO I'M GRATEFUL FOR PBS AS AN ARTIST AND AS A VIEWER. 1990 01:51:55,408 --> 01:51:57,677 Announcer: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT "THE DUST BOWL," 1991 01:51:57,677 --> 01:51:59,713 WATCH WEB-EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS, 1992 01:51:59,713 --> 01:52:01,448 EXPLORE OUR PHOTO GALLERY, 1993 01:52:01,448 --> 01:52:04,384 AND GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE PRODUCERS OF THE FILM, 1994 01:52:04,384 --> 01:52:09,422 VISIT US ONLINE AT PBS.ORG/DUSTBOWL. 1995 01:52:09,422 --> 01:52:12,759 THE DUST BOWL IS AVAILABLE ON DVD OR BLU-RAY. 1996 01:52:12,759 --> 01:52:15,095 THE COMPANION BOOK IS ALSO AVAILABLE. 1997 01:52:15,095 --> 01:52:18,098 TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG 1998 01:52:18,098 --> 01:52:21,434 OR CALL 1-800-PLAYPBS. 1999 01:52:21,434 --> 01:52:23,603 ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM iTUNES. 2000 01:52:23,603 --> 01:52:24,971 ♪ ...IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 2001 01:52:24,971 --> 01:52:28,441 ♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 2002 01:52:28,441 --> 01:52:31,778 ♪ SO LONG, IT'S BEEN GOOD TO KNOW YA ♪ 2003 01:52:31,778 --> 01:52:35,281 ♪ THIS DUSTY OLD DUST IS A-ROLLIN' ME HOME ♪ 2004 01:52:35,281 --> 01:52:35,281 ♪ GOT TO BE DRIFTIN' ALONG ♪