BLACK BLIZZARDS
Black Blizzard was the name that was given to the terrible dust storms that hit the mid west back in the 1930s during the great depression. These storms were caused by plowing up all of the native grasslands by farmers to plant wheat. Actually, the Federal Government encouraged the farmers to do this. They offered land free, up to 160 acres, to anyone who would farm it. Many took advantage of the offer and plowed up the land and planted wheat. The wheat did very good at first until a drought came along and then the wheat crops failed. The drought along with the denuded land brought on the dust storms.
A show was aired on the History Channel recently about the Black Blizzards. The show brought back memories of my grandmother visiting her daughter, my Aunt Lottie, back in the early thirties. Aunt Lottie lived in Amarillo, Texas. My grandmother came home to tell us of her experiences while there during one of the blizzards, called that because it was just like a blizzard except that it was dust and dirt instead of snow. They had to wet rags and cover their mouths to keep out the dust. The houses became filled with dirt and dust because it was impossible to keep it out. Sometimes the storms lasted for days. They floated east as far as Washington DC at times.
The blizzards lasted until about 1939 when the drought ended. President Roosevelt brought along the Soil Conservation Act which helped end the practices which caused the storms in the first place and implemented new ways to stop the top soil loss.
posted by kyra lafain @ 10/21/2008 12:30:00 PM
1 Comments:
What a parallel to today -- the government interferes and causes a big problem, then the government has to fix it. And once they step in to fix it, they don't stop!
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