Dust Bowl

1. Migration to the West Coast

   Annotations:

   • "Okies" - Relatives lived along the coast - States advertised agricultural jobs 7000 migrants each month *Florence Thompson (Migrant Mother)
2. Riding the Rails and Hitchhiking

   Annotations:

   • 2 million men -> Hobos RAILS 6,500 killed in accidents or by "bulls" Dangerous HITCHHIKING Safer, legal
3. Tall Tales about the Weather

   Annotations:

   • Jokes that are not meant to bring forth laughter to give a common ground for the sufferers Jokes that blur the pain and sharpen the hope 

1. "Report..." - Causes

   Annotations:

   • "Report of the Great Plains Drought Area Committee" August 1936 2 causes - Dry weather - unwise farming conditions Suggested teaching new farming practices
2. New Deal policies
   1. CCC
   2. AAA
   3. FSA

      Annotations:

      • Farm Security Administration (1935/1937) Low-interest loans to tenant farmers Built model cooperative farmsteads
   4. SCS

      Annotations:

      • Soil Conservation Service (1935)
   5. REA
3. Brought awareness to irrigation
   1. PWA and Kingsley Dam

      Annotations:

      • One of the largest earthen dams in the world Irrigation, electrical power, recreational (boating and fishing), eagle nesting Type of surface source
   2. Ogallala Aquifer

      Annotations:

      • Limited resource Type of underground source

1. Decline in # of farms

   Annotations:

   • Not a decline in amount of farmland, just a decline in the number of farms which means there are just a few larger farms than a lot of smaller ones
2. Towns get smaller

1. Unemployment 11.9%
2. 90% of Sierra Nevada snowpack gone by end of century

Annotations:

• Cancelled Students kept overnight