1 00:00:01,034 --> 00:00:02,702 ON "THE DUST BOWL"... 2 00:00:02,702 --> 00:00:05,338 Man: YOU NEVER REALLY ESCAPED THE DUST. 3 00:00:05,338 --> 00:00:07,207 IT ALWAYS FOUND ITS WAY IN. 4 00:00:07,207 --> 00:00:10,310 Narrator: AFTER THE NATIVE GRASSLANDS ARE PLOWED UNDER, 5 00:00:10,310 --> 00:00:13,847 A 10-YEAR DROUGHT DEVASTATES THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, 6 00:00:13,847 --> 00:00:17,484 WITH BLACK SUNDAY BRINGING THE WORST STORM YET. 7 00:00:17,484 --> 00:00:19,352 Woman: MY GRANDMOTHER, SHE SAID, 8 00:00:19,352 --> 00:00:21,221 "YOU KIDS RUN AND GET TOGETHER. 9 00:00:21,221 --> 00:00:23,923 THE END OF THE WORLD'S COMING." 10 00:00:23,923 --> 00:00:26,559 Narrator: AND TONIGHT, A NEW PLAGUE DESCENDS 11 00:00:26,559 --> 00:00:27,861 ON THE DUST BOWL. 12 00:00:27,861 --> 00:00:30,463 Man: GRASSHOPPERS MOSTLY WERE CRAWLING. 13 00:00:30,463 --> 00:00:32,399 THEY ATE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. 14 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:35,335 Narrator: SOME FAMILIES PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE ON. 15 00:00:35,335 --> 00:00:36,936 Man: WE LOST EVERYTHING IN 6 MONTHS. 16 00:00:36,936 --> 00:00:38,138 WE HAD NOTHING LEFT. 17 00:00:38,138 --> 00:00:40,840 THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY. 18 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:42,575 Narrator: AND A PRESIDENT MUST DECIDE 19 00:00:42,575 --> 00:00:45,412 IF THE PLAINS CAN BE SAVED. 20 00:00:45,412 --> 00:00:47,080 Man: "MR. PRESIDENT, IT'S NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. 21 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,649 LET'S JUST GET OUT, LET'S PULL OUT." 22 00:00:49,649 --> 00:00:52,085 Franklin Roosevelt: UNLESS IMMEDIATE STEPS ARE TAKEN, 23 00:00:52,085 --> 00:00:56,890 WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR HANDS A NEW MANMADE SAHARA. 24 00:00:56,890 --> 00:00:58,591 Narrator: THE CONCLUSION OF "THE DUST BOWL" 25 00:00:58,591 --> 00:01:00,126 COMING UP NEXT. 26 00:01:00,193 --> 00:01:01,628 Narrator: THE CONCLUSION OF "THE DUST BOWL" 27 00:01:02,695 --> 00:01:05,098 D INOWING] 28 00:01:09,235 --> 00:01:12,739 Woody Guthrie: ♪ ON THE 14th DAY OF APRIL ♪ 29 00:01:12,806 --> 00:01:16,142 ♪ OF 1935 ♪ 30 00:01:16,209 --> 00:01:19,546 ♪ THERE STRUCK THE WORST OF DUST STORMS ♪ 31 00:01:19,612 --> 00:01:22,916 ♪ THAT EVER FILLED THE SKY ♪ 32 00:01:22,982 --> 00:01:26,286 ♪ YOU COULD SEE THAT DUST STORM COMING ♪ 33 00:01:26,352 --> 00:01:29,756 ♪ THE CLOUD LOOKED DEATH-LIKE BLACK ♪ 34 00:01:29,823 --> 00:01:33,193 ♪ AND THROUGH OUR MIGHTY NATION ♪ 35 00:01:33,259 --> 00:01:36,796 ♪ IT LEFT A DREADFUL TRACK ♪ 36 00:01:36,863 --> 00:01:40,266 Donald Worster: WE HAVE MANY WORDS FOR WHAT'S UNDER OUR FEET. 37 00:01:40,333 --> 00:01:42,469 THE GOOD EARTH--WE LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE GOOD EARTH 38 00:01:42,535 --> 00:01:45,538 AND PICK IT UP AND SMELL IT AND TASTE IT. 39 00:01:45,605 --> 00:01:49,909 THIS IS THE SOIL OF OUR PRODUCTIVITY, OUR PROSPERITY. 40 00:01:49,976 --> 00:01:51,544 BUT WHEN IT'S LOOSE AND BLOWING 41 00:01:51,611 --> 00:01:53,513 AND IT'S GETTING INTO YOUR ATTIC 42 00:01:53,580 --> 00:01:57,450 AND IT'S COVERING YOUR LAUNDRY ON THE CLOTHES LINE, IT'S DIRT, 43 00:01:57,517 --> 00:02:00,653 OR WHEN YOU'RE BREATHING IT, IT'S DUST. 44 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,022 I THINK WE ALL REALIZE THAT WHERE DIRT BELONGS 45 00:02:03,089 --> 00:02:07,393 IS UNDER OUR FEET, NOT UP IN THE AIR. 46 00:02:07,460 --> 00:02:09,429 Wayne Lewis: WE MADE SO MUCH MONEY 47 00:02:09,496 --> 00:02:12,132 AT RAISING WHEAT IN THE LATE TWENTIES 48 00:02:12,198 --> 00:02:16,436 THAT WE BROKE EVERYTHING OUT TO RAISE MORE WHEAT. 49 00:02:16,503 --> 00:02:22,208 THEN THE CLIMATE CHANGED AND THE DEPRESSION CAME ALONG, 50 00:02:22,275 --> 00:02:24,244 AND THE WHEAT WASN'T WORTH MUCH. 51 00:02:24,310 --> 00:02:28,414 BUT WE STILL HAD THE LAND BROKEN OUT. 52 00:02:28,481 --> 00:02:32,118 WE WERE JUST TOO SELFISH, AND WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE MONEY 53 00:02:32,185 --> 00:02:34,687 AND GET RICH QUICK OFF OF THE WHEAT, 54 00:02:34,754 --> 00:02:40,393 AND IT DIDN'T WORK OUT. 55 00:02:40,460 --> 00:02:45,198 SUSTAINED ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 56 00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:47,734 IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS IN JUST ONE YEAR. 57 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,270 IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT JUST LASTS FOR 3 OR 4 YEARS. 58 00:02:50,336 --> 00:02:51,704 IT'S A DECADE. 59 00:02:51,771 --> 00:02:56,409 BECAUSE OF THE COMBINATION OF EXTREME DROUGHT 60 00:02:56,476 --> 00:02:58,211 AND EXTREME HIGH TEMPERATURES, 61 00:02:58,278 --> 00:03:02,115 THIS IS THE WORST 10-YEAR PERIOD 62 00:03:02,182 --> 00:03:04,951 IN RECORDED HISTORY ON THE PLAINS. 63 00:03:05,018 --> 00:03:08,321 Guthrie: ♪ WE SAW OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW ♪ 64 00:03:08,388 --> 00:03:11,724 ♪ WHERE WHEAT FIELDS THEY HAD GROWN ♪ 65 00:03:11,791 --> 00:03:14,994 ♪ WAS NOW A RIPPLING OCEAN ♪ 66 00:03:15,061 --> 00:03:18,531 ♪ OF DUST THE WIND HAD BLOWN ♪ 67 00:03:24,003 --> 00:03:26,472 Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1935, 68 00:03:26,539 --> 00:03:29,375 AT HER HOMESTEAD IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE, 69 00:03:29,442 --> 00:03:32,712 CAROLINE HENDERSON, A FARM WIFE AND WRITER, 70 00:03:32,779 --> 00:03:35,014 SAT DOWN AND COMPOSED A LETTER 71 00:03:35,081 --> 00:03:38,351 TO THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, HENRY WALLACE, 72 00:03:38,418 --> 00:03:41,020 TO LET HIM KNOW WHAT SHE, HER HUSBAND, 73 00:03:41,087 --> 00:03:45,892 AND SO MANY OF HER NEIGHBORS WERE GOING THROUGH. 74 00:03:45,959 --> 00:03:48,061 Caroline Henderson portrayer: WE ARE NOW FACING 75 00:03:48,127 --> 00:03:50,230 A FOURTH YEAR OF FAILURE. 76 00:03:50,296 --> 00:03:52,665 SINCE 1931, THE RECORD HAS BEEN 77 00:03:52,732 --> 00:03:56,169 ONE OF PRACTICALLY UNBROKEN DROUGHT. 78 00:03:56,236 --> 00:04:01,274 THERE CAN BE NO WHEAT FOR US IN 1935. 79 00:04:01,341 --> 00:04:05,311 IN ONE RESPECT, WE REALIZE THAT SOME FARMERS HAVE THEMSELVES 80 00:04:05,378 --> 00:04:10,316 CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REAPING OF THE WHIRLWIND. 81 00:04:10,383 --> 00:04:13,920 A REVIVAL PREACHER- A TRUE JOB'S COMFORTER-- 82 00:04:13,987 --> 00:04:19,025 PROCLAIMED THAT THE DROUGHT IS A DIRECT PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS. 83 00:04:19,092 --> 00:04:20,994 THE FUTURE PROMISES ONLY 84 00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:25,298 HOPELESS AND PERMANENT DESERT CONDITIONS. 85 00:04:25,365 --> 00:04:27,400 SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR RAIN WERE OFFERED 86 00:04:27,467 --> 00:04:31,838 AT OUR COUNTY SEAT LAST SUNDAY MORNING. 87 00:04:31,904 --> 00:04:35,775 THE AFTERNOON BROUGHT ONE OF THE MOST SUDDEN, DENSE, 88 00:04:35,842 --> 00:04:40,713 AND SUFFOCATING DUST STORMS OF THE SEASON. 89 00:04:40,780 --> 00:04:44,817 Narrator: BY 1935, CAROLINE HENDERSON AND HER NEIGHBORS 90 00:04:44,884 --> 00:04:47,820 NEEDED ALL THE HELP THEY COULD FIND. 91 00:04:47,887 --> 00:04:50,256 LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE UNITED STATES, 92 00:04:50,323 --> 00:04:53,526 THEY WERE SUFFERING AS THE GREATEST ECONOMIC CATACLYSM 93 00:04:53,593 --> 00:04:55,328 IN THE NATION'S HISTORY-- 94 00:04:55,395 --> 00:04:58,264 THE GREAT DEPRESSION-- LINGERED ON. 95 00:04:58,331 --> 00:05:00,333 BUT THEY WERE ALSO CAUGHT IN THE MIDST 96 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,070 OF THE NATION'S GREATEST ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE-- 97 00:05:04,137 --> 00:05:06,806 WHERE "BLACK BLIZZARDS" BLOTTED OUT THE SUN, 98 00:05:06,873 --> 00:05:13,446 CREATED DRIFTS AGAINST THEIR HOMES, RUINED THEIR CROPS, 99 00:05:13,513 --> 00:05:15,882 AND JUST WHEN IT SEEMED THINGS 100 00:05:15,948 --> 00:05:17,650 COULD NOT GET ANY WORSE, 101 00:05:17,717 --> 00:05:21,621 ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 1935, 102 00:05:21,688 --> 00:05:24,390 THE BIGGEST STORM OF ALL HAD STRUCK 103 00:05:24,457 --> 00:05:27,360 WITH A SURPRISING VENGEANCE. 104 00:05:33,032 --> 00:05:37,503 Riney-Kehrberg: I THINK IT REALLY SCARED A LOT OF PEOPLE. 105 00:05:37,570 --> 00:05:40,206 IT'S ALSO SCARY ENOUGH THAT IT GETS THE ATTENTION 106 00:05:40,273 --> 00:05:42,442 OF THE REST OF THE COUNTRY. 107 00:05:42,508 --> 00:05:47,647 IF PEOPLE WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION PRIOR TO BLACK SUNDAY, 108 00:05:47,714 --> 00:05:52,218 THIS IS AN EVENT THAT IS SO MONUMENTAL 109 00:05:52,285 --> 00:05:54,954 THAT PEOPLE CAN'T IGNORE IT. 110 00:05:58,491 --> 00:06:01,928 Narrator: IN THE DUST BOWL, THE SURVIVORS OF BLACK SUNDAY 111 00:06:01,994 --> 00:06:05,298 WORRIED THAT THEY HAD BECOME A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE 112 00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:08,067 IN A FORGOTTEN LAND. 113 00:06:08,134 --> 00:06:10,503 THEY WEREN'T FORGOTTEN. 114 00:06:10,570 --> 00:06:12,872 WHILE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT STRUGGLED 115 00:06:12,939 --> 00:06:15,608 TO GET THE WHOLE COUNTRY BACK ON ITS FEET, 116 00:06:15,675 --> 00:06:18,845 HE WAS ALSO PROFOUNDLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE FATE 117 00:06:18,911 --> 00:06:21,848 OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 118 00:06:21,914 --> 00:06:26,686 BUT OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, THE DROUGHT WOULD ONLY DEEPEN, 119 00:06:26,753 --> 00:06:29,188 AND THE "BLACK BLIZZARDS" THAT ADDED IMMEASURABLY 120 00:06:29,255 --> 00:06:33,893 TO PEOPLE'S MISERIES WOULD ONLY INTENSIFY. 121 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:35,962 MANY WOULD FIGHT DESPERATELY 122 00:06:36,028 --> 00:06:38,865 TO HOLD ON TO THEIR LAND AND THEIR LIVES. 123 00:06:38,931 --> 00:06:41,467 OTHERS WOULD BE FORCED TO JOIN AN EXODUS 124 00:06:41,534 --> 00:06:47,373 TOWARD A PROMISED LAND THAT OFFERED BOTH WATER AND WORK. 125 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,610 IN THE CRUCIBLE OF DUST AND DROUGHT AND DEPRESSION, 126 00:06:50,676 --> 00:06:53,279 SOME FAMILIES WOULD BE TORN APART, 127 00:06:53,346 --> 00:06:55,815 OTHERS UPROOTED FROM THEIR HOMES, 128 00:06:55,882 --> 00:07:01,220 AND SOME BROUGHT CLOSER TOGETHER THAN EVER BEFORE. 129 00:07:01,287 --> 00:07:03,489 I THINK TO BE A DRY LAND FARMER, 130 00:07:03,556 --> 00:07:06,492 YOU HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN KIND OF A PERSON, 131 00:07:06,559 --> 00:07:08,928 AND DEEP DOWN INSIDE OF THEMSELVES, 132 00:07:08,995 --> 00:07:11,964 THEY MUST HAVE HAD THE FEELING, "IF WE JUST STICK IT OUT 133 00:07:12,031 --> 00:07:16,002 AND STAY HERE, TIMES ARE BOUND TO GET BETTER," 134 00:07:16,068 --> 00:07:19,005 WHICH DID GIVE THEM A LITTLE HOPE, 135 00:07:19,071 --> 00:07:21,374 BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF A DUST STORM, 136 00:07:21,441 --> 00:07:24,610 IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO HOPE, 137 00:07:24,677 --> 00:07:29,248 AND IT TAKES A LOT OF WILLPOWER AND EVERYTHING ELSE 138 00:07:29,315 --> 00:07:34,187 TO BRING YOURSELF BACK OUT TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME. 139 00:07:34,253 --> 00:07:39,025 SO YOU HAD TO ADMIRE THOSE PEOPLE WHO DID STICK IT OUT. 140 00:07:39,091 --> 00:07:43,429 THEY HAD COME THERE, MAYBE THEY'D BEEN BORN THERE, 141 00:07:43,496 --> 00:07:46,899 AND THEY INTENDED TO STAY. 142 00:07:46,966 --> 00:07:49,869 THIS WAS THEIR HOME. 143 00:08:03,816 --> 00:08:06,853 Dorothy Kleffman: WE LIVED IN A BROWN WORLD. 144 00:08:06,919 --> 00:08:10,890 THE LAND WAS BARREN AND BROWN. 145 00:08:10,957 --> 00:08:16,062 IT SEEMED LIKE MOST OF THE HOUSES WERE WEATHER-BEATEN. 146 00:08:16,128 --> 00:08:19,699 THE GROUND WAS BROWN. EVERYTHING WAS BROWN. 147 00:08:19,765 --> 00:08:21,901 AND I DIDN'T KNOW ANY DIFFERENCE. 148 00:08:21,968 --> 00:08:23,970 IT WAS ALL I KNEW. 149 00:08:24,036 --> 00:08:28,107 Narrator: DURING THE 1930s, 46 OF THE 48 STATES 150 00:08:28,174 --> 00:08:30,943 HAD EXPERIENCED SOME FORM OF DROUGHT, 151 00:08:31,010 --> 00:08:35,381 AND FARMERS EVERYWHERE WERE HURTING, BUT NONE MORE 152 00:08:35,448 --> 00:08:37,950 THAN THOSE IN THE AREA SURROUNDING THE TOWN 153 00:08:38,017 --> 00:08:41,020 OF BOISE CITY, OKLAHOMA, WHICH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 154 00:08:41,087 --> 00:08:43,422 HAD DECLARED AS THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTER 155 00:08:43,489 --> 00:08:47,326 OF THE DUST BOWL, WHERE CONDITIONS WERE THE WORST-- 156 00:08:47,393 --> 00:08:51,764 A PLACE ONCE KNOWN AS NO MAN'S LAND. 157 00:08:51,831 --> 00:08:54,567 IN 1935, BOISE CITY RECEIVED 158 00:08:54,634 --> 00:08:57,737 FEWER THAN 10 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION, 159 00:08:57,803 --> 00:09:02,108 THE OFFICIAL DEFINITION OF A DESERT. 160 00:09:02,174 --> 00:09:05,211 FARMERS IN NEARBY BACA COUNTY, COLORADO, 161 00:09:05,278 --> 00:09:10,082 WHO HAD ONCE HARVESTED WHEAT ON 237,000 ACRES, 162 00:09:10,149 --> 00:09:15,321 NOW HAD SUCCESSFUL CROPS ON ONLY 516. 163 00:09:15,388 --> 00:09:18,324 IN THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES, 164 00:09:18,391 --> 00:09:20,760 THE ABSENTEE "SUITCASE FARMERS" 165 00:09:20,826 --> 00:09:23,829 WHO HAD HOPED TO STRIKE IT RICH IN WHEAT 166 00:09:23,896 --> 00:09:28,401 SIMPLY ABANDONED NEARLY 4 MILLION ACRES OF EXPOSED FIELDS, 167 00:09:28,467 --> 00:09:32,471 LEAVING THEM TO BLOW WITH EACH NEW WIND. 168 00:09:32,538 --> 00:09:34,440 IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS, 169 00:09:34,507 --> 00:09:38,277 VEGETABLE GARDENS WERE PRODUCING 90% LESS THAN NORMAL, 170 00:09:38,344 --> 00:09:40,379 AND MORE THAN A QUARTER OF THE CHILDREN 171 00:09:40,446 --> 00:09:45,484 WERE REPORTED TO BE AT LEAST 10% UNDERWEIGHT. 172 00:09:45,551 --> 00:09:48,454 PEOPLE HERE "HAVE GIVEN UP TRYING TO BE CIVILIZED," 173 00:09:48,521 --> 00:09:50,623 A LOCAL MINISTER SAID. 174 00:09:50,690 --> 00:09:53,726 "WE ARE MERELY TRYING TO EXIST." 175 00:09:53,793 --> 00:09:57,863 Virginia Frantz: WE HAD A LITTLE HEIFER THAT HAD A NEW CALF. 176 00:09:57,930 --> 00:10:01,033 I WENT DOWN TO SEE THE CALF, 177 00:10:01,100 --> 00:10:04,003 AND IT WAS LAYING THERE KICKING, 178 00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:06,372 AND MY DAD WAS WALKING AWAY WITH A HAMMER. 179 00:10:06,439 --> 00:10:08,040 HE HAD KILLED IT. 180 00:10:08,107 --> 00:10:12,078 AND I RAN TO MY MOTHER JUST BAWLING ABOUT IT, 181 00:10:12,144 --> 00:10:14,580 BECAUSE MY DAD WAS SO TENDER-HEARTED, 182 00:10:14,647 --> 00:10:16,816 AND SHE SAID, "HE HAD TO." 183 00:10:16,882 --> 00:10:19,385 SHE SAID, "WE'VE JUST GOT THE ONE MILK COW. 184 00:10:19,452 --> 00:10:23,889 THERE'S NOT ENOUGH MILK FOR YOU KIDS AND THE CALF, TOO." 185 00:10:23,956 --> 00:10:26,726 SHE SAID, "YOU KIDS HAVE GOT TO HAVE MILK." 186 00:10:26,792 --> 00:10:29,095 SO HE KILLED THE CALF. 187 00:10:39,772 --> 00:10:43,175 Imogene Glover: WELL, IT WAS PRETTY BAD. 188 00:10:43,242 --> 00:10:47,613 MY MOTHER SAVED SUGAR SACKS AND FLOUR SACKS FOR MATERIAL 189 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:50,016 TO MAKE MY PANTIES, 190 00:10:50,082 --> 00:10:54,987 AND I HAD A DRESS MADE OUT OF FLOUR SACKS. 191 00:10:55,054 --> 00:10:56,922 IT WASN'T GOOD PERCALE. 192 00:10:56,989 --> 00:11:00,493 IT WAS JUST COTTON THAT HAD BEEN PRINTED, 193 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,397 LIKE LITTLE FLOWERS ON THE SUGAR SACKS. 194 00:11:04,463 --> 00:11:08,100 THAT'S WHY THEY WERE USED FOR MY PANTIES. 195 00:11:08,167 --> 00:11:13,906 THE FLOUR SACKS MIGHT BE PLAID OR HAVE BIG FLOWERS, 196 00:11:13,973 --> 00:11:18,344 AND THAT'S WHY THEY MADE DRESSES OUT OF THEM. 197 00:11:18,411 --> 00:11:22,581 MOTHER COULD GET US A DRESS OUT OF 3 FEED SACKS. 198 00:11:22,648 --> 00:11:25,284 THEY MADE THEM REAL PRETTY-- PRETTY PRINTS 199 00:11:25,351 --> 00:11:27,019 USE THEY FOUND OUT THE FARMERS' WIVES 200 00:11:27,086 --> 00:11:28,888 WERE USING THEM FOR THAT. 201 00:11:28,954 --> 00:11:31,223 WE FOUND OUT SOME OF THE NEIGHBORS WORE 202 00:11:31,290 --> 00:11:32,892 THE SAME DRESSES WE DID, 203 00:11:32,958 --> 00:11:35,528 BUT WE ALWAYS LAUGHED AT EACH OTHER AND WENT ON 204 00:11:35,594 --> 00:11:37,596 BECAUSE WE HAD A NEW DRESS. 205 00:11:37,663 --> 00:11:39,465 IT WAS FINE. 206 00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:43,669 Clarence Beck: MY FAMILY, IN TERMS OF EATING, 207 00:11:43,736 --> 00:11:46,605 COULD HAVE EGGS, OUR OWN EGGS, 208 00:11:46,672 --> 00:11:50,242 AND THEN START BORROWING FROM THE GROCER. 209 00:11:50,309 --> 00:11:52,845 WHEN HE WOULD QUIT LENDING YOU MONEY, 210 00:11:52,912 --> 00:11:58,484 YOU WERE DOWN TO EATING LARD AND BREAD OR AN EGG. 211 00:11:58,551 --> 00:12:02,822 WE ATE SO POORLY THAT THE HOBOS WOULDN'T COME TO OUR HOUSE. 212 00:12:02,888 --> 00:12:05,925 I WAS DOWN TO EATING LARD AND BREAD. 213 00:12:05,991 --> 00:12:08,861 Calvin Crabill: WE LIVED IN 4 DIFFERENT PLACES 214 00:12:08,928 --> 00:12:13,332 WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO SURVIVE. 215 00:12:13,399 --> 00:12:16,235 EVERY YEAR MY FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD GRADE, 216 00:12:16,302 --> 00:12:18,704 WE MOVED TO A DIFFERENT FARM EVERY TIME, 217 00:12:18,771 --> 00:12:21,407 AND EVERY TIME, WE LOST IT. 218 00:12:21,474 --> 00:12:23,175 ONE SUMMER, WE NEEDED A LOAF OF BREAD, 219 00:12:23,242 --> 00:12:24,643 AND THERE WAS THIS LITTLE COUNTRY STORE 220 00:12:24,710 --> 00:12:27,146 A HALF-MILE AWAY FROM WHERE WE LIVED. 221 00:12:27,213 --> 00:12:29,482 AND WE LOOKED FOR A DIME IN THE HOUSE. 222 00:12:29,548 --> 00:12:31,684 WE COULDN'T FIND A DIME. 223 00:12:31,751 --> 00:12:35,988 WE COULDN'T FIND A DIME IN THE HOUSE TO BUY A LOAF OF BREAD. 224 00:12:36,055 --> 00:12:38,924 Glover: I THINK IT WAS PROBABLY HARDER 225 00:12:38,991 --> 00:12:41,360 ON MY MOTHER THAN IT WAS MY DAD 226 00:12:41,427 --> 00:12:43,095 BECAUSE SHE WORRIED ABOUT 227 00:12:43,162 --> 00:12:47,299 WHAT SHE WAS GONNA BE ABLE TO FIX FOR US TO EAT. 228 00:12:47,366 --> 00:12:51,637 IT WAS RARE FOR ANYONE TO HAVE MONEY, 229 00:12:51,704 --> 00:12:55,174 BUT MY GRANDDAD WAS PRETTY RESOURCEFUL, 230 00:12:55,241 --> 00:13:00,212 AND HE HAD GIVEN ME 3 DIMES--AND I WAS RICH! 231 00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:05,050 AND I HID THEM, AND MY MOTHER WANTED TO KNOW WHERE. 232 00:13:05,117 --> 00:13:08,120 I SAID, "I BURIED THEM IN THE SAND 233 00:13:08,187 --> 00:13:10,890 OUT AROUND THE SOUTH WINDOW." 234 00:13:10,956 --> 00:13:13,626 AND SHE SAID, "WELL, YOU COME SHOW ME." 235 00:13:13,692 --> 00:13:17,963 AND SHE LOOKED UNTIL SHE FOUND THOSE 3 DIMES. 236 00:13:18,030 --> 00:13:21,634 ONE TIME MY BROTHER SWALLOWED 2 DIMES, 237 00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:26,839 AND MY MOTHER MADE HIM USE A CAN OR A SLOP JAR 238 00:13:26,906 --> 00:13:32,511 TO GO TO THE BATHROOM UNTIL SHE DUG THOSE DIMES OUT. 239 00:13:32,578 --> 00:13:37,082 Narrator: SOUTH OF BOISE CITY, DON WELLS AND HIS FAMILY 240 00:13:37,149 --> 00:13:42,655 WERE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE ON THEIR 160-ACRE FARM. 241 00:13:42,721 --> 00:13:45,124 Don Wells: THERE WAS 10 OF US KIDS, 242 00:13:45,191 --> 00:13:47,927 AND WE LIVED IN A TWO-ROOM HOUSE. 243 00:13:47,993 --> 00:13:50,996 AT NIGHT, WE HAD WALL-TO-WALL MATTRESSES. 