The 1856 to 1865 drought caused a drop in precipitation. (Cook) In the absence of precipitation all the crops started to wither, die and uproot. Without roots holding …show more content…
“Ships 300 miles off the eastern shore even reported dust on their decks.” (Sander) Women would hang dampened bed sheets over the windows to try to collect the dust. Despite all the women’s efforts, the dust still came through the windows, and even through doors that were tightly shut. (Nelson) There was no stopping the dust.
Farmers soon became moneyless without the money from their crops, and their livestock suddenly started dying. Families would have no source of food, the families would then have to pack up everything and leave their homes to start a new life. In the famous book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the two main characters are named George Milton and Lennie Small. George and Lennie are forced to leave their homes in the town of Weed, and they go on a journey to start their new lives as farm hands. By hitch-hiking, walking, and riding freight trains, many people traveled to find new jobs. “The exact scale of migrants is unknown, but it’s estimated that up to 400,000 Southwesterners moved west during the 1930s and up to 300,000 moved into California a decade earlier.” (Sander) Even young children and teenagers were forced to leave their homes in search for jobs to earn money to support their families back …show more content…
That’s how black it was.” One of the darkest storms Melt ever witnessed was on the 14th of April, 1935. She said, “The sun was still up, but it was totally black and that was blackest, worst dust storm, sand storm we had durin’ the whole time.” (American Experience)
The devastating Dust Bowl lasted about a decade. “In December 1935, experts estimated that 850 million tons of topsoil had been blown off the Plains that year alone. The drought would linger four more years until rain finally brought relief in the fall of 1941.” (Dust Bowl memories forever linger for landowner) Many people’s lives were greatly affected and changed forever by the dust bowl, but today many farmers and families are proud owners of their own successful farms. Dee Littlefield says, “I am now proud to say I am a landowner that is making a difference for the