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Narrator: HISTORY, AS SEEN
THROUGH THE EYES OF KEN BURNS,

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IS JUST
COLLECTION OF STORIES

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ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED
IN THE .

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TO REFLECT ON HOW TO BUILD
A STRONGER TOMORROW.

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WE SHARE IN HIS VISION,

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WE'RE PROUD
TO SUPPORT HIS EFFORTS.

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FUNDING FOR
THIS IS PROVIDED BY:

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MEMBERS OF
THE ANGELS SOCIETY,

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DEDICATED TO HELPING KEN BURNS
TELL AMERICA'S STORIES,

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INCLUDING THE HAMEL
FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST,

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ROBERT
BEVERLY GRAPPONE;

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THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS,

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DEDICATED TO STRENGTHENING
AMERICA'S FUTURE

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THROUGH EDUCATION;

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THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,

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EXPLORING THE HUMAN ENDEAVOR;

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THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION;

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THE WALLACE GENETIC FOUNDATION;

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THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

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AND BY CONTRIBUTIONS

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FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

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[WIND BLOWING]

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Woody Guthrie:
ON THE 14th DAY OF APRIL

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§ OF 1935 §

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THERE STRUCK THE WORST
OF DUST STORMS

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THAT EVER FILLED THE SKY

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YOU COULD SEE
THAT DUST STORM COMING

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THE CLOUD LOOKED
DEATH-LIKE BLACK

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THROUGH
OUR MIGHTY NATION

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IT LEFT A DREADFUL TRACK

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Donald Worster: WE HAVE MANY
WORDS FOR WHAT'S UNDER OUR FEET.

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THE GOOD EARTH--WE LIKE TO
TALK ABOUT THE GOOD EARTH

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PICK IT UP
SMELL IT AND TASTE IT.

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THIS IS THE SOIL OF OUR
PRODUCTIVITY, OUR PROSPERITY.

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BUT WHEN IT'S LOOSE
BLOWING

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AND IT'S GETTING
INTO YOUR ATTIC

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IT'S COVERING YOUR LAUNDRY
ON THE CLOTHES LINE, IT'S DIRT,

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WHEN YOU'RE
BREATHING IT, IT'S DUST.

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I THINK WE ALL REALIZE
THAT WHERE DIRT BELONGS

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NOT UP IN THE AIR.

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Wayne Lewis: WE MADE

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IN THE LATE TWENTIES

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THAT WE BROKE EVERYTHING OUT
TO RAISE WHEAT.

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THEN THE CLIMATE CHANGED
THE DEPRESSION CAME ALONG,

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THE WHEAT
WASN'T MUCH.

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BUT WE STILL
THE BROKEN OUT.

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GET RICH QUICK
OFF OF THE WHEAT,

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AND IT DIDN'T WORK OUT.

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Riney-Kehrberg:
THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST

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SUSTAINED ENVIRONMENTAL

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IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT
HAPPENS IN JUST ONE YEAR.

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IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT
JUST LASTS FOR 3 OR 4 YEARS.

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BECAUSE OF THE COMBINATION
OF EXTREME DROUGHT

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AND EXTREME HIGH TEMPERATURES,

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THIS IS THE WORST
10-YEAR PERIOD

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IN RECORDED HISTORY
ON THE PLAINS.

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Guthrie: § WE SAW
OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW

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WHERE WHEAT FIELDS
THEY GROWN

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WAS NOW A RIPPLING

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OF DUST
THE WIND HAD BLOWN

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Narrator: IN THE SUMMER OF 1935,

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AT HER HOMESTEAD IN
THE PANHANDLE,

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CAROLINE HENDERSON,
A FARM WIFE AND WRITER,

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SAT DOWN AND COMPOSED A LETTER

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TO THE SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE, HENRY WALLACE,

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TO LET HIM KNOW WHAT
SHE, HER HUSBAND,

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OF HER NEIGHBORS
WERE GOING THROUGH.

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Caroline Henderson portrayer:

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A FOURTH YEAR OF FAILURE.

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SINCE 1931,
THE BEEN

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ONE OF PRACTICALLY
UNBROKEN DROUGHT.

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THERE BE NO WHEAT
FOR US IN 1935.

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IN ONE RESPECT, WE REALIZE THAT

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CONTRIBUTED TO THIS
REAPING OF THE WHIRLWIND.

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PREACHER-
TRUE JOB'S COMFORTER--

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PROCLAIMED THAT THE DROUGHT IS A
DIRECT PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS.

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THE FUTURE PROMISES ONLY

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HOPELESS AND PERMANENT
DESERT CONDITIONS.

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SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR
RAIN WERE OFFERED

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AT OUR COUNTY SEAT
LAST SUNDAY MORNING.

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THE AFTERNOON BROUGHT ONE
OF THE MOST SUDDEN, DENSE,

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SUFFOCATING DUST ST:
OF THE SEASON.

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Narrator: BY 1935, CAROLINE
HENDERSON AND HER NEIGHBORS

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NEEDED ALL THE HELP
THEY COULD FIND.

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LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN
THE UNITED STATES,

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THEY WERE SUFFERING AS THE

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IN THE NATION'S HISTORY--

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THE GREAT DEPRESSION--
LINGERED ON.

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BUT THEY WERE ALSO
CAUGHT IN THE MIDST

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OF THE NATION'S GREATEST

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WHERE "BLACK BLIZZARDS"
BLOTTED OUT THE SUN,

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CREATED DRIFTS AGAINST THEIR
HOMES, RUINED THEIR CROPS,

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AND TOOK THE LIVES
OF THEIR CHILDREN.

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AND JUST WHEN IT SEEMED THINGS

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COULD NOT GET WORSE,

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ON SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 1935,

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OF ALL HAD STRUCK

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Riney-Kehrberg: I THINK IT
REALLY SCARED A LOT OF PEOPLE.

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THAT IT GETS THE ATTENTION

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OF THE REST OF THE COUNTRY.

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IF PEOPLE WEREN'T PAYING
ATTENTION TO BLACK SUNDAY,

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THIS IS AN EVENT
THAT IS SO MONUMENTAL

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THAT PEOPLE CAN'T IGNORE IT.

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Narrator: IN THE DUST BOWL,
THE SURVIVORS OF BLACK SUNDAY

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WORRIED THAT THEY HAD
BECOME A FORGOTTEN PEOPLE

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IN A FORGOTTEN LAND.

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THEY WEREN'T FORGOTTEN.

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WHILE PRESIDENT FRANKLIN

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TO GET THE WHOLE COUNTRY
BACK ON ITS FEET,

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CONCERNED ABOUT THE FATE

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OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

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BUT OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS,
THE DROUGHT WOULD ONLY DEEPEN,

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AND THE "BLACK BLIZZARDS"
THAT ADDED IMMEASURABLY

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TO PEOPLE'S MISERIES
WOULD ONLY INTENSIFY.

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MANY WOULD FIGHT DESPERATELY

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TO HOLD ON TO THEIR
THEIR LIVES.

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OTHERS WOULD BE FORCED
TO JOIN AN EXODUS

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TOWARD A PROMISED LAND THAT
OFFERED BOTH WATER AND WORK.

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IN THE CRUCIBLE OF DUST
DROUGHT DEPRESSION,

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SOME FAMILIES WOULD
BE TORN \

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OTHERS UPROOTED
FROM THEIR HOMES,

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AND SOME BROUGHT CLOSER
TOGETHER THAN EVER BEFORE.

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I THINK TO BE
DRY FARMER,

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YOU HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN
KIND OF A PERSON,

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DEEP DOWN INSIDE
OF THEMSELVES,

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THEY MUST HAVE THE FEELING,
"IF WE JUST STICK IT OUT

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STAY HERE, TIMES
BOUND TO GET BETTER,"

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WHICH DID GIVE THEM
LITTLE HOPE,

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BUT IN THE MIDDLE
OF A DUST STORM,

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IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO HOPE,

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IT TAKES A LOT OF WILLPOWER
EVERYTHING ELSE

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TO BRING YOURSELF BACK OUT
TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME.

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PEOPLE WHO DID STICK IT OUT.

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THEY COME THERE,
MAYBE THEY'D BEEN THERE,

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AND THEY INTENDED TO STAY.

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THIS WAS THEIR HOME.

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Dorothy Kleffman: WE LIVED
IN A BROWN WORLD.

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THE LAND WAS
BARREN AND BROWN.

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IT SEEMED LIKE MOST OF THE

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IN MY LIFE, IT WAS
A BROWN WORLD.

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THE GROUND WAS BROWN.

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AND I DIDN'T KNOW
ANY DIFFERENCE.

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Narrator: DURING THE 1930s,
OF THE 48 STATES

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EXPERIENCED
SOME FORM OF DROUGHT,

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AND FARMERS EVERYWHERE
WERE HURTING, BUT NONE MORE

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THAN THOSE IN THE AREA
SURROUNDING THE TOWN

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OF BOISE CITY,
WHICH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

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HAD DECLARED AS THE

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OF THE DUST BOWL, WHERE
CONDITIONS WERE THE WORST--

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PLACE ONCE KNOWN
NO MAN'S LAND.

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IN 1935, BOISE CITY RECEIVED

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FEWER 10 INCHES
OF PRECIPITATION,

153
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THE OFFICIAL DEFINITION
OF A DESERT.

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FARMERS IN NEARBY
COUNTY, COLORADO,

155
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WHO HAD ONCE HARVESTED

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NOW SUCCESSFUL CROPS
ON ONLY 516.

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IN THE
PANHANDLES,

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THE ABSENTEE

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WHO HAD HOPED TO
STRIKE IT RICH IN WHEAT

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SIMPLY ABANDONED NEARLY 4
MILLION ACRES OF EXPOSED FIELDS,

161
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LEAVING THEM TO BLOW
WITH EACH NEW WIND.

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VEGETABLE GARDENS WERE
PRODUCING LESS NORMAL,

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QUARTER
OF THE CHILDREN

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WERE REPORTED TO BE
AT LEAST 10% UNDERWEIGHT.

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PEOPLE HERE "HAVE GIVEN UP
TRYING TO BE CIVILIZED,"

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A LOCAL MINISTER SAID.

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"WE ARE MERELY

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Virginia Frantz: WE HAD A LITTLE
HEIFER THAT HAD A NEW CALF.

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I WENT DOWN TO SEE THE CALF,

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IT WAS LAYING
THERE KICKING,

171
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AWAY WITH A HAMMER.

172
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HE HAD KILLED IT.

173
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AND I RAN TO MY MOTHER
JUST BAWLING ABOUT IT,

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SO TENDER-HEARTED,

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SHE SAID, "HE TO."

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THERE'S NOT ENOUGH MILK FOR

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SHE SAID, "YOU HAVE
GOT TO HAVE MILK."

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HE KILLED THE CALF.

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Imogene Glover:
WELL, IT WAS BAD.

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AND FLOUR SACKS FOR MATERIAL

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TO MY PANTIES,

182
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AND I HAD A DRESS MADE

183
00:11:04,340 --> 00:11:07,910
IT WAS JUST COTTON
THAT BEEN PRINTED,

184
00:11:07,910 --> 00:11:11,714
LIKE LITTLE FLOWERS

185
00:11:11,714 --> 00:11:15,351
USED FOR MY PANTIES.

186
00:11:15,351 --> 00:11:21,157
THE FLOUR SACKS MIGHT BE
HAVE BIG FLOWERS,

187
00:11:25,628 --> 00:11:29,966
MOTHER COULD GET US A DRESS
OUT OF 3 FEED SACKS.

188
00:11:29,966 --> 00:11:32,635
THEY MADE THEM PRETTY--
PRINTS

189
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WERE USING THEM FOR THAT.

190
00:11:36,339 --> 00:11:38,975
WE FOUND OUT SOME OF
THE NEIGHBORS WORE

191
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EACH OTHER AND WENT ON

192
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IT WAS FINE.

193
00:11:46,782 --> 00:11:51,254
Clarence MY FAMILY,
IN TERMS OF EATING,

194
00:11:51,254 --> 00:11:54,023
COULD HAVE EGGS,
OUR OWN EGGS,

195
00:11:54,023 --> 00:11:57,727
THEN START BORROWING
FROM THE GROCER.

196
00:11:57,727 --> 00:12:00,029
WHEN HE WOULD QUIT
LENDING YOU MONEY,

197
00:12:00,029 --> 00:12:05,501
YOU WERE DOWN TO EATING
LARD AND BREAD OR AN EGG.

198
00:12:05,501 --> 00:12:10,306
WE ATE SO POORLY THAT THE HOBOS
WOULDN'T COME TO OUR HOUSE.

199
00:12:10,306 --> 00:12:13,242
I WAS DOWN TO EATING
BREAD.

200
00:12:13,242 --> 00:12:16,245
Calvin Crabill: WE LIVED
IN 4 DIFFERENT PLACES

201
00:12:16,245 --> 00:12:20,683
WHEN I WAS IN ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL TO SURVIVE.

202
00:12:20,683 --> 00:12:23,653
EVERY MY FIRST, SECOND,
THIRD GRADE,

203
00:12:23,653 --> 00:12:26,389
WE MOVED TO A DIFFERENT
FARM EVERY TIME,

204
00:12:26,389 --> 00:12:28,858
EVERY TIME, WE LOST IT.

205
00:12:28,858 --> 00:12:30,593
ONE SUMMER, WE NEEDED
LOAF OF BREAD,

206
00:12:30,593 --> 00:12:32,128
THERE WAS THIS LITTLE
COUNTRY ST

207
00:12:32,128 --> 00:12:34,597
HALF-MILE AWAY
FROM WHERE WE LIVED.

208
00:12:34,597 --> 00:12:37,166
WE LOOKED FOR A DIME
IN THE HOUSE.

209
00:12:37,166 --> 00:12:38,701
WE COULDN'T FIND A DIME.

210
00:12:38,701 --> 00:12:43,439
WE COULDN'T FIND A DIME IN THE
HOUSE TO BUY A LOAF OF BREAD.

211
00:12:43,439 --> 00:12:46,509
Glover: I THINK IT
WAS PROBABLY HARDER

212
00:12:46,509 --> 00:12:49,078
ON MY MOTHER
IT WAS MY DAD

213
00:12:49,078 --> 00:12:50,379
BECAUSE SHE WORRIED ABOUT

214
00:12:50,379 --> 00:12:54,750
WHAT SHE WAS GONNA BE ABLE
TO FIX FOR US TO EAT.

215
00:12:54,750 --> 00:12:59,055
IT WAS FOR
ANYONE TO HAVE MONEY,

216
00:12:59,055 --> 00:13:02,458
BUT MY GRANDDAD
WAS RESOURCEFUL,

217
00:13:02,458 --> 00:13:07,430
AND HE HAD GIVEN ME
3 DIMES--AND I WAS RICH!

218
00:13:07,430 --> 00:13:12,568
AND I HID THEM, AND MY MOTHER

219
00:13:12,568 --> 00:13:15,738
I SAID, "I BURIED THEM
IN THE

220
00:13:15,738 --> 00:13:18,341
OUT AROUND THE
SOUTH WINDOW."

221
00:13:18,341 --> 00:13:20,976
AND SHE SAID, "WELL,

222
00:13:20,976 --> 00:13:25,414
AND SHE LOOKED UNTIL
SHE FOUND THOSE 3 DIMES.

223
00:13:25,414 --> 00:13:28,951
ONE TIME MY BROTHER

224
00:13:28,951 --> 00:13:34,056
AND MY MOTHER MADE HIM

225
00:13:34,056 --> 00:13:39,695
TO GO TO THE BATHROOM UNTIL

226
00:13:39,695 --> 00:13:44,333
Narrator; SOUTH OF BOISE CITY,
DON WELLS AND HIS FAMILY

227
00:13:44,333 --> 00:13:50,172
ON THEIR 160-ACRE FARM.

228
00:13:50,172 --> 00:13:52,675
Wells: THERE WAS
10 OF US KIDS,

229
00:13:52,675 --> 00:13:55,344
WE LIVED
IN HOUSE.

230
00:13:55,344 --> 00:13:58,381
AT NIGHT, WE
WALL-TO-WALL MATTRESSES.

231
00:13:58,381 --> 00:14:01,517
AT DAYTIME, WE SCOOTED
THEM UNDER THE BED.