244 00:13:51,063 --> 00:13:53,966 AT DAYTIME, WE SCOOTED THEM UNDER THE BED. 245 00:13:54,033 --> 00:13:55,634 HAD TWO ROOMS-- THE KITCHEN, 246 00:13:55,701 --> 00:13:58,237 AND THEN THERE WAS A BED IN THERE, 247 00:13:58,304 --> 00:14:01,307 AND THEN THE REST OF US ALL SLEPT IN THE OTHER ROOM. 248 00:14:01,373 --> 00:14:03,576 Narrator: ONE SUNDAY, WELLS LEARNED 249 00:14:03,642 --> 00:14:07,079 THAT HIS FATHER HAD DIED IN A DISTANT HOSPITAL, 250 00:14:07,146 --> 00:14:09,348 FROM WHAT HAD STARTED AS STREP THROAT 251 00:14:09,415 --> 00:14:12,651 AND ENDED WITH HIM CHOKING TO DEATH. 252 00:14:12,718 --> 00:14:15,955 DON'S MOTHER, AGE 35, WAS NOW A WIDOW 253 00:14:16,021 --> 00:14:21,327 WITH A GRADE-SCHOOL EDUCATION AND 10 MOUTHS TO FEED. 254 00:14:21,393 --> 00:14:23,395 Wells: WE COULDN'T STAY OUT ON THE FARM 255 00:14:23,462 --> 00:14:27,666 BECAUSE THE BANK CAME AND GOT WHAT LITTLE MACHINERY WE HAD, 256 00:14:27,733 --> 00:14:29,835 AND WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY COWS LEFT. 257 00:14:29,902 --> 00:14:32,705 WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY PIGS TO EAT. 258 00:14:32,771 --> 00:14:36,942 SO MY UNCLES LOADED US UP IN A TRUCK, 259 00:14:37,009 --> 00:14:40,279 PUT ALL OF OUR CLOTHES AND FURNITURE IN THE BACK OF IT, 260 00:14:40,346 --> 00:14:43,482 AND THEY TOOK US TO BOISE CITY. 261 00:14:43,549 --> 00:14:46,652 Narrator: THE FAMILY LIVED IN ONE HOUSE AFTER ANOTHER, 262 00:14:46,719 --> 00:14:49,889 FORCED TO MOVE WHENEVER THEY COULDN'T PAY THE RENT, 263 00:14:49,955 --> 00:14:53,993 UNTIL THEY FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING THEY COULD AFFORD-- 264 00:14:54,059 --> 00:14:56,228 A CHICKEN COOP. 265 00:14:58,931 --> 00:15:02,468 DOWN IN AMARILLO, THE DUST BOWL'S BIGGEST CITY, 266 00:15:02,534 --> 00:15:06,438 WALTER LUCIUS DURRETT HAD LOST HIS INSURANCE BUSINESS 267 00:15:06,505 --> 00:15:08,574 AND THEN HIS HEALTH. 268 00:15:08,641 --> 00:15:12,311 THE STRAIN OF IT ALL PROVED TOO MUCH FOR HIS WIFE. 269 00:15:12,378 --> 00:15:16,515 Pauline Durrett Robertson: MY MOTHER BEGAN TO DESPAIR 270 00:15:16,582 --> 00:15:19,652 THAT THINGS WERE NEVER GOING TO GET BETTER; 271 00:15:19,718 --> 00:15:22,855 IN FACT, THEY WERE GETTING WORSE. 272 00:15:22,922 --> 00:15:29,695 IT AFFECTED HER... IT AFFECTED HER OUTLOOK ON LIFE, 273 00:15:29,762 --> 00:15:32,798 AND SHE BEGAN TO... 274 00:15:32,865 --> 00:15:36,001 WELL, SHE HAD A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, ACTUALLY. 275 00:15:36,068 --> 00:15:41,240 SO WE 3 GIRLS WERE PRETTY MOTHERLESS 276 00:15:41,307 --> 00:15:43,809 DURING THE DEPRESSION. 277 00:15:43,876 --> 00:15:48,113 AT ONE TIME, WHEN WE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO EAT, 278 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:57,489 WE HAD TO APPLY FOR RELIEF, AND THAT WAS HARD FOR US TO DO. 279 00:15:57,556 --> 00:16:01,694 THE BROWN TRUCK WITH THE MARKING ON THE SIDE CAME 280 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:07,199 TO THE FRONT OF OUR HOUSE AND BROUGHT SOME FOOD. 281 00:16:07,266 --> 00:16:11,337 IT WAS REALLY HARD FOR US TO SEE THAT. 282 00:16:11,403 --> 00:16:14,406 I GUESS WE WERE SORRY FOR THE NEIGHBORS TO SEE 283 00:16:14,473 --> 00:16:17,810 THAT WE NEEDED THAT BROWN TRUCK. 284 00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:21,413 Pauline Hodges: WE COULD GO TO THE COURTHOUSE IN BEAVER 285 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,484 AND GET COMMODITIES IF WE WANTED TO. 286 00:16:25,551 --> 00:16:28,253 THE PROBLEM WAS THAT PEOPLE LIKE MY FATHER 287 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,191 AND SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS WERE TOO PROUD TO GO DO THAT. 288 00:16:32,257 --> 00:16:34,326 AND I REMEMBER MY MOTHER RAISING SUCH A RUCKUS 289 00:16:34,393 --> 00:16:36,462 BECAUSE SHE WASN'T TOO PROUD, 290 00:16:36,528 --> 00:16:38,497 AND WE DID GET SOME GRAPEFRUIT 291 00:16:38,564 --> 00:16:40,232 AND SOME OTHER KINDS COFMODITIES 292 00:16:40,299 --> 00:16:42,701 THAT HELPED OUT WITH FOOD. 293 00:16:42,768 --> 00:16:47,006 Narrator: IN MANY TOWNS, THE NAMES OF FAMILIES ON RELIEF 294 00:16:47,072 --> 00:16:50,709 WERE PUBLISHED EACH MONTH IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER. 295 00:16:50,776 --> 00:16:54,780 IN ONE COUNTY, 80% OF THE POPULATION NOW RELIED 296 00:16:54,847 --> 00:16:59,118 ON SOME FORM OF GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE. 297 00:16:59,184 --> 00:17:03,455 Dorothy Williamson: THESE PEOPLE WERE...WERE SO NEEDY, 298 00:17:03,522 --> 00:17:07,393 AND YOU FELT SO SORRY FOR THEM. 299 00:17:07,459 --> 00:17:10,696 YOU MIGHT FEEL LIKE GIVING THEM A DOLLAR OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET, 300 00:17:10,763 --> 00:17:13,632 BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST DIDN'T DO THINGS LIKE THAT. 301 00:17:13,699 --> 00:17:15,300 IT'S NOT PROFESSIONAL. 302 00:17:15,367 --> 00:17:18,804 Narrator: FRESH OUT OF COLLEGE, AT AGE 21, 303 00:17:18,871 --> 00:17:22,074 DOROTHY WILLIAMSON WAS HIRED AS A SOCIAL WORKER, 304 00:17:22,141 --> 00:17:24,710 TRAINED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND DISPATCHED 305 00:17:24,777 --> 00:17:28,647 TO PROWERS COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO. 306 00:17:32,084 --> 00:17:36,422 AND WENT FROM ONEA DUST-RAVAGED FARM TO ANOTHER. 307 00:17:38,223 --> 00:17:42,895 Williamson: SO WE SAT ACROSS THE TABLE AND TALKED TO EACH OTHER. 308 00:17:42,961 --> 00:17:45,898 IT WAS ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING 309 00:17:45,964 --> 00:17:48,734 THAT THEY COULD SEE NO WAY OUT. 310 00:17:48,801 --> 00:17:50,769 THAT'S WHY THEY LOOKED SO HOPELESS, 311 00:17:50,836 --> 00:17:53,105 AND ALSO THEY LOOKED STUNNED, 312 00:17:53,172 --> 00:17:57,176 AS IF, "CAN THIS REALLY BE HAPPENING?" 313 00:17:57,242 --> 00:17:59,878 IT KIND OF LEFT ME WITH A BAD FEELING, TOO, 314 00:17:59,945 --> 00:18:02,614 TO HAVE TO GO OUT THERE AND SEE THESE PEOPLE 315 00:18:02,681 --> 00:18:06,251 BECAUSE YOU FELT YOU WERE HELPING THEM WHAT YOU COULD, 316 00:18:06,318 --> 00:18:09,488 BUT YOU REALLY COULDN'T HELP THEM. 317 00:18:09,555 --> 00:18:13,592 WHAT THEY REALLY NEEDED WAS AN INNER THING 318 00:18:13,659 --> 00:18:15,761 THAT NOBODY COULD GIVE THEM. 319 00:18:15,828 --> 00:18:18,297 THEY NEEDED A... 320 00:18:18,363 --> 00:18:22,634 A TRUST AGAIN IN SOMETHING WHICH THEY HAD LOST. 321 00:18:26,772 --> 00:18:30,175 Narrator: WHAT HELP THERE WAS CAME FROM WASHINGTON NOW 322 00:18:30,242 --> 00:18:32,511 AND THE FLOOD OF NEW DEAL PROGRAMS 323 00:18:32,578 --> 00:18:35,547 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT HAD CREATED. 324 00:18:35,614 --> 00:18:39,251 THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS PUT YOUNG MEN TO WORK 325 00:18:39,318 --> 00:18:44,123 IN NATIONAL PARKS, STATE PARKS, AND NATIONAL FORESTS, 326 00:18:44,189 --> 00:18:46,658 AND PAID THEM $30 A MONTH, 327 00:18:46,725 --> 00:18:51,630 25 WHICH THEY WERE REQUIRED TO SEND HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES. 328 00:18:51,697 --> 00:18:55,334 THOUSANDS OF CCC WORKERS WERE ALSO DISPATCHED 329 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,705 TO PLANT ROWS OF TREES UP AND DOWN THE GREAT PLAINS 330 00:18:59,771 --> 00:19:04,309 AS POTENTIAL WINDBREAKS AGAINST THE FIERCE DUST STORMS. 331 00:19:04,376 --> 00:19:10,549 BY THE END OF THE DECADE, 18,600 MILES OF SHELTERBELTS, 332 00:19:10,616 --> 00:19:15,988 WITH 217 MILLION TREES, HAD BEEN PLANTED. 333 00:19:16,054 --> 00:19:18,590 THE NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION, 334 00:19:18,657 --> 00:19:23,028 OPEN TO BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS, LET STUDENTS REMAIN AT HOME 335 00:19:23,095 --> 00:19:25,097 AND EARN A LITTLE MONEY 336 00:19:25,164 --> 00:19:27,199 THROUGH WORK-STUDY PROJECTS. 337 00:19:27,266 --> 00:19:29,935 IN AMARILLO, PAULINE DURRETT ROBERTSON 338 00:19:30,002 --> 00:19:34,039 WAS PAID 25 CENTS AN HOUR TO GRADE PAPERS. 339 00:19:34,106 --> 00:19:37,709 IN BOISE CITY, DON WELLS AND HIS OLDER BROTHER 340 00:19:37,776 --> 00:19:42,214 STAYED AFTER SCHOOL TO HELP THE JANITOR CLEAN CLASSROOMS. 341 00:19:42,281 --> 00:19:46,084 AS A BONUS, HE LET THEM TAKE SHOWERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM-- 342 00:19:46,151 --> 00:19:50,455 A LUXURY FOR BOYS WHO LIVED IN A CHICKEN COOP. 343 00:19:50,522 --> 00:19:52,558 IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS, 344 00:19:52,624 --> 00:19:55,227 LORENE WHITE'S MOTHER RECEIVED A PRESSURE OKCO 345 00:19:55,294 --> 00:19:58,797 FROM THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEFDMISTRATION, 346 00:19:58,864 --> 00:20:01,366 AND HER FATHER RELUCTANTLY ENROLLED 347 00:20:01,433 --> 00:20:04,236 WITH THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION, 348 00:20:04,303 --> 00:20:09,074 THE NEW DEAL'S BIGGEST AND MOST CONTROVERSIAL PROGRAM. 349 00:20:09,141 --> 00:20:13,045 Lorene White: MY DAD WAS A PROUD MAN. 350 00:20:13,111 --> 00:20:16,215 HE DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS. 351 00:20:16,281 --> 00:20:19,618 HE THOUGHT HE COULD HANDLE IT ON HIS OWN. 352 00:20:19,685 --> 00:20:23,922 HE FOUND OUT LATER THAT HE NEEDED TO TAKE PART IN THEM. 353 00:20:23,989 --> 00:20:26,925 DAD WORKED ON WPA, I THINK, ABOUT A YEAR, 354 00:20:26,992 --> 00:20:32,664 AND THEY WERE BUILDING A BRIDGE NOT TOO FAR FROM HOME. 355 00:20:32,731 --> 00:20:37,102 IT'S A BEAUTIFUL BRIDGE. IT'S STILL THERE. 356 00:20:37,169 --> 00:20:39,771 Narrator: DURING THE DEPTHS OF THE DEPRESSION, 357 00:20:39,838 --> 00:20:43,642 THE WPA BECAME THE LARGEST EMPLOYER IN THE NATION, 358 00:20:43,709 --> 00:20:45,877 CREATING 8 MILLION JOBS 359 00:20:45,944 --> 00:20:49,314 IN VIRTUALLY EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY. 360 00:20:49,381 --> 00:20:52,985 "THE PRAIRIE, ONCE THE HOME OF THE DEER, BUFFALO, 361 00:20:53,051 --> 00:20:55,487 AND ANTELOPE," ONE NEWSPAPER WROTE, 362 00:20:55,554 --> 00:21:00,359 "IS NOW THE HOME OF THE DUST BOWL AND THE WPA." 363 00:21:00,425 --> 00:21:05,230 MANY PEOPLE CONSIDERED IT MAKE-WORK AND A WASTE OF MONEY. 364 00:21:05,297 --> 00:21:07,332 Lewis: IT MADE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE 365 00:21:07,399 --> 00:21:09,234 WHICH SIDE YOU WERE ON. 366 00:21:09,301 --> 00:21:13,138 IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE A JOB, THEY WERE BOONDOGGLES-- 367 00:21:13,205 --> 00:21:17,843 DO-NOTHINGS, LEANED ON THEIR SHOVELS AND GOT MONEY FOR IT, 368 00:21:17,909 --> 00:21:21,747 AND SO THEY RESENTED IT VERY MUCH. 369 00:21:21,813 --> 00:21:25,317 BUT IF YOU WERE THE ONES THAT HAD THE SHOVEL, 370 00:21:25,384 --> 00:21:27,619 IT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STARVING 371 00:21:27,686 --> 00:21:29,988 AND HAVING FOOD TO EAT. 372 00:21:30,055 --> 00:21:36,028 WE GOT PAID ENOUGH, IT SAVED--IT KEPT US ALIVE. 373 00:21:36,094 --> 00:21:38,830 Narrator: THE WPA BUILT A DAM 374 00:21:38,897 --> 00:21:41,767 ON RITA BLANCA CREEK NEAR DALHART, TEXAS, 375 00:21:41,833 --> 00:21:45,871 TO CREATE A RESERVOIR AND RECREATION AREA. 376 00:21:45,937 --> 00:21:50,475 IN UNION COUNTY, NEW MEXICO, USING ONLY LOCAL MATERIALS, 377 00:21:50,542 --> 00:21:54,279 6,000 OF THE 10,000 AREA RESIDENTS 378 00:21:54,346 --> 00:21:58,116 FOUND TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT WORKING ON A NEW HIGH SCHOOL 379 00:21:58,183 --> 00:22:00,218 THAT WOULD STILL BE IN USE 380 00:22:00,285 --> 00:22:03,055 3/4 OF A CENTURY LATER. 381 00:22:03,121 --> 00:22:05,924 WITH MY FAMILY, WE WOULD HAVE STARVED TO DEATH 382 00:22:05,991 --> 00:22:08,994 BECAUSE WE HAD NO OTHER WAY TO MAKE ANY MONEY. 383 00:22:09,061 --> 00:22:13,632 THE NEW DEAL FOR US, THE WPA IN PARTICULAR, 384 00:22:13,699 --> 00:22:16,468 WAS JUST A LIFESAVER FOR US. 385 00:22:16,535 --> 00:22:19,471 MOST OF OUR NEIGHBORS FELT THAT WAY. 386 00:22:19,538 --> 00:22:22,407 Narrator: PAULINE HODGES' FATHER HELPED BUILD 387 00:22:22,474 --> 00:22:25,844 WAY 64 THROUGH THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. 388 00:22:25,911 --> 00:22:31,783 IT PASSED WITHIN A FEW MILES OF CAROLINE HENDERSON'S HOMESTEAD. 389 00:22:31,850 --> 00:22:35,420 Henderson portrayer: IF MERE DOLLARS WERE TO BE CONSIDERED, 390 00:22:35,487 --> 00:22:38,190 THE ACTUALLY DESTITUTE IN OUR SECTION 391 00:22:38,256 --> 00:22:42,127 ULD UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE BEEN FED AND CLOTHED MORE CHEAPLY 392 00:22:42,194 --> 00:22:45,731 THAN THE WORKS PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT. 393 00:22:45,797 --> 00:22:48,100 BUT IN OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY, 394 00:22:48,166 --> 00:22:51,970 MANHOOD MUST BE CONSIDERED AS WELL AS MONEY. 395 00:22:52,037 --> 00:22:55,307 PEOPLE EMPLOYED TO DO SOME USEFUL WORK 396 00:22:55,374 --> 00:22:57,843 MAY RETAIN THEIR SELF-RESPECT 397 00:22:57,909 --> 00:23:02,948 TO A DEGREE IMPOSSIBLE UNDER CASH RELIEF. 398 00:23:03,014 --> 00:23:06,218 IF WE MUST WORRY SO OVER THE RUINOUS EFFECTS 399 00:23:06,284 --> 00:23:09,721 OF "MADE WORK" ON PEOPLE OF THIS TYPE, 400 00:23:09,788 --> 00:23:12,491 WHY HAVEN'T WE BEEN WORRYING FOR GENERATIONS 401 00:23:12,557 --> 00:23:14,726 OVER THE CHARACTER OF THE IDLERS 402 00:23:14,793 --> 00:23:18,430 TO WHOM SOME ACCIDENT OF BIRTH OR INHERITANCE 403 00:23:18,497 --> 00:23:24,302 HAS GIVEN WEALTH UNMEASURED, UNEARNED, AND UNAPPRECIATED? 404 00:23:33,178 --> 00:23:36,982 Man: "IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR HEART BROKEN, 405 00:23:37,048 --> 00:23:39,885 "JUST COME OUT HERE. 406 00:23:39,951 --> 00:23:43,355 "THIS IS THE DUST STORM COUNTRY. 407 00:23:43,422 --> 00:23:48,226 "IT IS THE SADDEST LAND I HAVE EVER SEEN. 408 00:23:48,293 --> 00:23:50,829 "THEY SAY THAT IN 20 YEARS, 409 00:23:50,896 --> 00:23:53,532 "OUR FARMLAND IS GOING TO BE PRETTY WELL SHOT 410 00:23:53,598 --> 00:23:56,134 "UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE, 411 00:23:56,201 --> 00:23:58,470 "AND THAT IN 75 YEARS, 412 00:23:58,537 --> 00:24:04,242 EVEN A SELF-RESPECTING CACTUS WOULDN'T BE SEEN ON MOST OF IT." 413 00:24:04,309 --> 00:24:06,411 ERNIE PYLE. 414 00:24:10,515 --> 00:24:16,755 Narrator: IN 1935, AN ESTIMATED 850 MILLION TONS OF TOPSOIL 415 00:24:16,822 --> 00:24:20,692 WERE BEING SWEPT OFF THE NAKED FIELDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS, 416 00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:25,564 WHERE 4 MILLION ACRES IN 100 COUNTIES WERE BLOWING. 417 00:24:25,630 --> 00:24:27,599 PREDICTIONS CALLED FOR 418 00:24:27,666 --> 00:24:31,870 A MILLION MORE ACRES TO DO THE SAME IN 1936. 419 00:24:31,937 --> 00:24:35,106 "UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE," ONE GOVERNMENT REPORT CONCLUDED, 420 00:24:35,173 --> 00:24:36,775 "THE WESTERN PLAINS WILL BE 421 00:24:36,842 --> 00:24:39,845 AS ARID AS THE ARABIAN DESERT." 422 00:24:39,911 --> 00:24:42,347 Worster: THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE IN THAT ERA 423 00:24:42,414 --> 00:24:45,183 WHO THOUGHT THIS IS NOT GOING TO STOP 424 00:24:45,250 --> 00:24:48,386 WITH WESTERN KANSAS, THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 425 00:24:48,453 --> 00:24:51,423 IT'S GOING TO START CREEPING EASTWARD. 426 00:24:51,490 --> 00:24:53,291 HOW DO YOU STOP THIS? 427 00:24:53,358 --> 00:24:55,193 WHAT'S GOING TO BE THE BARRIER YOU PUT UP 428 00:24:55,260 --> 00:24:59,598 TO KEEP IT FROM UNDERMINING AGRICULTURE IN ILLINOIS? 429 00:24:59,664 --> 00:25:05,837 Timothy Egan: IT HAD A HUGE EFFECT ON AMERICAN POLICY, TOO, 430 00:25:05,904 --> 00:25:08,173 BECAUSE 4 OR 5 DAYS LATER, 431 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,611 THE REMNANTS OF BLACK SUNDAY BLEW INTO WASHINGTON, DC. 432 00:25:12,677 --> 00:25:14,813 YOU COULD GO LIKE THIS ON YOUR DESK, 433 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:16,448 AS FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DID, 434 00:25:16,515 --> 00:25:19,551 AND GET A LITTLE BIT OF OKLAHOMA IN THE OVAL OFFICE. 435 00:25:19,618 --> 00:25:23,755 Narrator: WITHIN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S INNER CIRCLE OF ADVISERS, 436 00:25:23,822 --> 00:25:28,360 THERE WAS NO CONSENSUS ON WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE CRISIS. 437 00:25:28,426 --> 00:25:31,029 HENRY WALLACE, THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE, 438 00:25:31,096 --> 00:25:35,000 THOUGHT NEW POLICIES COULD KEEP FARMERS ON THEIR LAND, 439 00:25:35,066 --> 00:25:37,936 BUT INTERIOR SECRETARY HAROLD ICKES QUESTIONED 440 00:25:38,003 --> 00:25:42,841 WHETHER ANY ATTEMPT SHOULD BE MADE TO SAVE THE DUST BOWL. 441 00:25:42,908 --> 00:25:44,175 Egan: IT WAS A CHARACTER STRUGGLE 442 00:25:44,242 --> 00:25:45,777 WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION THE SAME WAY IT WAS 443 00:25:45,844 --> 00:25:48,446 A CHARACTER STRUGGLE OUT ON THE PRAIRIE ITSELF. 444 00:25:48,513 --> 00:25:51,449 ICKES SAYS IN HIS DIARY, "LET'S JUST GET OUT. 445 00:25:51,516 --> 00:25:53,818 "LET'S PULL OUT. 446 00:25:53,885 --> 00:25:56,688 "MR. PRESIDENT, IT'S NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. 447 00:25:56,755 --> 00:25:59,658 WHY SHOULD WE TRY TO SAVE THE PEOPLE OR THE LAND?" 448 00:25:59,724 --> 00:26:03,261 I MEAN, LET IT RE-WILD. LET'S NOT FOOL THESE PEOPLE 449 00:26:03,328 --> 00:26:05,797 INTO THINKING THEY CAN STAY THERE. 450 00:26:05,864 --> 00:26:10,468 PERHAPS SETTLEMENT WAS A MISTAKE. 451 00:26:10,535 --> 00:26:12,771 Narrator: ANOTHER NEW DEAL PROGRAM, 452 00:26:12,837 --> 00:26:15,006 THE RESETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATION, 453 00:26:15,073 --> 00:26:19,010 WAS ALREADY PROVIDING FARMERS ON THE MOST MARGINAL LANDS 454 00:26:19,077 --> 00:26:22,847 WITH LOANS TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE, 455 00:26:22,914 --> 00:26:26,785 TAKING THEIR LAND OUT OF PRODUCTION. 456 00:26:26,851 --> 00:26:30,755 Egan: IT WAS HOMESTEADING IN REVERSE. 457 00:26:30,822 --> 00:26:33,491 IT WAS VERY CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL, 458 00:26:33,558 --> 00:26:36,494 IT WAS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT WE'D FAILED. 459 00:26:36,561 --> 00:26:40,332 PERHAPS THEY WERE RIGHT WHEN STEPHEN LONG SAID IN 1820 460 00:26:40,398 --> 00:26:44,135 THAT THIS IS A LAND "WHOLLY UNINHABITABLE BY A PEOPLE 461 00:26:44,202 --> 00:26:46,805 WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON AGRICULTURE." 462 00:26:46,871 --> 00:26:51,876 Narrator: BUT THE PRESIDENT REFUSED TO GO THAT FAR. 463 00:26:51,943 --> 00:26:54,813 Egan: REMEMBER, ROOSEVELT, BY HIS NATURE, 464 00:26:54,879 --> 00:26:57,082 IN HIS CHARACTER, WAS AN OPTIMIST. 465 00:26:57,148 --> 00:26:59,384 HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE KNOWN AS THE ONLY PRESIDENT 466 00:26:59,451 --> 00:27:02,253 WHO GAVE UP A BIG SECTION OF LAND ON HIS WATCH. 467 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,724 HE THOUGHT HE COULD SAVE BOTH THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. 468 00:27:05,790 --> 00:27:08,860 AND THEY FELT A SIMILAR ATTACHMENT TO HIM. 469 00:27:08,927 --> 00:27:13,398 Narrator: ROOSEVELT TURNED TO HUGH HAMMOND BENNETT, 470 00:27:13,465 --> 00:27:15,834 A STRAIGHT-TALKING NORTH CAROLINIAN, 471 00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:19,504 TO CREATE A NEW SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE, 472 00:27:19,571 --> 00:27:21,606 AN AGENCY WHOSE JOB IT WAS 473 00:27:21,673 --> 00:27:24,342 TO STUDY BETTER AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES 474 00:27:24,409 --> 00:27:27,879 AND TEACH THEM TO THE NATION'S FARMERS. 475 00:27:27,946 --> 00:27:29,948 WE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN 476 00:27:30,015 --> 00:27:32,183 THE GREATEST DESTROYERS OF LAND 477 00:27:32,250 --> 00:27:36,087 OF ANY RACE OR PEOPLE, BARBARIC OR CIVILIZED. 