4.3 - The Dust Bowl

The dust bowl was an area of the southern midwest, formerly the Great Plains. The grasses in the area had been removed and replaced by crops, to grow grains to feed the country, the "Bread Bowl." But the grains' roots didn't penetrate the ground as well as the grass had, so the topsoil got blown away, leaving the dry, sandy dirt. Strong winds and dry land caused the dirt to fly up into great dust storms. The combination of drought, sand storms, and the lack of topsoil in which to grow crops forced many people to abandon their homes and head west, to California, and others to begin catching and riding trains as (literal) hobos. The affect the dust bowl had on the people and the country was made worse by the Great Depression, and the absence of grains to bring up the economy helped that get worse too.