232
00:14:01,517 --> 00:14:03,085
ROOMS--
THE KITCHEN,

233
00:14:03,085 --> 00:14:05,454
THEN THERE WAS
BED IN THERE,

234
00:14:05,454 --> 00:14:08,791
AND THEN THE REST OF US ALL
SLEPT IN THE OTHER ROOM.

235
00:14:08,791 --> 00:14:10,893
Narrator: ONE SUNDAY,
WELLS LEARNED

236
00:14:10,893 --> 00:14:14,530
THAT HIS FATHER DIED
IN A DIST. HOSPITAL,

237
00:14:14,530 --> 00:14:16,832
FROM WHAT STARTED
STREP THROAT

238
00:14:16,832 --> 00:14:20,035
AND ENDED WITH HIM

239
00:14:23,172 --> 00:14:28,677
WITH A GRADE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
10 MOUTHS TO FEED.

240
00:14:28,677 --> 00:14:30,479
Wells: WE COULDN'T STAY
OUT ON THE FARM

241
00:14:30,479 --> 00:14:35,151
WHAT LITTLE MACHINERY WE HAD,

242
00:14:35,151 --> 00:14:37,353
WE DIDN'T HAVE
COWS LEFT.

243
00:14:37,353 --> 00:14:40,189
WE DIDN'T HAVE

244
00:14:40,189 --> 00:14:44,126
MY UNCLES LOADED US
UP IN A TRUCK,

245
00:14:44,126 --> 00:14:47,863
PUT ALL OF OUR CLOTHES
FURNITURE IN THE BACK OF IT,

246
00:14:47,863 --> 00:14:50,666
THEY TOOK US
TO BOISE CITY.

247
00:14:50,666 --> 00:14:53,803
Narrator: THE FAMILY LIVED
IN ONE HOUSE ANOTHER,

248
00:14:53,803 --> 00:14:57,072
FORCED TO MOVE WHENEVER
THEY COULDN'T PAY THE RENT,

249
00:14:57,072 --> 00:15:01,811
UNTIL THEY FINALLY FOUND
SOMETHING THEY COULD AFFORD--

250
00:15:06,081 --> 00:15:09,652
DOWN IN AMARILLO,
THE DUST BOWL'S BIGGEST CITY,

251
00:15:09,652 --> 00:15:14,256
WALTER LUCIUS DURRETT HAD

252
00:15:14,256 --> 00:15:15,825
AND THEN HIS HEALTH.

253
00:15:15,825 --> 00:15:19,528
THE STRAIN OF IT ALL PROVED
TOO MUCH FOR HIS WIFE.

254
00:15:19,528 --> 00:15:23,899
Pauline Durrett Robertson:
MY MOTHER BEGAN TO DESPAIR

255
00:15:23,899 --> 00:15:27,203
THAT THINGS WERE NEVER
GOING TO GET

256
00:15:27,203 --> 00:15:30,105
IN FACT, THEY WERE

257
00:15:30,105 --> 00:15:37,513
IT AFFECTED HER...
IT AFFECTED HER OUTLOOK ON LIFE,

258
00:15:40,149 --> 00:15:43,486
WELL, SHE NERVOUS
BREAKDOWN, ACTUALLY.

259
00:15:43,486 --> 00:15:49,024
WE 3 GIRLS
WERE MOTHERLESS

260
00:15:49,024 --> 00:15:50,993
DURING THE DEPRESSION.

261
00:15:50,993 --> 00:15:55,197
AT ONE TIME, WHEN WE DIDN'T
HAVE ANYTHING TO EAT,

262
00:15:55,197 --> 00:16:04,773
WE TO APPLY FOR RELIEF,
THAT WAS FOR US TO DO.

263
00:16:04,773 --> 00:16:08,978
THE BROWN TRUCK WITH THE
MARKING ON THE SIDE CAME

264
00:16:08,978 --> 00:16:14,650
TO THE FRONT OF OUR HOUSE
AND BROUGHT SOME FOOD.

265
00:16:14,650 --> 00:16:18,654
IT WAS REALLY HARD
FOR US TO SEE THAT.

266
00:16:18,654 --> 00:16:21,957
FOR THE NEIGHBORS TO SEE

267
00:16:21,957 --> 00:16:24,960
THAT WE NEEDED
THAT BROWN TRUCK.

268
00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:28,898
Pauline Hodges: WE COULD GO
TO THE COURTHOUSE IN BEAVER

269
00:16:28,898 --> 00:16:32,868
AND GET COMMODITIES
IF WE WANTED TO.

270
00:16:32,868 --> 00:16:35,404
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT PEOPLE
LIKE MY FATHER

271
00:16:35,404 --> 00:16:39,508
AND SOME OF OUR NEIGHBORS
WERE TOO PROUD TO GO DO THAT.

272
00:16:39,508 --> 00:16:41,844
AND I REMEMBER MY MOTHER

273
00:16:41,844 --> 00:16:44,046
BECAUSE SHE
WASN'T TOO PROUD,

274
00:16:44,046 --> 00:16:46,015
AND WE DID GET
SOME GRAPEFRUIT

275
00:16:46,015 --> 00:16:47,950
AND SOME OTHER

276
00:16:47,950 --> 00:16:49,852
THAT HELPED OUT WITH FOOD.

277
00:16:49,852 --> 00:16:54,256
Narrator: IN TOWNS,
THE NAMES OF FAMILIES ON RELIEF

278
00:16:54,256 --> 00:16:57,993
WERE PUBLISHED EACH MONTH
IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER.

279
00:16:57,993 --> 00:17:02,164
IN ONE COUNTY, OF
THE POPULATION NOW RELIED

280
00:17:02,164 --> 00:17:06,302
ON SOME FORM OF
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE.

281
00:17:06,302 --> 00:17:11,040
Williamson: THESE PEOPLE
WERE...WERE SO NEEDY,

282
00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,410
YOU FELT
SORRY FOR THEM.

283
00:17:14,410 --> 00:17:17,846
YOU MIGHT FEEL LIKE GIVING THEM
DOLLAR OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET,

284
00:17:17,846 --> 00:17:21,317
BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST
DIDN'T DO THINGS LIKE THAT.

285
00:17:21,317 --> 00:17:22,685
IT'S NOT PROFESSIONAL.

286
00:17:22,685 --> 00:17:26,088
Narrator: FRESH OUT OF
COLLEGE, AT AGE 21,

287
00:17:26,088 --> 00:17:29,358
DOROTHY WILLIAMSON WAS
HIRED AS A SOCIAL WORKER,

288
00:17:29,358 --> 00:17:32,061
TRAINED BY THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT, DISPATCHED

289
00:17:32,061 --> 00:17:36,065
TO PROWERS COUNTY
IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO.

290
00:17:36,065 --> 00:17:39,301
50-SQUARE-MILE TERRITORY

291
00:17:39,301 --> 00:17:44,707
WENT FROM ONE
DUST-RAVAGED FARM TO ANOTHER.

292
00:17:45,174 --> 00:17:50,045
TABLE AND TALKED TO EACH OTHER.

293
00:17:50,045 --> 00:17:53,449
IT WAS ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE
IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING

294
00:17:53,449 --> 00:17:56,151
THAT THEY COULD

295
00:17:56,151 --> 00:17:58,420
THAT'S WHY THEY LOOKED
HOPELESS,

296
00:17:58,420 --> 00:18:00,489
ALSO THEY LOOKED STUNNED,

297
00:18:00,489 --> 00:18:04,560
IF, "CAN THIS
REALLY BE HAPPENING?"

298
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,229
IT KIND OF LEFT ME
WITH FEELING, TOO,

299
00:18:07,229 --> 00:18:09,798
TO HAVE TO GO OUT THERE
AND SEE THESE PEOPLE

300
00:18:09,798 --> 00:18:13,702
BECAUSE YOU FELT YOU WERE
HELPING THEM WHAT YOU COULD,

301
00:18:13,702 --> 00:18:16,872
BUT YOU REALLY
COULDN'T HELP THEM.

302
00:18:16,872 --> 00:18:21,276
WHAT THEY REALLY NEEDED
WAS AN INNER THING

303
00:18:21,276 --> 00:18:23,646
THAT NOBODY COULD GIVE THEM.

304
00:18:23,646 --> 00:18:25,614
THEY NEEDED A...

305
00:18:25,614 --> 00:18:30,919
TRUST AGAIN IN SOMETHING
WHICH THEY LOST.

306
00:18:33,889 --> 00:18:37,693
Narrator: WHAT HELP THERE WAS

307
00:18:37,693 --> 00:18:40,062
AND THE FLOOD OF
NEW DEAL PROGRAMS

308
00:18:40,062 --> 00:18:42,731
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
CREATED.

309
00:18:42,731 --> 00:18:46,435
THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
PUT YOUNG MEN TO

310
00:18:46,435 --> 00:18:51,840
IN NATIONAL PARKS, STATE PARKS,
NATIONAL FORESTS,

311
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,742
THEM MONTH,

312
00:18:53,742 --> 00:18:58,981
25 WHICH THEY WERE REQUIRED
TO SEND HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES.

313
00:18:58,981 --> 00:19:02,484
WERE ALSO DISPATCHED

314
00:19:02,484 --> 00:19:06,855
TO PLANT ROWS OF TREES UP
AND DOWN THE GREAT PLAINS

315
00:19:06,855 --> 00:19:11,460
POTENTIAL WINDBREAKS AGAINST
THE FIERCE DUST STORMS.

316
00:19:11,460 --> 00:19:17,933
BY THE END OF THE DECADE,
18,600 MILES OF SHELTERBELTS,

317
00:19:17,933 --> 00:19:23,505
WITH 217 MILLION TREES,
BEEN PLANTED.

318
00:19:23,505 --> 00:19:25,741
THE NATIONAL YOUTH
ADMINISTRATION,

319
00:19:25,741 --> 00:19:30,779
OPEN TO BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS,
LET STUDENTS REMAIN AT HOME

320
00:19:30,779 --> 00:19:32,781
AND EARN A LITTLE MONEY

321
00:19:32,781 --> 00:19:34,650
THROUGH WORK-STUDY PROJECTS.

322
00:19:34,650 --> 00:19:37,319
IN AMARILLO,
PAULINE DURRETT ROBERTSON

323
00:19:37,319 --> 00:19:41,356
WAS 25 CENTS AN HOUR
TO GRADE PAPERS.

324
00:19:41,356 --> 00:19:44,827
IN BOISE CITY, DON WELLS
AND HIS OLDER BROTHER

325
00:19:49,364 --> 00:19:53,402
AS A BONUS, HE LET THEM TAKE
SHOWERS IN THE LOCKER ROOM--

326
00:19:53,402 --> 00:19:58,207
LIVED IN A CHICKEN COOP.

327
00:19:59,775 --> 00:20:02,511
LORENE WHITE'S MOTHER

328
00:20:02,511 --> 00:20:06,381
FROM THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY
RELIEF ADMINISTRATION,

329
00:20:06,381 --> 00:20:08,851
HER FATHER
RELUCTANTLY ENROLLED

330
00:20:08,851 --> 00:20:11,386
WITH THE WORKS PROGRESS
ADMINISTRATION,

331
00:20:11,386 --> 00:20:16,592
THE NEW DEAL'S BIGGEST
MOST CONTROVERSIAL PROGRAM.

332
00:20:16,592 --> 00:20:20,229
White:
My WAS A PROUD MAN.

333
00:20:20,229 --> 00:20:23,665
HE DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO
DO WITH GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.

334
00:20:23,665 --> 00:20:26,869
HE THOUGHT HE COULD
HANDLE IT ON HIS OWN.

335
00:20:26,869 --> 00:20:31,406
HE FOUND OUT LATER THAT HE
NEEDED TO TAKE PART IN THEM.

336
00:20:31,406 --> 00:20:34,176
DAD WORKED ON WPA,
I THINK, ABOUT A YEAR,

337
00:20:34,176 --> 00:20:39,948
THEY WERE BUILDING A BRIDGE
NOT TOO FAR FROM HOME.

338
00:20:39,948 --> 00:20:44,486
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL BRIDGE.
IT'S STILL THERE.

339
00:20:44,486 --> 00:20:47,089
Narrator: DURING THE DEPTHS
OF THE DEPRESSION,

340
00:20:47,089 --> 00:20:51,460
THE BECAME THE LARGEST
EMPLOYER IN THE NATION,

341
00:20:51,460 --> 00:20:53,362
CREATING 8 MILLION JOBS

342
00:20:53,362 --> 00:20:56,632
IN VIRTUALLY EVERY
CORNER OF THE COUNTRY.

343
00:20:56,632 --> 00:21:00,502
"THE PRAIRIE, ONCE THE HOME
OF THE DEER, BUFFALO,

344
00:21:00,502 --> 00:21:02,771
ANTELOPE,"
ONE NEWSPAPER WROTE,

345
00:21:02,771 --> 00:21:07,476
"IS NOW THE HOME OF
THE DUST BOWL THE WPA."

346
00:21:07,476 --> 00:21:12,748
MANY PEOPLE CONSIDERED IT

347
00:21:12,748 --> 00:21:15,083
Lewis: IT MADE
LOT OF DIFFERENCE

348
00:21:16,418 --> 00:21:20,255
IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE A JOB,

349
00:21:20,255 --> 00:21:25,360
DO-NOTHINGS, LEANED ON THEIR
SHOVELS AND GOT MONEY FOR IT,

350
00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:29,097
THEY RESENTED IT
VERY MUCH.

351
00:21:29,097 --> 00:21:32,768
BUT IF YOU WERE THE ONES
THAT THE SHOVEL,

352
00:21:32,768 --> 00:21:35,370
IT WAS THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN STARVING

353
00:21:37,272 --> 00:21:43,612
WE GOT ENOUGH,
IT SAVED--IT KEPT US ALIVE.

354
00:21:43,612 --> 00:21:46,248
Narrator:
THE BUILT A

355
00:21:46,248 --> 00:21:49,151
ON RITA BLANCA CREEK

356
00:21:49,151 --> 00:21:53,021
TO CREATE A RESERVOIR
AND RECREATION AREA.

357
00:21:53,021 --> 00:21:57,993
USING ONLY LOCAL MATERIALS,

358
00:21:57,993 --> 00:22:01,396
6,000 OF THE 10,000
AREA RESIDENTS

359
00:22:01,396 --> 00:22:05,834
FOUND TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT
WORKING ON A NEW HIGH SCHOOL

360
00:22:05,834 --> 00:22:07,970
THAT WOULD STILL BE IN USE

361
00:22:10,372 --> 00:22:13,242
WITH MY FAMILY, WE WOULD
HAVE STARVED TO DEATH

362
00:22:13,242 --> 00:22:16,378
BECAUSE WE HAD NO OTHER

363
00:22:16,378 --> 00:22:21,316
THE NEW FOR US,
THE IN PARTICULAR,

364
00:22:23,952 --> 00:22:26,722
MOST OF OUR NEIGHBORS
FELT THAT WAY.

365
00:22:26,722 --> 00:22:29,791
Narrator; PAULINE HODGES'
FATHER HELPED BUILD

366
00:22:29,791 --> 00:22:32,794
HIGHWAY 64 THROUGH
THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE.

367
00:22:32,794 --> 00:22:38,901
IT PASSED WITHIN A FEW MILES OF
CAROLINE HENDERSON'S HOMESTEAD.

368
00:22:38,901 --> 00:22:42,905
Henderson IF MERE
DOLLARS WERE TO BE CONSIDERED,

369
00:22:42,905 --> 00:22:45,340
THE ACTUALLY DESTITUTE
IN OUR SECTION

370
00:22:45,340 --> 00:22:49,344
COULD UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE BEEN
FED AND CLOTHED MORE CHEAPLY

371
00:22:49,344 --> 00:22:53,415
THAT HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT.

372
00:22:53,415 --> 00:22:55,450
BUT IN OUR NATIONAL ECONOMY,

373
00:22:55,450 --> 00:22:59,421
MANHOOD MUST BE CONSIDERED
WELL AS MONEY.

374
00:22:59,421 --> 00:23:02,891
PEOPLE EMPLOYED TO

375
00:23:02,891 --> 00:23:05,260
MAY RETAIN THEIR SELF-RESPECT

376
00:23:05,260 --> 00:23:10,299
TO A DEGREE IMPOSSIBLE
UNDER CASH RELIEF.