478 00:27:36,154 --> 00:27:38,523 UNLESS IMMEDIATE STEPS ARE TAKEN 479 00:27:38,590 --> 00:27:42,227 TO RESTORE THESE SUN-SCORCHED, WIND-ERODED LANDS, 480 00:27:42,293 --> 00:27:46,398 WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR HANDS A NEW, MANMADE SAHARA 481 00:27:46,464 --> 00:27:50,101 WHERE FORMERLY WAS RICH GRAZING LAND. 482 00:27:50,168 --> 00:27:53,638 Egan: HUGH BENNETT WAS THIS TALL, BIG-ARMED, 483 00:27:53,705 --> 00:27:58,610 FLAP-EARED, FUNNY, JOVIAL DOCTOR OF DIRT. 484 00:27:58,677 --> 00:28:00,278 NOBODY KNEW MORE ABOUT SOIL 485 00:28:00,345 --> 00:28:02,681 IN THE UNITED STATES THAN HUGH BENNETT. 486 00:28:02,747 --> 00:28:06,651 SO WHEN ROOSEVELT GAVE HIM THE JOB OF TRYING TO SAVE THE LAND, 487 00:28:06,718 --> 00:28:10,488 HE WAS ARGUABLY THE PERFECT MAN FOR IT. 488 00:28:10,555 --> 00:28:14,492 Narrator: FOR THE AGENCY'S LARGEST AND HARDEST-HIT REGION-- 489 00:28:14,559 --> 00:28:17,896 THE NEARLY 100 MILLION ACRES OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS-- 490 00:28:17,962 --> 00:28:21,933 BENNETT KNEW JUST THE MAN FOR THE JOB. 491 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,502 HOWARD FINNELL WAS A SOIL SCIENTIST 492 00:28:24,569 --> 00:28:27,605 WHO HAD BEEN RUNNING THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 493 00:28:27,672 --> 00:28:29,441 IN GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA-- 494 00:28:29,507 --> 00:28:33,845 ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF CAROLINE HENDERSON'S HOMESTEAD. 495 00:28:33,912 --> 00:28:36,247 FINNELL HAD PIONEERED NEW TECHNIQUES 496 00:28:36,314 --> 00:28:38,550 TO DOUBLE THE ODDS OF A GOOD CROP 497 00:28:38,616 --> 00:28:41,920 BY CAPTURING AS MUCH MOISTURE AS POSSIBLE-- 498 00:28:41,986 --> 00:28:45,724 USING TERRACES AND PLOWING ALONG THE LAND'S CONTOUR 499 00:28:45,790 --> 00:28:47,992 TO MINIMIZE RUNOFF, 500 00:28:48,059 --> 00:28:50,528 PLANTING DIFFERENT TYPES OF CROPS, 501 00:28:50,595 --> 00:28:54,032 AND USING THE OLD-FASHIONED PLOW, CALLED A LISTER, 502 00:28:54,099 --> 00:28:56,901 TO MAKE DEEPER ROWS, RATHER THAN EMPLOYING 503 00:28:56,968 --> 00:29:01,906 THE MORE POPULAR ONE-WAY PLOW THAT PULVERIZED THE SOIL. 504 00:29:03,608 --> 00:29:06,511 HUGH BENNETT SENT FINNELL TO DALHART, TEXAS, 505 00:29:06,578 --> 00:29:08,980 WHERE HE SET UP "OPERATION DUST BOWL" 506 00:29:09,047 --> 00:29:11,149 TO PROVE TO SKEPTICAL FARMERS 507 00:29:11,216 --> 00:29:14,452 THAT HIS NEW TECHNIQUES WERE WORTH FOLLOWING. 508 00:29:14,519 --> 00:29:17,856 "WE DO NOT WANT A CHANGED CLIMATE," FINNELL SAID. 509 00:29:17,922 --> 00:29:20,692 "MUCH OF THE LAND COULD STILL PRODUCE CROPS, 510 00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:24,629 IF THE FARMERS WOULD ONLY CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES." 511 00:29:26,397 --> 00:29:29,400 THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION MAY HAVE DECIDED 512 00:29:29,467 --> 00:29:31,736 NOT TO ABANDON THE DUST BOWL, 513 00:29:31,803 --> 00:29:34,706 BUT ANY SOLUTIONS WOULD TAKE TIME, 514 00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:39,077 AND FOR THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE, TIME WAS RUNNING OUT. 515 00:29:43,448 --> 00:29:45,784 Beck: YOU GO BROKE GRADUALLY. 516 00:29:45,850 --> 00:29:49,053 IT DOESN'T HAPPEN LIKE JUMPING OFF OF A CLIFF. 517 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:53,825 YOU EXHAUST YOUR SAVINGS, YOU EXHAUST YOUR BORROWINGS, 518 00:29:53,892 --> 00:29:56,528 YOU EXHAUST YOUR EQUIPMENT, 519 00:29:56,594 --> 00:30:00,698 YOU EXHAUST YOURSELF, AND YOU GIVE UP. 520 00:30:00,765 --> 00:30:04,435 THAT TAKES ABOUT 5 YEARS. 521 00:30:04,502 --> 00:30:08,406 THEN YOU'RE STARTING TO LOOK AT THE WOLVES. 522 00:30:08,473 --> 00:30:12,343 Narrator: CLARENCE BECK'S FATHER HAD MOVED HIS FAMILY 523 00:30:12,410 --> 00:30:17,682 TO A FARM WEST OF BOISE CITY JUST AS THE 1920s WERE ENDING. 524 00:30:17,749 --> 00:30:20,885 HIS TIMING COULDN'T HAVE BEEN WORSE. 525 00:30:20,952 --> 00:30:24,956 BY 1935, HE HAD SUFFERED REPEATED CROP FAILURES, 526 00:30:25,023 --> 00:30:27,892 AND THE DEPRESSION MEANT THERE WERE NO JOBS, 527 00:30:27,959 --> 00:30:31,229 THOUGH HE FOUND TEMPORARY WORK WITH THE WPA 528 00:30:31,296 --> 00:30:34,632 TO KEEP HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN FROM STARVATION. 529 00:30:34,699 --> 00:30:36,501 LIKE MANY OTHER FAMILIES, 530 00:30:36,568 --> 00:30:41,239 THEY STARTED TALKING ABOUT MOVING SOMEWHERE ELSE. 531 00:30:41,306 --> 00:30:43,708 PEOPLE DIDN'T LEAVE EARLY 532 00:30:43,775 --> 00:30:46,511 BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PLACE TO GO. 533 00:30:46,578 --> 00:30:50,615 YOU HAVE NO MONEY, AND YOU DON'T HAVE ANYPLACE TO GO. 534 00:30:50,682 --> 00:30:54,085 WHERE CAN YOU GO WHEN YOU'RE PENNILESS? 535 00:30:54,152 --> 00:30:59,324 AT LEAST WHERE YOU ARE, YOU HAVE THE FEEL-AT-HOME-NESS. 536 00:30:59,390 --> 00:31:02,527 Narrator: MEANWHILE, THE HARD TIMES PLACED A STRAIN 537 00:31:02,594 --> 00:31:05,330 ON THE BECKS' MARRIAGE. 538 00:31:05,396 --> 00:31:10,335 Beck: MY MOTHER WOULD HAVE BEEN A PLAYGIRL, REALLY, 539 00:31:10,401 --> 00:31:13,805 AND MY FATHER'S A DRUDGE. 540 00:31:13,872 --> 00:31:18,977 HE WOULD BE PERFECTLY HAPPY TO WORK FROM DAWN TILL DUSK. 541 00:31:20,478 --> 00:31:22,513 Narrator: ONE MORNING, 542 00:31:22,580 --> 00:31:26,184 BEFORE CLARENCE'S YOUNGER SISTER IRENE HEADED FOR SCHOOL, 543 00:31:26,251 --> 00:31:29,687 HER MOTHER TOOK HER ASIDE TO DELIVER SOME NEWS. 544 00:31:29,754 --> 00:31:32,690 Irene Beck Hauer: SHE JUST SAID, "I WON'T BE HOME 545 00:31:32,757 --> 00:31:36,261 WHEN YOU COME HOME TONIGHT"-- FROM SCHOOL, OR WHATEVER. 546 00:31:36,327 --> 00:31:38,997 "I WON'T BE HOME. I'M LEAVING." 547 00:31:39,063 --> 00:31:42,600 AND MY MOTHER JUST LEFT. 548 00:31:42,667 --> 00:31:44,702 SO, THAT WAS IT. DIDN'T CARE. 549 00:31:44,769 --> 00:31:50,742 SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ME THAT MUCH OR ANYTHING. 550 00:31:50,808 --> 00:31:54,579 Narrator: NOT LONG AFTERWARDS, THEIR FATHER'S TRACTOR-- 551 00:31:54,646 --> 00:31:58,082 THE ONLY POSSIBLE MEANS FOR HIM TO STAY ON THE LAND-- 552 00:31:58,149 --> 00:32:00,952 WAS REPOSSESSED. 553 00:32:01,019 --> 00:32:04,422 SAM BECK DECIDED HE HAD TO MOVE. 554 00:32:04,489 --> 00:32:08,426 CLARENCE WOULD STAY WITH UNCLES BACK IN CENTRAL KANSAS. 555 00:32:08,493 --> 00:32:13,431 IRENE WASN'T SURE WHAT HER FATHER HAD IN MIND FOR HER. 556 00:32:13,498 --> 00:32:15,500 AT FIRST I ASKED HIM, "ARE YOU LEAVING, TOO?" 557 00:32:15,566 --> 00:32:18,970 I WAS KIND OF CRYING, LIKE, BECAUSE NATURALLY I WAS SAD. 558 00:32:19,037 --> 00:32:22,173 SO HE SAID, "NO. WE'RE GOING TO CALIFORNIA." 559 00:32:24,375 --> 00:32:26,544 Narrator: NOT FAR FROM THE BECKS, 560 00:32:26,611 --> 00:32:29,113 HARRY FORESTER HAD ALSO LOST HIS FARM 561 00:32:29,180 --> 00:32:32,517 AND WAS LIVING ON SOMEONE ELSE'S LAND. 562 00:32:32,583 --> 00:32:35,119 HE HAD ONCE DREAMED OF PROSPERING ENOUGH 563 00:32:35,186 --> 00:32:39,991 TO GIVE EACH OF HIS 5 SONS 640 ACRES. 564 00:32:40,091 --> 00:32:44,729 NOW HE COULD BARELY FEED HIS 9 CHILDREN. 565 00:32:44,796 --> 00:32:47,832 Louise Forester Briggs: ONE TIME, HE CAME IN 566 00:32:47,899 --> 00:32:49,901 FROM THE WIND BLOWING AND DUST, 567 00:32:49,968 --> 00:32:52,704 AND HE WAS PACING THE FLOOR AND SAYING, 568 00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:55,907 "I DON'T KNOW WHATEVER WILL BECOME OF US." 569 00:32:55,974 --> 00:32:58,109 AND THAT JUST FRIGHTENED ME. THAT JUST-- 570 00:32:58,176 --> 00:33:00,878 MY HEART JUST CLUTCHED FROM THAT. 571 00:33:00,945 --> 00:33:03,247 Narrator: WITH HIS FIELDS RUINED BY DUST 572 00:33:03,314 --> 00:33:05,049 AND WHAT WAS LEFT OF HIS LIVESTOCK 573 00:33:05,116 --> 00:33:07,185 REDUCED TO SKIN AND BONES, 574 00:33:07,251 --> 00:33:11,389 FORESTER HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO GIVE UP FARMING. 575 00:33:11,456 --> 00:33:15,526 HIS PLAN WAS TO MOVE HIS LARGE FAMILY TO GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA, 576 00:33:15,593 --> 00:33:18,296 WHERE THEY COULD STAY WITH HIS WIFE'S MOTHER. 577 00:33:18,363 --> 00:33:21,299 HE HAD READ ABOUT A PLACE WHERE JOBS WERE PLENTIFUL, 578 00:33:21,366 --> 00:33:23,101 WHERE HE COULD MAKE GOOD MONEY 579 00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:26,270 AND SAVE ENOUGH TO SEND FOR HIS FAMILY. 580 00:33:26,337 --> 00:33:30,508 HE, TOO, WOULD HEAD TO CALIFORNIA. 581 00:33:30,575 --> 00:33:34,479 IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO, CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER, JOHN, 582 00:33:34,545 --> 00:33:37,715 WAS COMING TO THE SAME CONCLUSION. 583 00:33:37,782 --> 00:33:39,417 Crabill: WE LOST ALL OUR STOCK. 584 00:33:39,484 --> 00:33:41,953 WE LOST EVERYTHING IN 6 MONTHS. 585 00:33:42,020 --> 00:33:44,022 SO WHEN WE HAD NOTHING LEFT, WE LEFT. 586 00:33:44,088 --> 00:33:47,425 WE HAD NOTHING LEFT. THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY. 587 00:33:47,492 --> 00:33:48,626 Narrator: BUT FIRST, 588 00:33:48,693 --> 00:33:52,163 JOHN CRABILL WOULD HAVE TO SELL HIS HORSES. 589 00:33:52,230 --> 00:33:54,432 Crabill: MY MOTHER AND OTHERS WHO KNEW HIM SAID 590 00:33:54,499 --> 00:33:56,434 ONCE HE SOLD HIS HORSES, 591 00:33:56,501 --> 00:34:00,171 HE WAS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN THE REST OF HIS LIFE. 592 00:34:00,238 --> 00:34:02,407 HE NEVER WAS THE SAME AGAIN. 593 00:34:02,473 --> 00:34:05,510 HE WOULD BE STARING OFF INTO SPACE, 594 00:34:05,576 --> 00:34:09,213 AND WE KNEW HE WAS THINKING ABOUT HIS STOCK. 595 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,216 Narrator: IN TEXAS COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, 596 00:34:12,283 --> 00:34:13,951 DOROTHY KLEFFMAN'S FATHER THOUGHT 597 00:34:14,018 --> 00:34:16,254 HE COULD HANG ON TO HIS FARM, 598 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,058 BUT HIS WIFE HAD COME DOWN WITH THE DUST PNEUMONIA. 599 00:34:20,124 --> 00:34:22,527 Kleffman: I THINK SHE WOD VE DIED. 600 00:34:22,593 --> 00:34:26,097 HE COULD SEE THAT SHE S WAILING, 601 00:34:26,164 --> 00:34:29,967 SO HE KNEW HE HAD TO DO SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, 602 00:34:30,034 --> 00:34:33,204 BECAUSE THERE WERE PEOPLE HERE WHO DID DIE. 603 00:34:33,271 --> 00:34:38,109 I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO GO. THIS WAS MY HOME, 604 00:34:38,176 --> 00:34:41,446 AND EVEN THOUGH WE HAD THE DUST STORMS 605 00:34:41,512 --> 00:34:45,583 AND WE WERE IN A DEPRESSION, A GREAT DEPRESSION, 606 00:34:45,650 --> 00:34:48,619 I WOULD LOVED TO HAVE JUST STAYED RIGHT HERE. 607 00:34:48,686 --> 00:34:53,658 BUT BECAUSE WE HAD TO SAVE HER LIFE, WE HAD TO MOVE. 608 00:34:53,724 --> 00:34:56,427 Narrator: HER FATHER AND AN OLDER BROTHER 609 00:34:56,494 --> 00:34:58,529 WOULD TRY TO STAY ON THE FARM, 610 00:34:58,596 --> 00:35:00,698 BUT HE MOVED HIS WIFE AND YOUNGER CHILDREN, 611 00:35:00,765 --> 00:35:04,335 INCLUDING DOROTHY, NOT TO CALIFORNIA, BUT EAST, 612 00:35:04,402 --> 00:35:10,541 TO ARKANSAS, WELL OUT OF THE BROWN WORLD OF THE DUST BOWL. 613 00:35:10,608 --> 00:35:12,543 Kleffman: AND WHEN WE GOT DOWN THERE, 614 00:35:12,610 --> 00:35:14,946 WE HAD A GREEN GRASS LAWN. 615 00:35:15,012 --> 00:35:16,514 WE KIDS LIKED THE CHICKENS 616 00:35:16,581 --> 00:35:18,916 BECAUSE THEY WOULD RAISE THEIR LEGS UP SO HIGH-- 617 00:35:18,983 --> 00:35:21,719 THEY WERE NOT USED TO THAT GRASS. 618 00:35:21,786 --> 00:35:24,589 MOTHER RAISED A HUGE GARDEN DOWN THERE. 619 00:35:24,655 --> 00:35:27,492 THERE WAS ENOUGH RAIN THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WATER IT 620 00:35:27,558 --> 00:35:29,827 LIKE WE DID OUT HERE. 621 00:35:29,894 --> 00:35:35,166 AND SHE WOULD CAN ABOUT 600 QUARTS OF FOOD A YEAR. 622 00:35:35,233 --> 00:35:37,568 BUT WE WANTED TO COME BACK. 623 00:35:37,568 --> 00:35:40,104 THIS WAS OUR HOME OUT HERE 624 00:35:40,171 --> 00:35:42,540 . WE WANTED TO COME BACK.ACK. 625 00:35:46,878 --> 00:35:49,514 Henderson portrayer: SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS WITH SMALL CHILDREN, 626 00:35:49,580 --> 00:35:52,083 FEARING THE EFFECTS UPON THEIR HEALTH, 627 00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:56,254 HAVE LEFT TEMPORARILY "UNTIL IT RAINS." 628 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:58,422 OTHERS HAVE LEFT PERMANENTLY, 629 00:35:58,489 --> 00:36:02,260 THINKING DOUBTLESS THAT NOTHING COULD BE WORSE. 630 00:36:02,326 --> 00:36:06,063 THUS FAR, WE AND MOST OF OUR FRIENDS SEEM HELD-- 631 00:36:06,130 --> 00:36:11,469 FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE-- BY MEMORY AND HOPE. 632 00:36:15,973 --> 00:36:18,476 Narrator: TEXAS COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, 633 00:36:18,543 --> 00:36:22,880 WHERE CAROLINE HENDERSON HAD BEEN HOMESTEADING SINCE 1907, 634 00:36:22,947 --> 00:36:27,018 LOST 30% OF ITS POPULATION IN THE 1930s. 635 00:36:27,084 --> 00:36:30,555 NEARBY CIMARRON COUNTY LOST 32%, 636 00:36:30,621 --> 00:36:33,724 AND BACA COUNTY, JUST ACROSS THE LINE IN COLORADO, 637 00:36:33,791 --> 00:36:38,696 SAW 41% OF ITS RESIDENTS MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE. 638 00:36:38,763 --> 00:36:41,365 HARDEST HIT WAS MORTON COUNTY, KANSAS, 639 00:36:41,432 --> 00:36:44,936 WHERE EDGAR AND RENA COEN WERE RAISING THEIR LARGE FAMILY, 640 00:36:45,002 --> 00:36:47,338 NOW DIMINISHED BY TWO WITH THE DEATH 641 00:36:47,405 --> 00:36:51,709 OF A DAUGHTER AND GRANDSON FROM DUST PNEUMONIA. 642 00:36:51,776 --> 00:36:54,645 THE COENS WERE DETERMINED TO STICK IT OUT, 643 00:36:54,712 --> 00:36:58,249 BUT THEIR COUNTY WOULD LOSE NEARLY HALF OF ITS POPULATION 644 00:36:58,316 --> 00:37:02,620 AND WOULD CLOSE 11 OF ITS 17 RURAL SCHOOLS 645 00:37:02,687 --> 00:37:07,592 BECAUSE THE DUST STORMS REFUSED TO RELENT. 646 00:37:07,658 --> 00:37:09,460 YOU NEVER GOT USED TO THEM. 647 00:37:09,527 --> 00:37:12,396 YOU JUST HATED EVERY ONE OF THEM 648 00:37:12,463 --> 00:37:17,368 BECAUSE YOU KNEW IT WAS GOING TO DO DAMAGE OUTSIDE, 649 00:37:17,435 --> 00:37:21,138 AND YOU KNEW YOU WAS PROBABLY GONNA LOSE SOME MORE NEIGHBORS. 650 00:37:21,205 --> 00:37:25,109 WE WAS IN SCHOOL THEN, AND YOU'D GO TO SCHOOL ONE DAY, 651 00:37:25,176 --> 00:37:27,044 YOUR NEIGHBORS WAS THERE AT SCHOOL, 652 00:37:27,111 --> 00:37:29,847 AND NEXT DAY, THEY'D MOVED AWAY. 653 00:37:29,914 --> 00:37:32,383 KIND OF A SAD TIME THAT WAY. 654 00:37:32,450 --> 00:37:34,252 Glover: MY AUNT AND UNCLE DECIDED 655 00:37:34,318 --> 00:37:39,523 THEY HAD TO GO TO CALIFORNIA TO GET AWAY FROM THE DUST. 656 00:37:39,590 --> 00:37:42,627 WE ALL WENT OVER TO SEE THEM OFF, 657 00:37:42,693 --> 00:37:47,265 AND THEY TEVERYTHING TNG THAT THEY COULD IN THEIR CAR. 658 00:37:47,331 --> 00:37:50,334 THE LAST THING DADDY SAID TO MY UNCLE JACK WAS, 659 00:37:50,401 --> 00:37:54,405 "DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR GAS TO GET THERE?" 660 00:37:54,472 --> 00:37:54,772 AND JACK TOLD HIM HOWEVER MUE HAD. 661 00:37:54,772 --> 00:37:58,576 CH 662 00:37:58,643 --> 00:38:03,581 AND DADDY SAID, "WELL, I'VE JUST GOT $17 ON ME, AND JACK TOLD HIM HOWEVER MUE HAD. 663 00:38:03,648 --> 00:38:05,916 "BUT I WANT YOU TO TAKE THIS 664 00:38:05,983 --> 00:38:09,687 SO YOU'LL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR GAS." 665 00:38:09,754 --> 00:38:14,692 Hodges: EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG, THOSE CARS PASSED OUR HOUSE. 666 00:38:14,759 --> 00:38:17,361 THEY OFTEN STOPPED AND ASKED FOR FOOD. 667 00:38:17,428 --> 00:38:19,930 WE DIDN'T HAVE VERY MUCH, BUT MY MOTHER THOUGHT 668 00:38:19,997 --> 00:38:22,099 WE WERE BETTER OFF THAN OTHER PEOPLE, 669 00:38:22,166 --> 00:38:25,603 AND WE WERE BECAUSE OF THE WPA, 670 00:38:25,670 --> 00:38:28,439 AND SHE ALWAYS FED THEM SOMETHING. 671 00:38:28,506 --> 00:38:31,275 I STILL REMEMBER IT WAS OFTEN BREAD AND BUTTER SANDWICHES, 672 00:38:31,342 --> 00:38:32,910 BUT IT WAS SOMETHING. 673 00:38:32,977 --> 00:38:35,813 SHE NEVER, EVER TURNED ANYBODY DOWN. 674 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,749 WHEN I WAS IN THE EIGHTH GRADE, 675 00:38:38,816 --> 00:38:44,422 WE HAD A PRACTICAL LESSON IN GEOGRAPHY. 676 00:38:44,488 --> 00:38:47,058 HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE IN THE DISTRICT? 677 00:38:47,124 --> 00:38:50,094 AND IT WAS 100 PEOPLE. 678 00:38:50,161 --> 00:38:55,266 HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN SCHOOL? 25. 679 00:38:55,333 --> 00:39:00,671 AND THEN MY BROTHER GET TO THE SAME PLACE 10 YEARS LATER. 680 00:39:00,738 --> 00:39:04,875 HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THE DISTRICT? 25. 681 00:39:04,942 --> 00:39:09,413 HOW MANY KIDS IN THE SCHOOL? MAYBE 10. 682 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,183 THE REST OF THEM HAD LEFT. 683 00:39:13,517 --> 00:39:15,553 Narrator: BUT IN THE END, 684 00:39:15,619 --> 00:39:18,589 FOR EVERY FAMILY THAT LEFT THE DUST BOWL, 685 00:39:18,656 --> 00:39:24,095 3 FAMILIES--75% OF THE POPULATION--WOULD HANG ON. 686 00:39:24,161 --> 00:39:26,664 Worster: WHY DIDN'T EVERYBODY LEAVE? 687 00:39:26,731 --> 00:39:30,434 FOR A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE, WELL, THERE WAS NO OTHER PLACE TO GO. 688 00:39:30,501 --> 00:39:34,638 IN THEIR MINDS, THEY HAD INVESTED THEIR LIVES THERE. 689 00:39:34,705 --> 00:39:37,508 THEY HAD FAMILY BURIED IN CEMETERIES. 690 00:39:37,575 --> 00:39:39,477 WHY DID THEY STAY? 691 00:39:39,543 --> 00:39:43,414 THE PLAINS CAN LAY A HOLD ON YOUR AFFECTIONS 692 00:39:43,481 --> 00:39:47,885 IF YOU'RE THERE FOR A GENERATION OR TWO, 693 00:39:47,952 --> 00:39:50,621 AND THEY'RE A GLORIOUS PLACE TO LIVE AT TIMES. 694 00:39:50,688 --> 00:39:54,158 THE GREAT SKIES AND THE OPENNESS AND THE SENSE OF FREEDOM THERE 695 00:39:54,225 --> 00:39:57,461 WERE POWERFUL DRAWS FOR THESE PEOPLE. 696 00:39:57,528 --> 00:40:01,399 Henderson portrayer: I CANNOT ACT OR FEEL OR THINK 697 00:40:01,465 --> 00:40:05,636 AS IF THE EXPERIENCES OF OUR 27 YEARS OF LIFE TOGETHER 698 00:40:05,703 --> 00:40:10,474 HAD NEVER BEEN, AND THEY ARE ALL BOUND UP 699 00:40:10,541 --> 00:40:13,077 WITH THE LITTLE CORNER TO WHICH WE HAVE GIVEN 700 00:40:13,144 --> 00:40:17,314 OUR CONTINUED AND UNITED EFFORTS. 701 00:40:17,381 --> 00:40:20,818 I CAN LOOK BACKWARD AND SEE OUR COVERED WAGON 702 00:40:20,885 --> 00:40:23,154 DRAWN UP BY THE DOOR OF THE CABIN 703 00:40:23,220 --> 00:40:27,892 IN THE EARLY LIGHT OF THAT MAY MORNING LONG AGO, 704 00:40:27,958 --> 00:40:33,731 CAN FEEL AGAIN THE SWEET FRESH BREATH OF THE UNTRODDEN PRAIRIE 705 00:40:33,798 --> 00:40:40,438 AND RECALL FOR A MOMENT THE PROUD CONFIDENCE OF OUR YOUTH. 706 00:40:40,504 --> 00:40:45,609 BUT WHEN I TRY TO SEE THE WAGON OR THE OLD MODEL-T TRUCK 707 00:40:45,676 --> 00:40:48,446 HEADED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, 708 00:40:48,512 --> 00:40:52,249 AWAY FROM OUR HOME AND ALL OUR CHERISHED HOPES, 709 00:40:52,316 --> 00:40:55,453 I CANNOT SEE IT AT ALL. 710 00:40:55,519 --> 00:40:57,455 PERHAPS IT IS ONLY BECAUSE 711 00:40:57,521 --> 00:41:01,225 THE DUST IS TOO DENSE AND BLINDING. 712 00:41:04,495 --> 00:41:06,664 Worster: MY PARENTS LEFT. 713 00:41:06,730 --> 00:41:11,101 THEY COULDN'T FIND A LIVING ANYMORE IN RURAL COUNTRYSIDE. 714 00:41:11,168 --> 00:41:13,637 THEIR FARMS WERE DEVASTATED. 715 00:41:13,704 --> 00:41:16,607 THEY COULD SEE NO FUTURE IN THIS. 716 00:41:16,674 --> 00:41:21,679 THEY DECIDED IN THE LATE 1930s TO FOLLOW THE TREK TO CALIFORNIA 717 00:41:21,745 --> 00:41:24,982 TO SEE WHAT THEY COULD FIND THERE TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES. 718 00:41:54,411 --> 00:41:58,282 THE BIGGEST PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO MOVED INTO ANOTHER STATE 719 00:41:58,349 --> 00:42:00,184 WERE GOING TO CALIFORNIA. 