Eroded and useless, the unfarmable land left farmers unable to pay property taxes and bills to keep their farm; therefore, this made them sell what little land they owned. (History) Abandoned and forgotten the farms sometimes became targets for people to raid. Raiders, though did not just rob from abandoned farmland. In the book Dufftown, author Hugo Songer retells a story of an encounter with a raider, “ Our chickens were raising a ruckus one night and the dog, Nipper, was going crazy too. Dad got up, loaded his shotgun, and went outside. Clearly someone, or something, was in the chicken house so he fired into the air and yelled ‘Get out of my chick house or I’ll come down there and shoot you....’” Usually younger men, these farm robbers would steal wood, crops, or even livestock. (Songer 29) Because of the loss of farms, unemployment continued to grow. With farm land failing, farmers turned to making and selling moonshine illegally. During the roaring twenties, a higher part …show more content…
Southern Indiana, like many other regions of the United States during the Great Depression, had many struggles to overcome including alcoholism unemployment, newly eroded, unfarmable land, and financial stability. “I didn’t really understand what was going on in the economy. I just knew everyone was poor. That’s just how it was.” Not everyone understood what the Great Depression necessarily meant to the country economically, but they knew that money was not something to waste. This tough era in history forever changed the people that lived through it. They will never forget the sacrifices they had to make to