377
00:23:10,299 --> 00:23:13,669
IF WE MUST WORRY
OVER THE RUINOUS EFFECTS

378
00:23:13,669 --> 00:23:17,005
OF "MADE ON PEOPLE
OF THIS TYPE,

379
00:23:17,005 --> 00:23:20,042
WHY HAVEN'T WE BEEN
WORRYING FOR GENERATIONS

380
00:23:20,042 --> 00:23:22,044
OVER THE CHARACTER
OF THE IDLERS

381
00:23:22,044 --> 00:23:25,580
OF BIRTH OR INHERITANCE

382
00:23:25,580 --> 00:23:32,587
HAS GIVEN WEALTH UNMEASURED,
UNEARNED, AND UNAPPRECIATED?

383
00:23:40,362 --> 00:23:44,800
Man: "IF YOU WOULD LIKE
TO HAVE YOUR HEART BROKEN,

384
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,436
"JUST COME OUT HERE.

385
00:23:47,436 --> 00:23:50,739
"THIS IS THE
DUST ST COUNTRY.

386
00:23:50,739 --> 00:23:55,911
"IT IS THE SADDEST
I HAVE EVER SEEN.

387
00:23:55,911 --> 00:23:58,180
"THEY SAY THAT IN 20 YEARS,

388
00:23:58,180 --> 00:24:01,183
"OUR FARMLAND IS GOING
TO BE PRETTY WELL SHOT

389
00:24:03,919 --> 00:24:05,420
"AND THAT IN 75 YEARS,

390
00:24:05,420 --> 00:24:12,194
WOULDN'T BE SEEN ON MOST OF IT."

391
00:24:12,194 --> 00:24:14,696
ERNIE PYLE.

392
00:24:17,532 --> 00:24:23,872
Narrator: IN 1935, AN ESTIMATED
850 MILLION TONS OF TOPSOIL

393
00:24:23,872 --> 00:24:27,909
WERE BEING SWEPT OFF THE
FIELDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS,

394
00:24:27,909 --> 00:24:33,348
WHERE 4 MILLION ACRES
IN 100 COUNTIES WERE BLOWING.

395
00:24:33,348 --> 00:24:34,950
PREDICTIONS CALLED FOR

396
00:24:34,950 --> 00:24:38,954
A MILLION MORE ACRES
TO DO THE SAME IN 1936.

397
00:24:38,954 --> 00:24:42,791
"UNLESS SOMETHING IS DONE,"
ONE GOVERNMENT CONCLUDED,

398
00:24:42,791 --> 00:24:44,393
"THE WESTERN PLAINS WILL BE

399
00:24:44,393 --> 00:24:47,195
AS ARID AS THE ARABIAN DESERT."

400
00:24:47,195 --> 00:24:49,798
Worster: THERE WERE
MANY PEOPLE IN THAT ERA

401
00:24:49,798 --> 00:24:52,601
WHO THOUGHT THIS IS

402
00:24:59,207 --> 00:25:00,542
HOW DO YOU STOP THIS?

403
00:25:00,542 --> 00:25:02,344
WHAT'S GOING TO BE
THE BARRIER YOU PUT UP

404
00:25:02,344 --> 00:25:06,681
TO KEEP IT FROM UNDERMINING
AGRICULTURE IN ILLINOIS?

405
00:25:06,681 --> 00:25:13,555
Timothy Egan: IT HUGE
EFFECT ON AMERICAN POLICY, TOO,

406
00:25:13,555 --> 00:25:15,357
BECAUSE 5 DAYS LATER,

407
00:25:15,357 --> 00:25:20,095
THE REMNANTS OF BLACK SUNDAY

408
00:25:20,095 --> 00:25:22,531
YOU COULD GO LIKE THIS
ON YOUR DESK,

409
00:25:22,531 --> 00:25:23,665
AS FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT DID,

410
00:25:23,665 --> 00:25:26,401
GET A LITTLE BIT OF
IN THE OVAL OFFICE.

411
00:25:26,401 --> 00:25:30,939
Narrator:
WITHIN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S
INNER CIRCLE OF ADVISERS,

412
00:25:30,939 --> 00:25:35,710
WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE CRISIS.

413
00:25:35,710 --> 00:25:38,213
HENRY WALLACE, THE SECRETARY
OF AGRICULTURE,

414
00:25:38,213 --> 00:25:42,317
THOUGHT NEW POLICIES COULD
KEEP FARMERS ON THEIR LAND,

415
00:25:42,317 --> 00:25:45,053
BUT INTERIOR SECRETARY
HAROLD ICKES QUESTIONED

416
00:25:45,053 --> 00:25:50,392
WHETHER ANY ATTEMPT SHOULD BE

417
00:25:50,392 --> 00:25:51,493
Egan: IT WAS
CHARACTER STRUGGLE

418
00:25:51,493 --> 00:25:53,095
WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION

419
00:25:53,095 --> 00:25:55,697
CHARACTER STRUGGLE OUT
ON THE PRAIRIE ITSELF.

420
00:25:55,697 --> 00:25:59,234
ICKES SAYS IN HIS DIARY,
"LET'S JUST GET OUT.

421
00:25:59,234 --> 00:26:01,036
"LET'S PULL OUT.

422
00:26:01,036 --> 00:26:03,939
"MR. PRESIDENT, IT'S NOT
THE EFFORT.

423
00:26:03,939 --> 00:26:06,808
THE PEOPLE OR THE LAND?"

424
00:26:06,808 --> 00:26:10,779
I MEAN, LET IT RE-WILD.
LET'S NOT FOOL THESE PEOPLE

425
00:26:10,779 --> 00:26:13,348
INTO THINKING
THEY STAY THERE.

426
00:26:13,348 --> 00:26:17,953
PERHAPS SETTLEMENT
WAS A MISTAKE.

427
00:26:17,953 --> 00:26:20,322
Narrator: ANOTHER
NEW PROGRAM,

428
00:26:20,322 --> 00:26:22,157
THE RESETTLEMENT
ADMINISTRATION,

429
00:26:22,157 --> 00:26:26,228
WAS ALREADY PROVIDING FARMERS
ON THE MOST MARGINAL LANDS

430
00:26:26,228 --> 00:26:30,332
WITH LOANS TO ENCOURAGE THEM
TO MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE,

431
00:26:30,332 --> 00:26:34,269
TAKING THEIR LAND
OUT OF PRODUCTION.

432
00:26:34,269 --> 00:26:38,039
Egan: IT WAS
HOMESTEADING IN REVERSE,

433
00:26:38,039 --> 00:26:40,775
IT WAS VERY CONTROVERSIAL
BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL,

434
00:26:40,775 --> 00:26:43,678
IT WAS AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
THAT WE'D FAILED.

435
00:26:43,678 --> 00:26:47,516
PERHAPS THEY WERE RIGHT
WHEN STEPHEN LONG SAID IN 1820

436
00:26:47,516 --> 00:26:51,653
THAT THIS IS A LAND "WHOLLY
UNINHABITABLE BY A PEOPLE

437
00:26:51,653 --> 00:26:54,022
WHO ARE DEPENDENT
ON AGRICULTURE."

438
00:26:54,022 --> 00:26:59,294
Narrator: BUT THE PRESIDENT
REFUSED TO GO THAT FAR.

439
00:26:59,294 --> 00:27:02,264
Egan: REMEMBER, ROOSEVELT,
BY HIS NATURE,

440
00:27:02,264 --> 00:27:04,299
IN HIS CHARACTER,

441
00:27:04,299 --> 00:27:06,668
HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE KNOWN
AS THE ONLY PRESIDENT

442
00:27:06,668 --> 00:27:09,437
WHO GAVE UP A BIG SECTION
OF ON HIS WATCH.

443
00:27:09,437 --> 00:27:13,108
HE THOUGHT HE COULD SAVE
BOTH THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE.

444
00:27:13,108 --> 00:27:16,111
AND THEY FELT A SIMILAR
ATTACHMENT TO HIM.

445
00:27:16,111 --> 00:27:20,882
Narrator: ROOSEVELT TURNED
TO HUGH HAMMOND BENNETT,

446
00:27:20,882 --> 00:27:23,218
NORTH CAROLINIAN,

447
00:27:23,218 --> 00:27:27,222
TO CREATE A NEW SOIL

448
00:27:29,057 --> 00:27:31,693
TO STUDY
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

449
00:27:31,693 --> 00:27:35,664
AND TEACH THEM TO
THE NATION'S FARMERS.

450
00:27:35,664 --> 00:27:37,532
WE AMERICANS HAVE BEEN

451
00:27:37,532 --> 00:27:39,534
THE GREATEST
DESTROYERS OF

452
00:27:39,534 --> 00:27:43,638
BARBARIC OR CIVILIZED.

453
00:27:43,638 --> 00:27:45,807
UNLESS IMMEDIATE

454
00:27:45,807 --> 00:27:49,511
TO REST! THESE SUN-SCORCHED,
WIND-ERODED LANDS,

455
00:27:49,511 --> 00:27:53,882
WE SHALL HAVE ON OUR
NEW, MANMADE SAHARA

456
00:27:53,882 --> 00:27:57,452
RICH GRAZING LAND.

457
00:27:57,452 --> 00:28:00,956
Egan: HUGH BENNETT WAS
THIS TALL, BIG-ARMED,

458
00:28:00,956 --> 00:28:06,294
FLAP-EARED, FUNNY, JOVIAL
DOCTOR OF DIRT.

459
00:28:06,294 --> 00:28:07,729
NOBODY KNEW MORE ABOUT SOIL

460
00:28:07,729 --> 00:28:09,731
IN THE UNITED STATES
THAN HUGH BENNETT.

461
00:28:09,731 --> 00:28:14,069
SO WHEN ROOSEVELT GAVE HIM THE
JOB OF TRYING TO SAVE THE LAND,

462
00:28:14,069 --> 00:28:17,505
HE WAS ARGUABLY
THE PERFECT FORT.

463
00:28:17,505 --> 00:28:21,710
Narrator: FOR THE AGENCY'S
LARGEST HARDEST-HIT REGION--

464
00:28:21,710 --> 00:28:25,347
THE NEARLY 100 MILLION ACRES
OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS--

465
00:28:25,347 --> 00:28:29,451
BENNETT KNEW JUST
THE MAN FOR THE JOB.

466
00:28:29,451 --> 00:28:31,653
HOWARD FINNELL WAS
SOIL SCIENTIST

467
00:28:31,653 --> 00:28:35,357
WHO HAD BEEN RUNNING THE
AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

468
00:28:35,357 --> 00:28:36,524
IN GOODWELL,

469
00:28:36,524 --> 00:28:41,329
ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF
CAROLINE HENDERSON'S HOMESTEAD.

470
00:28:41,329 --> 00:28:43,798
FINNELL HAD PIONEERED
NEW TECHNIQUES

471
00:28:43,798 --> 00:28:45,934
TO DOUBLE THE
OF A GOOD CROP

472
00:28:45,934 --> 00:28:49,070
MOISTURE AS POSSIBLE--

473
00:28:49,070 --> 00:28:53,541
USING TERRACES AND PLOWING
ALONG THE LAND'S CONTOUR

474
00:28:53,541 --> 00:28:55,510
TO MINIMIZE RUNOFF,

475
00:28:55,510 --> 00:28:57,779
PLANTING DIFFERENT
TYPES OF CROPS,

476
00:28:57,779 --> 00:29:01,349
USING THE OLD-FASHIONED
PLOW, CALLED A LISTER,

477
00:29:01,349 --> 00:29:04,052
TO MAKE DEEPER ROWS,
RATHER THAN EMPLOYING

478
00:29:04,052 --> 00:29:10,191
THE POPULAR ONE-WAY PLOW
THAT PULVERIZED THE SOIL.

479
00:29:10,892 --> 00:29:13,962
HUGH BENNETT SENT FINNELL
TO DALHART, TEXAS,

480
00:29:13,962 --> 00:29:16,631
WHERE HE SET UP
"OPERATION DUST BOWL"

481
00:29:18,466 --> 00:29:21,703
THAT HIS NEW TECHNIQUES

482
00:29:21,703 --> 00:29:25,206
NOT WANT A CHANGED
CLIMATE," FINNELL SAID.

483
00:29:25,206 --> 00:29:27,942
"MUCH OF THE COULD
STILL PRODUCE CROPS,

484
00:29:27,942 --> 00:29:32,914
IF THE FARMERS WOULD ONLY
CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES."

485
00:29:33,515 --> 00:29:37,052
THE PRESIDENT HIS
ADMINISTRATION MAY HAVE DECIDED

486
00:29:37,052 --> 00:29:39,254
NOT TO ABANDON THE DUST BOWL,

487
00:29:39,254 --> 00:29:41,890
BUT ANY SOLUTIONS
WOULD TAKE TIME,

488
00:29:41,890 --> 00:29:47,362
FOR THE PEOPLE LIVING THERE,
TIME WAS RUNNING OUT.

489
00:29:50,999 --> 00:29:53,001
YOU GO BROKE
GRADUALLY.

490
00:29:53,001 --> 00:29:56,237
IT DOESN'T HAPPEN LIKE
JUMPING OFF OF A CLIFF.

491
00:29:56,237 --> 00:30:01,443
YOU EXHAUST YOUR SAVINGS,
YOU EXHAUST YOUR BORROWINGS,

492
00:30:01,443 --> 00:30:04,045
YOU EXHAUST
YOUR EQUIPMENT,

493
00:30:04,045 --> 00:30:08,483
YOU EXHAUST YOURSELF,
YOU GIVE UP.

494
00:30:11,786 --> 00:30:15,590
THEN YOU'RE STARTING
TO LOOK AT THE WOLVES.

495
00:30:15,590 --> 00:30:19,527
Narrator; CLARENCE BECK'S
FATHER HAD MOVED HIS FAMILY

496
00:30:19,527 --> 00:30:25,166
JUST AS THE 1920s WERE ENDING.

497
00:30:25,166 --> 00:30:28,236
HIS TIMING COULDN'T
HAVE BEEN WORSE.

498
00:30:28,236 --> 00:30:32,374
REPEATED CROP FAILURES,

499
00:30:32,374 --> 00:30:35,310
THE DEPRESSION MEANT
THERE WERE NO JOBS,

500
00:30:35,310 --> 00:30:38,613
THOUGH HE FOUND TEMPORARY
WITH THE

501
00:30:38,613 --> 00:30:42,417
TO KEEP HIS WIFE AND
CHILDREN FROM STARVATION.

502
00:30:42,417 --> 00:30:43,852
LIKE MANY OTHER FAMILIES,

503
00:30:43,852 --> 00:30:48,957
THEY STARTED TALKING ABOUT
MOVING SOMEWHERE ELSE.

504
00:30:48,957 --> 00:30:51,292
PEOPLE DIDN'T LEAVE EARLY

505
00:30:51,292 --> 00:30:53,728
BECAUSE THERE WAS
NO PLACE TO GO.

506
00:30:53,728 --> 00:30:58,032
YOU HAVE NO MONEY, AND YOU

507
00:31:01,236 --> 00:31:06,574
AT LEAST WHERE YOU ARE,
YOU HAVE THE FEEL-AT-HOME-NESS.

508
00:31:06,574 --> 00:31:10,211
Narrator: MEANWHILE,
THE TIMES PLACED A STRAIN

509
00:31:10,211 --> 00:31:12,580
ON THE BECKS' MARRIAGE.

510
00:31:12,580 --> 00:31:17,986
MY MOTHER WOULD HAVE
BEEN A PLAYGIRL, REALLY,

511
00:31:17,986 --> 00:31:20,955
AND MY FATHER'S A DRUDGE.

512
00:31:20,955 --> 00:31:27,262
HE WOULD BE PERFECTLY HAPPY
TO WORK FROM DAWN TILL DUSK.

513
00:31:28,196 --> 00:31:29,597
Narrator: ONE MORNING,

514
00:31:29,597 --> 00:31:33,435
BEFORE CLARENCE'S YOUNGER SISTER
IRENE HEADED FOR SCHOOL,

515
00:31:33,435 --> 00:31:36,871
HER MOTHER TOOK HER ASIDE

516
00:31:36,871 --> 00:31:39,841
Irene Hauer: SHE JUST
SAID, "I WON'T BE HOME

517
00:31:39,841 --> 00:31:43,678
WHEN YOU COME HOME TONIGHT"--
FROM SCHOOL,

518
00:31:43,678 --> 00:31:46,748
"I WON'T BE HOME.
I'M LEAVING."