720 00:42:00,251 --> 00:42:03,187 THERE WERE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE 721 00:42:03,254 --> 00:42:05,256 POURING INTO CALIFORNIA. 722 00:42:05,322 --> 00:42:06,590 THEY WEREN'T ALL POOR, 723 00:42:06,657 --> 00:42:08,459 AND THEY WEREN'T ALL FROM THE GREAT PLAINS. 724 00:42:08,526 --> 00:42:10,227 SO THERE WAS A RIVER OF PEOPLE 725 00:42:10,294 --> 00:42:12,963 FLOWING INTO CALIFORNIA IN THE 1930s. 726 00:42:13,030 --> 00:42:15,065 YOU COULD JUST SEE ALL OF THESE CARS 727 00:42:15,132 --> 00:42:18,969 PULLING OUT FROM LITTLE SIDE ROADS ALONG THE WAY 728 00:42:19,036 --> 00:42:24,408 JOINING THIS BRIGADE GOING OUT ROUTE 66, 729 00:42:24,475 --> 00:42:28,212 STOPPING AT MOTELS, SLEEPING UNDER BILLBOARDS. 730 00:42:28,279 --> 00:42:30,648 THAT'S THE WAY MY PARENTS ESSENTIALLY WENT 731 00:42:30,714 --> 00:42:33,684 FROM NEW MEXICO ACROSS TO ARIZONA. 732 00:42:33,751 --> 00:42:35,619 THEY STOPPED IN NEEDLES, CALIFORNIA, 733 00:42:35,686 --> 00:42:37,154 AND DIDN'T GET ANY FARTHER. 734 00:42:37,221 --> 00:42:40,224 THAT WAS THE END OF THE ROAD FOR THEM. 735 00:42:40,291 --> 00:42:43,761 Narrator: THOSE WHO DID LEAVE THE DUST BOWL FOR CALIFORNIA 736 00:42:43,827 --> 00:42:46,997 WERE JOINING AN EVEN LARGER EXODUS OF AMERICANS 737 00:42:47,064 --> 00:42:51,235 DISPLACED BY THE DEPRESSION AND THE AGRICULTURAL CRISIS 738 00:42:51,302 --> 00:42:55,873 THAT EXTENDED FAR BEYOND THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 739 00:42:55,940 --> 00:42:59,209 Egan: NOW THE FOLKS WHO LEFT, THE DIASPORA, 740 00:42:59,276 --> 00:43:02,580 THE EXODUSTERS, THEY WERE CALLED-- 741 00:43:02,646 --> 00:43:05,082 THESE REFUGEES WERE LARGELY FROM 742 00:43:05,149 --> 00:43:07,518 THE EASTERN FRINGE OF THE DUST BOWL. 743 00:43:07,585 --> 00:43:09,853 THEY WERE FROM ARGUABLY NOT EVEN THE DUST BOWL ITSELF. 744 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:11,822 THEY WERE ARKIES FROM ARKANSAS. 745 00:43:11,889 --> 00:43:14,992 THEY WERE FROM MISSOURI. THEY WERE TENANT FARMERS. 746 00:43:15,059 --> 00:43:16,860 WHEN THE FARM ECONOMY COLLAPSED, 747 00:43:16,927 --> 00:43:19,229 WHEN THE PRICES COLLAPSED AND YOU COULDN'T MAKE A LIVING, 748 00:43:19,296 --> 00:43:21,265 IF YOU WERE A TENANT FARMER, YOU HAD NOTHING, 749 00:43:21,332 --> 00:43:23,367 BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T EVEN OWN THE DIRT. 750 00:43:23,434 --> 00:43:25,803 SO THEY LEFT. 751 00:43:25,869 --> 00:43:29,540 Guthrie: THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE BUT ONE THING TO DO, 752 00:43:29,607 --> 00:43:32,409 AND THAT WAS TO JUST GET OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. 753 00:43:32,476 --> 00:43:35,479 THESE PEOPLE JUST GOT UP, AND THEY BUNDLED UP 754 00:43:35,546 --> 00:43:38,482 THEIR LITTLE BELONGINGS, THEY THROWED IN 755 00:43:38,549 --> 00:43:41,218 ONE OR TWO LITTLE THINGS THEY THOUGHT THEY'D NEED, 756 00:43:41,285 --> 00:43:46,256 HAD HEARD ABOUT THE LAND OF CALIFORNIA, 757 00:43:46,323 --> 00:43:49,226 AND ACCORDING TO THE HANDBILLS THEY PASSED OUT 758 00:43:49,293 --> 00:43:51,295 DOWN IN THAT COUNTRY, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE 759 00:43:51,362 --> 00:43:54,231 A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO SUCCEED IN CALIFORNIA. 760 00:43:54,298 --> 00:43:58,302 ♪ I'M BLOWING DOWN THIS OLD DUSTY ROAD ♪ 761 00:43:58,369 --> 00:44:02,206 ♪ I'M BLOWING DOWN THIS OLD DUSTY ROAD ♪ 762 00:44:02,272 --> 00:44:05,709 ♪ I'M BLOWING DOWN THIS OLD DUSTY ROAD, LORD, LORD ♪ 763 00:44:05,776 --> 00:44:10,147 ♪ AND I AIN'T GONNA BE TREATED THIS WAY ♪ 764 00:44:10,214 --> 00:44:12,182 Narrator: BACK IN COLORADO, 765 00:44:12,249 --> 00:44:15,486 WITH THE MONEY FROM SELLING HIS HORSES IN HIS POCKETS, 766 00:44:15,552 --> 00:44:17,888 CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER LOADED WHAT HE COULD 767 00:44:19,023 --> 00:44:23,594 INTO THEIR A CARS RATTLING DOWN HIGHWAY 66,EF 768 00:44:23,661 --> 00:44:28,098 WITH HIS 11-YEAR-OLD SON AND ASTHMATIC WIFE. 769 00:44:28,165 --> 00:44:31,969 WHEN YOU CAME DOWN THAT GRADE IN SAN BERNARDINO, 770 00:44:32,036 --> 00:44:34,204 MY MOTHER, SHE WAS SO HAPPY, 771 00:44:34,271 --> 00:44:37,007 AND YOU SAW THE GREEN VALLEY THERE-- 772 00:44:37,074 --> 00:44:40,210 THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL SIGHT. 773 00:44:40,277 --> 00:44:44,014 YOU SEE THE TREES. YOU SEE THE TREES. 774 00:44:44,081 --> 00:44:47,217 MY MOTHER THAT DAY PICKED AN ORANGE, A RIPE ORANGE, 775 00:44:47,284 --> 00:44:50,454 AND ATE IT, AND THAT WAS SOMETHING FOR HER. 776 00:44:52,723 --> 00:44:57,161 Worster: THE MIGRATION OUT OF THE GREAT PLAINS IN THE 1930s 777 00:44:57,227 --> 00:45:01,999 WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST FOLK MIGRATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. 778 00:45:02,066 --> 00:45:06,336 IT DWARFS THE MOVEMENT ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL 779 00:45:06,403 --> 00:45:10,641 IN THE 19th CENTURY, THE COVERED WAGON ERA, 780 00:45:10,708 --> 00:45:14,712 WHICH WE'VE SO IDEALIZED AND ROMANTICIZED. 781 00:45:14,778 --> 00:45:18,649 BUT WE'VE FORGOTTEN THIS MIGRATION OF THE 1930s. 782 00:45:18,716 --> 00:45:20,617 NOBODY CELEBRATES IT. 783 00:45:20,684 --> 00:45:25,422 THERE ARE NO CALIFORNIA TRAIL ASSOCIATIONS. 784 00:45:25,489 --> 00:45:28,325 WE'RE ASHAMED OF IT, BASICALLY, 785 00:45:28,392 --> 00:45:31,628 BECAUSE IT WAS A MIGRATION OF THE DEFEATED. 786 00:45:35,699 --> 00:45:37,568 Narrator: OUT IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, 787 00:45:37,634 --> 00:45:41,438 HARRY FORESTER, WHO HAD LEFT HIS FAMILY IN GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA, 788 00:45:41,505 --> 00:45:44,074 WAS NOW WORKING A VARIETY OF JOBS, 789 00:45:44,141 --> 00:45:46,710 SOMETIMES MAKING A DOLLAR A DAY 790 00:45:46,777 --> 00:45:48,812 AND SENDING AS MUCH OF IT AS POSSIBLE 791 00:45:48,879 --> 00:45:52,483 BACK TO HIS AILING WIFE AND CHILDREN. 792 00:45:52,549 --> 00:45:56,754 EVERYTHING HE HELD DEAR WAS HALF A CONTINENT AWAY. 793 00:45:56,820 --> 00:45:59,957 THE SEPARATION FROM HIS FAMILY MADE HIM MISERABLE, 794 00:46:00,023 --> 00:46:04,261 AND THEN CAME NEWS FROM HOME THAT ADDED TO HIS WOES-- 795 00:46:04,328 --> 00:46:06,697 ONE OF HIS 5 SONS, SLATS, 796 00:46:06,764 --> 00:46:09,666 HAD COME DOWN WITH DUST PNEUMONIA. 797 00:46:09,733 --> 00:46:13,437 Briggs: MY OLDEST BROTHER T DUST PNEIA, 798 00:46:13,504 --> 00:46:16,073 WAS AT DEATH'S DOOR, AND MY DAD DIDN'T KNOW 799 00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:18,208 WHETHER TO COME HOME OR NOT 800 00:46:18,275 --> 00:46:20,978 BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA DIE. 801 00:46:21,044 --> 00:46:27,084 I IMAGINE HE WAS ABSOLUTELY THE LONELIEST MAN ON THE PLANET. 802 00:46:27,151 --> 00:46:30,988 Narrator: FORESTER DECIDED HIS FAMILY SHOULD JOIN HIM 803 00:46:31,054 --> 00:46:34,691 IN OAKLAND AS SOON AS THEY COULD. 804 00:46:34,758 --> 00:46:39,630 BACK IN GOODWELL, THE FORESTER CHILDREN MOBIL FOR THE M 805 00:46:39,696 --> 00:46:43,000 THEY ADDED HOOPS AND TARPS AND A HAND-BUILT BOX 806 00:46:43,066 --> 00:46:47,638 FOR STORING AND SERVING FOOD TO A 1928 CHEVY TRUCK, 807 00:46:47,704 --> 00:46:51,708 CONVERTING IT INTO A MODERN-DAY COVERED WAGON. 808 00:46:51,775 --> 00:46:55,813 BUT MRS. FORESTER'S AGED AND BLIND MOTHER REFUSED TO LEAVE, 809 00:46:55,879 --> 00:47:00,784 SO SLATS, WHO HAD RECOVERED, WAS LEFT BEHIND TO CARE FOR HER. 810 00:47:00,851 --> 00:47:04,321 THEY MADE THEIR GOOD-BYE S,D ANOTHER CLOIS TOOK THE WHEEL 811 00:47:04,388 --> 00:47:07,658 WITH HIS FRAIL MOTHER IN THE FRONT SEAT NEXT TO HIM. 812 00:47:07,724 --> 00:47:11,395 THEN THE OTHER 7 FORESTER CHILDREN SCRAMBLED ABOARD, 813 00:47:11,461 --> 00:47:14,131 AND THEY SET OFF FOR CALIFORNIA. 814 00:47:18,702 --> 00:47:20,704 Briggs: IT WAS PRETTY EXCITING FOR ME 815 00:47:20,771 --> 00:47:23,807 BECAUSE IT WAS HOPE... 816 00:47:23,874 --> 00:47:26,743 IN A HOPELESS LITTLE HEART. 817 00:47:26,810 --> 00:47:28,612 WE WERE GOING TO CALIFORNIA 818 00:47:28,679 --> 00:47:30,781 AND HAVE ORANGES AND STUFF, YOU KNOW? 819 00:47:30,848 --> 00:47:34,785 AND WE WOULD HAVE FRUIT, AND WE WOULD LIVE HAPPILY. 820 00:47:34,852 --> 00:47:37,688 AND IT WAS JUST AN EXCITING TIME. 821 00:47:37,754 --> 00:47:39,857 I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET THERE. 822 00:47:46,496 --> 00:47:48,432 Shirley Forester McKenzie: WE SAT IN DIFFERENT PLACES. 823 00:47:48,498 --> 00:47:50,667 WE'D MOVE AROUND. 824 00:47:50,734 --> 00:47:53,704 THE MATTRESSES WERE ROLLED UP, AND STUFFED IN THE TRUCK BED, 825 00:47:53,770 --> 00:47:57,107 SO WE HAD THOSE SOFT MATTRESSES TO SLEEP ON. 826 00:48:00,944 --> 00:48:02,880 Briggs: MY FAVORITE SPOT SEEMED TO BE 827 00:48:02,946 --> 00:48:04,915 OVER THE WHEEL OF THE TRUCK. 828 00:48:04,982 --> 00:48:08,986 WE HAD THE SIDE TARPS ROLLED UP SO YOU COULD SEE OUT. 829 00:48:09,052 --> 00:48:11,521 ONE THING I REMEMBER, I WAS SO GLAD-- 830 00:48:11,588 --> 00:48:14,691 WE SAW A WEEPING WILLOW TREE, AND I'D NEVER SEEN ONE. 831 00:48:20,130 --> 00:48:23,166 William Forester: MY BROTHER WAS OBSESSED 832 00:48:23,233 --> 00:48:27,704 WITH THE POTENTIAL THAT WE MIGHT RUN OUT OF GAS, 833 00:48:27,771 --> 00:48:31,308 SO HE STOPPED AT DAMN NEAR EVERY GAS STATION 834 00:48:31,375 --> 00:48:34,411 TO TOP OFF THE TANK. 835 00:48:34,478 --> 00:48:36,813 IT WAS A LITTLE 4-BANGER CHEVY, 836 00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:42,219 AND HE DROVE IT AT ABOUT MAXIMUM OF 35 MILES AN HOUR, 837 00:48:42,286 --> 00:48:45,722 AND IT TOOK A LONG TIME. 838 00:48:45,789 --> 00:48:47,324 Robert Forester: HE HAD A GOAL IN MIND 839 00:48:47,391 --> 00:48:51,161 THAT WAS TO GET THIS CREW SAFELY THROUGH. 840 00:48:51,228 --> 00:48:58,101 HE WAS A NERVOUS NELLY ANYWAY, AND HE HAD 841 00:48:58,168 --> 00:49:01,805 LOTS OF TRIBULATIONS WHEN HE HAD TO TAKE THIS JOB-- 842 00:49:01,872 --> 00:49:03,774 WELL, BECAUSE IT WAS A BIG JOB. 843 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:06,510 HE'S A 21-YEAR-OLD GUY, AND HE'S TAKING HIS SICK MOTHER 844 00:49:06,576 --> 00:49:09,513 AND A BUNCH OF KIDS ALL THE WAY TO CALIFORNIA, 845 00:49:09,579 --> 00:49:11,315 ACROSS THAT BIG OL' DESERT. 846 00:49:11,381 --> 00:49:16,253 IT WAS A... A REAL WORRY FOR HIM, I KNOW. 847 00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:18,755 Narrator: THEY WERE ALL ANXIOUS 848 00:49:18,822 --> 00:49:21,124 ABOUT THEIR MOTHER'S FRAGILE HEALTH, 849 00:49:21,191 --> 00:49:23,760 WHICH PROMPTED THEM TO STOP A NUMBER OF TIMES 850 00:49:23,827 --> 00:49:26,430 SO SHE COULD RECOUP HER STRENGTH, 851 00:49:26,496 --> 00:49:31,168 ESPECIALLY WHEN A DUST STORM OVERTOOK THEM IN NEW MEXICO. 852 00:49:31,234 --> 00:49:33,236 William Forester: SHE WAS WORN DOWN 853 00:49:33,303 --> 00:49:36,873 BY THE TRAVAILS OF THE PREVIOUS YEARS, 854 00:49:36,940 --> 00:49:40,210 AND SHE WAS JUST IN BAD SHAPE, 855 00:49:40,277 --> 00:49:43,680 AND SHE WAS VERY FEEBLE ALL ALONG THE WAY. 856 00:49:43,747 --> 00:49:46,383 INSTEAD OF CAMPING ONE NIGHT IN NEW MEXICO, 857 00:49:46,450 --> 00:49:51,822 WE USED A LITTLE OF OUR SCARCE MONEY TO RENT A MOTEL 858 00:49:51,888 --> 00:49:56,460 SO THAT SHE COULD BE SLEEPING OUT OF THE DUST. 859 00:49:56,526 --> 00:50:00,130 Narrator: BUT IN EASTERN ARIZONA, DESPITE HER CONDITION, 860 00:50:00,197 --> 00:50:02,666 SHE INSISTED THAT CLOIS DETOUR 861 00:50:02,733 --> 00:50:06,303 THROUGH THE PAINTED DESERT AND PETRIFIED FOREST, 862 00:50:06,370 --> 00:50:11,141 WHICH SHE HAD ALWAYS YEARNED TO SEE. 863 00:50:11,208 --> 00:50:14,511 llm Forester: MY MOTHER'S HEALTH GOT WORSE AFTER THAT. 864 00:50:14,578 --> 00:50:18,148 WE FELT THAT IT WAS NECESSARY JTOT STOP AND NOT TRAVEL 865 00:50:18,215 --> 00:50:21,551 SO THAT SHE COULD HAVE TIME BEING STILL 866 00:50:21,618 --> 00:50:25,322 AND RESTING IN COOL, SHADED PLACE. 867 00:50:25,389 --> 00:50:29,226 Narrator: FARTHER ON, THEY HAD TO DESCEND TO THE COLORADO RIVER 868 00:50:29,292 --> 00:50:34,831 ON A WINDING ROAD UNLIKE ANYTHING ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 869 00:50:34,898 --> 00:50:36,833 Briggs: BUT I HAD A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT 870 00:50:36,900 --> 00:50:41,938 WHEN WE HIT THE CALIFORNIA BORDER DOWN AT NEEDLES. 871 00:50:42,005 --> 00:50:44,574 HA HA HA! 872 00:50:44,641 --> 00:50:47,644 YOU'RE IN THE DESERT, AND I FELT, OH... 873 00:50:47,711 --> 00:50:50,914 I JUST WENT, "OH, MY GOD, NO," 874 00:50:50,981 --> 00:50:53,083 BECAUSE I WAS JUST BROKEN-HEARTED 875 00:50:53,150 --> 00:50:56,553 BECAUSE I THOUGHT THERE'D BE ORANGE GROVES RIGHT THERE, YOU KNOW. 876 00:50:56,620 --> 00:50:59,823 Narrator: THEY CROSSED THE MOJAVE DESERT AT NIGHT, 877 00:50:59,890 --> 00:51:04,027 THEN TURNED NORTH, UP THE CENTRAL VALLEY, 878 00:51:04,094 --> 00:51:08,799 AND FINALLY MADE IT TO OAKLAND, ON THE MOIST SAN FRANCISCO BAY, 879 00:51:08,865 --> 00:51:11,868 WHERE HARRY FORESTER HAD RENTED A HOUSE 880 00:51:11,935 --> 00:51:15,372 AND WAS WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR THEM TO ARRIVE. 881 00:51:17,707 --> 00:51:21,878 WE GOT INTO OAKLAND, AND WE WENT TO LAKE MERRITT 882 00:51:21,945 --> 00:51:25,649 AND WENT UP GRAND AVENUE 883 00:51:25,715 --> 00:51:31,455 AND TURNED RIGHT ON MORAGA AND WENT UP MORAGA AVENUE. 884 00:51:31,521 --> 00:51:33,957 WE'RE IN THE HILLS NOW, IN THE OAKLAND HILLS, 885 00:51:34,024 --> 00:51:37,561 WHICH ARE PRETTY STEEP FOR SOMEONE LIKE US. 886 00:51:37,627 --> 00:51:39,529 WHEN WE STOPPED IN THE CANYON, 887 00:51:39,596 --> 00:51:42,365 TELEPHONED THAT WE WERE COMING UP THE ROAD, 888 00:51:42,432 --> 00:51:45,202 WE WERE A MILE AND A HALF FROM THE HOUSE, 889 00:51:45,268 --> 00:51:49,272 WE STARTED DRIVING, AND DAD STARTED HUSTLING, 890 00:51:49,339 --> 00:51:53,076 AND HE RACED DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CANYON 891 00:51:53,143 --> 00:51:55,045 SO THAT HE WAS STANDING BESIDE THE ROAD 892 00:51:55,112 --> 00:51:58,949 AS WE CAME DRIVING BY 10 MINUTES LATER. 893 00:51:59,015 --> 00:52:00,550 Briggs: AND MY DAD MET US 894 00:52:00,617 --> 00:52:04,054 AT THE CORNER OF PINE HAVEN ROAD AND HEATHER RIDGE WAY, 895 00:52:04,121 --> 00:52:06,189 AND HE HAD A HOUSE RENTED ON THE CORNER 896 00:52:06,256 --> 00:52:09,025 JUST UP THE CORNER A WAYS. 897 00:52:09,092 --> 00:52:11,695 I REMEMBER SITTING IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK 898 00:52:11,761 --> 00:52:14,564 WAITING FOR MY DAD TO COME AND GREET US 899 00:52:14,631 --> 00:52:17,067 WHILE HE WAS GREETING MOM AND MY BROTHER 900 00:52:17,134 --> 00:52:20,871 AND WHOEVER HAD BEEN RIDING WITH THEM. 901 00:52:20,937 --> 00:52:22,139 HE WENT AROUND TO THE BACK, 902 00:52:22,205 --> 00:52:25,942 AND HE TOOK EACH OF THE KIDS IN TURN, 903 00:52:26,009 --> 00:52:28,445 AND HE GAVE US A HUG, AND WE LAUGHED, 904 00:52:28,512 --> 00:52:32,282 AND IT WAS... 905 00:52:32,349 --> 00:52:34,317 IT WAS GREAT. 906 00:52:34,384 --> 00:52:36,486 AND THEN HE CAME AROUND BACK 907 00:52:36,553 --> 00:52:38,588 AND STARTED LIFTING US OUT ONE AT A TIME 908 00:52:38,655 --> 00:52:40,991 AND GIVING US A HUG AND PUTTING US DOWN. 909 00:52:41,057 --> 00:52:42,926 I LOOKED AROUND, AND I THOUGHT, 910 00:52:42,993 --> 00:52:45,929 "OH, YES, WE HAVE COME TO CANAAN LAND." 911 00:52:45,996 --> 00:52:48,231 Narrator: THEN HARRY FORESTER, 912 00:52:48,298 --> 00:52:51,234 WHO HAD ONCE DREAMED OF AMASSING SO MUCH LAND 913 00:52:51,301 --> 00:52:53,436 HE COULD BESTOW EACH OF HIS SONS 914 00:52:53,503 --> 00:52:57,374 WITH ONE SQUARE MILE OF ROLLING OKLAHOMA PRAIRIE, 915 00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:02,345 SHOWED THEM ALL THEIR NEW HOME-- A RENTED HOUSE OF 3 ROOMS, 916 00:53:02,412 --> 00:53:07,784 ON A HILL SO STEEP THE BUILDINGS NEEDED STILTS TO BE LEVEL. 917 00:53:07,851 --> 00:53:10,620 Robert Forester: AND THERE WERE BIG PINE TREES-- 918 00:53:10,687 --> 00:53:14,758 OH, 60-, 70-FOOT, 80-FOOT TALL, BIG TREES, 919 00:53:14,824 --> 00:53:17,527 AND THAT WAS SPECTACULAR. 920 00:53:17,594 --> 00:53:19,696 IT WASN'T OKLAHOMA, YOU KNOW? 921 00:53:19,763 --> 00:53:22,365 HA HA HA! 922 00:53:22,432 --> 00:53:25,368 TOTO, WE AREN'T IN OKLAHOMA ANYMORE. 923 00:53:25,435 --> 00:53:27,170 HA HA HA! 924 00:53:27,237 --> 00:53:30,674 ESPECIALLY TO A FAIR-SKINNED, 925 00:53:30,740 --> 00:53:34,010 FRECKLE-FACED, RED-HEADED YOUNGSTER THAT I WAS, 926 00:53:34,077 --> 00:53:39,182 WHERE THAT HOT WIND ALWAYS JUST BURNED ME. 927 00:53:39,249 --> 00:53:41,251 THE MIST AND THE RAIN WAS SO LIGHT OFTEN 928 00:53:41,318 --> 00:53:44,154 THAT WE KIDS WOULD GO OFF TO SCHOOL THAT FIRST YEAR 929 00:53:44,221 --> 00:53:48,592 WITHOUT A HAT OR A COAT OR ANYTHING 930 00:53:48,658 --> 00:53:53,196 BECAUSE WE JUST LOVED THE FEELING OF THAT MOISTURE ON US. 931 00:53:53,263 --> 00:53:56,032 WE WERE PARCHED, TOO. 932 00:54:00,770 --> 00:54:03,073 Lewis: WEREN'T ANY CROPS. 933 00:54:03,139 --> 00:54:08,111 IT WAS DRY, AND SO WE DIDN'T GET ANY CROPS. 934 00:54:08,178 --> 00:54:14,150 ONE OF THOSE YEARS, WE PUT OUR ENTIRE WHEAT CROP IN ONE WAGON, 935 00:54:14,217 --> 00:54:17,687 WHICH WAS MAYBE 50 BUSHELS. 936 00:54:25,295 --> 00:54:27,530 Beck: THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE. 937 00:54:27,597 --> 00:54:31,268 THERE WAS NOTHING ABOUT THE POPULATION THAT WAS BAD. 938 00:54:31,334 --> 00:54:35,672 EVERYBODY WAS HARD-WORKING, TRYING TO MAKE AN HONEST LIVING, 939 00:54:35,739 --> 00:54:41,378 AND NATURE JUST WOULDN'T LET THEM DO IT. 940 00:54:41,444 --> 00:54:45,682 SO THERE WERE FAILURES, AND THERE WERE ALSO PEOPLE 941 00:54:45,749 --> 00:54:51,354 THAT WERE AWFUL HARD TO KNOCK OFF OF THE BUSH. 942 00:54:51,421 --> 00:54:52,956 ENDED UP, A DEPRESSION, 943 00:54:53,023 --> 00:54:56,192 THE DUST BOWL DIDN'T GET THEM ALL. 944 00:54:56,259 --> 00:55:00,297 IT LEFT QUITE A FEW. BUT IT LEFT THE HARDY ONES. 945 00:55:00,363 --> 00:55:04,167 OH, THERE WERE MANY JOKES ABOUT THE DUST, OF COURSE, 946 00:55:04,234 --> 00:55:07,904 SO THAT WE LAUGHED SO WE WOULDN'T CRY, I GUESS. 947 00:55:07,971 --> 00:55:11,441 ONE OF THEM WAS, A RANCHER, AFTER A BIG DUST STORM, 948 00:55:11,508 --> 00:55:14,244 WALKED OUT TO SEE ABOUT HIS LAND, 949 00:55:14,311 --> 00:55:17,814 AND HE WAS TRYING TO FIND THE BARBED-WIRE FENCE 950 00:55:17,881 --> 00:55:20,483 THAT HAD BEEN COVERED WITH DIRT. 951 00:55:20,550 --> 00:55:22,419 HE SAW THE TOPS OF IT, 952 00:55:22,485 --> 00:55:24,854 AND THERE WAS THE COWBOY'S HAT OVER THERE. 953 00:55:24,921 --> 00:55:27,824 SO HE WALKED OVER AND PICKED UP THE COWBOY'S HAT, 954 00:55:27,891 --> 00:55:31,227 AND UNDERNEATH WAS A COWBOY, 955 00:55:31,294 --> 00:55:34,931 AND HE SAID, "OH, MY GOODNESS. AREN'T YOU IN TROUBLE THERE?" 956 00:55:34,998 --> 00:55:36,800 HE'S COVERED WITH DUST. 957 00:55:36,866 --> 00:55:39,536 AND HE SAID, "WELL, I THINK I'M GONNA BE OK, 958 00:55:39,602 --> 00:55:43,773 BUT THIS HORSE I'M RIDING IS IN A LITTLE TROUBLE." 959 00:55:46,176 --> 00:55:49,312 Narrator: BY NOW, THOSE WHO REMAINED IN THE DUST BOWL 960 00:55:49,379 --> 00:55:52,749 HAD FOUND THAT ONE WAY TO DEAL WITH WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THEM 961 00:55:52,816 --> 00:55:55,452 WAS TO POKE FUN AT IT. 962 00:55:55,518 --> 00:55:57,387 WELL, THERE'S AN OLD SAYING THERE 963 00:55:57,454 --> 00:56:00,924 THAT ONE OF THE OLD-TIMERS WAS TELLING THE PEOPLE THAT 964 00:56:00,990 --> 00:56:05,161 THEY'D HAD A CHAIN WRAPPED AROUND A CORNER POST 965 00:56:05,228 --> 00:56:07,964 AND SAID WHEN THAT CHAIN GOT STICKING OUT STRAIGHT, 966 00:56:08,031 --> 00:56:09,699 THAT WAS A PRETTY GOOD WIND, 967 00:56:09,766 --> 00:56:14,337 BUT WHEN IT WENT TO SNAPPING THE LINKS OFF, IT WAS DAMN WINDY. 968 00:56:14,404 --> 00:56:16,239 OF COURSE, THAT WASN'T TRUE. 969 00:56:16,306 --> 00:56:20,076 THAT WAS JUST A SAYING. HA HA HA! 970 00:56:22,212 --> 00:56:28,151 Narrator: 1936 WOULD PROVE TO BE AS DRY AS 1935, 971 00:56:28,218 --> 00:56:31,187 WITH EVEN MORE DUST STORMS. 972 00:56:36,259 --> 00:56:40,730 IN APRIL, AN OUTSIDER SHOWED UP IN BOISE CITY. 973 00:56:40,797 --> 00:56:43,666 ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN WAS 21 YEARS OLD, 974 00:56:43,733 --> 00:56:45,702 THE SON OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS, 975 00:56:45,769 --> 00:56:48,605 BORN AND RAISED IN NEW YORK CITY. 976 00:56:48,671 --> 00:56:51,174 HE WAS IN NO MAN'S LAND TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS 977 00:56:51,241 --> 00:56:55,879 FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S RESETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATION. 978 00:56:55,945 --> 00:56:58,348 ROTHSTEIN'S BOSS, ROY STRYKER, 979 00:56:58,415 --> 00:57:01,084 BELIEVED THAT PICTURES COULD BE A POWERFUL TOOL 980 00:57:01,151 --> 00:57:03,653 TO SHOW NOT ONLY THE MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS 981 00:57:03,720 --> 00:57:05,422 THE NATION WAS FACING, 982 00:57:05,488 --> 00:57:08,658 BUT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS DOING ABOUT THEM. 983 00:57:08,725 --> 00:57:11,895 OVER THE COURSE OF 7 YEARS, AS THE AGENCY BECAME 984 00:57:11,961 --> 00:57:15,031 PART OF THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION, 985 00:57:15,098 --> 00:57:16,699 STRYKER WOULD LAUNCH 986 00:57:16,766 --> 00:57:19,369 AN UNPRECEDENTED DOCUMENTARY EFFORT, 987 00:57:19,436 --> 00:57:23,573 EVENTUALLY AMASSING MORE THAN 200,000 IMAGES 988 00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:26,609 OF AMERICA IN THE 1930s, 989 00:57:26,676 --> 00:57:29,813 TAKEN BY A TALENTED DRE OF PHOTOGRAPHERS, 990 00:57:29,879 --> 00:57:33,983 INCLUDING WALKER EVANS, RUSSELL LEE, 991 00:57:34,050 --> 00:57:39,155 MARION POST WALCOTT, JOHN VACHON, 992 00:57:39,222 --> 00:57:41,591 AND DOROTHEA LANGE. 993 00:57:41,658 --> 00:57:43,326 Egan: HE SENT THEM OUT THERE 994 00:57:43,393 --> 00:57:46,229 WITH A VERY SIMPLE SET OF INSTRUCTIONS-- 995 00:57:46,296 --> 00:57:49,799 I WANT TO SEE THEIR EYES. I WANT TO SEE THEIR FACES. 996 00:57:49,866 --> 00:57:52,235 I WANT TO SEE EMOTION. 997 00:57:52,302 --> 00:57:54,671 I WANT PEOPLE TO LOOK AT THESE PICTURES 998 00:57:54,737 --> 00:57:57,373 AND NOT SEE ABSTRACTION. 999 00:57:57,440 --> 00:58:01,611 I WANT THEM TO SEE FOLKS STRUGGLING IN THE LAND. 1000 00:58:01,678 --> 00:58:04,681 Narrator: PRIOR TO ARRIVING IN OKLAHOMA, 1001 00:58:04,747 --> 00:58:07,350 ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN' ASSIGNMENT HAD TAKEN HIM 1002 00:58:07,417 --> 00:58:10,220 ON A NATIONWIDE TOUR OF THE DEPRESSION. 1003 00:58:10,286 --> 00:58:13,523 HE HAD DOCUMENTED RURAL PEOPLE BEING DISPOSSESSED 1004 00:58:13,590 --> 00:58:16,626 TO CREATE SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, 1005 00:58:16,693 --> 00:58:19,529 DESPERATE TENANT FARMERS IN ARKANSAS, 1006 00:58:19,596 --> 00:58:22,999 HARD-LUCK RANCHERS IN MONTANA, 1007 00:58:23,066 --> 00:58:26,703 AND SLUM DWELLERS IN ST. LOUIS. 1008 00:58:26,769 --> 00:58:30,673 BUT THE MOST DISTRESSING SITUATION HE EVER COENTERED, 1009 00:58:30,740 --> 00:58:32,842 HE REMEMBERED LATER, WAS WHAT HE SAW 1010 00:58:32,909 --> 00:58:35,512 DRIVING THROUGH THE DUST BOWL. 1011 00:58:35,578 --> 00:58:38,515 "IT WAS LIKE A LANDSCAPE OF THE MOON," HE SAID, 1012 00:58:38,581 --> 00:58:41,651 POPULATED BY "HARD-WORKING PEOPLE WHO, 1013 00:58:41,718 --> 00:58:44,721 "THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, NEEDED ASSISTANCE, 1014 00:58:44,787 --> 00:58:47,790 "AND THE ONLY PLACE THEY COULD GET THAT ASSISTANCE 1015 00:58:47,857 --> 00:58:51,160 WAS FROM THE GOVERNMENT." 1016 00:58:51,227 --> 00:58:54,664 ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTH OF BOISE CITY, 1017 00:58:54,731 --> 00:58:56,833 CHEE ACROSS ART COBLE, 1018 00:58:56,900 --> 00:59:00,169 DIGGING OUT A FENCE POST FROM A SAND DRIFT. 1019 00:59:00,236 --> 00:59:03,306 ROTHSTEIN CHATTED WITH HIM AND HIS TWO YOUNG SONS, 1020 00:59:03,373 --> 00:59:07,043 SNAPPED A FEW PICTURES, AND WAS GETTING BACK INTO HIS CAR 1021 00:59:07,110 --> 00:59:10,380 WHEN THE WIND SUDDENLY PICKED UP. 1022 00:59:10,446 --> 00:59:14,484 LOOKING BACK, HE SAW THEM BENDING INTO THE STORM, 1023 00:59:14,551 --> 00:59:19,756 POINTED HIS CAMERA AT THEM, D ANICKED THE SHUTTER. 1024 00:59:19,822 --> 00:59:21,824 THE IMAGE THAT ROTHSTEIN CAPTURED 1025 00:59:21,891 --> 00:59:25,194 TOUCHED EMOTIONAL CHORDS WITH EVERYONE WHO SAW IT, 1026 00:59:25,261 --> 00:59:28,531 BECOMING THE ICONIC PICTURE OF THE DUST BOWL 1027 00:59:28,598 --> 00:59:31,534 AND ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHS 1028 00:59:31,601 --> 00:59:34,370 OF THE 20th CENTURY. 1029 00:59:36,439 --> 00:59:38,808 IN ADDITION TO HIRING PHOTOGRAPHERS, 1030 00:59:38,875 --> 00:59:42,812 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALSO UNDERWROTE A DOCUMENTARY FILM, 1031 00:59:42,879 --> 00:59:44,547 AND THAT SUMMER IT PREMIERED 1032 00:59:44,614 --> 00:59:48,184 AT THE MISSION THEATRE IN DALHART, TEXAS. 1033 00:59:48,251 --> 00:59:51,254 "THE PLOW THAT BROKE THE PLAINS," 1034 00:59:51,321 --> 00:59:53,523 DIRECTED BY PARE LORENTZ, 1035 00:59:53,590 --> 00:59:56,759 WAS MEANT TO DESCRIBE THE CAUSES OF THE DUST BOWL 1036 00:59:56,826 --> 01:00:00,964 AND WHAT ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL WAS TRYING TO DO ABOUT IT. 1037 01:00:01,030 --> 01:00:02,565 Film narrator: THE GRASSLANDS-- 1038 01:00:02,632 --> 01:00:07,203 A TREELESS, WINDSWEPT CONTINENT OF GRASS... 1039 01:00:07,270 --> 01:00:10,239 A COUNTRY OF HIGH WINDS AND SUN, 1040 01:00:10,306 --> 01:00:12,642 HIGH WINDS AND SUN. 1041 01:00:12,709 --> 01:00:15,578 Narrator: THE FILM PLACED MUCH OF THE BLAME OF THE DUST BOWL 1042 01:00:15,645 --> 01:00:19,148 ON THE ARRIVAL OF THE TRACTOR TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1043 01:00:19,215 --> 01:00:21,417 AND DESCRIBED HOW STURDY FARMERS 1044 01:00:21,484 --> 01:00:25,288 WHO HAD ONCE SLOWLY TURNED THE SOIL BEHIND A TEAM OF MULES 1045 01:00:25,355 --> 01:00:28,091 SUDDENLY BECAME A MECHANIZED FORCE 1046 01:00:28,157 --> 01:00:31,027 ARRAYED AGAINST NATURE ITSELF. 1047 01:00:32,662 --> 01:00:35,498 THE REACTION INSIDE THE DUST BOWL ITSELF 1048 01:00:35,565 --> 01:00:37,233 WAS LARGELY NOT GOOD. 1049 01:00:37,300 --> 01:00:42,105 THEY DIDN'T LIKE SEEING THEIR LAND OR THEMSELVES 1050 01:00:42,171 --> 01:00:46,743 AS CHARACTERS ON THE BAD END OF A DRAMA. 1051 01:00:50,213 --> 01:00:51,914 Robertson: SOMETIMES AT THE MOVIES, 1052 01:00:51,981 --> 01:00:54,984 THE NEWSREEL SHOWED THE DUST BOWL, 1053 01:00:55,051 --> 01:00:59,088 AND THAT INFURIATED THE LOCAL BOOSTERS, 1054 01:00:59,155 --> 01:01:01,157 BECAUSE THEY SAID, "THAT'S BAD PUBLICITY. 1055 01:01:01,224 --> 01:01:04,193 WE DON'T NEED THAT BAD PUBLICITY." 1056 01:01:04,260 --> 01:01:07,797 THE REST OF US BESIDES THE BOOSTERS THOUGHT, 1057 01:01:07,864 --> 01:01:09,732 WELL, THEY GOT THAT RIGHT, 1058 01:01:09,799 --> 01:01:13,936 AND THEY'RE REALLY TELLING IT, WHAT'S HAPPENING TO US-- 1059 01:01:14,003 --> 01:01:16,105 THEY'RE REALLY TELLING IT RIGHT. 1060 01:01:22,311 --> 01:01:25,081 Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1936, 1061 01:01:25,148 --> 01:01:29,185 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TOOK A 4,000-MILE WHISTLE-STOP TOUR 1062 01:01:29,252 --> 01:01:31,721 ACROSS THE MIDWEST AND NORTHERN PLAINS 1063 01:01:31,788 --> 01:01:33,823 TO SEE FOR HIMSELF THE EXTENT 1064 01:01:33,890 --> 01:01:37,593 OF THE NATION'S AGRICULTURAL CRISIS. 1065 01:01:37,660 --> 01:01:39,796 Franklin Roosevelt: MY FRIENDS, 1066 01:01:39,862 --> 01:01:43,466 I HAVE BEEN ON A JOURNEY OF HUSBANDRY. 1067 01:01:43,533 --> 01:01:47,203 I TALKED WITH FAMILIES WHO HAD LOST THEIR WHEAT CROP, 1068 01:01:47,270 --> 01:01:51,340 LOST THEIR CORN CROP, LOST THEIR LIVESTOCK, 1069 01:01:51,407 --> 01:01:53,743 LOST THE WATER IN THEIR WELL, 1070 01:01:53,810 --> 01:01:56,212 AND COME THROUGH TO THE END OF THE SUMMER 1071 01:01:56,279 --> 01:01:59,315 WITHOUT ONE DOLLAR OF CASH RESOURCES, 1072 01:01:59,382 --> 01:02:02,852 FACING A WINTER WITHOUT FEED OR FOOD, 1073 01:02:02,919 --> 01:02:04,821 FACING A PLANTING SEASON... 1074 01:02:04,887 --> 01:02:06,522 Narrator: AT THE SAME TIME, 1075 01:02:06,589 --> 01:02:09,692 HUGH BENNETT, THE HEAD OF THE SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE, 1076 01:02:09,759 --> 01:02:13,696 WAS ON HIS OWN FACT-FINDING TOUR WITH A COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS 1077 01:02:13,763 --> 01:02:16,766 EXPECTED TO MAKE A REPORT TO FDR 1078 01:02:16,833 --> 01:02:20,002 ON THE FUTURE OF THE GREAT PLAINS. 1079 01:02:20,069 --> 01:02:22,305 BENNETT'S FIRST STOP WAS DALHART, 1080 01:02:22,371 --> 01:02:24,607 WHERE HOWARD FINNELL WAS MAKING HEADWAY 1081 01:02:24,674 --> 01:02:27,944 WITH THE FARMERS HE WAS TRYING TO CONVERT. 1082 01:02:28,010 --> 01:02:29,846 EARLIER IN THE YEAR, 1083 01:02:29,912 --> 01:02:33,516 FINNELL HAD PETITIONED SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE HENRY WALLACE 1084 01:02:33,583 --> 01:02:36,319 FOR $2 MILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDS 1085 01:02:36,385 --> 01:02:39,322 TO OFFER INCENTIVES OF 20 CENTS AN ACRE 1086 01:02:39,388 --> 01:02:41,424 FOR THOSE WHO WOULD TRY HIS METHOD 1087 01:02:41,491 --> 01:02:44,961 OF CONTOUR PLOWING ON THEIR OWN LAND. 1088 01:02:45,027 --> 01:02:48,030 NEARLY 40,000 FARMERS HAD SIGNED UP 1089 01:02:48,097 --> 01:02:52,835 AND GONE TO WORK ON 5.5 MILLION ACRES. 1090 01:02:52,902 --> 01:02:55,171 Worster: THE ONLY PROGRAM THAT WAS OUT THERE 1091 01:02:55,238 --> 01:02:57,907 THAT WAS EFFECTIVE WAS THIS ONE, 1092 01:02:57,974 --> 01:03:02,245 AND FINNELL WAS THE POINT MAN TO TRY TO MAKE IT WORK 1093 01:03:02,311 --> 01:03:05,148 AMONG THESE FARMERS WHO HAD STILL NOT ADMITTED 1094 01:03:05,214 --> 01:03:07,083 THAT IT WAS THEIR FAULT, 1095 01:03:07,150 --> 01:03:10,253 FARMERS WHO BASICALLY SAID, "THIS IS ALL NATURE'S DOING. 1096 01:03:10,319 --> 01:03:12,555 "LEAVE US ALONE. THE RAINS WILL COME BACK, 1097 01:03:12,622 --> 01:03:15,091 AND WE WILL BE BACK IN BUSINESS." 1098 01:03:15,158 --> 01:03:17,293 Narrator: BENNETT AND HIS COMMITTEE MOVED ON 1099 01:03:17,360 --> 01:03:19,495 WITH THEIR TOUR, PLANNING TO MEET UP 1100 01:03:19,562 --> 01:03:21,664 WITH THE PRESIDENT IN NORTH DAKOTA 1101 01:03:21,731 --> 01:03:24,367 AND GIVE HIM THEIR FINDINGS. 1102 01:03:24,433 --> 01:03:26,302 THE FINAL REPORT ESTIMATED 1103 01:03:26,369 --> 01:03:31,040 THAT 80% OF THE GREAT PLAINS WAS IN SOME STAGE OF EROSION 1104 01:03:31,107 --> 01:03:33,376 AND POINTED TO WHAT BENNETT CALLED 1105 01:03:33,442 --> 01:03:36,412 "THE BASIC CAUSE" OF THE PROBLEM-- 1106 01:03:36,479 --> 01:03:40,850 "AN ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE UPON THE REGION A SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE 1107 01:03:40,917 --> 01:03:44,420 TO WHICH THE PLAINS ARE NOT ADAPTED." 1108 01:03:47,056 --> 01:03:48,825 BUT, IT CONCLUDED, 1109 01:03:48,891 --> 01:03:53,129 THE NATION "CANNOT AFFORD TO LET THE FARMER FAIL." 1110 01:03:53,196 --> 01:03:56,899 HIS BOSS WAS NOT ABOUT TO LET THAT HAPPEN. 1111 01:03:56,966 --> 01:03:58,835 Roosevelt: BACK EAST, THERE HAVE BEEN 1112 01:03:58,901 --> 01:04:03,272 ALL KINDS OF REPORTS THAT OUT IN THE DROUGHT AREA 1113 01:04:03,339 --> 01:04:09,178 THERE WAS DESPONDENCY, A LACK OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, 1114 01:04:09,245 --> 01:04:14,283 AND A GENERAL ATMOSPHERE OF GLOOM. 1115 01:04:14,350 --> 01:04:17,286 BUT I HAD A HUNCH-- AND IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE-- 1116 01:04:17,353 --> 01:04:19,088 WHEN I GOT OUT HERE, 1117 01:04:19,155 --> 01:04:23,259 I'D FIND THAT YOU PEOPLE HAD YOUR CHINS OUT... 1118 01:04:23,326 --> 01:04:28,064 [APPLAUSE] 1119 01:04:28,130 --> 01:04:32,401 THAT YOU ARE NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DAY 1120 01:04:32,468 --> 01:04:35,504 WHEN THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE DEPOPULATED, 1121 01:04:35,571 --> 01:04:39,275 BUT THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN EXPECT TO REMAIN HERE. 1122 01:04:39,342 --> 01:04:41,544 [APPLAUSE] 1123 01:04:48,351 --> 01:04:51,287 Frantz: TO US, HE WAS A SAVIOR. 1124 01:04:51,354 --> 01:04:57,126 HE JUST...HE GAVE US HOPE WHERE WE HAD NONE. 1125 01:04:57,193 --> 01:05:02,965 I CAN REMEMBER MY DAD SAYING THAT HE NORMALLY DIDN'T 1126 01:05:03,032 --> 01:05:05,968 VOTE DEMOCRAT, BUT HE THOUGHT HE WOULD THAT TIME, 1127 01:05:06,035 --> 01:05:09,305 AND I THINK HE BECAME A STAUNCH DEMOCRAT AFTER THAT. 1128 01:05:09,372 --> 01:05:13,242 Roosevelt: NO CRACKED EARTH, NO BLISTERING SUN, 1129 01:05:13,309 --> 01:05:17,446 NO BURNING WIND ARE A PERMANENT MATCH 1130 01:05:17,513 --> 01:05:21,284 FOR THE INDOMITABLE AMERICAN FARMERS AND STOCKMEN, 1131 01:05:21,350 --> 01:05:23,486 AND THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN, 1132 01:05:23,552 --> 01:05:26,656 WHO HAVE CARRIED ON THROUGH DESPERATE DAYS. 1133 01:05:26,722 --> 01:05:30,593 HERE'S A LAND THAT GOD HIMSELF SEEMS TO HAVE GIVEN UP ON... 1134 01:05:30,660 --> 01:05:33,529 Roosevelt: I SHALL NEVER FORGET THE FIELDS OF WHEAT... 1135 01:05:33,596 --> 01:05:35,531 Egan: AND THE FACT THAT THE PRESIDENT STILL 1136 01:05:35,598 --> 01:05:38,601 GAVE IT HIS ATTENTION-- SO THAT WAS A VERY BIG DEAL 1137 01:05:38,668 --> 01:05:41,604 AT A TIME WHEN THEY FELT SO ABANDONED, 1138 01:05:41,671 --> 01:05:43,806 AND YOU CAN'T UNDERSTATE THE IMPORTANCE 1139 01:05:43,873 --> 01:05:46,108 OF JUST GIVING IT SOME ATTENTION. 1140 01:05:46,175 --> 01:05:49,545 Roosevelt: IT WAS THEIR FATHERS' TASK TO MAKE HOMES, 1141 01:05:49,612 --> 01:05:53,015 IT IS THEIR TASK TO KEEP THESE HOMES, 1142 01:05:53,082 --> 01:05:57,153 AND IT IS OUR TASK TO HELP THEM WIN THEIR FIGHT. 1143 01:06:02,258 --> 01:06:04,060 Man: WE'RE CONTINUING WITH 1144 01:06:04,126 --> 01:06:06,195 MR. WOODY GUTHRIE'S DUST BOWL SONGS 1145 01:06:06,262 --> 01:06:09,398 FROM TEXAS, OKLAHOMA, AND CALIFORNIA. 1146 01:06:09,465 --> 01:06:11,934 Guthrie: AS I RAMBLED AROUND OVER THE COUNTRY 1147 01:06:12,001 --> 01:06:14,036 AND KEPT LOOKING AT ALL THESE PEOPLE, 1148 01:06:14,103 --> 01:06:17,873 SEEING HOW THEY LIVED OUTSIDE LIKE COYOTES 1149 01:06:17,940 --> 01:06:20,910 AROUND IN THE TREES AND TIMBER AND UNDER THE BRIDGES 1150 01:06:20,977 --> 01:06:22,378 AND ALONG ALL THE RAILROAD TRACKS 1151 01:06:22,445 --> 01:06:24,814 AND IN THEIR LITTLE SHACK HOUSES THATHT BUILT 1152 01:06:24,880 --> 01:06:27,016 OUT OF CARDBOARD AND TOE SACKS 1153 01:06:27,083 --> 01:06:33,255 AND OLD CORRUGATED IRON THAT THEY GOT OUT OF THE DUMPS-- 1154 01:06:33,322 --> 01:06:37,793 THAT JUST STRUCK ME TO WRITE THIS SONG. 1155 01:06:37,860 --> 01:06:41,530 ♪ I AIN'T GOT NO HOME, I'M JUST A-ROAMIN' ROUND ♪ 1156 01:06:41,597 --> 01:06:44,333 Narrator: DURING THE 10 YEARS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION, 1157 01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:48,838 CALIFORNIA'S POPULATION WOULD GROW MORE THAN 20%. 1158 01:06:48,904 --> 01:06:53,342 HALF OF THE NEWCOMERS CAME FROM CITIES, NOT FARMS. 1159 01:06:53,409 --> 01:06:58,080 ONE IN 6 WERE PROFESSIONALS OR WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS. 1160 01:06:58,147 --> 01:07:02,885 OF THE 315,000 WHO ARRIVED FROM OKLAHOMA, TEXAS, 1161 01:07:02,952 --> 01:07:04,920 AND NEIGHBORING STATES, 1162 01:07:04,987 --> 01:07:09,692 ONLY 16,000 WERE FROM THE DUST BOWL ITSELF. 1163 01:07:09,759 --> 01:07:13,262 BUT REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY ACTUALLY CAME FROM, 1164 01:07:13,329 --> 01:07:16,265 REGARDLESS OF THEIR SKILLS AND THEIR EDUCATION 1165 01:07:16,332 --> 01:07:18,234 AND THEIR INDIVIDUAL REASONS 1166 01:07:18,300 --> 01:07:21,270 FOR SEEKING A NEW LIFE IN A NEW PLACE, 1167 01:07:21,337 --> 01:07:24,974 TO MOST CALIFORNIANS-- AND TO THE NATION AT LARGE-- 1168 01:07:25,041 --> 01:07:27,376 THEY WERE ALL THE SAME, 1169 01:07:27,443 --> 01:07:30,713 AND THEY ALL HAD THE SAME NAME. 1170 01:07:30,780 --> 01:07:33,215 "OKIES." AND WE WERE MADE FUN OF, 1171 01:07:33,282 --> 01:07:36,852 AND, "YOU TALK FUNNY," AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THAT. 1172 01:07:36,919 --> 01:07:40,189 OR, "TALK SOME MORE. YOU TALK FUNNY." 1173 01:07:40,256 --> 01:07:42,925 AND YOU HATED THAT BECAUSE IT SET YOU APART. 1174 01:07:42,992 --> 01:07:45,594 Worster: THERE WAS A SIGN IN A MOVIE THEATER 1175 01:07:45,661 --> 01:07:47,630 IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA 1176 01:07:47,696 --> 01:07:51,700 WHICH BASICALLY SAID "NIGGERS AND OKIES UPSTAIRS." 1177 01:07:51,767 --> 01:07:56,472 THAT IS, YOU CAN'T SIT DOWN HERE WITH REAL PEOPLE. 1178 01:07:58,307 --> 01:08:00,176 THEY WERE HORRIBLY MISTREATED. 1179 01:08:00,242 --> 01:08:01,777 IN SOME CASES, THEY WERE TREATED 1180 01:08:01,844 --> 01:08:04,080 THE WAY BLACKS WERE TREATED IN THE SOUTH. 1181 01:08:04,146 --> 01:08:06,182 THERE WERE SIGNS SIMILAR TO THE SIGNS 1182 01:08:06,248 --> 01:08:08,217 THEY HAD IN DALHART, TEXAS, THAT SAID, 1183 01:08:08,284 --> 01:08:11,687 "BLACK MAN, DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON YOU HERE." 1184 01:08:11,754 --> 01:08:14,056 SIMILARLY, THERE WERE SIGNS ALL THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL VALLEY 1185 01:08:14,123 --> 01:08:17,093 SAYING, "OKIE, GO BACK. WE DON'T WANT YOU." 1186 01:08:19,562 --> 01:08:22,832 Narrator: ABOUT A THIRD OF ALL THE RECENT ARRIVALS, 1187 01:08:22,898 --> 01:08:24,700 MANY OF THEM FORMER SHARECROPPERS 1188 01:08:24,767 --> 01:08:26,368 FROM THE COTTON BELT, 1189 01:08:26,435 --> 01:08:29,872 ENDED UP IN CALIFORNIA'S AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS, 1190 01:08:29,939 --> 01:08:32,708 WHERE FARMERS HAD ALWAYS RELIED ON MIGRANT LABOR 1191 01:08:32,775 --> 01:08:36,645 TO PICK THEIR COTTON, VEGETABLES, AND FRUITS. 1192 01:08:36,712 --> 01:08:38,247 THEY SETTLED IN DEVELOPMENTS 1193 01:08:38,314 --> 01:08:41,450 CALLED "LITTLE OKLAHOMAS" AND "OKIEVILLES" 1194 01:08:41,517 --> 01:08:43,285 OR MOVED WITH THE HARVESTS, 1195 01:08:43,352 --> 01:08:48,224 SOMETIMES TRAVELING 700 TO 1,000 MILES IN THE SEASON, 1196 01:08:48,290 --> 01:08:52,161 STAYING IN SQUALID ROADSIDE CAMPS CALLED "JUNGLES" 1197 01:08:52,228 --> 01:08:54,296 OR SIMPLY PUTTING UP A TENT 1198 01:08:54,363 --> 01:08:57,766 ALONG THE ROAD OR IN AN UNUSED FIELD. 1199 01:08:57,833 --> 01:09:00,035 AND THEY FOUND THEMSELVES AT THE MERCY 1200 01:09:00,102 --> 01:09:03,105 OF THE CONTRACTORS, WHO CONSPIRED WITH THE GROWERS 1201 01:09:03,172 --> 01:09:06,942 TO DRIVE DOWN THE FIELD WORKERS' WAGES. 1202 01:09:07,009 --> 01:09:10,746 Woman: "THEY HAVE THE SIMPLE AND STURDY VALUES 1203 01:09:10,813 --> 01:09:12,748 "OFTEN BEMOANED AS LOST. 1204 01:09:12,815 --> 01:09:15,885 "THEY ARE PROUD, STRONG PEOPLE, 1205 01:09:15,951 --> 01:09:20,856 "PATIENT, UNCOMPLAINING, INTELLIGENT. 1206 01:09:20,923 --> 01:09:23,659 "THEY WANT FIRST OF ALL TO WORK, 1207 01:09:23,726 --> 01:09:25,995 "TO HAVE A HOME FOR THEIR FAMILIES, 1208 01:09:26,061 --> 01:09:28,631 "TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN. 1209 01:09:28,697 --> 01:09:33,035 "THESE SIMPLE RIGHTS ARE PART OF THE HERITAGE OF AMERICANS. 1210 01:09:33,102 --> 01:09:35,471 "IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND 1211 01:09:35,538 --> 01:09:38,474 "THAT NONE OF THEM REMAIN. 