519
00:31:46,748 --> 00:31:50,118
AND MY MOTHER JUST LEFT.

520
00:31:50,118 --> 00:31:51,920
SO, THAT WAS IT.
DIDN'T CARE.

521
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:57,826
SHE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT ME
THAT MUCH OR ANYTHING.

522
00:31:57,826 --> 00:32:01,696
Narrator: NOT LONG AFTERWARDS,
THEIR FATHER'S TRACTOR--

523
00:32:01,696 --> 00:32:05,967
THE ONLY POSSIBLE MEANS FOR
HIM TO STAY ON THE LAND--

524
00:32:08,503 --> 00:32:11,573
HE HAD TO MOVE.

525
00:32:11,573 --> 00:32:15,510
CLARENCE WOULD STAY WITH UNCLES
BACK IN CENTRAL KANSAS.

526
00:32:15,510 --> 00:32:20,748
IRENE WASN'T SURE WHAT HER
FATHER HAD IN MIND FOR HER.

527
00:32:20,748 --> 00:32:22,650
AT FIRST I ASKED HIM,
"ARE YOU LEAVING, TOO?"

528
00:32:26,254 --> 00:32:30,458
GOING TO CALIFORNIA."

529
00:32:31,826 --> 00:32:33,995
Narrator: NOT FAR

530
00:32:33,995 --> 00:32:36,464
HARRY FORESTER ALSO
LOST HIS FARM

531
00:32:39,934 --> 00:32:42,570
HE HAD ONCE DREAMED

532
00:32:47,408 --> 00:32:52,080
NOW HE COULD BARELY FEED
HIS 9 CHILDREN.

533
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,383
Louise Forester Briggs:
ONE TIME, HE CAME IN

534
00:32:55,383 --> 00:32:57,318
FROM THE WIND BLOWING
DUST,

535
00:32:57,318 --> 00:32:59,988
THE FLOOR AND SAYING,

536
00:32:59,988 --> 00:33:03,258
"I DON'T KNOW WHATEVER
WILL BECOME OF US."

537
00:33:03,258 --> 00:33:05,627
THAT JUST
FRIGHTENED ME. THAT JUST--

538
00:33:05,627 --> 00:33:08,296
MY HEART JUST
CLUTCHED FROM THAT.

539
00:33:08,296 --> 00:33:10,765
Narrator: WITH HIS FIELDS
RUINED BY DUST

540
00:33:10,765 --> 00:33:12,767
WHAT WAS LEFT
OF HIS LIVESTOCK

541
00:33:14,502 --> 00:33:18,473
FORESTER HAD NO CHOICE
BUT TO GIVE UP FARMING.

542
00:33:18,473 --> 00:33:22,777
HIS PLAN WAS TO MOVE HIS LARGE
FAMILY TO GOODWELL, OKLAHOMA,

543
00:33:22,777 --> 00:33:25,513
WITH HIS WIFE'S MOTHER.

544
00:33:25,513 --> 00:33:28,883
HE HAD READ ABOUT A PLACE
WHERE JOBS WERE PLENTIFUL,

545
00:33:28,883 --> 00:33:30,552
WHERE HE COULD

546
00:33:30,552 --> 00:33:33,788
SEND FOR HIS FAMILY.

547
00:33:33,788 --> 00:33:37,559
HE, TOO, WOULD HEAD
TO CALIFORNIA.

548
00:33:37,559 --> 00:33:41,996
IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO,
CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER, JOHN,

549
00:33:45,300 --> 00:33:47,001
Crabill: WE LOST
ALL OUR STOCK.

550
00:33:47,001 --> 00:33:49,437
WE LOST EVERYTHING
IN 6 MONTHS.

551
00:33:49,437 --> 00:33:51,306
WHEN WE
NOTHING LEFT, WE LEFT.

552
00:33:51,306 --> 00:33:55,243
WE NOTHING LEFT.
THERE WAS NO REASON TO STAY.

553
00:33:55,243 --> 00:33:55,977
Narrator: BUT FIRST,

554
00:33:55,977 --> 00:33:59,480
JOHN CRABILL WOULD HAVE
TO SELL HIS HORSES.

555
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,116
Crabill: MY MOTHER AND
OTHERS WHO KNEW HIM SAID

556
00:34:03,685 --> 00:34:07,855
HE WAS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN
THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

557
00:34:07,855 --> 00:34:09,891
HE NEVER WAS THE SAME AGAIN.

558
00:34:09,891 --> 00:34:12,860
HE WOULD BE STARING
OFF INTO SPACE,

559
00:34:12,860 --> 00:34:16,698
THINKING ABOUT HIS STOCK.

560
00:34:16,698 --> 00:34:19,667
Narrator:
IN COUNTY,

561
00:34:19,667 --> 00:34:21,569
DOROTHY KLEFFMAN'S
FATHER THOUGHT

562
00:34:21,569 --> 00:34:23,504
HE COULD HANG ON
TO HIS FARM,

563
00:34:23,504 --> 00:34:27,508
BUT HIS WIFE HAD COME DOWN
WITH THE DUST PNEUMONIA.

564
00:34:27,508 --> 00:34:30,044
Kleffman: I THINK
SHE WOULD HAVE DIED.

565
00:34:30,044 --> 00:34:33,448
HE COULD SEE THAT
SHE WAS FAILING,

566
00:34:33,448 --> 00:34:37,352
HE KNEW HE TO
SOMETHING, YOU KNOW,

567
00:34:37,352 --> 00:34:40,455
BECAUSE THERE WERE
PEOPLE HERE WHO DID DIE.

568
00:34:40,455 --> 00:34:45,560
I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO GO.
THIS WAS MY HOME,

569
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,730
AND EVEN THOUGH WE
HAD THE DUST STORMS

570
00:34:48,730 --> 00:34:52,900
WE WERE IN A DEPRESSION,
GREAT DEPRESSION,

571
00:34:52,900 --> 00:34:55,837
I WOULD LOVED TO HAVE
JUST STAYED RIGHT HERE.

572
00:34:55,837 --> 00:35:01,009
BUT BECAUSE WE TO SAVE
HER LIFE, WE TO MOVE.

573
00:35:01,009 --> 00:35:04,078
Narrator: HER FATHER
AND AN OLDER BROTHER

574
00:35:04,078 --> 00:35:05,880
WOULD TRY TO STAY ON THE FARM,

575
00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:07,982
BUT HE MOVED HIS WIFE
AND YOUNGER CHILDREN,

576
00:35:07,982 --> 00:35:11,452
INCLUDING DOROTHY, NOT TO
CALIFORNIA, BUT EAST,

577
00:35:11,452 --> 00:35:18,026
BROWN WORLD OF THE DUST BOWL.

578
00:35:18,026 --> 00:35:20,261
Kleffman: WHEN
WE GOT DOWN THERE,

579
00:35:20,261 --> 00:35:22,664
WE HAD A GREEN GRASS LAWN.

580
00:35:23,798 --> 00:35:26,434
THEIR LEGS UP SO HIGH--

581
00:35:26,434 --> 00:35:29,170
THEY WERE NOT
USED TO THAT GRASS.

582
00:35:29,170 --> 00:35:31,739
MOTHER RAISED A HUGE
GARDEN DOWN THERE.

583
00:35:31,739 --> 00:35:35,276
THERE WAS ENOUGH RAIN THAT
WE DIDN'T HAVE TO WATER IT

584
00:35:35,276 --> 00:35:37,078
LIKE WE DID OUT HERE.

585
00:35:37,078 --> 00:35:42,850
AND SHE WOULD CAN ABOUT

586
00:35:45,219 --> 00:35:47,855
THIS WAS OUR HOME OUT HERE.

587
00:35:53,861 --> 00:35:56,964
Henderson portrayer: SOME OF OUR
NEIGHBORS WITH SMALL CHILDREN,

588
00:35:56,964 --> 00:35:59,500
FEARING THE EFFECTS
UPON THEIR HEALTH,

589
00:35:59,500 --> 00:36:03,838
HAVE LEFT TEMPORARILY
"UNTIL IT RAINS."

590
00:36:03,838 --> 00:36:05,707
OTHERS HAVE
LEFT PERMANENTLY,

591
00:36:05,707 --> 00:36:09,544
THINKING DOUBTLESS THAT
NOTHING COULD BE WORSE.

592
00:36:09,544 --> 00:36:13,381
THUS FAR, WE AND MOST OF
OUR FRIENDS SEEM HELD--

593
00:36:13,381 --> 00:36:19,754
FOR FOR WORSE--
BY MEMORY HOPE.

594
00:36:23,424 --> 00:36:25,593
Narrator: COUNTY,

595
00:36:25,593 --> 00:36:30,298
WHERE CAROLINE HENDERSON HAD
BEEN HOMESTEADING SINCE 1907,

596
00:36:30,298 --> 00:36:34,635
LOST OF ITS
POPULATION IN THE 1930s.

597
00:36:34,635 --> 00:36:37,805
NEARBY CIMARRON COUNTY LOST 32%,

598
00:36:37,805 --> 00:36:41,075
COUNTY, JUST ACROSS
THE LINE IN COLORADO,

599
00:36:41,075 --> 00:36:46,147
MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE.

600
00:36:46,147 --> 00:36:48,483
HARDEST HIT WAS
MORTON COUNTY, KANSAS,

601
00:36:48,483 --> 00:36:52,420
WHERE EDGAR AND RENA COEN
WERE RAISING THEIR LARGE FAMILY,

602
00:36:52,420 --> 00:36:54,655
NOW DIMINISHED BY
WITH THE DEATH

603
00:36:54,655 --> 00:36:59,093
OF A DAUGHTER AND GRANDSON
FROM DUST PNEUMONIA.

604
00:36:59,093 --> 00:37:01,696
THE COENS WERE DETERMINED
TO STICK IT OUT,

605
00:37:01,696 --> 00:37:05,633
BUT THEIR COUNTY WOULD LOSE
NEARLY HALF OF ITS POPULATION

606
00:37:05,633 --> 00:37:10,004
AND WOULD CLOSE 11 OF
ITS 17 RURAL SCHOOLS

607
00:37:10,004 --> 00:37:15,276
BECAUSE THE DUST ST
REFUSED TO RELENT.

608
00:37:15,276 --> 00:37:17,011
YOU NEVER GOT USED TO THEM.

609
00:37:17,011 --> 00:37:19,614
YOU JUST HATED
EVERY ONE OF THEM

610
00:37:24,418 --> 00:37:28,256
AND YOU KNEW YOU WAS PROBABLY
GONNA LOSE SOME MORE NEIGHBORS.

611
00:37:28,256 --> 00:37:32,627
WE WAS IN SCHOOL THEN,
YOU'D GO TO SCHOOL ONE DAY,

612
00:37:32,627 --> 00:37:34,495
THERE AT SCHOOL,

613
00:37:34,495 --> 00:37:37,532
NEXT DAY,
THEY'D MOVED AWAY.

614
00:37:37,532 --> 00:37:39,901
KIND OF A SAD TIME THAT WAY.

615
00:37:39,901 --> 00:37:41,435
Glover: MY AUNT
AND UNCLE DECIDED

616
00:37:41,435 --> 00:37:47,074
THEY HAD TO GO TO CALIFORNIA

617
00:37:47,074 --> 00:37:49,777
WE ALL WENT OVER
TO SEE THEM OFF,

618
00:37:49,777 --> 00:37:54,549
AND THEY TOOK EVERYTHING
THAT THEY COULD IN THEIR CAR.

619
00:37:54,549 --> 00:37:57,618
THE THING DADDY
TO MY UNCLE JACK WAS,

620
00:37:57,618 --> 00:38:01,823
"DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH MONEY
FOR TO GET THERE?"

621
00:38:01,823 --> 00:38:05,827
AND JACK TOLD Him
HOWEVER MUCH HE HAD.

622
00:38:05,827 --> 00:38:11,265
DADDY SAID, "WELL,
I'VE JUST GOT $17 ON ME,

623
00:38:11,265 --> 00:38:13,301
"BUT I WANT YOU TO TAKE THIS

624
00:38:13,301 --> 00:38:16,771
YOU'LL HAVE
ENOUGH MONEY FOR GAS."

625
00:38:16,771 --> 00:38:22,143
Hodges: EVERY DAY, ALL DAY LONG,

626
00:38:22,143 --> 00:38:24,579
THEY OFTEN STOPPED
AND ASKED FOR FOOD.

627
00:38:24,579 --> 00:38:27,415
WE DIDN'T HAVE VERY MUCH,
BUT MY MOTHER THOUGHT

628
00:38:27,415 --> 00:38:29,650
THAN OTHER PEOPLE,

629
00:38:29,650 --> 00:38:33,120
WE WERE
BECAUSE OF THE

630
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:35,556
THEM SOMETHING.

631
00:38:35,556 --> 00:38:39,060
I STILL REMEMBER IT WAS OFTEN
BREAD AND BUTTER SANDWICHES,

632
00:38:39,060 --> 00:38:40,394
BUT IT WAS SOMETHING.

633
00:38:40,394 --> 00:38:43,397
SHE NEVER, EVER
TURNED ANYBODY DOWN.

634
00:38:43,397 --> 00:38:46,200
WHEN I WAS
IN THE EIGHTH GRADE,

635
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:51,873
WE HAD A PRACTICAL

636
00:38:51,873 --> 00:38:54,842
LIVE IN THE DISTRICT?

637
00:38:54,842 --> 00:38:57,612
AND IT WAS 100 PEOPLE.

638
00:38:57,612 --> 00:39:02,350
HOW MANY PEOPLE

639
00:39:02,350 --> 00:39:08,155
AND THEN MY BROTHER GET TO
THE SAME PLACE 10 YEARS LATER.

640
00:39:12,326 --> 00:39:17,131
HOW MANY KIDS IN THE

641
00:39:17,131 --> 00:39:20,468
THE REST OF THEM HAD LEFT.

642
00:39:21,168 --> 00:39:22,937
Narrator: BUT IN THE END,

643
00:39:22,937 --> 00:39:25,873
FOR EVERY FAMILY THAT
LEFT THE DUST BOWL,

644
00:39:25,873 --> 00:39:31,512
3 FAMILIES--75% OF THE
POPULATION--WOULD HANG ON.

645
00:39:31,512 --> 00:39:33,681
Worster: WHY DIDN'T
EVERYBODY LEAVE?

646
00:39:33,681 --> 00:39:37,652
FOR A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE, WELL,

647
00:39:37,652 --> 00:39:42,089
IN THEIR MINDS, THEY HAD
INVESTED THEIR LIVES THERE.

648
00:39:42,089 --> 00:39:45,359
THEY HAD FAMILY
BURIED IN CEMETERIES.

649
00:39:46,827 --> 00:39:50,765
THE PLAINS LAY A HOLD
ON YOUR AFFECTIONS

650
00:39:50,765 --> 00:39:55,102
IF YOU'RE THERE FOR
GENERATION OR TWO,

651
00:39:55,102 --> 00:39:57,672
THEY'RE A GLORIOUS PLACE
TO LIVE AT TIMES.

652
00:39:57,672 --> 00:40:01,609
AND THE SENSE OF FREEDOM THERE

653
00:40:01,609 --> 00:40:04,779
WERE POWERFUL DRAWS
FOR THESE PEOPLE.

654
00:40:04,779 --> 00:40:08,649
Henderson I CANNOT
ACT OR FEEL OR THINK

655
00:40:08,649 --> 00:40:13,120
AS IF THE EXPERIENCES OF OUR

656
00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,892
NEVER BEEN, THEY
ALL BOUND UP

657
00:40:17,892 --> 00:40:20,661
WITH THE LITTLE CORNER

658
00:40:20,661 --> 00:40:24,699
OUR CONTINUED
UNITED EFFORTS.

659
00:40:24,699 --> 00:40:28,436
I LOOK BACKWARD
SEE OUR COVERED WAGON

660
00:40:28,436 --> 00:40:30,504
DRAWN UP BY THE
OF THE CABIN

661
00:40:30,504 --> 00:40:35,009
IN THE EARLY LIGHT OF
THAT MAY MORNING LONG AGO,

662
00:40:35,009 --> 00:40:40,915
CAN FEEL AGAIN THE SWEET FRESH
BREATH OF THE UNTRODDEN PRAIRIE

663
00:40:40,915 --> 00:40:47,655
AND RECALL FOR A MOMENT THE
PROUD CONFIDENCE OF OUR YOUTH.