1212 01:09:38,541 --> 01:09:41,610 "THEIR WHOLE LIVES ARE CONCENTRATED NOW 1213 01:09:41,677 --> 01:09:44,947 "ON ONE INSTINCTIVE PROBLEM-- 1214 01:09:45,014 --> 01:09:47,616 THAT OF KEEPING ALIVE." 1215 01:09:47,683 --> 01:09:49,552 SANORA BABB. 1216 01:09:51,554 --> 01:09:53,889 Narrator: SANORA BABB, A FORMER REPORTER 1217 01:09:53,956 --> 01:09:57,193 WHO HAD GROWN UP IN THE AREA AROUND NO MAN'S LAND, 1218 01:09:57,259 --> 01:10:01,997 HAD FOUND A NEW JOB WITH THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION. 1219 01:10:02,064 --> 01:10:04,099 WITH HER BOSS, TOM COLLINS, 1220 01:10:04,166 --> 01:10:06,702 SHE WENT UP AND DOWN THE CENTRAL VALLEY, 1221 01:10:06,769 --> 01:10:10,039 INFORMING THE NEWLY ARRIVED MIGRAN ATSUT PROGRAMS 1222 01:10:10,105 --> 01:10:12,875 TO PROVIDE THEM WITH FOOD AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE 1223 01:10:12,942 --> 01:10:16,712 FOR THEIR FAMILIES, EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN, 1224 01:10:16,779 --> 01:10:18,948 AND BETTER LIVING CONDITIONS. 1225 01:10:21,917 --> 01:10:23,886 Sanora Babb portrayer: ONLY A FEW DAYS AGO, 1226 01:10:23,953 --> 01:10:26,755 WE MET A YOUNG MAN WALKING ALONG THE ROAD TO TOWN 1227 01:10:26,822 --> 01:10:29,358 IN SEARCH OF IMMEDIATE WORK AND HELP. 1228 01:10:29,425 --> 01:10:32,294 HIS WIFE HAD HAD A BABY 3 DAYS BEFORE 1229 01:10:32,361 --> 01:10:35,664 IN AN ABANDONED MILK HOUSE SEPARATED FROM ANY CAMP, 1230 01:10:35,731 --> 01:10:39,435 WHERE THEY HAD TAKEN REFUGE DURING THE RECENT STORMS. 1231 01:10:39,501 --> 01:10:41,537 HE WAS DESPERATE. 1232 01:10:41,604 --> 01:10:44,873 SINCE THE BIRTH, HIS WIFE, THEIR OTHER CHILDREN, 1233 01:10:44,940 --> 01:10:47,810 AND HE HIMSELF HAD NOT EATEN FOR 3 DAYS. 1234 01:10:47,876 --> 01:10:51,180 IF HE DID NOT GET SOMETHING FOR THEM AT ONCE, 1235 01:10:51,247 --> 01:10:53,916 SHE AND THE BABY WOULD DIE. 1236 01:10:56,118 --> 01:10:58,220 Narrator: WHEN THE REFUGEES LEARNED 1237 01:10:58,287 --> 01:11:00,823 SANORA HAD GROWN UP ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, 1238 01:11:00,889 --> 01:11:07,029 IT HELPED ESTABLISH A TRUST AND RESPECT THAT EXTENDED BOTH WAYS. 1239 01:11:07,096 --> 01:11:09,465 THE GOVERNMENT HAD ALSO ASKED 1240 01:11:09,531 --> 01:11:13,202 THE PHOTOGRAPHER DOROTHEA LANGE TO COME BACK TO CALIFORNIA 1241 01:11:13,269 --> 01:11:17,373 TO DOCUMENT THE DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS AMONG THE MIGRANTS. 1242 01:11:28,550 --> 01:11:31,887 TOM COLLINS AND THE FSA USED HER PHOTOS 1243 01:11:31,954 --> 01:11:35,924 TO PH R CREATION OF A HANDFUL OF GOVERNMENT CAMPS 1244 01:11:35,991 --> 01:11:38,594 WITH BETTER SHELTER AND SANITATION FOR 1245 01:11:38,661 --> 01:11:44,366 THE STEADY STREAM OF REFUGEES WHO WERE ARRIVING EVERY DAY. 1246 01:11:44,433 --> 01:11:47,803 COLLINS INSISTED THAT THE CAMPS BE SELF-GOVERNED, 1247 01:11:47,870 --> 01:11:51,507 WITH ELECTED COMMITTEES RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING FROM 1248 01:11:51,573 --> 01:11:56,912 SEWING CLUBS AND LIBRARIES TO CHILDCARE AND CLEANLINESS. 1249 01:11:56,979 --> 01:12:02,284 BUT ONLY A LUCKY FEW WERE ABLE TO FIND SPACE THERE. 1250 01:12:02,351 --> 01:12:06,221 AND WHILE THE GROWERS DEPENDED ON THE MIGRANTS FOR CHEAP LABOR, 1251 01:12:06,288 --> 01:12:09,992 THE LOCALS, WHO WERE THEMSELVES SUFFERING FROM THE DEPRESSION, 1252 01:12:10,059 --> 01:12:11,994 DIDN'T APPRECIATE ANYTHING 1253 01:12:12,061 --> 01:12:15,264 THAT ENCOURAGED THE NEWCOMERS TO STAY, 1254 01:12:15,331 --> 01:12:19,935 NOR DID THE GROWERS ONCE THE HARVEST WAS OVER. 1255 01:12:22,371 --> 01:12:24,373 Guthrie: ♪ IT TAKES A WORRIED MAN ♪ 1256 01:12:24,440 --> 01:12:26,642 ♪ TO SING A WORRIED SONG ♪ 1257 01:12:26,709 --> 01:12:28,744 ♪ TAKES A WORRIED MAN ♪ 1258 01:12:28,811 --> 01:12:30,346 ♪ TO SING A WORRIED SONG ♪ 1259 01:12:30,412 --> 01:12:31,814 ♪ I'M WORRIED NOW... ♪ 1260 01:12:31,880 --> 01:12:33,549 Narrator: LIKE MANY OF THE NEW ARRIVALS, 1261 01:12:33,615 --> 01:12:37,019 WOODY GUTHRIE HAD SETTLED IN ONE OF CALIFORNIA'S CITIES-- 1262 01:12:37,086 --> 01:12:39,688 LOS ANGELES, WHERE HE WORKED WASHING DISHES 1263 01:12:39,755 --> 01:12:43,325 AND SINGING IN BARS BEFORE FINALLY LANDING 1264 01:12:43,392 --> 01:12:48,464 HIS OWN SHOW ON RADIO STATION KFVD. 1265 01:12:48,530 --> 01:12:51,800 EACH DAY, HE PERFORMED HIS OWN SONGS, AS WELL AS 1266 01:12:51,867 --> 01:12:56,238 OLDER FOLK TUNES HE HAD LEARNED IN OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS, 1267 01:12:56,305 --> 01:12:59,508 WHICH REMINDED MANY LISTENERS IN HIS GROWING AUDIENCE 1268 01:12:59,575 --> 01:13:01,677 OF THE HOMES THEY HAD LEFT. 1269 01:13:01,744 --> 01:13:03,746 ♪ I ASKED THAT JUDGE... ♪ 1270 01:13:03,812 --> 01:13:05,514 Narrator: BUT THOUGH HE WAS BECOMING 1271 01:13:05,581 --> 01:13:07,683 A WELL-KNOWN RADIO PERSONALITY, 1272 01:13:07,750 --> 01:13:10,119 HE, TOO, FELT THE STING OF BIGOTRY 1273 01:13:10,185 --> 01:13:14,523 AIMED AT ANYONE CONSIDERED AN "OKIE." 1274 01:13:14,590 --> 01:13:17,192 HE BEGAN SPENDING TIME TRAVELING 1275 01:13:17,259 --> 01:13:20,162 AND PERFORMING FOR FREE IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY, 1276 01:13:20,229 --> 01:13:23,732 WHTHE TREATMENT OF THE FAERENFARM WORKERS POLITICIZED , 1277 01:13:23,799 --> 01:13:28,670 AND HIS MUSIC, FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. 1278 01:13:28,737 --> 01:13:31,306 HE SANG AT PICKET LINES OF WORKERS 1279 01:13:31,373 --> 01:13:33,375 HOLDING OUT FOR HIGHER WAGES 1280 01:13:33,442 --> 01:13:36,345 AND STARNEWSPAPERTER COLUMN, "WOODY SEZ," 1281 01:13:36,412 --> 01:13:39,648 IN THE LEFT-LEANING "PEOPLE'S WORLD." 1282 01:13:39,715 --> 01:13:42,351 "I AIN'T A COMMUNIST NECESSARILY," HE SAID, 1283 01:13:42,418 --> 01:13:45,587 "BUT I'VE BEEN IN THE RED ALL MY LIFE." 1284 01:13:45,654 --> 01:13:48,190 Guthrie: ♪ LOTS OF FOLKS BACK EAST, THEY SAY ♪ 1285 01:13:48,257 --> 01:13:50,192 ♪ IS LEAVIN' HOME EVERY DAY ♪ 1286 01:13:50,259 --> 01:13:51,894 ♪ BEATIN' A HOT OLD DUSTY WAY ♪ 1287 01:13:51,960 --> 01:13:53,662 ♪ TO THE CALIFORNIA LINE ♪ 1288 01:13:53,729 --> 01:13:56,565 Narrator: GUTHRIE WAS OFFENDED THAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE 1289 01:13:56,632 --> 01:13:59,101 NEARLY PASSED A LAW CLOSING THE STATE'S BORDERS 1290 01:13:59,168 --> 01:14:01,136 TO PEOPLE IT CALLED 1291 01:14:01,203 --> 01:14:03,806 "PAUPERS AND PERSONS LIKELY TO BECOME PUBLIC CHARGES." 1292 01:14:03,872 --> 01:14:07,509 Guthrie: ♪ NOW, THE POLICE AT THE PORT OF ENTRY SAY ♪ 1293 01:14:07,576 --> 01:14:12,181 ♪ YOU'RE NUMBER 14,000 FOR TODAY... ♪ 1294 01:14:12,247 --> 01:14:15,551 Narrator: THEN, WITHOUT ANY LEGAL AUTHORITY, 1295 01:14:15,617 --> 01:14:21,223 THE LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF DISPATCHED 125 OF HIS OFFICERS 1296 01:14:21,290 --> 01:14:26,094 TO THE MAIN ENTRY POINTS FROM ARIZONA, NEVADA, AND OREGON. 1297 01:14:26,161 --> 01:14:28,330 FOR 6 WEEKS, THEY INTIMIDATED 1298 01:14:28,397 --> 01:14:31,266 ANYONE THEY CONSIDERED "VAGRANTS," 1299 01:14:31,333 --> 01:14:34,970 INCLUDING CLARENCE AND IRENE BECK'S FATHER SAM, 1300 01:14:35,037 --> 01:14:37,940 FROM WHEELESS, OKLAHOMA. 1301 01:14:38,006 --> 01:14:40,809 Beck: MY FATHER WAS A DUST BOWL OKIE. 1302 01:14:40,876 --> 01:14:44,813 HE GOT PUT IN JAIL WHEN HE CROSSED INTO CALIFORNIA 1303 01:14:44,880 --> 01:14:47,783 BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE 50 BUCKS. 1304 01:14:47,850 --> 01:14:53,322 WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED, HE WAS ARRESTED AS A VAGRANT 1305 01:14:53,388 --> 01:14:57,025 AND WOULD HAVE GONE TO JAIL EXCEPT THAT 1306 01:14:57,092 --> 01:15:01,396 ONE OF HIS EX-NEIGHBORS IN OKLAHOMA KNEW HE WAS COMING 1307 01:15:01,463 --> 01:15:03,499 AND WAS PREPARED FOR THIS 1308 01:15:03,565 --> 01:15:08,904 MET HIM, ARRANGED THAT HE COULD STAY WITH THEM 1309 01:15:08,971 --> 01:15:11,173 SO HE NO LONGER WAS A VAGRANT. 1310 01:15:13,175 --> 01:15:14,977 Narrator: FOR A WHILE, 1311 01:15:15,043 --> 01:15:17,379 BECK WAS ALLOWED TO STAY AT A CHICKEN FARM, 1312 01:15:17,446 --> 01:15:20,816 WHERE HE WORKED IN EXCHANGE FOR EGGS TO EAT. 1313 01:15:20,883 --> 01:15:22,718 BUT HE FINALLY LANDED A JOB 1314 01:15:22,784 --> 01:15:24,753 WITH THE LOS ANGELES HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT 1315 01:15:24,820 --> 01:15:28,991 AND STARTED A NEW LIFE FOR HIMSELF AND HIS DAUGHTER. 1316 01:15:29,057 --> 01:15:30,359 Hauer: IT'S A FRESH START. 1317 01:15:30,425 --> 01:15:33,395 I GUESS THAT'S THE WORDS TO USE--A FRESH START, 1318 01:15:33,462 --> 01:15:35,097 WHICH IT WAS. 1319 01:15:35,163 --> 01:15:38,200 IT REALLY WAS. 1320 01:15:38,267 --> 01:15:40,869 SO THANK GOD OF THAT. 1321 01:15:40,936 --> 01:15:44,506 I WAS BLESSED THAT WAY. 1322 01:15:44,573 --> 01:15:50,679 Narrator: SAM BECK DIED OF A HEART ATTACK IN 1947, AT AGE 54, 1323 01:15:50,746 --> 01:15:54,783 SPREADING BLACKTOP ON A CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY. 1324 01:15:54,850 --> 01:15:57,452 Beck: HE HAD A TOUGH LIFE. 1325 01:15:57,519 --> 01:16:00,022 VERY TOUGH LIFE. 1326 01:16:00,088 --> 01:16:03,058 HE AND HIS LIFE WAS THE REASON THAT I SAID, 1327 01:16:03,125 --> 01:16:09,865 "GOD, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO HAVE MONEY 1328 01:16:09,932 --> 01:16:12,668 "AND NOT BE A FARMER, AND I'LL DO IT. 1329 01:16:12,734 --> 01:16:14,937 "I DON'T CARE WHETHER IT'S BEING A PIMP. 1330 01:16:15,003 --> 01:16:17,940 "I DON'T CARE WHETHER IT'S STEALING. 1331 01:16:18,006 --> 01:16:21,577 "WHATEVER IT TAKES, I'M NOT GONNA FARM, 1332 01:16:21,643 --> 01:16:25,981 AND I'M NOT GOING TO BE BROKE." 1333 01:16:26,048 --> 01:16:30,452 AND THAT'S BEEN MY DRIVING FORCE. 1334 01:16:30,519 --> 01:16:33,055 IT HAS BEEN. 1335 01:16:33,121 --> 01:16:38,193 AND I'M NOT A FARMER, AND I'M NOT BROKE. 1336 01:16:38,260 --> 01:16:41,129 I'M NOT A PIMP, EITHER, THANK GOD. 1337 01:16:43,765 --> 01:16:48,570 Guthrie: ♪ I'M A DUST BOWL REFUGEE ♪ 1338 01:16:48,637 --> 01:16:51,340 Narrator: CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER, JOHN, 1339 01:16:51,406 --> 01:16:53,609 HAD RESCUED HIS WIFE AND FAMILY 1340 01:16:53,675 --> 01:16:55,978 FROM THE DUST OF EASTERN COLORADO, 1341 01:16:56,044 --> 01:16:59,881 BUT THE HARD TIMES FOLLOWED HIM TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 1342 01:16:59,948 --> 01:17:03,518 HE MOVED FROM ONE TEMPORARY JOB TO ANOTHER-- 1343 01:17:03,585 --> 01:17:08,090 A COLORADO COWBOY, FAR FROM THE PLAINS HE LOVED. 1344 01:17:08,156 --> 01:17:11,093 Crabill: MY FATHER WAS CALLED AN OKIE. 1345 01:17:11,159 --> 01:17:13,528 HE WAS A GENTLE, QUIET MAN, 1346 01:17:13,595 --> 01:17:16,598 SO I THINK HE COULD TAKE IT PRETTY WELL. 1347 01:17:16,665 --> 01:17:20,135 IT MADE ME WITH A CHIP ON MY SHOULDER 1348 01:17:20,202 --> 01:17:22,404 THAT I PROBABLY CARRY TO THIS DAY, 1349 01:17:22,471 --> 01:17:24,806 THAT I WAS VERY AWARE THAT I THOUGHT I WAS 1350 01:17:24,873 --> 01:17:27,242 THE POOREST KID IN HIGH SCHOOL. 1351 01:17:27,309 --> 01:17:30,045 WE RENTED A LITTLE HOUSE ON THE ALLEY IN BURBANK, 1352 01:17:30,112 --> 01:17:33,515 AND THE HOUSE IN FRONT, THE PEOPLE HAD MORE MONEY, 1353 01:17:33,582 --> 01:17:35,984 AND THEY WERE VERY AWARE THAT WE WERE 1354 01:17:36,051 --> 01:17:39,254 THE POOR PEOPLE ON THE BLOCK. 1355 01:17:39,321 --> 01:17:40,956 IN THOSE DAYS, YOU COULD GET SOMETHING 1356 01:17:41,023 --> 01:17:42,424 TO PUT ON YOUR LICENSE PLATE 1357 01:17:42,491 --> 01:17:44,326 THAT WOULD BE SOME KIND OF A SLOGAN. 1358 01:17:44,393 --> 01:17:46,294 IT SAID "PEACEFUL VALLEY," 1359 01:17:46,361 --> 01:17:48,030 AND SO MY FATHER LIKED THAT PLACE, 1360 01:17:48,096 --> 01:17:49,931 SO HE PUT IT ON HIS LICENSE PLATE. 1361 01:17:49,998 --> 01:17:53,535 THE PEOPLE AT HIS JOB CROSSED OUT THE "V" 1362 01:17:53,602 --> 01:17:55,971 AND WROTE "PEACEFUL ALLEY" 1363 01:17:56,038 --> 01:18:00,442 BECAUSE THEY KNEW HE LIVED ON AN ALLEY. 1364 01:18:00,509 --> 01:18:03,078 SO IF YOU'RE DOWN, THEY PUSH YOU DOWN, FELLA, 1365 01:18:03,145 --> 01:18:04,680 THEY PUSH YOU DOWN, 1366 01:18:04,746 --> 01:18:06,248 AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM, 1367 01:18:06,314 --> 01:18:10,085 OVER AND OVER AND OVER, OVER AND OVER. 1368 01:18:10,152 --> 01:18:14,423 Babb portrayer: HOW BRAVE THEY ALL ARE. 1369 01:18:14,489 --> 01:18:17,025 I HAVE NOT HEARD ONE COMPLAINT. 1370 01:18:17,092 --> 01:18:21,430 THEY ALL WANT WORK AND HATE TO HAVE HELP. 1371 01:18:21,496 --> 01:18:24,199 Narrator: AS SHE MOVED FROM CAMP TO CAMP, 1372 01:18:24,266 --> 01:18:26,768 SANORA BABB KEPT A NIGHTLY JOURNAL, 1373 01:18:26,835 --> 01:18:29,204 WHICH SHE PLANNED TO TURN INTO A NOVEL, 1374 01:18:29,271 --> 01:18:33,709 ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHE HAD MET AND WHAT THEY HAD GONE THROUGH. 1375 01:18:33,775 --> 01:18:38,180 SHE ALSO WROTE DETAILED REPORTS FOR HER BOSS TOM COLLINS, 1376 01:18:38,246 --> 01:18:40,382 WHO WAS REGULARLY SHARING HER NOTES 1377 01:18:40,449 --> 01:18:43,218 WITH A WRITER WORKING ON A MUCK-RAKING ARTICLE 1378 01:18:43,285 --> 01:18:48,090 FOR THE "SAN FRANCISCO NEWS" NAMED JOHN STEINBECK. 1379 01:18:48,156 --> 01:18:50,192 Babb portrayer: WHEN STEINBECK FIRST CAME, 1380 01:18:50,258 --> 01:18:53,662 HE HAD TO STOP SEEING THEM BEFORE THE DAY WAS OUT. 1381 01:18:53,729 --> 01:18:55,731 TOM COLLINS SAID HE SAID, 1382 01:18:55,797 --> 01:18:58,366 "BY GOD, I CAN'T STAND ANYMORE. 1383 01:18:58,433 --> 01:19:02,404 I'M GOING AWAY AND BLOW THE LID OFF THIS PLACE." 1384 01:19:02,471 --> 01:19:04,840 Narrator: SANORA BABB WOULD EVENTUALLY SEND 1385 01:19:04,906 --> 01:19:07,576 SOME CHAPTERS OF HER NOVEL TO BENNETT CERF, 1386 01:19:07,642 --> 01:19:11,079 A PROMINENT EDITOR OF RANDOM HOUSE IN NEW YORK CITY, 1387 01:19:11,146 --> 01:19:13,181 WHO WAS SO IMPRESSED HE ASKED HER 1388 01:19:13,248 --> 01:19:16,084 TO COME EAST TO TALK ABOUT IT. 1389 01:19:16,151 --> 01:19:20,355 BUT BY THE TIME SHE ARRIVED, IN THE WINTER OF 1939, 1390 01:19:20,422 --> 01:19:22,157 STEINBECK HAD COME OUT WITH 1391 01:19:22,224 --> 01:19:24,526 HIS OWN PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL, 1392 01:19:24,593 --> 01:19:26,361 "THE GRAPES OF WRATH," 1393 01:19:26,428 --> 01:19:29,397 WHICH CHRONICLED THE TRIBULATIONS OF THE JOAD FAMILY, 1394 01:19:29,464 --> 01:19:32,267 TENANT FARMERS WHO HAD MIGRATED TO CALIFORNIA 1395 01:19:32,334 --> 01:19:35,637 FROM THE COTTON FIELDS OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA-- 1396 01:19:35,704 --> 01:19:38,440 NOT THE DUST BOWL. 1397 01:19:38,507 --> 01:19:41,877 THE BOOK WAS SUCH A HIT THAT THE MARKET COULDN'T SUPPORT 1398 01:19:41,943 --> 01:19:44,279 A SECOND NOVEL ON THE SAME SUBJECT, 1399 01:19:44,346 --> 01:19:49,785 AND HER EDITOR ADVISED SANORA TO PUT HER MANUSCRIPT ASIDE. 1400 01:19:49,851 --> 01:19:54,556 IT WAS FINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2004, 1401 01:19:54,623 --> 01:19:57,793 A YEAR BEFORE HER DEATH. 1402 01:19:57,859 --> 01:20:00,695 Babb portrayer: YOU, WHO LIVE IN ANY KIND OF COMFORT 1403 01:20:00,762 --> 01:20:03,799 OR CONVENIENCE, DO NOT KNOW HOW THESE PEOPLE 1404 01:20:03,865 --> 01:20:07,169 CAN SURVIVE THESE THINGS, DO YOU? 1405 01:20:07,235 --> 01:20:09,404 THEY WILL ENDURE BECAUSE 1406 01:20:09,471 --> 01:20:13,241 THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE ESCAPE FROM ENDURANCE. 1407 01:20:13,308 --> 01:20:15,544 SOME WILL DIE. 1408 01:20:15,610 --> 01:20:17,612 THE REST MUST LIVE. 1409 01:20:26,855 --> 01:20:30,458 Henderson portrayer: THE WORST STORM THUS FAR IN 1937 1410 01:20:30,525 --> 01:20:33,695 OCCURRED IMMEDIATELY AFTER A SLIGHT SNOWFALL, 1411 01:20:33,762 --> 01:20:37,465 WHICH AGAIN ROUSED DELUSIVE HOPES. 1412 01:20:37,532 --> 01:20:41,503 THAT SNOW MELTED ON A TUESDAY. 1413 01:20:41,570 --> 01:20:45,006 WEDNESDAY MORNING, WITH A RISING WIND, 1414 01:20:45,073 --> 01:20:48,243 THE DUST BEGAN TO MOVE AGAIN, 1415 01:20:48,310 --> 01:20:53,515 AND UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT, THERE WAS LITTLE RESPITE. 1416 01:20:53,582 --> 01:20:57,752 WE ARE NOW RELUCTANT FEEDING OUR LIVESTOCK 1417 01:20:57,819 --> 01:21:04,726 THE LAST SMALL REMAINDER OF THE CROP OF 1931. 1418 01:21:04,793 --> 01:21:08,897 Narrator: IN MOST OF THE NATION, THE DROUGHT HAD ENDED, 1419 01:21:08,964 --> 01:21:11,466 BUT FOR CAROLINE HENDERSON AND HER NEIGHBORS 1420 01:21:11,533 --> 01:21:14,202 WHO HAD STAYED IN THE HEART OF THE DUST BOWL, 1421 01:21:14,269 --> 01:21:18,640 1937 WOULD PROVE TO BE THE WORST YEAR YET. 1422 01:21:18,707 --> 01:21:23,445 GUYMON, OKLAHOMA, JUST 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HER HOMESTEAD, 1423 01:21:23,511 --> 01:21:27,983 WAS ENGULFED BY 6 BAD DUST STORMS THAT JANUARY, 1424 01:21:28,049 --> 01:21:32,621 14 IN FEBRUARY, AND THEN 13 MORE IN MARCH, 1425 01:21:32,687 --> 01:21:37,259 INCLUDING ONE THAT CLOSED THE SCHOOLS IN NEARBY BOISE CITY 1426 01:21:37,325 --> 01:21:39,461 AND TORE ROOFS OFF OF BUILDINGS 1427 01:21:39,527 --> 01:21:44,065 A HUNDRED MILES AWAY IN DODGE CITY, KANSAS. 1428 01:21:46,768 --> 01:21:49,070 ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 21, 1429 01:21:49,137 --> 01:21:52,107 A LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER NAMED FRANCIS CRAVER 1430 01:21:52,173 --> 01:21:54,175 NOTICED A DUST CLOUD APPEARING 1431 01:21:54,242 --> 01:21:58,680 OVER THE DORIC THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN ELKHART, KANSAS. 1432 01:21:58,747 --> 01:22:02,784 HE GRABBED HIS CAMERA AND CHRONICLED THE STORM'S DESCENT, 1433 01:22:02,851 --> 01:22:05,353 WHICH CAUSED THE HIGH SCHOOL TO CANCEL 1434 01:22:05,420 --> 01:22:09,524 COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES PLANNED FOR THAT EVENING. 1435 01:22:16,264 --> 01:22:19,634 TWO WEEKS LATER, 50 MILES EAST OF THE HENDERSONS, 1436 01:22:19,701 --> 01:22:24,072 IN HOOKER, OKLAHOMA, A FURNITURE SMAN NAMED GEORGE RISEN 1437 01:22:24,139 --> 01:22:27,275 SAW ANOTHER WALL OF DIRT APPROACHING. 1438 01:22:27,342 --> 01:22:30,445 HE SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF THE TALLEST BUILDING IN TOWN 1439 01:22:30,512 --> 01:22:34,316 AND BEGAN TAKING PICTURES WITH HIS BROWNIE CAMERA. 1440 01:22:47,829 --> 01:22:51,499 AS IT PASSED, THE STORM DROPPED 3 FEET OF DUST 1441 01:22:51,566 --> 01:22:55,103 ON HOOKER AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE. 1442 01:22:58,807 --> 01:23:01,776 BY THE END OF JULY, THE NUMBER OF DESTRUCTIVE STORMS 1443 01:23:01,843 --> 01:23:04,779 WOULD RISE TO 79; 1444 01:23:04,846 --> 01:23:08,984 BY THE END OF THE YEAR, TO 110. 1445 01:23:09,050 --> 01:23:11,686 THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS 1446 01:23:11,753 --> 01:23:15,023 AND THE SAHARA DESERT, ONE RESIDENT SUGGESTED, 1447 01:23:15,090 --> 01:23:17,058 WAS THAT A LOT OF "DAMNED FOOLS" 1448 01:23:17,125 --> 01:23:20,395 WEREN'T TRYING TO FARM THE SAHARA. 1449 01:23:20,462 --> 01:23:22,397 Williamson: IF YOU WERE A FARMER, 1450 01:23:22,464 --> 01:23:23,765 YOU PLOWED THE GROUND, 1451 01:23:23,832 --> 01:23:25,700 AND YOU PUT SEED IN IT, AND IT GREW UP. 1452 01:23:25,767 --> 01:23:27,068 THAT WAS FARMING. 1453 01:23:27,135 --> 01:23:32,240 YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THIS DIRT THAT WAS GIVING YOU THIS FOOD 1454 01:23:32,307 --> 01:23:38,546 TO TURN ON YOU LIKE THAT AND DESTROY YOU LIKE IT DID. 1455 01:23:41,016 --> 01:23:43,885 Robert McCoy: THOSE PEOPLE THAT WAS REAL RELIGIOUS 1456 01:23:43,952 --> 01:23:50,091 SAID THAT GOD WAS TRYING TO DRIVE US OFF OF THE LAND. 1457 01:23:50,158 --> 01:23:52,494 I NEVER DID BELIEVE THAT, OR DAD NEVER DID BELIEVE IT, 1458 01:23:52,560 --> 01:23:56,765 AND WE BELIEVED WHATEVER DAD BELIEVED, YOU KNOW, AS KIDS. 1459 01:23:56,831 --> 01:23:59,768 DAD SAID THEY'LL JUST BE TIMES THAT THEY'LL BE BAD 1460 01:23:59,834 --> 01:24:02,570 AND TIMES THAT THEY WON'T. 1461 01:24:02,637 --> 01:24:06,574 Frantz: BOTH OF MY PARENTS WERE VERY, VERY GOOD CHRISTIAN. 1462 01:24:06,641 --> 01:24:11,479 NO MATTER WHAT CAME ALONG, THEY SEEMED TO ACCEPT IT. 1463 01:24:11,546 --> 01:24:15,183 THEY BOTH JUST SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE JUST GOING ON 1464 01:24:15,250 --> 01:24:16,885 DOING THE BEST THEY COULD, 1465 01:24:16,951 --> 01:24:19,487 AND THEY DIDN'T DO A WHOLE LOT OF GRIPING ABOUT IT. 1466 01:24:19,554 --> 01:24:23,291 Narrator: AROUND THE HOUSE, VIRGINIA FRANTZ'S MOTHER 1467 01:24:23,358 --> 01:24:26,461 OFTEN SANG HYMNS TO TAKE HER CHILDREN'S MINDS 1468 01:24:26,528 --> 01:24:30,932 OFF THE TROUBLES STARING THEM IN THE FACE. 1469 01:24:30,999 --> 01:24:34,269 Frantz: ♪ I'M PRESSING ON THE UPWARD WAY ♪ 1470 01:24:34,335 --> 01:24:37,939 ♪ NEW HEIGHTS I'M GAINING EVERY DAY ♪ 1471 01:24:38,006 --> 01:24:41,676 ♪ STILL PRAYING AS I ONWARD BOUND ♪ 1472 01:24:41,743 --> 01:24:45,747 ♪ MY PRAYER, MY AIM, IS HIGHER GROUND ♪ 1473 01:24:45,814 --> 01:24:47,615 AND THEN IT WAS... 1474 01:24:47,682 --> 01:24:50,552 ♪ OH, LIFT ME UP AND LET ME STAND ♪ 1475 01:24:50,618 --> 01:24:53,221 ♪ BY FAITH, ON HEAVEN'S TABLE LAND ♪ 1476 01:24:53,288 --> 01:24:56,591 ♪ A HIGHER FAITH THAN I HAVE FOUND ♪ 1477 01:24:56,658 --> 01:24:59,994 ♪ OH, LIFT ME UP ON HIGHER GROUND ♪ 1478 01:25:00,061 --> 01:25:03,364 HA HA! IT'S BEEN PROBABLY 60 YEARS 1479 01:25:03,431 --> 01:25:05,500 SINCE I'VE HEARD THAT SONG. 1480 01:25:07,268 --> 01:25:11,172 I REMEMBER WE HAD THE RADIO, AND HE'S LISTENININ IT 1481 01:25:11,239 --> 01:25:14,709 TALKING ABOUT A FLOOD ON THE OHIO RIVER 1482 01:25:14,776 --> 01:25:18,680 AND HOUSES FLOATING DOWN AND PEOPLE ON THEM HOUSES. 1483 01:25:18,746 --> 01:25:20,482 MY DAD TURNED TO US AND SAID, 1484 01:25:20,548 --> 01:25:23,218 "WE'VE GOT IT BETTER HERE THAN THEY HAVE UP THERE." 1485 01:25:23,284 --> 01:25:25,086 AND THAT WAS IN '37. 1486 01:25:25,153 --> 01:25:28,223 SO HE THOUGHT THAT THE DIRT WAS BETTER THAN THAT WATER. 1487 01:25:30,291 --> 01:25:32,861 Narrator: IN APRIL OF 1937, 1488 01:25:32,927 --> 01:25:37,532 FARMERS FROM 5 STATES MET IN GUYMON, OKLAHOMA. 1489 01:25:37,599 --> 01:25:41,236 "THE PROBLEM IN THE DUST BOWL IS ENTIRELY TOO LARGE 1490 01:25:41,302 --> 01:25:44,706 "FOR THE REMAINING GOOD FARMERS TO EVEN MAKE A START 1491 01:25:44,772 --> 01:25:47,542 TO COPE WITH," THEY WROTE THE GOVERNMENT. 1492 01:25:47,609 --> 01:25:53,047 "WE MUST HAVE HELP, AND IT'S IMPERATIVE WE HAVE HELP NOW." 1493 01:25:53,114 --> 01:25:56,050 Riney-Kehrberg: I THINK IT HAS TO BE PRETTY EXTREME 1494 01:25:56,117 --> 01:25:58,319 FOR A GROUP OF FARMERS, 1495 01:25:58,386 --> 01:26:01,756 VERY INDEPENDENT-MINDED, VERY STUBBORN, 1496 01:26:01,823 --> 01:26:05,293 A GROUP THAT ON THE WHOLE DOESN'T LIKE TO BE MEDDLED WITH 1497 01:26:05,360 --> 01:26:08,429 TO SAY, "PLEASE COME AND MEDDLE WITH US." 1498 01:26:08,496 --> 01:26:09,998 BUT AT THIS POINT, 1499 01:26:10,064 --> 01:26:13,301 THEY'RE INTO THEIR SIXTH YEAR OF NO INCOME, 1500 01:26:13,368 --> 01:26:16,371 THEIR FIFTH YEAR OF NO CROPS, 1501 01:26:16,437 --> 01:26:20,575 AND THEY'RE SEEING NEIGHBORS' FIELDS BLOWING INTO THEIR OWN, 1502 01:26:20,642 --> 01:26:24,012 THEY'RE SEEING ENORMOUS CLOUDS OF DIRT IN THE AIR, 1503 01:26:24,078 --> 01:26:26,714 AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. 1504 01:26:26,781 --> 01:26:29,817 AND WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO 1505 01:26:29,884 --> 01:26:32,587 AND YOU'RE AFRAID OF LOSING YOUR FARM, 1506 01:26:32,654 --> 01:26:37,225 THEN YOU BEGIN TO ASK FOR RATHER MORE EXTREME MEASURES 1507 01:26:37,292 --> 01:26:40,695 THAN YOU WOULD HAVE ASKED FOR OTHERWISE. 1508 01:26:40,762 --> 01:26:43,765 IF ONE MAN MISHANDLED HIS LAND, 1509 01:26:43,831 --> 01:26:47,035 EVERYBODY SUFFERED UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. 1510 01:26:47,101 --> 01:26:49,571 ALL IT TOOK WAS ONE THOUSAND-ACRE FARM 1511 01:26:49,637 --> 01:26:51,940 BLOWING DIRT BADLY 1512 01:26:52,006 --> 01:26:55,476 TO DISRUPT THE LIVES OF EVERYBODY AROUND HIM. 1513 01:26:55,543 --> 01:26:58,012 AND IF THAT FARM OPERATOR ACTUALLY HAPPENED 1514 01:26:58,079 --> 01:27:01,416 TO BE LIVING IN AMARILLO OR DENVER 1515 01:27:01,482 --> 01:27:04,919 AND ONLY CAME OUT ON WEEKENDS ANYWAY, WHO DID YOU TALK TO? 1516 01:27:04,986 --> 01:27:09,757 THERE WAS NO AUTHORITY TO STOP THIS SORT OF PROCESS. 1517 01:27:09,824 --> 01:27:13,628 Narrator: THE FARMERS WANTED EVERY LANDOWNER TO BE REQUIRED 1518 01:27:13,695 --> 01:27:16,631 TO LEAVE STUBBLE ON ESTED FIELDS, 1519 01:27:16,698 --> 01:27:18,399 AND THEY WANTED SOME WAY 1520 01:27:18,466 --> 01:27:21,903 TO HAVE ABANDONED RE PLANTED WITH COVER CROPS. 1521 01:27:21,970 --> 01:27:27,008 TO DO IT, THEY EVEN SUGGESTED THAT MARTIAL LAW BE DECLARED. 1522 01:27:27,075 --> 01:27:29,711 Egan: THEY WANTED THE ABILITY TO CONDEMN OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY 1523 01:27:29,777 --> 01:27:31,679 IF THEY WEREN'T KEEPING IT UP. 1524 01:27:31,746 --> 01:27:33,448 THIS WAS HUGELY ANTITHETICAL 1525 01:27:33,514 --> 01:27:35,583 TO HOW MOST OF THESE PEOPLE THOUGHT. 1526 01:27:35,650 --> 01:27:37,619 IN SOME COUNTIES, THEY WERE GRANTED AUTHORITY 1527 01:27:37,685 --> 01:27:39,020 TO GO OUT AND CONDEMN SOMEONE, 1528 01:27:39,087 --> 01:27:41,222 TO SLAP THEM IN JAIL IF NEED BE, 1529 01:27:41,289 --> 01:27:42,857 IF HE WAS LETTING HIS LAND BLOW AGAIN. 1530 01:27:42,924 --> 01:27:47,195 VERY AUTHORITARIAN MEASURE FOR FOLKS WHO 1531 01:27:47,262 --> 01:27:50,765 CONSIDERED THEMSELVES HIGHLY INDIVIDUALISTIC. 1532 01:27:50,832 --> 01:27:52,400 WHEN YOUR BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL, 1533 01:27:52,467 --> 01:27:55,003 ALL IDEOLOGY GOES OUT THE WINDOW. 1534 01:27:55,069 --> 01:27:56,671 SO HERE IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE 1535 01:27:56,738 --> 01:27:59,107 WHO ARE VERY ANTI-STATE, ANTI-GOVERNMENT, 1536 01:27:59,173 --> 01:28:01,075 WHO NEVER WANTED THE GOVERNMENT INTERFERING 1537 01:28:01,142 --> 01:28:03,945 WITH ANYTHING THEY DID OR TELLING THEM WHAT TO DO, 1538 01:28:04,012 --> 01:28:05,980 BUT WHO, WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN, 1539 01:28:06,047 --> 01:28:08,850 ARE GOING TO ASK FOR THE ONLY HELP THEY C GAN, 1540 01:28:08,916 --> 01:28:11,519 AND THAT'S FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 1541 01:28:11,586 --> 01:28:13,354 Narrator: EVTUENLY, 1542 01:28:13,421 --> 01:28:16,624 SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS WERE ESTABLISHED, 1543 01:28:16,691 --> 01:28:21,529 MEANT TO ENFORCE BETTER FARMING PRACTICES THROUGH CONSENSUS. 1544 01:28:24,032 --> 01:28:27,001 AT THE SAME TIME, THE GOVERNMENT WAS BUYING BACK 1545 01:28:27,068 --> 01:28:31,005 AS MUCH LAND AS IT COULD FROM DUSTED-OUT HOMESTEADERS 1546 01:28:31,072 --> 01:28:35,109 AND SLOWLY RETURNING IT TO PERMANENT GRASSLAND. 1547 01:28:35,176 --> 01:28:39,113 FARMERS NOW GOT HELP TO BUY GASOLINE FOR THEIR TRACTORS 1548 01:28:39,180 --> 01:28:42,283 IF THEY WERE DOING SOIL-EROSION WORK. 1549 01:28:42,350 --> 01:28:44,385 AND IN SOME CASES, 1550 01:28:44,452 --> 01:28:49,324 THEY EVEN RECEIVED PAYMENTS NOT TO GROW CASH CROPS AT ALL. 1551 01:28:49,390 --> 01:28:53,728 Worster: "WE HAVE GOT TO BEGIN TO INDUCE PEOPLE TO PLANT LESS." 1552 01:28:53,795 --> 01:28:55,463 HOW DO YOU DO THAT? 1553 01:28:55,530 --> 01:28:57,365 YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE THEIR LAND AWAY FROM THEM. 1554 01:28:57,432 --> 01:29:00,702 SO THE IDEA WAS TO PAY THEM NOT TO PRODUCE. 1555 01:29:00,768 --> 01:29:03,438 FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE GREAT PLAINS, THIS WAS A SALVATION. 1556 01:29:03,504 --> 01:29:05,006 THEY COULD KEEP THEIR LAND, 1557 01:29:05,073 --> 01:29:09,110 THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO OUT EVERY FALL AND PLANT WHEAT AGAIN, 1558 01:29:09,177 --> 01:29:11,145 THE GOVERNMENT WOULD SEND THEM A CHECK, 1559 01:29:11,212 --> 01:29:13,681 AND YEAR AFTER YEAR, THIS COULD GO ON, 1560 01:29:13,748 --> 01:29:16,250 AND UNTIL BETTER TIMES EMERGED. 1561 01:29:16,317 --> 01:29:18,219 R. Douglas Hurt: NOBODY KNEW WHETHER 1562 01:29:18,286 --> 01:29:21,823 ANY OF THIS WOULD REALLY WORK OR HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE. 1563 01:29:21,889 --> 01:29:25,993 MIGHT BE 50 YEARS, MIGHT BE 70 YEARS; NOBODY KNEW. 1564 01:29:26,060 --> 01:29:28,162 IT'S A TIME PERIOD IN WHICH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 1565 01:29:28,229 --> 01:29:32,400 ENTERED AGRICULTURE AS NEVER BEFORE, AND IT'S NEVER LEFT. 1566 01:29:32,467 --> 01:29:35,903 Narrator: MEANWHILE, NEAR DALHART, 1567 01:29:35,970 --> 01:29:39,006 DUNES THAT HAD ONCE TOWERED 36 FEET 1568 01:29:39,073 --> 01:29:42,143 ABOVE ONE OF HOWARD FINNELL'S EMPLOYEE'S CARS 1569 01:29:42,210 --> 01:29:47,749 HAD BEEN TAMED IN 18 MONTHS OF PAINSTAKING RESTORATION WORK. 1570 01:29:47,815 --> 01:29:52,387 THE CONTRAST BETWEEN CONTOURED FIELDS THAT CAPTURED THE RAIN 1571 01:29:52,453 --> 01:29:56,257 AND THOSE FARMED THE OLD WAY WAS STRIKING. 1572 01:29:56,324 --> 01:29:58,493 WITH SUCH TANGIBLE RESULTS, 1573 01:29:58,559 --> 01:30:02,663 MORE AND MORE FARMERS DECIDED TO TAKE FINNELL'S ADVICE. 1574 01:30:02,730 --> 01:30:06,968 BY THE END OF 1937, DESPITE THE PERSISTENT DUST STORMS, 1575 01:30:07,034 --> 01:30:09,704 THE AMOUNT OF DANGEROUSLY ERODED LAND 1576 01:30:09,771 --> 01:30:12,974 HAD BEEN REDUCED BY MORE THAN HALF. 1577 01:30:17,545 --> 01:30:21,315 IN 1938, THE RAINFALL EDGED UPWARD-- 1578 01:30:21,382 --> 01:30:24,118 MORE THAN 18 INCHES IN BOISE CITY-- 1579 01:30:24,185 --> 01:30:27,855 AND ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF DUST STORMS RECEDED ONLY SLIGHTLY, 1580 01:30:27,922 --> 01:30:30,024 SOME FARMERS IN NO MAN'S LAND 1581 01:30:30,091 --> 01:30:33,861 BROUGHT IN A WHEAT CROP OF 10 BUSHELS PER ACRE-- 1582 01:30:33,928 --> 01:30:36,364 NOTHING CLOSE TO A BUMPER CROP, 1583 01:30:36,431 --> 01:30:40,701 BUT ALMOST BOUNTIFUL COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS. 1584 01:30:40,768 --> 01:30:46,107 THE DROUGHT SEEMED TO BE LOSING ITS GRIP. 1585 01:30:46,174 --> 01:30:49,444 WHEN THE WORST WAS ARGUABLY OVER, 1586 01:30:49,510 --> 01:30:52,380 WHEN THEY HAD SEEN THE BACKHAND OF NATURE, 1587 01:30:52,447 --> 01:30:57,685 WHEN THEY'D SEEN MORE VENOM AND ANGER AND OUTRIGHT EVIL, 1588 01:30:57,752 --> 01:31:00,188 AS THEY CALLED IT, THAT THE SKY THROWN AT THEM, 1589 01:31:00,254 --> 01:31:02,156 THAT ANY HUMAN BEINGS COULD EVER TAKE, 1590 01:31:02,223 --> 01:31:03,858 AND THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OVER, 1591 01:31:03,925 --> 01:31:06,027 CAME ONE MORE ALMOST BIBLICAL PLAGUE. 1592 01:31:07,795 --> 01:31:10,097 McCoy: GRASSHOPPERS MOSTLY WERE AWLICR, 1593 01:31:10,164 --> 01:31:14,035 BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU SCARE THEM, THEY'D JUMP AND FLY. 1594 01:31:14,101 --> 01:31:16,504 BUT MOST OF THEM WERE JUST CRAWLING, 1595 01:31:16,571 --> 01:31:19,407 JUST LIKE A WHOLE SEA OF THEM. 1596 01:31:19,474 --> 01:31:22,977 THEY ATE EVERYTHING IN SIGHT. 1597 01:31:24,645 --> 01:31:28,082 IT IT ALMOST LOOKED LIKE THE GROUND WAS MOVING, 1598 01:31:28,149 --> 01:31:30,051 AND THEY WOULD GET THAT BIG, 1599 01:31:30,117 --> 01:31:33,287 AND THEY WOULD EAT ON THE BARK OF THE TREES, 1600 01:31:33,354 --> 01:31:35,022 AND THEY ATE EVERYTHING 1601 01:31:35,089 --> 01:31:38,159 THAT THEY COULD COME IN CONTACT WITH. 1602 01:31:38,226 --> 01:31:39,961 AND THEY KEPT ON GOING. 1603 01:31:40,027 --> 01:31:43,998 FROM HERE, THEY LEFT ON, AND WHAT I UNDERSTAND, 1604 01:31:44,065 --> 01:31:47,935 SOMEWHERES IN OKLAHOMA, THEY GREW WINGS, 1605 01:31:48,002 --> 01:31:50,238 AND THEY ALL TOOK FLIGHT, 1606 01:31:50,304 --> 01:31:52,473 AND THEY SAID THEY SHADED THE SUN 1607 01:31:52,540 --> 01:31:56,143 BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL TOGETHER. 1608 01:31:56,210 --> 01:31:59,413 Narrator: FARMERS HOOKED UP SLEDS TO THEIR TRACTORS 1609 01:31:59,480 --> 01:32:01,749 AND DRAGGED THEM ACROSS THE FIELDS, 1610 01:32:01,816 --> 01:32:04,886 TRAPPING GRASSHOPPERS IN VATS OF KEROSENE. 1611 01:32:04,952 --> 01:32:07,955 SOME TRIED CRUSHING THEM UNDER ROLLERS. 1612 01:32:08,022 --> 01:32:10,892 SEVERAL STATES CALLED OUT THEIR NATIONAL GUARDS 1613 01:32:10,958 --> 01:32:13,561 TO SPREAD POISON, MIXED WITH SAWDUST 1614 01:32:13,628 --> 01:32:18,032 AND MOLASSES AND BANANA OIL, ALONG THE ROADSIDES. 1615 01:32:18,099 --> 01:32:22,436 HOW MUCH MORE OUT OF SYNC COULD NATURE BE 1616 01:32:22,503 --> 01:32:24,238 WHEN THEY'RE NOW POURING STRYCHNINE 1617 01:32:24,305 --> 01:32:26,274 ON WHAT HAD BEEN THE GREATEST GRASSLAND 1618 01:32:26,340 --> 01:32:29,510 TO KILL GRASSHOPPERS WHO ARE CHEWING ON FENCE POSTS 1619 01:32:29,577 --> 01:32:32,179 BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING ELSE LEFT TO LIVE? 1620 01:32:32,246 --> 01:32:35,016 THAT ITSELF, BY THE TIME THEY WERE POURING POISON 1621 01:32:35,082 --> 01:32:37,418 ON THE LAND THAT HAD BEEN KILLED BY THEM, 1622 01:32:37,485 --> 01:32:39,420 I THINK THEY HAD GONE SO FAR DOWN THE ROAD 1623 01:32:39,487 --> 01:32:41,789 IN ALTERING THIS GREAT GRASSLAND 1624 01:32:41,856 --> 01:32:44,492 THAT IT WAS ALMOST BEYOND REPAIR. 1625 01:32:49,330 --> 01:32:52,366 Robertson: ALL THE DEMOCRATS WERE EXCITED. 1626 01:32:52,433 --> 01:32:55,970 THERE WERE PEOPLE IN AMARILLO WHO DID NOT LIKE ROOSEVELT, 1627 01:32:56,037 --> 01:33:00,608 AND THEY WERE USUALLY THE WEALTHY PEOPLE. 1628 01:33:00,675 --> 01:33:04,645 I KNOW ONE OF THEM WAS-- ONE OF THE RICH MEN I HEARD SAY, 1629 01:33:04,712 --> 01:33:10,918 "THIS SOCIALISTIC REGIME IS NOT AMERICAN. 1630 01:33:10,985 --> 01:33:13,487 IT'S ANTI-AMERICAN." 1631 01:33:13,554 --> 01:33:16,290 THOSE OF US WHO WERE, YOU KNOW, POOR 1632 01:33:16,324 --> 01:33:20,661 APPRECIATED E THOGRAMS TH RSEVELT STARTED. 1633 01:33:20,728 --> 01:33:23,464 Narrator: ON JULY 11, 1938, 1634 01:33:23,531 --> 01:33:27,068 A TRAIN BEARING THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 1635 01:33:27,134 --> 01:33:30,004 PULLED INTO THE STATION AT AMARILLO, TEXAS, 1636 01:33:30,071 --> 01:33:33,507 THE LARGEST CITY IN THE DUST BOWL. 1637 01:33:33,574 --> 01:33:35,443 IN HONOR OF THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT, 1638 01:33:35,509 --> 01:33:38,913 ORGANIZERS HAD ASSEMBLED WHAT THEY CLAIMED TO BE 1639 01:33:38,980 --> 01:33:43,451 THE WORLD'S LARGEST MARCHING BAND: 3,000 PEOPLE-- 1640 01:33:43,517 --> 01:33:47,521 ANYONE, THEY SAID, BETWEEN THE AGES OF 9 AND 90 1641 01:33:47,588 --> 01:33:51,892 WHO COULD PLAY "THE EYES OF TEXAS" ON ANY INSTRUMENT. 1642 01:33:51,959 --> 01:33:55,596 AN ESTIMATED CROWD OF 200,000-- 1643 01:33:55,663 --> 01:33:58,733 4 TIMES THE POPULATION OF THE CITY ITSELF-- 1644 01:33:58,799 --> 01:34:01,969 TURNED OUT, LINING THE 3-MILE ROUTE 1645 01:34:02,036 --> 01:34:05,706 OF ROOSEVELT'S MOTORCADE TO ELLWOOD PARK. 1646 01:34:08,042 --> 01:34:10,645 "PEOPLE WHO ARE IGNORANT AND PEOPLE WHO THINK 1647 01:34:10,711 --> 01:34:14,348 ONLY IN TERMS OF THE MOMENT," THE PRESIDENT SAID, 1648 01:34:14,415 --> 01:34:16,550 "SCOFF AT OUR EFFORTS AND SAY, 1649 01:34:16,617 --> 01:34:19,787 "OH, LET THE NEXT GENERATION TAKE CARE OF ITSELF. 1650 01:34:19,854 --> 01:34:22,356 "IF PEOPLE OUT IN THE DRY PARTS OF THE COUNTRY 1651 01:34:22,423 --> 01:34:25,926 CANNOT LIVE THERE, LET THEM MOVE OUT." 1652 01:34:25,993 --> 01:34:28,696 Egan: AND THEN THE MOST AMAZING THING HAPPENS. 1653 01:34:28,763 --> 01:34:31,298 REMEMBER, THE DROUGHT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR 8 YEARS. 1654 01:34:31,365 --> 01:34:33,134 IT STARTS TO RAIN. 1655 01:34:33,200 --> 01:34:34,435 THESE CLOUDS COME OUT OF NOWHERE. 1656 01:34:34,502 --> 01:34:37,304 IT'S A JULY DAY. IT'S PEAK HOT SEASON. 1657 01:34:37,371 --> 01:34:38,939 CLOUDS BUNCH, AND IT RAINS. 1658 01:34:39,006 --> 01:34:42,143 AND IT'S AN OLD-FASHIONED GULLY-WASHER. 1659 01:34:42,209 --> 01:34:45,312 AND THE RAIN COMES OFF OF ROOSEVELT, AND HE CONTINUES. 1660 01:34:45,379 --> 01:34:47,415 HE'S GOT HIS CLAMPED KNEES UP THERE, 1661 01:34:47,481 --> 01:34:49,216 AND HE CONTINUES TO GIVE HIS SPEECH. 1662 01:34:49,283 --> 01:34:51,819 "I'M NEVER GONNA DESERT YOU." 1663 01:34:51,886 --> 01:34:55,423 Narrator: "I THINK THIS LITTLE SHOWER WE HAVE HAD," 1664 01:34:55,489 --> 01:34:59,460 THE PRESIDENT BEAMED, "IS A MIGHTY GOOD OMEN." 1665 01:34:59,527 --> 01:35:01,796 Robertson: AND WE HAD BEEN WISHING FOR RAIN, 1666 01:35:01,862 --> 01:35:05,733 PRAYING FOR RAIN, AND IT RAINED THE DAY HE CAME. 1667 01:35:05,800 --> 01:35:10,204 IT RAINED. SO HE TOOK CREDIT FOR THAT. 1668 01:35:16,077 --> 01:35:20,715 Narrator: A SNOWSTORM IN EARLY 1939 BROUGHT MORE HOPE, 1669 01:35:20,781 --> 01:35:23,384 WHICH GREW WHEN THE SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE 1670 01:35:23,451 --> 01:35:26,454 ANNOUNCED THAT, THANKS TO BETTER FARMING PRACTICES, 1671 01:35:26,520 --> 01:35:30,658 THE SOIL WAS IN ITS BEST CONDITION IN 7 YEARS. 1672 01:35:30,725 --> 01:35:32,493 BY THE END OF THE YEAR, 1673 01:35:32,560 --> 01:35:38,199 THE DUST BOWL HAD SHRUNK TO 1/5 ITS PREVIOUS SIZE. 1674 01:35:38,265 --> 01:35:40,267 I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY WEEKS 1675 01:35:40,334 --> 01:35:42,903 WE'D GET A LITTLE RAIN AND A LITTLE RAIN. 1676 01:35:42,970 --> 01:35:48,442 THE THING I REMEMBER, THAT WHEN IT FIRST STARTED, 1677 01:35:48,509 --> 01:35:51,145 THE SUNFLOWERS STARTED GROWING. 1678 01:35:51,212 --> 01:35:56,517 THEY WERE IN OUR PASTURE THAT WAS CLOSE TO THE HOUSE. 1679 01:35:56,584 --> 01:35:59,186 WHEN WE WENT TO GET OUR MILK COWS IN, 1680 01:35:59,253 --> 01:36:01,055 WHICH WE DID ON HORSEBACK-- 1681 01:36:01,122 --> 01:36:04,225 YOU HAD TO HUNT THEM BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T SEE THEM-- 1682 01:36:04,291 --> 01:36:09,430 AND THE SUNFLOWERS WOULD BE UP ABOVE OUR HEAD. 1683 01:36:09,497 --> 01:36:11,432 Narrator: IN FOLLETT, TEXAS, 1684 01:36:11,499 --> 01:36:14,902 TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER HAD BEEN TRYING FOR YEARS 1685 01:36:14,969 --> 01:36:20,474 TO PERSUADE HIS WIFE TO PULL UP STAKES AND MOVE TO IDAHO. 1686 01:36:20,541 --> 01:36:23,644 Trixie Travis Brown: MY MOTHER WAS VERY RELUCTANT 1687 01:36:23,711 --> 01:36:27,014 BECAUSE ALL OF HER FAMILY-- YOU KNOW, WE HAD, 1688 01:36:27,081 --> 01:36:33,220 PROBABLY 50 PEOPLE OF THE 437 IN FOLLETT 1689 01:36:33,287 --> 01:36:35,222 WERE ALL RELATIVES. 1690 01:36:35,289 --> 01:36:40,227 SHE JUST WAS NOT WILLING TO SAY YES. 1691 01:36:40,294 --> 01:36:45,900 MY FATHER, HE EVEN HAD THE LAND PICKED OUT IN IDAHO. 1692 01:36:45,966 --> 01:36:48,369 HE HAD THE MAP OUT. 1693 01:36:48,435 --> 01:36:51,438 AND MOTHER JUST KEPT HOLDING OUT. 1694 01:36:53,407 --> 01:36:57,711 Narrator: THEN, SLOWLY, THINGS BEGAN IMPROVING. 1695 01:37:00,214 --> 01:37:04,518 Brown: WE BEGAN TO GO OUT ON A REGULAR BASIS. 1696 01:37:04,585 --> 01:37:08,789 MOTHER AND DAD LIKED TO TAKE DRIVES ANYWAY. 1697 01:37:08,856 --> 01:37:12,893 MOTHER GOT SO WORN OUT WITH ALL THE KIDS IN THE HOUSE 1698 01:37:12,960 --> 01:37:15,663 THAT SHE WOULD SAY, "GEORGE, LET'S TAKE A DRIVE 1699 01:37:15,729 --> 01:37:18,399 OUT TO LOOK AT THE WHEAT." 1700 01:37:18,465 --> 01:37:20,868 WE WOULD GO OUT AND STAND 1701 01:37:20,935 --> 01:37:25,873 AND SEE HOW HIGH IT WAS TO US CHILDREN. 1702 01:37:25,940 --> 01:37:28,209 WE'D STAND THERE, 1703 01:37:28,275 --> 01:37:32,046 AND THEY'D SORT OF MEASURE THE HEIGHT OF THE WHEAT. 1704 01:37:32,112 --> 01:37:36,517 AND THEN WHEN IT BEGAN TO REALLY DEVELOP, 1705 01:37:36,584 --> 01:37:41,722 IT WAS OBVIOUS IT WAS GOING TO BE A REALLY GOOD WHEAT CROP. 1706 01:37:41,789 --> 01:37:44,525 AND IT WAS. 1707 01:37:44,592 --> 01:37:47,027 THE MAP WENT INTO A DRAWER, 1708 01:37:47,094 --> 01:37:54,535 AND THE TRIP TO IDAHO WAS CANCELLED. 