664
00:40:47,655 --> 00:40:53,194
BUT WHEN I TRY TO SEE THE WAGON
THE OLD MODEL-T TRUCK

665
00:40:53,194 --> 00:40:55,830
HEADED IN THE
OPPOSITE DIRECTION,

666
00:40:55,830 --> 00:41:00,067
AWAY FROM OUR HOME
ALL OUR CHERISHED HOPES,

667
00:41:03,170 --> 00:41:04,939
PERHAPS IT IS ONLY BECAUSE

668
00:41:04,939 --> 00:41:09,510
THE DUST IS TOO DENSE
BLINDING.

669
00:41:12,146 --> 00:41:13,714
Worster: MY PARENTS LEFT.

670
00:41:13,714 --> 00:41:18,786
THEY COULDN'T FIND A LIVING
ANYMORE IN RURAL COUNTRYSIDE.

671
00:41:18,786 --> 00:41:21,188
THEIR FARMS WERE DEVASTATED.

672
00:41:21,188 --> 00:41:23,657
NO FUTURE IN THIS.

673
00:41:23,657 --> 00:41:28,829
THEY DECIDED IN THE LATE 1930s
TO FOLLOW THE TREK TO CALIFORNIA

674
00:41:28,829 --> 00:41:33,267
TO SEE WHAT THEY COULD FIND
THERE TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES.

675
00:42:01,362 --> 00:42:06,000
THE BIGGEST PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE
WHO MOVED INTO ANOTHER STATE

676
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:07,368
WERE GOING TO CALIFORNIA.

677
00:42:07,368 --> 00:42:10,938
THERE WERE HUNDREDS HUNDREDS
OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

678
00:42:10,938 --> 00:42:12,940
POURING INTO CALIFORNIA.

679
00:42:12,940 --> 00:42:13,874
THEY WEREN'T ALL

680
00:42:13,874 --> 00:42:16,043
AND THEY WEREN'T ALL
FROM THE GREAT PLAINS.

681
00:42:16,043 --> 00:42:17,678
A RIVER OF PEOPLE

682
00:42:17,678 --> 00:42:20,448
FLOWING INTO CALIFORNIA
IN THE 1930s.

683
00:42:22,349 --> 00:42:26,387
PULLING OUT FROM LITTLE

684
00:42:26,387 --> 00:42:31,725
JOINING THIS BRIGADE
GOING OUT ROUTE 686,

685
00:42:31,725 --> 00:42:35,529
STOPPING AT MOTELS,
SLEEPING UNDER BILLBOARDS.

686
00:42:35,529 --> 00:42:38,165
THAT'S THE WAY MY PARENTS
ESSENTIALLY WENT

687
00:42:38,165 --> 00:42:41,168
FROM NEW MEXICO

688
00:42:41,168 --> 00:42:43,237
THEY STOPPED IN NEEDLES,
CALIFORNIA,

689
00:42:43,237 --> 00:42:44,605
AND DIDN'T GET ANY FARTHER.

690
00:42:44,605 --> 00:42:47,341
THAT WAS THE END OF
THE ROAD FOR THEM.

691
00:42:47,341 --> 00:42:51,078
Narrator: THOSE WHO DID LEAVE
THE DUST BOWL FOR CALIFORNIA

692
00:42:51,078 --> 00:42:54,148
WERE JOINING AN EVEN

693
00:42:54,148 --> 00:42:58,586
DISPLACED BY THE DEPRESSION
AND THE AGRICULTURAL CRISIS

694
00:42:58,586 --> 00:43:03,157
THAT EXTENDED FAR BEYOND
THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

695
00:43:03,157 --> 00:43:06,727
Egan: NOW THE FOLKS
WHO LEFT, THE

696
00:43:06,727 --> 00:43:10,131
THEY WERE CALLED--

697
00:43:10,131 --> 00:43:12,566
WERE LARGELY FROM

698
00:43:12,566 --> 00:43:14,702
THE EASTERN FRINGE
OF THE DUST BOWL.

699
00:43:14,702 --> 00:43:17,438
THEY WERE FROM ARGUABLY NOT
EVEN THE DUST BOWL ITSELF.

700
00:43:19,073 --> 00:43:22,610
THEY WERE FROM MISSOURI.
THEY WERE TENANT FARMERS.

701
00:43:23,911 --> 00:43:26,580
WHEN THE PRICES COLLAPSED
YOU COULDN'T LIVING,

702
00:43:26,580 --> 00:43:28,649
IF YOU WERE A TENANT FARMER,
YOU NOTHING,

703
00:43:28,649 --> 00:43:31,285
BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T
EVEN OWN THE DIRT.

704
00:43:31,285 --> 00:43:32,887
THEY LEFT.

705
00:43:32,887 --> 00:43:36,724
Guthrie: THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T
HAVE BUT ONE THING TO DO,

706
00:43:36,724 --> 00:43:39,727
THAT WAS TO JUST GET OUT
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

707
00:43:39,727 --> 00:43:42,897
THESE PEOPLE JUST GOT UP,
THEY BUNDLED UP

708
00:43:42,897 --> 00:43:45,666
THEIR LITTLE BELONGINGS,
THEY THROWED IN

709
00:43:45,666 --> 00:43:48,636
ONE LITTLE THINGS
THEY THOUGHT THEY'D NEED,

710
00:43:48,636 --> 00:43:53,574
HEARD ABOUT THE
OF CALIFORNIA,

711
00:43:53,574 --> 00:43:56,477
HANDBILLS THEY PASSED OUT

712
00:43:56,477 --> 00:43:58,646
DOWN IN THAT COUNTRY,
YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE

713
00:43:58,646 --> 00:44:01,415
A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO
SUCCEED IN CALIFORNIA.

714
00:44:01,415 --> 00:44:05,519
I'M BLOWING DOWN
THIS OLD DUSTY

715
00:44:05,519 --> 00:44:09,223
I'M BLOWING
DOWN THIS OLD DUSTY

716
00:44:09,223 --> 00:44:12,927
§ I'M BLOWING DOWN THIS OLD
DUSTY ROAD, LORD, LORD §

717
00:44:12,927 --> 00:44:17,831
I AIN'T GONNA BE
TREATED THIS WAY

718
00:44:17,831 --> 00:44:19,366
Narrator: BACK IN COLORADO,

719
00:44:19,366 --> 00:44:22,770
WITH THE MONEY FROM SELLING

720
00:44:22,770 --> 00:44:25,339
CALVIN CRABILL'S FATHER
LOADED WHAT HE COULD

721
00:44:25,339 --> 00:44:28,609
INTO THEIR SEDAN AND A
LITTLE TWO-WHEELED TRAILER

722
00:44:28,609 --> 00:44:33,414
JOINED THE STREAM OF
CARS RATTLING DOWN HIGHWAY 66,

723
00:44:33,414 --> 00:44:37,851
WITH HIS 11-YEAR-OLD SON
ASTHMATIC WIFE.

724
00:44:37,851 --> 00:44:42,122
WHEN YOU CAME DOWN THAT
GRADE IN SAN BERNARDINO,

725
00:44:42,122 --> 00:44:44,158
MY MOTHER, SHE WAS SO HAPPY,

726
00:44:44,158 --> 00:44:46,927
YOU SAW THE
GREEN VALLEY THERE--

727
00:44:46,927 --> 00:44:50,164
THAT WAS A BEAUTIFUL,
BEAUTIFUL SIGHT.

728
00:44:53,701 --> 00:44:57,071
MY MOTHER THAT DAY PICKED
AN ORANGE, A RIPE ORANGE,

729
00:44:57,071 --> 00:45:01,141
AND ATE IT, AND THAT
WAS SOMETHING FOR HER.

730
00:45:02,142 --> 00:45:06,714
Worster: THE MIGRATION OUT OF
THE GREAT PLAINS IN THE 1930s

731
00:45:06,714 --> 00:45:11,819
MIGRATIONS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

732
00:45:11,819 --> 00:45:16,190
IT DWARFS THE MOVEMENT
ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL

733
00:45:16,190 --> 00:45:20,394
IN THE 19th CENTURY,
THE COVERED WAGON ERA,

734
00:45:20,394 --> 00:45:24,365
AND ROMANTICIZED.

735
00:45:24,365 --> 00:45:28,902
BUT WE'VE FORGOTTEN THIS
MIGRATION OF THE 1930s.

736
00:45:28,902 --> 00:45:30,437
NOBODY CELEBRATES IT.

737
00:45:30,437 --> 00:45:35,376
THERE ARE NO CALIFORNIA

738
00:45:35,376 --> 00:45:38,178
WE'RE ASHAMED
OF IT, BASICALLY,

739
00:45:38,178 --> 00:45:42,383
BECAUSE IT WAS
MIGRATION OF THE DEFEATED.

740
00:45:45,552 --> 00:45:47,087
Narrator: OUT IN OAKLAND,
CALIFORNIA,

741
00:45:47,087 --> 00:45:51,425
HARRY FORESTER, WHO LEFT HIS
FAMILY IN GOODWELL,

742
00:45:51,425 --> 00:45:54,128
A VARIETY OF JOBS,

743
00:45:54,128 --> 00:45:56,630
SOMETIMES MAKING
A DOLLAR A DAY

744
00:45:56,630 --> 00:45:58,732
AND SENDING AS MUCH
OF IT AS POSSIBLE

745
00:45:58,732 --> 00:46:02,136
BACK TO HIS AILING WIFE
CHILDREN.

746
00:46:02,136 --> 00:46:06,473
EVERYTHING HE HELD DEAR

747
00:46:06,473 --> 00:46:09,643
THE SEPARATION FROM HIS FAMILY
MADE HIM MISERABLE,

748
00:46:09,643 --> 00:46:14,448
AND THEN CAME NEWS FROM HOME
THAT ADDED TO HIS WOES--

749
00:46:14,448 --> 00:46:16,684
ONE OF HIS 5 SONS, SLATS,

750
00:46:16,684 --> 00:46:19,486
HAD COME DOWN WITH
DUST PNEUMONIA.

751
00:46:19,486 --> 00:46:23,123
Briggs: MY OLDEST BROTHER
GOT DUST PNEUMONIA,

752
00:46:23,123 --> 00:46:26,493
AND MY DAD DIDN'T KNOW

753
00:46:26,493 --> 00:46:28,429
WHETHER TO COME HOME OR NOT

754
00:46:28,429 --> 00:46:30,798
BECAUSE HE THOUGHT
HE WAS GONNA DIE.

755
00:46:30,798 --> 00:46:37,037
I IMAGINE HE WAS ABSOLUTELY
THE LONELIEST MAN ON THE PLANET.

756
00:46:37,037 --> 00:46:41,275
Narrator: FORESTER DECIDED
HIS FAMILY SHOULD JOIN HIM

757
00:46:41,275 --> 00:46:44,478
IN OAKLAND AS SOON
THEY COULD.

758
00:46:44,478 --> 00:46:49,683
BACK IN GOODWELL, THE FORESTER
CHILDREN MOBILIZED FOR THE MOVE.

759
00:46:49,683 --> 00:46:52,986
THEY ADDED HOOPS TARPS
HAND-BUILT BOX

760
00:46:52,986 --> 00:46:57,691
FOR STORING SERVING FOOD
TO A 1928 CHEVY TRUCK,

761
00:46:57,691 --> 00:47:01,428
CONVERTING IT INTO
MODERN-DAY COVERED WAGON.

762
00:47:01,428 --> 00:47:05,632
BUT MRS. FORESTER'S AGED AND
BLIND MOTHER REFUSED TO LEAVE,

763
00:47:05,632 --> 00:47:10,637
WAS LEFT BEHIND TO CARE FOR HER.

764
00:47:10,637 --> 00:47:14,274
THEY MADE THEIR GOOD-BYES,
BROTHER CLOIS TOOK THE WHEEL

765
00:47:14,274 --> 00:47:17,611
WITH HIS FRAIL MOTHER IN
THE FRONT SEAT NEXT TO HIM.

766
00:47:17,611 --> 00:47:21,682
THEN THE OTHER 7 FORESTER
CHILDREN SCRAMBLED ABOARD,

767
00:47:21,682 --> 00:47:25,152
FOR CALIFORNIA.

768
00:47:28,856 --> 00:47:31,225
Briggs: IT WAS
EXCITING FOR ME

769
00:47:34,228 --> 00:47:37,164
IN A HOPELESS LITTLE HEART.

770
00:47:37,164 --> 00:47:38,832
WE WERE GOING TO CALIFORNIA

771
00:47:38,832 --> 00:47:40,768
HAVE ORANGES
STUFF, YOU KNOW?

772
00:47:40,768 --> 00:47:45,038
AND WE WOULD HAVE FRUIT,
AND WE WOULD LIVE HAPPILY.

773
00:47:45,038 --> 00:47:47,941
AN EXCITING TIME.

774
00:47:47,941 --> 00:47:50,878
I COULDN'T WAIT
TO GET THERE.

775
00:47:56,350 --> 00:47:58,952
Shirley Forester McKenzie:
WE SAT IN DIFFERENT PLACES.

776
00:47:58,952 --> 00:48:00,421
WE'D MOVE AROUND.

777
00:48:00,421 --> 00:48:03,791
THE MATTRESSES WERE ROLLED UP,
AND STUFFED IN THE TRUCK BED,

778
00:48:11,064 --> 00:48:13,300
Briggs: MY FAVORITE
SPOT SEEMED TO BE

779
00:48:13,300 --> 00:48:14,835
OVER THE WHEEL OF THE TRUCK.

780
00:48:14,835 --> 00:48:19,173
WE THE SIDE TARPS ROLLED UP
YOU COULD SEE OUT.

781
00:48:19,173 --> 00:48:21,375
ONE THING I REMEMBER,
I WAS SO GLAD--

782
00:48:21,375 --> 00:48:25,712
WE SAW A WEEPING WILLOW TREE,
I'D NEVER SEEN ONE.

783
00:48:30,184 --> 00:48:33,187
William Forester:
MY BROTHER WAS OBSESSED

784
00:48:33,187 --> 00:48:37,791
WITH THE POTENTIAL THAT
WE MIGHT RUN OUT OF GAS,

785
00:48:37,791 --> 00:48:41,862
SO HE STOPPED AT DAMN

786
00:48:41,862 --> 00:48:44,698
TO TOP OFF THE TANK.

787
00:48:44,698 --> 00:48:46,767
IT WAS ALITTLE
4-BANGER CHEVY,

788
00:48:46,767 --> 00:48:52,706
HE DROVE IT AT ABOUT
MAXIMUM OF 35 MILES AN HOUR,

789
00:48:52,706 --> 00:48:55,909
AND IT TOOK A LONG TIME.

790
00:48:55,909 --> 00:48:57,444
Forester:
HE GOAL IN MIND

791
00:48:57,444 --> 00:49:01,248
THAT WAS TO GET THIS CREW
SAFELY THROUGH.

792
00:49:01,248 --> 00:49:08,055
HE WAS A NERVOUS NELLY
ANYWAY, HE

793
00:49:08,055 --> 00:49:12,125
LOTS OF TRIBULATIONS WHEN
HE HAD TO TAKE THIS JOB--

794
00:49:12,125 --> 00:49:13,527
WELL, BECAUSE IT
WAS A BIG JOB.

795
00:49:13,527 --> 00:49:16,563
HE'S A 21-YEAR-OLD GUY,
HE'S TAKING HIS SICK MOTHER

796
00:49:16,563 --> 00:49:19,867
BUNCH OF ALL
THE WAY TO CALIFORNIA,

797
00:49:21,435 --> 00:49:26,540
ITWASA...
WORRY FOR HIM, I KNOW.

798
00:49:26,540 --> 00:49:28,876
Narrator:
THEY WERE ALL ANXIOUS

799
00:49:28,876 --> 00:49:31,211
ABOUT THEIR MOTHER'S
FRAGILE HEALTH,

800
00:49:31,211 --> 00:49:34,014
WHICH PROMPTED THEM TO
STOP A NUMBER OF TIMES

801
00:49:34,014 --> 00:49:36,316
SHE COULD RECOUP
HER STRENGTH,

802
00:49:36,316 --> 00:49:41,388
OVERTOOK THEM IN NEW MEXICO.

803
00:49:41,388 --> 00:49:43,423
William Forester:
SHE WAS DOWN

804
00:49:43,423 --> 00:49:47,194
BY THE TRAVAILS
OF THE PREVIOUS YEARS,

805
00:49:47,194 --> 00:49:50,330
SHE WAS JUST
IN SHAPE,

806
00:49:50,330 --> 00:49:53,800
SHE WAS VERY FEEBLE
ALL ALONG THE WAY.

807
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:56,336
INSTEAD OF CAMPING
ONE NIGHT IN NEW MEXICO,

808
00:49:56,336 --> 00:50:01,875
WE USED A LITTLE OF OUR
SCARCE MONEY TO RENT A MOTEL

809
00:50:01,875 --> 00:50:06,413
THAT SHE COULD BE
SLEEPING OUT OF THE DUST.

810
00:50:06,413 --> 00:50:10,517
Narrator: BUT IN EASTERN
ARIZONA, DESPITE HER CONDITION,

811
00:50:10,517 --> 00:50:12,753
SHE INSISTED THAT
CLOIS DETOUR

812
00:50:12,753 --> 00:50:16,590
THROUGH THE PAINTED DESERT
PETRIFIED FOREST,

813
00:50:16,590 --> 00:50:20,994
WHICH SHE ALWAYS
YEARNED TO SEE.

814
00:50:20,994 --> 00:50:24,431
William Forester: MY MOTHER'S
HEALTH GOT WORSE AFTER THAT.

815
00:50:24,431 --> 00:50:28,402
TO JUST STOP AND NOT TRAVEL

816
00:50:28,402 --> 00:50:31,872
THAT SHE COULD HAVE
TIME BEING STILL

817
00:50:31,872 --> 00:50:35,175
RESTING IN COOL,
SHADED PLACE.

818
00:50:35,175 --> 00:50:39,179
Narrator: FARTHER ON, THEY HAD
TO DESCEND TO THE COLORADO RIVER

819
00:50:39,179 --> 00:50:45,052
ON A WINDING UNLIKE
ANYTHING ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

820
00:50:45,052 --> 00:50:46,887
Briggs: BUT I
GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT

821
00:50:46,887 --> 00:50:52,726
WHEN WE HIT THE CALIFORNIA
BORDER DOWN AT NEEDLES.

822
00:50:52,726 --> 00:50:54,728
HA HA HA!

823
00:50:54,728 --> 00:50:58,031
YOU'RE IN THE DESERT,
I FELT, OH...

824
00:50:58,031 --> 00:51:01,168
I JUST WENT,
"OH, MY GOD, NO,"

825
00:51:01,168 --> 00:51:02,703
BECAUSE I WAS
JUST BROKEN-HEARTED

826
00:51:02,703 --> 00:51:06,540
BECAUSE I THOUGHT
THERE'D BE ORANGE GROVES
RIGHT THERE, YOU KNOW.

827
00:51:06,540 --> 00:51:09,977
MOJAVE DESERT AT NIGHT,

828
00:51:09,977 --> 00:51:13,780
THEN TURNED NORTH,
UP THE CENTRAL VALLEY,

829
00:51:13,780 --> 00:51:18,986
AND FINALLY MADE IT TO OAKLAND,

830
00:51:18,986 --> 00:51:21,922
WHERE HARRY FORESTER
HAD RENTED A HOUSE

831
00:51:21,922 --> 00:51:26,393
WAS WAITING ANXIOUSLY
FOR THEM TO ARRIVE.

832
00:51:27,661 --> 00:51:32,366
WE GOT INTO OAKLAND,
WE WENT TO MERRITT

833
00:51:32,366 --> 00:51:35,602
AND WENT UP GRAND AVENUE

834
00:51:35,602 --> 00:51:41,441
AND TURNED RIGHT ON MORAGA
AND WENT UP MORAGA AVENUE.

835
00:51:41,441 --> 00:51:44,077
WE'RE IN THE HILLS NOW,
IN THE OAKLAND HILLS,

836
00:51:44,077 --> 00:51:47,948
FOR SOMEONE LIKE US.

837
00:51:47,948 --> 00:51:49,616
WHEN WE STOPPED IN THE CANYON,

838
00:51:49,616 --> 00:51:52,519
TELEPHONED THAT WE WERE
COMING UP THE ROAD,

839
00:51:52,519 --> 00:51:55,255
WE WERE A MILE
HALF FROM THE HOUSE,

840
00:51:55,255 --> 00:51:59,359
WE STARTED DRIVING,
STARTED HUSTLING,

841
00:51:59,359 --> 00:52:03,163
AND HE RACED DOWN TO
THE BOTTOM OF THE CANYON

842
00:52:03,163 --> 00:52:05,198
THAT HE WAS STANDING
BESIDE THE

843
00:52:05,198 --> 00:52:09,403
WE CAME DRIVING BY
10 MINUTES LATER.

844
00:52:09,403 --> 00:52:10,470
Briggs: AND MY DAD MET US

845
00:52:10,470 --> 00:52:14,207
AT THE CORNER OF PINE HAVEN
HEATHER RIDGE WAY,

846
00:52:14,207 --> 00:52:16,643
HE HOUSE RENTED
ON THE CORNER

847
00:52:16,643 --> 00:52:19,146
JUST UP THE CORNER A WAYS.

848
00:52:19,146 --> 00:52:21,882
I REMEMBER SITTING
IN THE BACK OF THE TRUCK

849
00:52:21,882 --> 00:52:24,718
WAITING FOR MY DAD

850
00:52:24,718 --> 00:52:27,254
WHILE HE WAS GREETING
MY BROTHER

851
00:52:27,254 --> 00:52:31,291
AND WHOEVER HAD BEEN
RIDING WITH THEM.

852
00:52:31,291 --> 00:52:32,359
HE WENT AROUND TO THE BACK,

853
00:52:32,359 --> 00:52:36,129
HE TOOK EACH
OF THE IN TURN,

854
00:52:36,129 --> 00:52:39,099
HE GAVE US A HUG,
WE LAUGHED,

855
00:52:39,099 --> 00:52:42,936
IT WAS...

856
00:52:44,738 --> 00:52:46,640
AND THEN HE CAME AROUND BACK

857
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:48,742
STARTED LIFTING US OUT
ONE AT A TIME

858
00:52:51,311 --> 00:52:53,113
I LOOKED AROUND,
I THOUGHT,

859
00:52:53,113 --> 00:52:56,316
"OH, YES, WE HAVE COME
TO CANAAN LAND."

860
00:52:56,316 --> 00:52:58,285
Narrator: THEN HARRY FORESTER,

861
00:52:58,285 --> 00:53:01,455
WHO HAD ONCE DREAMED OF

862
00:53:01,455 --> 00:53:03,423
HE COULD BESTOW

863
00:53:03,423 --> 00:53:07,227
WITH ONE SQUARE MILE OF
ROLLING OKLAHOMA PRAIRIE,

864
00:53:07,227 --> 00:53:12,199
SHOWED THEM ALL THEIR NEW HOME--
RENTED HOUSE OF 3 ROOMS,

865
00:53:12,199 --> 00:53:17,804
ON A HILL SO STEEP THE BUILDINGS
NEEDED STILTS TO BE LEVEL.

866
00:53:17,804 --> 00:53:20,741
Robert Forester: AND THERE
WERE BIG PINE TREES--

867
00:53:20,741 --> 00:53:25,212
OH, 60-, 70-FOOT,
80-FOOT TALL, BIG TREES,

868
00:53:27,781 --> 00:53:30,417
IT WASN'T
YOU KNOW?

869
00:53:30,417 --> 00:53:32,519
HA HA HA!

870
00:53:32,519 --> 00:53:36,089
TOTO, WE AREN'T
IN ANYMORE.

871
00:53:36,089 --> 00:53:37,491
HA HA HA!

872
00:53:37,491 --> 00:53:40,694
A FAIR-SKINNED,

873
00:53:40,694 --> 00:53:44,131
FRECKLE-FACED, RED-HEADED
YOUNGSTER THAT I WAS,

874
00:53:44,131 --> 00:53:49,336
WHERE THAT HOT WIND

875
00:53:49,336 --> 00:53:51,204
THE MIST AND THE RAIN

876
00:53:51,204 --> 00:53:54,407
THAT WE KIDS WOULD GO OFF

877
00:53:54,407 --> 00:53:58,445
WITHOUT A HAT OR
A COAT OR ANYTHING

878
00:53:58,445 --> 00:54:03,717
FEELING OF THAT MOISTURE ON US.

879
00:54:03,717 --> 00:54:07,053
WE WERE PARCHED, TOO.

880
00:54:11,091 --> 00:54:13,093
Lewis: WEREN'T ANY CROPS.

881
00:54:17,898 --> 00:54:27,407
ENTIRE WHEAT CROP IN ONE WAGON,

882
00:54:38,485 --> 00:54:40,320
Beck: THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE.

883
00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:43,924
THERE WAS NOTHING ABOUT THE
POPULATION THAT WAS BAD.

884
00:54:43,924 --> 00:54:48,562
TRYING TO MAKE AN HONEST LIVING,

885
00:54:48,562 --> 00:54:54,201
NATURE JUST
WOULDN'T LET THEM DO IT.

886
00:54:54,201 --> 00:54:58,572
SO THERE WERE FAILURES,
AND THERE WERE ALSO PEOPLE

887
00:54:58,572 --> 00:55:04,678
THAT WERE AWFUL HARD

888
00:55:04,678 --> 00:55:05,946
ENDED UP, A DEPRESSION,

889
00:55:05,946 --> 00:55:09,049
THE DUST BOWL
DIDN'T GET THEM ALL.

890
00:55:09,049 --> 00:55:13,086
IT LEFT QUITE A FEW.
BUT IT LEFT THE HARDY ONES.

891
00:55:13,086 --> 00:55:16,957
ABOUT THE DUST, OF COURSE,

892
00:55:16,957 --> 00:55:20,694
THAT WE LAUGHED SO WE
WOULDN'T CRY, I GUESS.

893
00:55:20,694 --> 00:55:24,531
ONE OF THEM WAS, A RANCHER,
BIG DUST STORM,

894
00:55:24,531 --> 00:55:27,100
WALKED OUT TO
SEE ABOUT HIS LAND,

895
00:55:27,100 --> 00:55:30,937
AND HE WAS TRYING TO FIND
THE BARBED-WIRE FENCE

896
00:55:30,937 --> 00:55:33,840
THAT BEEN
COVERED WITH DIRT.

897
00:55:33,840 --> 00:55:35,275
HE SAW THE TOPS OF IT,

898
00:55:35,275 --> 00:55:37,611
THERE WAS THE
COWBOY'S HAT OVER THERE.

899
00:55:37,611 --> 00:55:41,081
HE WALKED OVER
PICKED UP THE COWBOY'S HAT,

900
00:55:41,081 --> 00:55:43,817
AND UNDERNEATH WAS A COWBOY,

901
00:55:43,817 --> 00:55:48,188
AREN'T YOU IN TROUBLE THERE?"

902
00:55:48,188 --> 00:55:49,656
HE'S COVERED WITH DUST.

903
00:55:49,656 --> 00:55:52,292
HE SAID, "WELL, I THINK
I'l GONNA BE OK,

904
00:55:52,292 --> 00:55:57,631
BUT THIS HORSE I'M RIDING
ISIN ALITTLE TROUBLE."

905
00:55:58,865 --> 00:56:01,868
Narrator: BY NOW, THOSE WHO
REMAINED IN THE DUST BOWL

906
00:56:01,868 --> 00:56:06,106
HAD FOUND THAT ONE WAY TO DEAL
WITH WHAT WAS HAPPENING TO THEM

907
00:56:08,475 --> 00:56:10,143
WELL, THERE'S
OLD SAYING THERE

908
00:56:10,143 --> 00:56:13,713
THAT ONE OF THE OLD-TIMERS
WAS TELLING THE PEOPLE THAT

909
00:56:13,713 --> 00:56:17,984
THEY'D HAD A CHAIN WRAPPED
AROUND A CORNER POST

910
00:56:17,984 --> 00:56:21,221
AND SAID WHEN THAT CHAIN

911
00:56:21,221 --> 00:56:22,322
THAT WAS GOOD WIND,

912
00:56:22,322 --> 00:56:27,494
BUT WHEN IT WENT TO SNAPPING THE
LINKS OFF, IT WAS DAMN WINDY.

913
00:56:27,494 --> 00:56:29,329
OF COURSE, THAT WASN'T TRUE.

914
00:56:29,329 --> 00:56:33,934
THAT WAS JUST
SAYING. HAI

915
00:56:35,001 --> 00:56:41,408
Narrator: 1936 WOULD
PROVE TO BE AS DRY AS 1935,

916
00:56:49,082 --> 00:56:53,820
IN APRIL, AN OUTSIDER
SHOWED UP IN BOISE CITY.

917
00:56:53,820 --> 00:56:56,890
ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN

918
00:56:56,890 --> 00:56:58,792
THE SON OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS,

919
00:56:58,792 --> 00:57:01,394
BORN AND RAISED

920
00:57:01,394 --> 00:57:03,797
HE WAS IN NO MAN'S LAND

921
00:57:03,797 --> 00:57:08,969
FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S
RESETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATION.

922
00:57:08,969 --> 00:57:11,237
ROTHSTEIN'S BOSS,
ROY STRYKER,

923
00:57:11,237 --> 00:57:14,040
BELIEVED THAT PICTURES
COULD BE A POWERFUL TOOL

924
00:57:14,040 --> 00:57:17,010
TO SHOW NOT ONLY THE
MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS

925
00:57:17,010 --> 00:57:18,311
THE NATION WAS FACING,

926
00:57:18,311 --> 00:57:21,514
BUT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT
WAS DOING ABOUT THEM.

927
00:57:21,514 --> 00:57:24,851
OVER THE COURSE OF 7 YEARS,
THE AGENCY BECAME

928
00:57:24,851 --> 00:57:28,421
OF THE FARM SECURITY
ADMINISTRATION,

929
00:57:29,756 --> 00:57:32,292
AN UNPRECEDENTED
DOCUMENTARY EFFORT,

930
00:57:32,292 --> 00:57:36,896
EVENTUALLY AMASSING
200,000 IMAGES

931
00:57:36,896 --> 00:57:39,532
OF AMERICA IN THE 1930s,

932
00:57:39,532 --> 00:57:42,869
TAKEN BY A TALENTED
OF PHOTOGRAPHERS,

933
00:57:42,869 --> 00:57:47,107
INCLUDING WALKER EVANS,
RUSSELL LEE,

934
00:57:47,107 --> 00:57:52,545
MARION POST WALCOTT,
JOHN VACHON,

935
00:57:52,545 --> 00:57:54,848
AND DOROTHEA LANGE.

936
00:57:54,848 --> 00:57:56,316
Egan: HE SENT THEM OUT THERE

937
00:57:56,316 --> 00:57:59,019
WITH A VERY SIMPLE SET
OF INSTRUCTIONS--

938
00:57:59,019 --> 00:58:03,023
I WANT TO SEE THEIR EYES.
I WANT TO SEE THEIR FACES.

939
00:58:03,023 --> 00:58:05,225
I WANT TO SEE EMOTION.

940
00:58:05,225 --> 00:58:07,994
I WANT PEOPLE TO LOOK
AT THESE PICTURES

941
00:58:07,994 --> 00:58:10,230
AND NOT SEE ABSTRACTION.

942
00:58:10,230 --> 00:58:14,601
I WANT THEM TO SEE FOLKS
STRUGGLING IN THE LAND.

943
00:58:14,601 --> 00:58:17,537
Narrator: TO
ARRIVING IN

944
00:58:17,537 --> 00:58:20,373
ARTHUR ROTHSTEIN'S
ASSIGNMENT HAD TAKEN HIM

945
00:58:20,373 --> 00:58:23,043
ON A NATIONWIDE TOUR
OF THE DEPRESSION.

946
00:58:23,043 --> 00:58:26,613
HE HAD DOCUMENTED RURAL

947
00:58:26,613 --> 00:58:29,682
TO CREATE SHENANDOAH
NATIONAL

948
00:58:29,682 --> 00:58:32,752
DESPERATE TENANT FARMERS
IN ARKANSAS,

949
00:58:32,752 --> 00:58:36,122
HARD-LUCK RANCHERS IN MONTANA,

950
00:58:36,122 --> 00:58:39,459
SLUM DWELLERS
IN ST. LOUIS.