1709 01:37:54,602 --> 01:37:58,239 White: NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW 1710 01:37:58,305 --> 01:38:00,774 WHAT IT MEANT TO YOU TO HAVE IT RAIN. 1711 01:38:00,841 --> 01:38:04,411 EVEN TO THIS DAY, WE HAD RAIN THE OTHER DAY, 1712 01:38:04,478 --> 01:38:08,482 AND I THOUGHT WHEN IT WAS RAINING HOW NICE THIS WAS, 1713 01:38:08,549 --> 01:38:11,619 WHAT A GOOD RAIN. 1714 01:38:11,685 --> 01:38:15,589 AND THAT'S WHAT WE WHAT WE PRAYED, WHAT WE YEARNED FOR 1715 01:38:15,656 --> 01:38:20,094 WAS THE RAIN THAT CAME THAT WOULD SOAK INTO THE GROUND 1716 01:38:20,160 --> 01:38:25,065 AND LET US RAISE A CROP AND EVENTUALLY STOP THE DUST. 1717 01:38:39,813 --> 01:38:43,417 Floyd Coen: WELL, WHEN IT DID START RAINING, 1718 01:38:43,484 --> 01:38:46,053 IT WAS JUST SUCH A BLESSING. 1719 01:38:46,120 --> 01:38:49,657 WE'D GO OUT IN THE RAIN AND HOLD OUR HANDS UP 1720 01:38:49,723 --> 01:38:52,326 AND LET THAT HIT OUR HANDS AND OUR FACE 1721 01:38:52,393 --> 01:38:54,962 AND JUST ALMOST WORSHIPPED THAT RAIN 1722 01:38:55,029 --> 01:38:58,165 BECAUSE WE KNEW THEN THAT WE WAS GONNA HAVE SOME CROPS. 1723 01:38:58,232 --> 01:39:01,835 Glover: IT JUST SEEMED HAPPIER EVERYWHERE YOU WENT-- 1724 01:39:01,902 --> 01:39:05,072 EVERYBODY, NOT JUST MY FOLKS. 1725 01:39:05,139 --> 01:39:07,975 WHEN WE'D GO TO THE NEIGHBORS EITHER SIDE, 1726 01:39:08,042 --> 01:39:10,644 THE THRASHERS OR THE FREEMANS, 1727 01:39:10,711 --> 01:39:16,884 WE ALWAYS FELT LIKE THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER. 1728 01:39:16,951 --> 01:39:19,153 I REMEMBER THE FIRST YEAR 1729 01:39:19,219 --> 01:39:24,591 THAT WE PROBABLY HAD A GOOD CROP AFTER THE DIRTY THIRTIES, 1730 01:39:24,658 --> 01:39:27,094 WE GOT STUCK IN THE FIELD 1731 01:39:27,161 --> 01:39:29,496 AND DADDY DIDN'T EVEN GRIPE ABOUT IT, 1732 01:39:29,563 --> 01:39:32,666 HE WAS SO GLAD THAT WE WERE HAVING RAIN. 1733 01:39:32,733 --> 01:39:35,903 Narrator: AT HIS FARM IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE, 1734 01:39:35,970 --> 01:39:39,373 DOROTHY KLEFFMAN'S FATHER DECIDED IT WAS NOW SAFE 1735 01:39:39,440 --> 01:39:43,677 TO BRING HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN BACK FROM ARKANSAS. 1736 01:39:43,744 --> 01:39:45,212 THEY HAVE A SAYING HERE 1737 01:39:45,279 --> 01:39:48,115 THAT IF YOU WEAR OUT A PAIR OF BOOTS HERE IN THE PANHANDLE, 1738 01:39:48,182 --> 01:39:51,952 YOU'LL COME BACK, AND WHEN WE DID COME BACK, 1739 01:39:52,019 --> 01:39:54,521 THE LAND HAD BEEN RECOVERED. 1740 01:39:54,588 --> 01:39:57,825 THEY HAD LEARNED HOW TO TERRACE THE LAND. 1741 01:39:57,891 --> 01:40:02,296 AND I REMEMBER MY DAD HAD A WHEAT CROP, 1742 01:40:02,363 --> 01:40:06,400 I THINK IN 1940, THAT WAS A GOOD WHEAT CROP. 1743 01:40:06,467 --> 01:40:09,470 AND WE THOUGHT, WE'RE BACK. 1744 01:40:09,536 --> 01:40:11,939 WE SURVIVED. 1745 01:40:21,382 --> 01:40:25,786 Henderson portrayer: DECEMBER 13, 1944. 1746 01:40:25,853 --> 01:40:29,289 WE HAD FOR ONCE A SUPER-ABUNDANCE OF RAIN 1747 01:40:29,356 --> 01:40:31,992 AND ALREADY 3 SNOWS. 1748 01:40:32,059 --> 01:40:34,495 WHEAT WAS A FAIR CROP. 1749 01:40:34,595 --> 01:40:38,098 WE SAVED MOSOFT T BETWEEN RAINS. 1750 01:40:38,165 --> 01:40:41,835 WE HAVE AMPLE PASTURAGE WITH THE INCREASED RAINFALL, 1751 01:40:41,902 --> 01:40:45,272 AND CATTLE HAVE DONE REASONABLY WELL. 1752 01:40:45,339 --> 01:40:47,274 AND WE HAD A NICE GARDEN, 1753 01:40:47,341 --> 01:40:51,445 THWIOST OF OUR WINTER'S LIVING STORED AWAY. 1754 01:40:51,512 --> 01:40:54,348 Narrator: JUST AS IT HAD 30 YEARS EARLIER, 1755 01:40:54,415 --> 01:40:56,450 A WAR IN EUROPE AND THE RETURN 1756 01:40:56,517 --> 01:40:58,752 OF A RELATIVELY WET WEATHER CYCLE 1757 01:40:58,819 --> 01:41:02,589 BROUGHT PROSPERITY TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. 1758 01:41:02,656 --> 01:41:07,194 WHEAT PRICES SKYROCKETED, AND HARVESTS WERE BOUNTIFUL. 1759 01:41:08,729 --> 01:41:11,598 Henderson portrayer: MAY 1945. 1760 01:41:11,665 --> 01:41:13,867 WE HAVE AT LAST ASSEMBLED 1761 01:41:13,934 --> 01:41:17,371 MOST OF THE MATERIALS FOR PIPING WATER INTO THE HOUSE, 1762 01:41:17,438 --> 01:41:19,440 WITH A SINK IN THE KITCHEN 1763 01:41:19,506 --> 01:41:22,810 AND INDOOR TOILET IN THE BATHROOM. 1764 01:41:22,876 --> 01:41:25,746 BUT WE NEED A SUPERMAN TO DO THE WORK. 1765 01:41:25,813 --> 01:41:28,649 WE HAVE BOTH WORN DOWN FAST 1766 01:41:28,715 --> 01:41:34,788 DURING THE YEARS OF EXTREME DESOLATION SINCE 1931. 1767 01:41:34,855 --> 01:41:38,792 EVERY SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENT NOW SEEMS TO DEMAND 1768 01:41:38,859 --> 01:41:41,862 A GREATER OUTPUT OF ENERGY AND RESOLUTION 1769 01:41:41,929 --> 01:41:46,066 THAN IN THE YEARS THAT ARE GONE. 1770 01:41:46,133 --> 01:41:48,535 Narrator: CAROLINE HENDERSON WAS GRATEFUL 1771 01:41:48,602 --> 01:41:51,105 FOR BETTER WEATHER AND HIGHER PRICES, 1772 01:41:51,171 --> 01:41:55,109 BUT SHE AND HER HUSBAND WILL WERE NOW NEARING 70. 1773 01:41:55,175 --> 01:41:58,579 SHE SUFFERED FROM ASTHMA, HE HAD A HEART CONDITION, 1774 01:41:58,645 --> 01:42:00,647 AND NEITHER OF THEM COULD FORGET 1775 01:42:00,714 --> 01:42:04,785 THE STERN TEACHINGS OF THE DUST BOWL. 1776 01:42:04,852 --> 01:42:07,387 Henderson portrayer: IT IS GOOD TO REMEMBER 1777 01:42:07,454 --> 01:42:11,425 THAT THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE RECOGNIZE NO FAVORITES 1778 01:42:11,492 --> 01:42:17,698 AND CHERISH NO HOSTILITY OR SMALL VINDICTIVENESS; 1779 01:42:17,764 --> 01:42:21,835 THAT BEFORE SUN AND RAIN, STORMY WINDS, 1780 01:42:21,902 --> 01:42:24,605 OR SUMMER'S KIND BENEFICENCE, 1781 01:42:24,671 --> 01:42:28,408 WE ALL STAND UPON ONE COMMON LEVEL. 1782 01:42:31,678 --> 01:42:35,349 Narrator: IN THE FIRST 5 YEARS OF THE 1940s, 1783 01:42:35,415 --> 01:42:40,554 LAND DEVOTED TO WHEAT EXPANDED BY NEARLY 3 MILLION ACRES. 1784 01:42:40,621 --> 01:42:44,324 THE SPECULATORS AND SUITCASE FARMERS RETURNED. 1785 01:42:44,391 --> 01:42:48,996 PARCELS THAT HAD SOLD FOR $5.00 AN ACRE DURING THE DUST BOWL 1786 01:42:49,062 --> 01:42:55,536 NOW COMMANDED PRICES OF 50, 60, SOMETIMES 100 DOLLARS AN ACRE. 1787 01:42:55,602 --> 01:42:58,338 EVEN SOME OF THE MOST MARGINAL LANDS 1788 01:42:58,405 --> 01:43:00,841 WERE PUT BACK INTO PRODUCTION. 1789 01:43:00,908 --> 01:43:03,443 "THE SAME PROCESS," HOWARD FINNELL WARNED, 1790 01:43:03,510 --> 01:43:07,381 "IS STARTING AGAIN IN THE VERY SAME PLACE." 1791 01:43:07,447 --> 01:43:10,150 "I ALWAYS SAID I WAS THE ONLY ONE 1792 01:43:10,217 --> 01:43:12,352 WHO COULD REMEMBER THOSE DREADFUL DAYS," 1793 01:43:12,419 --> 01:43:15,556 CAROLINE CONFIDED TO A FRIEND, ADDING, 1794 01:43:15,622 --> 01:43:20,360 "PEOPLE HAVE SIMPLY ASSUMED IT COULDN'T HAPPEN AGAIN." 1795 01:43:21,862 --> 01:43:24,932 THEN, IN THE EARLY 1950s, 1796 01:43:24,998 --> 01:43:29,403 WHEN THE WET CYCLE ENDED AND A TWO-YEAR DROUGHT REPLACED IT, 1797 01:43:29,469 --> 01:43:32,573 THE DUST STORMS PICKED UP ONCE MORE. 1798 01:43:34,708 --> 01:43:39,346 BUT THE DAMAGE TO THE LAND WAS MITIGATED 1799 01:43:39,413 --> 01:43:42,282 BY THOSE FARMERS WHO HAD CONTINUED USING 1800 01:43:42,349 --> 01:43:46,019 HOWARD FINNELL'S CONSERVATION PRACTICES, 1801 01:43:46,086 --> 01:43:50,023 AND BECAUSE NEARLY 4 MILLION ACRES HAD BEEN PURCHASED 1802 01:43:50,090 --> 01:43:52,326 BY THE GOVERNMENT DURING THE DUST BOWL 1803 01:43:52,392 --> 01:43:56,029 AND PERMANENTLY RESTORED AS NATIONAL GRASSLANDS, 1804 01:43:56,096 --> 01:43:58,765 THE SOIL DIDN'T BLOW AS MUCH. 1805 01:43:58,832 --> 01:44:03,070 AT LEAST A FEW LESSONS HAD BEEN LEARNED. 1806 01:44:03,136 --> 01:44:05,439 WE WANT IT NOW, 1807 01:44:05,505 --> 01:44:10,777 AND IF IT IF IT MAKES MONEY NOW, IT'S A GOOD IDEA. 1808 01:44:10,844 --> 01:44:14,181 BUT IT ISN'T NECESSARILY IT'S A GOOD IDEA. 1809 01:44:14,248 --> 01:44:19,720 IF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING ARE GOING TO MESS UP THE FUTURE, 1810 01:44:19,786 --> 01:44:22,256 IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA. 1811 01:44:22,322 --> 01:44:25,826 DON'T DEAL ON THE MOMENT. 1812 01:44:25,892 --> 01:44:29,162 TAKE THE LONG-TERM LOOK AT THINGS. 1813 01:44:32,032 --> 01:44:36,970 Egan: I THINK THAT THE MOST BASIC LESSON WAS, BE HUMBLE. 1814 01:44:37,037 --> 01:44:39,039 RESPECT THE LAND ITSELF. 1815 01:44:39,106 --> 01:44:41,008 LISTEN TO WHAT IT'S TRYING TO TELL YOU. 1816 01:44:41,074 --> 01:44:45,612 IF THE WIND BLOWS 60, 70 MILES AN HOUR FOR 50% OF THE YEAR, 1817 01:44:45,679 --> 01:44:48,649 THERE'S A REASON WHY ONLY ONE THING IS GROWING THERE, 1818 01:44:48,715 --> 01:44:50,183 AND IT'S NATIVE GRASS. 1819 01:44:50,250 --> 01:44:52,886 DON'T TRY TO PUT THINGS IN PLACE THERE THAT DON'T BELONG THERE. 1820 01:44:52,953 --> 01:44:54,521 LISTEN TO THE LAND ITSELF. 1821 01:44:54,588 --> 01:44:59,293 Narrator: BUT NOW, INSTEAD OF LOOKING TO THE SKIES FOR RAIN, 1822 01:44:59,359 --> 01:45:02,663 MANY FARMERS BEGAN LOOKING BENEATH THE SOIL, 1823 01:45:02,729 --> 01:45:06,366 WHERE THEY BELIEVED A MORE RELIABLE--AND IRRESISTIBLE-- 1824 01:45:06,433 --> 01:45:09,603 SUPPLY OF WATER COULD BE FOUND-- 1825 01:45:09,670 --> 01:45:13,807 THE VAST OGALLALA AQUIFER, AN UNDERGROUND RESERVOIR 1826 01:45:13,874 --> 01:45:16,943 STRETCHING FROM NEBRASKA TO NORTH TEXAS, 1827 01:45:17,010 --> 01:45:20,380 FILLED WITH WATER THAT HAD SEEPED DOWN FOR CENTURIES 1828 01:45:20,447 --> 01:45:23,483 AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE. 1829 01:45:23,550 --> 01:45:27,521 WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY, FARMERS COULD PUMP THE ANCIENT WATER UP, 1830 01:45:27,587 --> 01:45:30,624 IRRIGATE THEIR LAND, AND GROW OTHER CROPS, 1831 01:45:30,691 --> 01:45:33,627 LIKE FEED CORN FOR CATTLE AND PIGS, 1832 01:45:33,694 --> 01:45:38,398 WHICH REQUIRE EVEN MORE MOISTURE THAN WHEAT. 1833 01:45:39,666 --> 01:45:41,501 Charles Shaw: THE ONLY THING 1834 01:45:41,568 --> 01:45:43,170 THAT'S HOLDING THAT GROUND TOGETHER 1835 01:45:43,236 --> 01:45:46,173 IS THAT IRRIGATION WATER THAT COMES OUT OF THE OGALLALA. 1836 01:45:46,239 --> 01:45:51,378 THE OGALLALA IS ABOUT 100 FEET DEEP ON THE AVERAGE. 1837 01:45:51,445 --> 01:45:55,449 WE'VE USED OVER 50 FEET OF IT NOW. 1838 01:45:55,515 --> 01:45:57,951 WE'VE GOT ABOUT 20 YEARS OF WATER LEFT 1839 01:45:58,018 --> 01:46:02,022 UNDER THESE 8 STATES OR THE PORTIONS OF THESE 8 STATES, 1840 01:46:02,089 --> 01:46:03,523 AND IT'S DISAPPEARING. 1841 01:46:03,590 --> 01:46:06,493 IT'S GONNA BE GONE IN 20 YEARS. 1842 01:46:06,560 --> 01:46:10,897 IF YOU LOSE THE WATER, YOU'RE GONNA LOSE THE LAND. 1843 01:46:10,964 --> 01:46:13,834 AND THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL. 1844 01:46:13,900 --> 01:46:18,438 Lewis: MY FOLKS PUT IN ONE OF THE FIRST IRRIGATION WELLS, 1845 01:46:18,505 --> 01:46:21,108 AND WE THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT IDEA. 1846 01:46:21,174 --> 01:46:27,214 AS I LOOK BACK AT IT NOW, IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A BAD IDEA. 1847 01:46:27,280 --> 01:46:32,452 HAVING IRRIGATION WATER PERMITTED US TO DO SOME THINGS 1848 01:46:32,519 --> 01:46:36,923 THAT WEREN'T GOOD FOR THE LONG TERM. 1849 01:46:36,990 --> 01:46:41,528 AND SOME OF THESE DAYS... I'LL BE GONE, 1850 01:46:41,595 --> 01:46:45,298 BUT SOMEBODY IS GONNA BE OUT OF WATER. 1851 01:46:45,365 --> 01:46:49,569 FOLKS ARE GONNA HAVE TROUBLE GETTING ENOUGH DRINKING WATER, 1852 01:46:49,636 --> 01:46:51,905 AND THEY'LL LOOK BACK AND SAY, 1853 01:46:51,972 --> 01:46:56,543 "AND TO THINK BACK THERE IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES, 1854 01:46:56,610 --> 01:47:01,081 THEY USED UP OUR DRINKING WATER TO RAISE HOG FEED." 1855 01:47:01,148 --> 01:47:04,084 Worster: I THINK THE DUST BOWL CAN HAPPEN AGAIN-- 1856 01:47:04,151 --> 01:47:06,420 MOST EMPHATICALLY CAN HAPPEN AGAIN. 1857 01:47:06,486 --> 01:47:08,755 IT CAN BECOME A CREEPING SAHARA. 1858 01:47:08,822 --> 01:47:11,458 THE SAHARA DESERT, A FEW THOUSAND YEARS AGO, 1859 01:47:11,525 --> 01:47:13,293 WAS A SAVANNAH. 1860 01:47:13,360 --> 01:47:15,796 WE KNOW THAT IT'S POSSIBLE 1861 01:47:15,862 --> 01:47:20,333 TO TURN FROM SAVANNAH TO A STARK DESERT, 1862 01:47:20,400 --> 01:47:23,336 AND THERE'S NO REASON TO THINK THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN 1863 01:47:23,403 --> 01:47:25,338 IN THE MIDDLE OF NORTH AMERICA. 1864 01:47:28,708 --> 01:47:32,579 Henderson portrayer: AUGUST 1, 1965. 1865 01:47:32,646 --> 01:47:35,248 ANOTHER HOT AND DESOLATE DAY. 1866 01:47:35,315 --> 01:47:39,419 WE ARE BOTH QUITE WEAKENED BY OUR STRUGGLES, 1867 01:47:39,486 --> 01:47:43,890 EITHER WITH ASTHMA OR A DESPERATE COUGH, 1868 01:47:43,957 --> 01:47:48,562 I BELIEVE LARGELY THE RESULT OF WORKING WITH THE DUSTY WHEAT. 1869 01:47:48,628 --> 01:47:53,200 WE HAD REASON TO HOPE FOR A GOOD RAIN FOR THE FEED CROP, 1870 01:47:53,266 --> 01:47:56,169 JUST NOW IN NEED OF ENCOURAGEMENT, 1871 01:47:56,236 --> 01:48:00,941 BUT THE MOISTURE WAS CUT OFF WITH ONLY A LIGHT SHOWER. 1872 01:48:02,976 --> 01:48:06,179 Narrator: ON HER HOMESTEAD IN NO MAN'S LAND, 1873 01:48:06,246 --> 01:48:09,382 CAROLINE HENDERSON CARRIED ON WITHOUT RESORTING 1874 01:48:09,449 --> 01:48:13,320 TO IRRIGATION WATER FROM THE OGALLALA AQUIFER. 1875 01:48:13,386 --> 01:48:17,123 IT HAD BEEN NEARLY 60 YEARS SINCE SHE FIRST ARRIVED, 1876 01:48:17,190 --> 01:48:20,026 FULL OF DREAMS OF FARMING HER OWN LAND 1877 01:48:20,093 --> 01:48:23,029 AND PROSPERING FROM ITS BOUNTY. 1878 01:48:23,096 --> 01:48:24,831 IN THOSE 60 YEARS, 1879 01:48:24,898 --> 01:48:28,535 SHE AND WILL HAD SEEN ONLY 10 BUMPER CROPS-- 1880 01:48:28,602 --> 01:48:30,370 AND OFTENTIMES, SHE EXPRESSED 1881 01:48:30,437 --> 01:48:33,940 FEELINGS OF FAILURE TO THOSE SHE KNEW BEST. 1882 01:48:34,007 --> 01:48:36,243 AS THEY APPROACHED THE AGE OF 80, 1883 01:48:36,309 --> 01:48:38,311 THEY WERE STILL USING THE FARM EQUIPMENT 1884 01:48:38,378 --> 01:48:41,348 THEY HAD PURCHASED IN THE 1920s BECAUSE 1885 01:48:41,414 --> 01:48:46,920 CAROLINE REFUSED TO BORROW MONEY FOR LAND OR MACHINERY. 1886 01:48:46,987 --> 01:48:49,055 BUT THEY WERE FREE OF DEBT, 1887 01:48:49,122 --> 01:48:51,758 THEIR DAUGHTER HAD BECOME A SUCCESSFUL DOCTOR 1888 01:48:51,825 --> 01:48:55,896 AND HAD GIVEN THEM A GRANDSON WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE. 1889 01:48:55,962 --> 01:48:59,866 IN HER OLD AGE, CAROLINE STEADFASTLY REFUSED 1890 01:48:59,933 --> 01:49:03,570 TO TURN HER LAND OVER TO A FARM MANAGEMENT COMPANY-- 1891 01:49:03,637 --> 01:49:07,340 "STRANGERS OF SOME FAR-AWAY MONEY-GATHERING CORPORATION," 1892 01:49:07,407 --> 01:49:10,176 SHE CALLED THEM, "WITH NO POSSIBLE INTEREST 1893 01:49:10,243 --> 01:49:13,980 IN THIS SMALL BIT OF THE GOOD EARTH." 1894 01:49:14,047 --> 01:49:18,084 IN 1965, WITH BOTH OF THEM IN BAD HEALTH, 1895 01:49:18,151 --> 01:49:20,854 SHE FINALLY AGREED TO COME TO ARIZONA 1896 01:49:20,921 --> 01:49:23,757 TO LIVE WITH THEIR DAUGHTER. 1897 01:49:23,823 --> 01:49:26,192 THEY RETURNED TO NO MAN'S LAND 1898 01:49:26,259 --> 01:49:29,396 THE NEXT SPRING FOR A FINAL VISIT. 1899 01:49:29,462 --> 01:49:33,066 WILL DIED 3 DAYS LATER. 1900 01:49:33,133 --> 01:49:35,635 CAROLINE JOINED HIM-- 1901 01:49:35,702 --> 01:49:39,005 PASSING THROUGH WHAT SHE CALLED "THE WESTERN GATE"-- 1902 01:49:39,072 --> 01:49:41,074 WITHIN A FEW MONTHS. 1903 01:49:41,141 --> 01:49:43,610 IN ACCORDANCE WITH HER WISHES, 1904 01:49:43,677 --> 01:49:46,613 THE HOMESTEAD WAS PLACED IN TRUST, 1905 01:49:46,680 --> 01:49:51,918 ON THE CONDITION THAT IT NEVER BE PLOWED AGAIN. 1906 01:49:51,985 --> 01:49:56,623 Henderson portrayer: TO PREPARE THE GROUND AS WELL AS WE MAY, 1907 01:49:56,690 --> 01:50:00,760 TO SOW OUR SEEDS, TO CULTIVATE AND CARE FOR-- 1908 01:50:00,827 --> 01:50:03,697 THAT IS OUR PART. 1909 01:50:03,763 --> 01:50:07,834 YET HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR SOME OF US TO LEARN 1910 01:50:07,901 --> 01:50:10,337 THAT THE RESULTS WE MUST LEAVE 1911 01:50:10,403 --> 01:50:15,408 TO THE GREAT SILENT UNSEEN FORCES OF NATURE, 1912 01:50:15,475 --> 01:50:21,181 WHETHER THE CROP BE CORN OR CHARACTER. 1913 01:50:21,247 --> 01:50:23,783 CAROLINE HENDERSON. 1914 01:50:30,090 --> 01:50:33,026 [CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY FRIENDS OF NCI] 1915 01:50:35,261 --> 01:50:39,032 ♪ TT HAD DUST STORM LLED MY BABY ♪ 1916 01:50:39,032 --> 01:50:43,403 ♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD, AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪ 1917 01:50:43,403 --> 01:50:47,240 ♪ THAT OLD DUST STORM, WELL, IT KILLED MY FAMILY ♪ 1918 01:50:47,240 --> 01:50:51,578 ♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD, AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪ 1919 01:50:51,578 --> 01:50:55,415 ♪ THAT OLD LANDLORD, AND HE GOT MY HOMESTEAD ♪ 1920 01:50:55,415 --> 01:50:59,552 ♪ BUT HE CAN'T GET ME, LORD, AND HE CAN'T GET ME ♪ 1921 01:50:59,552 --> 01:51:03,490 ♪ THAT OLD DRY SPELL KILLED MY CROP, BOYS ♪ 1922 01:51:03,490 --> 01:51:07,093 ♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD, AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪ 1923 01:51:29,749 --> 01:51:32,252 Esperanza Spalding: ONE TREMENDOUS THING ABOUT PBS 1924 01:51:32,252 --> 01:51:35,922 IS THAT IT MAKES ART ACCESSIBLE BY PUTTING IT ON A PLATFORM 1925 01:51:35,922 --> 01:51:38,191 WHERE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CAN ACCESS IT FOR FREE. 1926 01:51:38,191 --> 01:51:39,526 AND WE NEED IT. 1927 01:51:39,526 --> 01:51:42,195 WE NEED MUSIC. WE NEED DANCE. WE NEED GREAT THEATER. 1928 01:51:42,195 --> 01:51:44,864 FOR OUR SOUL. FOR JOY IN OUR LIVES. 1929 01:51:44,864 --> 01:51:46,866 A LOT OF PEOPLE FLIP ON PBS 1930 01:51:46,866 --> 01:51:50,537 AND HEAR OR SEE SOMETHING THAT WAKES UP THAT INTEGRAL PART 1931 01:51:50,537 --> 01:51:52,706 OF BEING A HUMAN BEING WHICH IS ENJOYING 1932 01:51:52,706 --> 01:51:54,374 THE ARTS OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. 1933 01:51:54,374 --> 01:51:59,713 SO I'M GRATEFUL FOR PBS AS AN ARTIST AND AS A VIEWER. 1934 01:51:59,713 --> 01:52:01,548 Announcer: TO LEARN MORE ABOUT "THE DUST BOWL," 1935 01:52:01,548 --> 01:52:03,550 WATCH WEB-EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS, 1936 01:52:03,550 --> 01:52:05,385 EXPLORE OUR PHOTO GALLERY, 1937 01:52:05,385 --> 01:52:08,221 AND GO BEHIND THE SCENES WITH THE PRODUCERS OF THE FILM, 1938 01:52:08,221 --> 01:52:12,726 VISIT US ONLINE AT PBS.ORG/DUSTBOWL. 1939 01:52:12,726 --> 01:52:16,062 THE DUST BOWL IS AVAILABLE ON DVD OR BLU-RAY. 1940 01:52:16,062 --> 01:52:18,231 THE COMPANION BOOK IS ALSO AVAILABLE. 1941 01:52:18,231 --> 01:52:21,501 TO ORDER, VISIT SHOPPBS.ORG 1942 01:52:21,501 --> 01:52:24,604 OR CALL 1-800-PLAYPBS. 1943 01:52:24,604 --> 01:52:27,073 ALSO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD FROM iTUNES. 1944 01:52:27,073 --> 01:52:29,676 ♪ ...BUT IT CAN'T GET ME, BOYS, AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪ 1945 01:52:36,750 --> 01:52:40,687 ♪ THAT OLD DUST STORM, WELL, IT BLOWED MY BARN DOWN ♪ 1946 01:52:40,687 --> 01:52:45,024 ♪ BUT IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN, AND IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN ♪ 1947 01:52:45,024 --> 01:52:48,862 ♪ THAT OLD WIND MIGHT BLOW THIS WORLD DOWN ♪ 1948 01:52:48,862 --> 01:52:53,099 ♪ BUT IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN, IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪ 1949 01:52:53,099 --> 01:52:57,036 ♪ THAT OLD DUST STORM KILLED MY BABY ♪ 1950 01:52:57,036 --> 01:52:57,036 ♪ BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD, AND IT CAN'T KILL ME ♪