951
00:58:39,459 --> 00:58:43,730
BUT THE MOST DISTRESSING
SITUATION HE EVER ENCOUNTERED,

952
00:58:43,730 --> 00:58:45,999
HE REMEMBERED LATER,

953
00:58:45,999 --> 00:58:48,401
DRIVING THROUGH
THE DUST BOWL.

954
00:58:48,401 --> 00:58:51,538
"IT WAS LIKE A LANDSCAPE
OF THE MOON," HE SAID,

955
00:58:51,538 --> 00:58:54,474
POPULATED BY
"HARD-WORKING PEOPLE WHO,

956
00:58:54,474 --> 00:58:57,544
"THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR

957
00:58:57,544 --> 00:59:01,014
"AND THE ONLY PLACE THEY

958
00:59:01,014 --> 00:59:04,250
WAS FROM THE GOVERNMENT."

959
00:59:04,250 --> 00:59:07,954
ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTH
OF BOISE CITY,

960
00:59:07,954 --> 00:59:09,789
HE CAME ACROSS COBLE,

961
00:59:09,789 --> 00:59:12,992
DIGGING OUT A FENCE POST
FROM DRIFT.

962
00:59:12,992 --> 00:59:15,995
ROTHSTEIN CHATTED WITH HIM

963
00:59:15,995 --> 00:59:20,133
SNAPPED A FEW PICTURES, WAS
GETTING BACK INTO HIS

964
00:59:20,133 --> 00:59:23,203
WHEN THE WIND
SUDDENLY PICKED UP.

965
00:59:23,203 --> 00:59:27,240
LOOKING BACK, HE SAW THEM
BENDING INTO THE STORM,

966
00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:32,879
POINTED HIS CAMERA AT THEM,
AND CLICKED THE SHUTTER.

967
00:59:32,879 --> 00:59:34,647
THE IMAGE THAT
ROTHSTEIN CAPTURED

968
00:59:34,647 --> 00:59:38,118
TOUCHED EMOTIONAL CHORDS

969
00:59:38,118 --> 00:59:41,387
BECOMING THE ICONIC PICTURE
OF THE DUST BOWL

970
00:59:41,387 --> 00:59:44,924
AND ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY
REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHS

971
00:59:44,924 --> 00:59:48,228
OF THE 20th CENTURY.

972
00:59:49,429 --> 00:59:51,498
IN ADDITION TO HIRING
PHOTOGRAPHERS,

973
00:59:51,498 --> 00:59:56,069
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALSO
UNDERWROTE A DOCUMENTARY FILM,

974
00:59:56,069 --> 00:59:57,537
AND THAT SUMMER IT PREMIERED

975
00:59:57,537 --> 01:00:01,307
AT THE MISSION THEATRE
IN DALHART, TEXAS.

976
01:00:01,307 --> 01:00:04,611
"THE PLOW THAT
BROKE THE PLAINS,"

977
01:00:04,611 --> 01:00:06,412
DIRECTED BY PARE LORENTZ,

978
01:00:06,412 --> 01:00:09,482
THE CAUSES OF THE DUST BOWL

979
01:00:09,482 --> 01:00:14,187
AND WHAT ROOSEVELT'S NEW DEAL

980
01:00:14,187 --> 01:00:15,555
Film
THE GRASSLANDS--

981
01:00:20,393 --> 01:00:23,630
COUNTRY OF
HIGH WINDS SUN,

982
01:00:25,365 --> 01:00:28,434
Narrator: THE FILM PLACED MUCH
OF THE BLAME OF THE DUST BOWL

983
01:00:28,434 --> 01:00:32,338
ON THE ARRIVAL OF THE TRACT
TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS

984
01:00:32,338 --> 01:00:34,174
AND DESCRIBED HOW

985
01:00:34,174 --> 01:00:38,444
THE SOIL BEHIND A TEAM OF MULES

986
01:00:38,444 --> 01:00:41,381
SUDDENLY BECAME
A MECHANIZED FORCE

987
01:00:41,381 --> 01:00:44,951
ARRAYED AGAINST NATURE ITSELF.

988
01:00:45,652 --> 01:00:48,922
THE REACTION INSIDE
THE DUST BOWL ITSELF

989
01:00:50,089 --> 01:00:55,161
THEY DIDN'T LIKE SEEING
THEIR LAND OR THEMSELVES

990
01:00:55,161 --> 01:01:00,600
BAD END OF A DRAMA.

991
01:01:03,236 --> 01:01:05,004
Robertson: SOMETIMES
AT THE MOVIES,

992
01:01:05,004 --> 01:01:07,974
THE NEWSREEL SHOWED
THE DUST BOWL,

993
01:01:07,974 --> 01:01:12,011
AND THAT INFURIATED
THE LOCAL BOOSTERS,

994
01:01:12,011 --> 01:01:14,147
"THAT'S BAD PUBLICITY.

995
01:01:14,147 --> 01:01:17,116
WE DON'T NEED THAT
PUBLICITY."

996
01:01:17,116 --> 01:01:21,087
THE BOOSTERS THOUGHT,

997
01:01:21,087 --> 01:01:22,288
WELL, THEY GOT THAT RIGHT,

998
01:01:22,288 --> 01:01:26,960
THEY'RE REALLY TELLING IT,
WHAT'S HAPPENING TO US--

999
01:01:26,960 --> 01:01:29,963
THEY'RE REALLY
TELLING IT RIGHT.

1000
01:01:35,368 --> 01:01:37,837
Narrator:
IN THE SUMMER OF 1936,

1001
01:01:37,837 --> 01:01:42,208
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TOOK
4,000-MILE WHISTLE-STOP TOUR

1002
01:01:42,208 --> 01:01:44,944
ACROSS THE MIDWEST
AND NORTHERN PLAINS

1003
01:01:44,944 --> 01:01:46,813
TO SEE FOR HIMSELF THE EXTENT

1004
01:01:46,813 --> 01:01:50,717
OF THE NATION'S
AGRICULTURAL CRISIS.

1005
01:01:50,717 --> 01:01:52,819
Franklin
MY FRIENDS,

1006
01:01:52,819 --> 01:01:56,256
I HAVE BEEN ON
JOURNEY OF HUSBANDRY.

1007
01:01:56,256 --> 01:02:00,059
I TALKED WITH FAMILIES WHO
HAD LOST THEIR WHEAT CROP,

1008
01:02:00,059 --> 01:02:04,564
LOST THEIR CORN CROP,
LOST THEIR LIVESTOCK,

1009
01:02:04,564 --> 01:02:06,733
LOST THE WATER IN THEIR WELL,

1010
01:02:06,733 --> 01:02:09,269
COME THROUGH
TO THE END OF THE SUMMER

1011
01:02:09,269 --> 01:02:12,338
WITHOUT ONE DOLLAR

1012
01:02:12,338 --> 01:02:16,109
FACING A WINTER
WITHOUT FEED OR FOOD,

1013
01:02:18,077 --> 01:02:19,245
Narrator: AT THE SAME TIME,

1014
01:02:19,245 --> 01:02:22,348
HUGH BENNETT, THE HEAD OF
THE SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE,

1015
01:02:22,348 --> 01:02:26,819
WAS ON HIS OWN FACT-FINDING TOUR

1016
01:02:26,819 --> 01:02:29,856
A REPORT TO FDR

1017
01:02:29,856 --> 01:02:33,059
ON THE FUTURE
OF THE GREAT PLAINS.

1018
01:02:33,059 --> 01:02:35,328
BENNETT'S FIRST STOP
WAS DALHART,

1019
01:02:35,328 --> 01:02:37,563
WHERE HOWARD FINNELL

1020
01:02:37,563 --> 01:02:41,334
WITH THE FARMERS HE WAS
TRYING TO CONVERT.

1021
01:02:41,334 --> 01:02:42,502
EARLIER IN THE

1022
01:02:42,502 --> 01:02:46,639
FINNELL HAD PETITIONED SECRETARY
OF AGRICULTURE HENRY WALLACE

1023
01:02:46,639 --> 01:02:49,309
FOR $2 MILLION
IN EMERGENCY FUNDS

1024
01:02:49,309 --> 01:02:52,412
TO OFFER INCENTIVES

1025
01:02:52,412 --> 01:02:54,480
FOR THOSE WHO WOULD
TRY HIS METHOD

1026
01:02:54,480 --> 01:02:58,017
OF CONTOUR PLOWING
ON THEIR OWN LAND.

1027
01:02:58,017 --> 01:03:00,987
NEARLY 40,000 FARMERS
SIGNED UP

1028
01:03:00,987 --> 01:03:05,758
ON 5.5 MILLION ACRES.

1029
01:03:05,758 --> 01:03:08,294
Worster: THE ONLY
THAT WAS OUT THERE

1030
01:03:08,294 --> 01:03:10,697
THAT WAS EFFECTIVE
WAS THIS ONE,

1031
01:03:10,697 --> 01:03:15,134
FINNELL WAS THE POINT
TO TRY TO IT

1032
01:03:15,134 --> 01:03:18,471
HAD STILL NOT ADMITTED

1033
01:03:18,471 --> 01:03:19,739
THAT IT WAS THEIR FAULT,

1034
01:03:19,739 --> 01:03:23,209
"THIS IS ALL NATURE'S DOING.

1035
01:03:23,209 --> 01:03:25,678
"LEAVE US ALONE.
THE RAINS WILL COME BACK,

1036
01:03:25,678 --> 01:03:28,014
AND WE WILL BE
BACK IN BUSINESS."

1037
01:03:28,014 --> 01:03:30,350
Narrator; BENNETT AND
HIS COMMITTEE MOVED ON

1038
01:03:30,350 --> 01:03:32,585
WITH THEIR TOUR,
PLANNING TO MEET UP

1039
01:03:32,585 --> 01:03:34,921
WITH THE PRESIDENT
IN NORTH DAKOTA

1040
01:03:34,921 --> 01:03:37,657
AND GIVE HIM THEIR FINDINGS.

1041
01:03:37,657 --> 01:03:39,025
THE FINAL REPORT ESTIMATED

1042
01:03:39,025 --> 01:03:44,130
THAT 80% OF THE GREAT PLAINS

1043
01:03:44,130 --> 01:03:46,466
POINTED TO
WHAT BENNETT CALLED

1044
01:03:46,466 --> 01:03:49,068
OF THE PROBLEM--

1045
01:03:49,068 --> 01:03:53,873
"AN ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE UPON THE
REGION A SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE

1046
01:03:53,873 --> 01:03:58,277
TO WHICH THE PLAINS
ARE NOT ADAPTED."

1047
01:04:00,346 --> 01:04:01,581
BUT, IT CONCLUDED,

1048
01:04:01,581 --> 01:04:06,085
THE NATION "CANNOT AFFORD
TO LET THE FARMER FAIL."

1049
01:04:06,085 --> 01:04:09,956
TO LET THAT HAPPEN.

1050
01:04:09,956 --> 01:04:11,657
BACK EAST, THERE HAVE BEEN

1051
01:04:11,657 --> 01:04:16,062
ALL KINDS OF REPORTS THAT
OUT IN THE DROUGHT AREA

1052
01:04:16,062 --> 01:04:22,268
THERE WAS DESPONDENCY,
LACK OF HOPE FOR THE FUTURE,

1053
01:04:22,268 --> 01:04:27,173
GENERAL
ATMOSPHERE OF GLOOM.

1054
01:04:27,173 --> 01:04:30,676
BUT I HUNCH--
IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE--

1055
01:04:30,676 --> 01:04:31,911
WHEN 1 GOT OUT HERE,

1056
01:04:31,911 --> 01:04:36,816
I'D FIND THAT YOU PEOPLE

1057
01:04:36,816 --> 01:04:41,020
[APPLAUSE]

1058
01:04:41,020 --> 01:04:45,391
THAT YOU NOT
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE DAY

1059
01:04:45,391 --> 01:04:48,294
WHEN THIS COUNTRY
WOULD BE DEPOPULATED,

1060
01:04:48,294 --> 01:04:52,832
BUT THAT YOU YOUR CHILDREN
EXPECT TO REMAIN HERE.

1061
01:04:52,832 --> 01:04:55,401
[APPLAUSE]

1062
01:05:01,374 --> 01:05:04,210
Frantz: TO US,
HE WAS A SAVIOR.

1063
01:05:04,210 --> 01:05:09,849
HE JUST...HE GAVE US HOPE
WHERE WE NONE.

1064
01:05:09,849 --> 01:05:15,788
I CAN REMEMBER MY DAD SAYING
THAT HE NORMALLY DIDN'T

1065
01:05:15,788 --> 01:05:18,758
VOTE DEMOCRAT, BUT HE
THOUGHT HE WOULD THAT TIME,

1066
01:05:18,758 --> 01:05:22,195
I THINK HE BECAME
STAUNCH DEMOCRAT THAT.

1067
01:05:22,195 --> 01:05:26,265
NO CRACKED EARTH,
NO BLISTERING SUN,

1068
01:05:26,265 --> 01:05:30,269
NO BURNING WIND
ARE A PERMANENT MATCH

1069
01:05:30,269 --> 01:05:34,440
FOR THE INDOMITABLE AMERICAN

1070
01:05:34,440 --> 01:05:36,409
AND THEIR WIVES
AND CHILDREN,

1071
01:05:36,409 --> 01:05:39,245
WHO HAVE CARRIED ON
THROUGH DESPERATE DAYS.

1072
01:05:39,245 --> 01:05:43,349
HERE'S A LAND THAT GOD HIMSELF

1073
01:05:43,349 --> 01:05:46,452
I SHALL NEVER FORGET
THE FIELDS OF WHEAT...

1074
01:05:46,452 --> 01:05:48,321
Egan: THE FACT THAT
THE PRESIDENT STILL

1075
01:05:48,321 --> 01:05:51,624
GAVE IT HIS ATTENTION--
THAT WAS A VERY BIG

1076
01:05:51,624 --> 01:05:54,560
AT A TIME WHEN THEY
FELT SO ABANDONED,

1077
01:05:54,560 --> 01:05:56,896
YOU CAN'T UNDERSTATE
THE IMPORTANCE

1078
01:05:56,896 --> 01:05:58,831
OF JUST GIVING IT
SOME ATTENTION.

1079
01:05:58,831 --> 01:06:02,535
IT WAS THEIR
FATHERS' TASK TO HOMES,

1080
01:06:02,535 --> 01:06:05,872
IT IS THEIR TASK
TO KEEP THESE HOMES,

1081
01:06:05,872 --> 01:06:11,010
IT IS OUR TASK TO
HELP THEM WIN THEIR FIGHT.

1082
01:06:15,414 --> 01:06:17,049
Man: WE'RE CONTINUING WITH

1083
01:06:17,049 --> 01:06:19,218
MR. WOODY GUTHRIE'S

1084
01:06:19,218 --> 01:06:22,321
FROM TEXAS,
CALIFORNIA.

1085
01:06:22,321 --> 01:06:24,991
Guthrie: AS I RAMBLED AROUND
OVER THE COUNTRY

1086
01:06:24,991 --> 01:06:26,993
KEPT LOOKING
AT ALL THESE PEOPLE,

1087
01:06:26,993 --> 01:06:30,663
SEEING HOW THEY LIVED
OUTSIDE LIKE COYOTES

1088
01:06:30,663 --> 01:06:34,000
AROUND IN THE TREES AND TIMBER
AND UNDER THE BRIDGES

1089
01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:35,234
AND ALONG ALL THE
RAILROAD TRACKS

1090
01:06:35,234 --> 01:06:37,970
AND IN THEIR LITTLE SHACK
HOUSES THAT THEY BUILT

1091
01:06:37,970 --> 01:06:39,739
OUT OF CARDBOARD

1092
01:06:39,739 --> 01:06:46,245
AND OLD CORRUGATED IRON THAT
THEY GOT OUT OF THE DUMPS--

1093
01:06:46,245 --> 01:06:50,316
THAT JUST STRUCK ME
TO WRITE THIS SONG.

1094
01:06:50,316 --> 01:06:54,287
I AIN'T GOT NO HOME,
I'M JUST A-ROAMIN' ROUND

1095
01:06:54,287 --> 01:06:57,089
Narrator: DURING THE 10 YEARS
OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION,

1096
01:06:57,089 --> 01:07:01,594
CALIFORNIA'S POPULATION

1097
01:07:01,594 --> 01:07:06,132
HALF OF THE NEWCOMERS CAME
FROM CITIES, NOT FARMS.

1098
01:07:06,132 --> 01:07:10,937
ONE IN 8 WERE PROFESSIONALS
OR WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS.

1099
01:07:10,937 --> 01:07:16,208
OF THE 315,000 WHO ARRIVED
FROM TEXAS,

1100
01:07:16,208 --> 01:07:17,843
AND NEIGHBORING STATES,

1101
01:07:17,843 --> 01:07:22,548
ONLY 16,000 WERE FROM
THE DUST BOWL ITSELF.

1102
01:07:22,548 --> 01:07:26,152
BUT REGARDLESS OF WHERE

1103
01:07:26,152 --> 01:07:29,522
REGARDLESS OF THEIR SKILLS
AND THEIR EDUCATION

1104
01:07:29,522 --> 01:07:31,257
AND THEIR INDIVIDUAL REASONS

1105
01:07:31,257 --> 01:07:34,093
FOR SEEKING A NEW LIFE
IN A NEW PLACE,

1106
01:07:34,093 --> 01:07:38,297
TO MOST CALIFORNIANS--
TO THE NATION AT LARGE--

1107
01:07:38,297 --> 01:07:40,533
THEY WERE ALL THE SAME,

1108
01:07:40,533 --> 01:07:43,836
AND THEY ALL HAD
THE SAME NAME.

1109
01:07:43,836 --> 01:07:46,038
"OKIES." WE WERE
MADE FUN OF,

1110
01:07:46,038 --> 01:07:49,909
AND, "YOU TALK FUNNY,"
AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THAT.

1111
01:07:49,909 --> 01:07:53,112
"TALK SOME MORE.
YOU TALK FUNNY."

1112
01:07:53,112 --> 01:07:55,848
YOU HATED THAT
BECAUSE IT SET YOU .

1113
01:07:55,848 --> 01:07:58,651
Worster: THERE WAS
SIGN IN A MOVIE THEATER

1114
01:07:58,651 --> 01:08:00,386
IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY
OF CALIFORNIA

1115
01:08:00,386 --> 01:08:04,423
WHICH BASICALLY
"NIGGERS OKIES UPSTAIRS."

1116
01:08:04,423 --> 01:08:10,329
THAT IS, YOU CAN'T SIT
DOWN HERE WITH PEOPLE.

1117
01:08:11,397 --> 01:08:13,299
THEY WERE
HORRIBLY MISTREATED.

1118
01:08:13,299 --> 01:08:14,734
THEY WERE TREATED

1119
01:08:14,734 --> 01:08:17,136
TREATED IN THE SOUTH.

1120
01:08:17,136 --> 01:08:19,205
SIMILAR TO THE SIGNS

1121
01:08:19,205 --> 01:08:20,940
THEY IN DALHART,
TEXAS, THAT SAID,

1122
01:08:20,940 --> 01:08:24,310
"BLACK MAN, DON'T LET THE
SUN GO DOWN ON YOU HERE."

1123
01:08:24,310 --> 01:08:26,912
SIMILARLY, THERE WERE SIGNS ALL
THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL VALLEY

1124
01:08:26,912 --> 01:08:30,950
SAYING, "OKIE, GO BACK.
WE DON'T WANT YOU."

1125
01:08:32,318 --> 01:08:35,955
Narrator: ABOUT A THIRD OF
ALL THE RECENT ARRIVALS,

1126
01:08:35,955 --> 01:08:38,057
OF THEM
FORMER SHARECROPPERS

1127
01:08:38,057 --> 01:08:39,158
FROM THE COTTON BELT,

1128
01:08:39,158 --> 01:08:42,728
ENDED UP IN CALIFORNIA'S
AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS,

1129
01:08:42,728 --> 01:08:45,598
RELIED ON MIGRANT LABOR

1130
01:08:45,598 --> 01:08:49,902
TO PICK THEIR COTTON,
VEGETABLES, FRUITS.

1131
01:08:49,902 --> 01:08:51,203
THEY SETTLED IN DEVELOPMENTS

1132
01:08:51,203 --> 01:08:54,707
CALLED "LITTLE
"OKIEVILLES"

1133
01:08:54,707 --> 01:08:56,075
OR MOVED WITH THE HARVESTS,

1134
01:08:56,075 --> 01:09:00,980
SOMETIMES TRAVELING 700 TO
1,000 MILES IN THE SEASON,

1135
01:09:00,980 --> 01:09:05,418
STAYING IN SQUALID ROADSIDE
CAMPS CALLED "JUNGLES"

1136
01:09:05,418 --> 01:09:07,353
OR SIMPLY PUTTING UP A TENT

1137
01:09:07,353 --> 01:09:10,790
ALONG THE
IN AN UNUSED FIELD.

1138
01:09:10,790 --> 01:09:12,858
THEY FOUND
THEMSELVES AT THE MERCY

1139
01:09:12,858 --> 01:09:16,028
OF THE CONTRACTORS,
WHO CONSPIRED WITH THE GROWERS

1140
01:09:16,028 --> 01:09:19,832
TO DRIVE DOWN THE

1141
01:09:19,832 --> 01:09:24,070
Woman: "THEY HAVE THE
SIMPLE AND STURDY VALUES

1142
01:09:24,070 --> 01:09:25,905
"OFTEN BEMOANED AS LOST.

1143
01:09:25,905 --> 01:09:28,941
"THEY ARE PROUD,
STRONG PEOPLE,

1144
01:09:28,941 --> 01:09:34,046
"PATIENT, UNCOMPLAINING,
INTELLIGENT.

1145
01:09:34,046 --> 01:09:36,716
"THEY WANT FIRST OF ALL TO

1146
01:09:36,716 --> 01:09:39,251
"TO HAVE A HOME
FOR THEIR FAMILIES,

1147
01:09:39,251 --> 01:09:41,287
"TO EDUCATE THEIR CHILDREN.

1148
01:09:41,287 --> 01:09:46,058
"THESE SIMPLE RIGHTS ARE PART
OF THE HERITAGE OF AMERICANS.

1149
01:09:46,058 --> 01:09:48,761
"IT IS DIFFICULT
FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND

1150
01:09:48,761 --> 01:09:51,497
"THAT NONE OF THEM REMAIN.

1151
01:09:51,497 --> 01:09:54,834
"THEIR WHOLE LIVES

1152
01:09:54,834 --> 01:09:58,270
"ON ONE INSTINCTIVE PROBLEM--

1153
01:10:01,140 --> 01:10:03,476
SANORA BABB.

1154
01:10:04,543 --> 01:10:06,712
Narrator: SANORA BABB,
A FORMER REPORTER

1155
01:10:06,712 --> 01:10:09,949
WHO GROWN UP IN THE
AROUND NO MAN'S LAND,

1156
01:10:09,949 --> 01:10:15,321
HAD FOUND A NEW JOB WITH THE
FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.

1157
01:10:15,321 --> 01:10:17,156
WITH HER BOSS, TOM COLLINS,

1158
01:10:17,156 --> 01:10:19,558
SHE WENT UP DOWN
THE CENTRAL VALLEY,

1159
01:10:19,558 --> 01:10:22,962
INFORMING THE NEWLY ARRIVED
MIGRANTS ABOUT PROGRAMS

1160
01:10:22,962 --> 01:10:25,765
TO PROVIDE THEM WITH FOOD

1161
01:10:25,765 --> 01:10:30,002
FOR THEIR FAMILIES,
EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN,

1162
01:10:30,002 --> 01:10:32,872
AND BETTER LIVING CONDITIONS.

1163
01:10:34,874 --> 01:10:36,809
ONLY A FEW DAYS AGO,

1164
01:10:39,879 --> 01:10:42,481
IN SEARCH OF IMMEDIATE
HELP.

1165
01:10:42,481 --> 01:10:45,184
HIS WIFE
BABY 3 DAYS BEFORE

1166
01:10:45,184 --> 01:10:48,487
IN AN ABANDONED MILK HOUSE

1167
01:10:48,487 --> 01:10:52,925
WHERE THEY HAD TAKEN REFUGE
DURING THE RECENT STORMS.

1168
01:10:54,460 --> 01:10:57,930
SINCE THE BIRTH, HIS WIFE,
THEIR OTHER CHILDREN,

1169
01:10:57,930 --> 01:11:00,699
HE HIMSELF NOT
EATEN FOR 3 DAYS.

1170
01:11:00,699 --> 01:11:04,436
IF HE DID NOT GET SOMETHING
FOR THEM AT ONCE,

1171
01:11:04,436 --> 01:11:07,773
SHE AND THE BABY WOULD DIE.

1172
01:11:09,141 --> 01:11:11,143
Narrator: WHEN THE
REFUGEES LEARNED

1173
01:11:11,143 --> 01:11:13,412
ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,

1174
01:11:13,412 --> 01:11:20,219
IT HELPED ESTABLISH A TRUST AND

1175
01:11:20,219 --> 01:11:22,154
THE GOVERNMENT

1176
01:11:22,154 --> 01:11:25,925
THE PHOTOGRAPHER DOROTHEA LANGE
TO COME BACK TO CALIFORNIA

1177
01:11:25,925 --> 01:11:31,230
TO DOCUMENT THE DEPLORABLE
CONDITIONS AMONG THE MIGRANTS.

1178
01:11:41,473 --> 01:11:44,643
TOM COLLINS THE FSA
USED HER PHOTOS

1179
01:11:44,643 --> 01:11:48,948
TO PUSH FOR CREATION OF A
HANDFUL OF GOVERNMENT CAMPS

1180
01:11:48,948 --> 01:11:51,283
WITH BETTER SHELTER
AND SANITATION FOR

1181
01:11:57,189 --> 01:12:00,459
COLLINS INSISTED THAT
THE CAMPS BE SELF-GOVERNED,

1182
01:12:00,459 --> 01:12:04,230
WITH ELECTED COMMITTEES
RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING FROM

1183
01:12:04,230 --> 01:12:09,702
SEWING CLUBS AND LIBRARIES

1184
01:12:09,702 --> 01:12:14,907
BUT ONLY A LUCKY FEW WERE
ABLE TO FIND SPACE THERE.

1185
01:12:14,907 --> 01:12:18,844
AND WHILE THE GROWERS DEPENDED
ON THE MIGRANTS FOR CHEAP LABOR,

1186
01:12:18,844 --> 01:12:23,182
THE LOCALS, WHO WERE THEMSELVES
SUFFERING FROM THE DEPRESSION,

1187
01:12:23,182 --> 01:12:25,017
DIDN'T APPRECIATE ANYTHING

1188
01:12:25,017 --> 01:12:28,153
THAT ENCOURAGED
THE NEWCOMERS TO STAY,

1189
01:12:28,153 --> 01:12:33,792
NOR DID THE GROWERS
ONCE THE HARVEST WAS OVER.

1190
01:12:35,294 --> 01:12:37,563
Guthrie:
IT TAKES A WORRIED

1191
01:12:37,563 --> 01:12:39,865
TO SING A WORRIED SONG

1192
01:12:39,865 --> 01:12:41,934
TAKES A WORRIED

1193
01:12:41,934 --> 01:12:43,502
TO SING A WORRIED SONG

1194
01:12:43,502 --> 01:12:44,803
I'M WORRIED NOW...

1195
01:12:44,803 --> 01:12:46,205
Narrator: LIKE
OF THE NEW ARRIVALS,

1196
01:12:46,205 --> 01:12:49,942
WOODY GUTHRIE HAD SETTLED IN
ONE OF CALIFORNIA'S CITIES--

1197
01:12:52,645 --> 01:12:56,415
BEFORE FINALLY LANDING

1198
01:12:56,415 --> 01:13:01,253
HIS OWN SHOW
ON RADIO STATION KFVD.

1199
01:13:01,253 --> 01:13:04,556
EACH DAY, HE PERFORMED

1200
01:13:04,556 --> 01:13:08,994
OLDER FOLK TUNES HE LEARNED
IN TEXAS,

1201
01:13:08,994 --> 01:13:12,765
WHICH REMINDED MANY LISTENERS
IN HIS GROWING AUDIENCE

1202
01:13:12,765 --> 01:13:14,867
OF THE HOMES THEY HAD LEFT.

1203
01:13:14,867 --> 01:13:16,802
I ASKED THAT JUDGE...

1204
01:13:16,802 --> 01:13:18,671
Narrator: BUT THOUGH

1205
01:13:18,671 --> 01:13:20,773
WELL-KNOWN
RADIO PERSONALITY,

1206
01:13:20,773 --> 01:13:23,142
HE, TOO, FELT THE
STING OF BIGOTRY

1207
01:13:23,142 --> 01:13:27,646
AIMED AT ANYONE
CONSIDERED AN "OKIE."

1208
01:13:27,646 --> 01:13:30,082
HE BEGAN SPENDING
TIME TRAVELING

1209
01:13:30,082 --> 01:13:32,818
PERFORMING FOR FREE
IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY,

1210
01:13:32,818 --> 01:13:36,722
WHERE THE TREATMENT OF THE
FARM WORKERS POLITICIZED HIM,

1211
01:13:36,722 --> 01:13:41,760
HIS MUSIC,
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

1212
01:13:44,563 --> 01:13:46,265
HOLDING OUT FOR HIGHER WAGES

1213
01:13:46,265 --> 01:13:49,301
STARTED A NEWSPAPER
COLUMN, "WOODY SEZ,"

1214
01:13:49,301 --> 01:13:52,504
IN THE LEFT-LEANING

1215
01:13:52,504 --> 01:13:55,274
"Il AINT A COMMUNIST

1216
01:13:55,274 --> 01:13:58,377
"BUT I'VE BEEN IN THE
ALL MY LIFE."

1217
01:13:58,377 --> 01:14:01,180
Guthrie: § LOTS OF FOLKS
BACK EAST, THEY SAY

1218
01:14:01,180 --> 01:14:03,148
IS LEAVIN' HOME EVERY DAY

1219
01:14:03,148 --> 01:14:05,084
BEATIN' A HOT OLD DUSTY WAY

1220
01:14:05,084 --> 01:14:06,385
TO THE CALIFORNIA LINE

1221
01:14:06,385 --> 01:14:09,355
Narrator: GUTHRIE WAS OFFENDED
THAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE

1222
01:14:09,355 --> 01:14:12,491
NEARLY PASSED A LAW CLOSING
THE STATE'S BORDERS

1223
01:14:12,491 --> 01:14:13,892
TO PEOPLE IT CALLED

1224
01:14:13,892 --> 01:14:16,462
"PAUPERS AND PERSONS LIKELY

1225
01:14:16,462 --> 01:14:20,366
Guthrie: § NOW, THE POLICE
AT THE OF ENTRY SAY

1226
01:14:20,366 --> 01:14:25,104
YOU'RE NUMBER 14,000
FOR TODAY...

1227
01:14:25,104 --> 01:14:28,240
Narrator: THEN, WITHOUT
LEGAL AUTHORITY,

1228
01:14:28,240 --> 01:14:33,912
THE LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF

1229
01:14:33,912 --> 01:14:39,284
TO THE MAIN ENTRY POINTS FROM
ARIZONA, NEVADA, AND OREGON.

1230
01:14:39,284 --> 01:14:41,420
THEY INTIMIDATED

1231
01:14:41,420 --> 01:14:44,056
ANYONE THEY
CONSIDERED "VAGRANTS,"

1232
01:14:44,056 --> 01:14:48,293
INCLUDING CLARENCE AND
IRENE BECK'S FATHER SAM,

1233
01:14:48,293 --> 01:14:50,963
FROM WHEELESS, OKLAHOMA.

1234
01:14:50,963 --> 01:14:53,632
Beck: MY FATHER WAS
A DUST BOWL OKIE.

1235
01:14:53,632 --> 01:14:57,870
HE GOT PUT IN JAIL WHEN HE
CROSSED INTO CALIFORNIA

1236
01:14:57,870 --> 01:15:00,539
BECAUSE HE DIDN'T

1237
01:15:06,311 --> 01:15:09,782
WOULD HAVE GONE
TO JAIL EXCEPT THAT

1238
01:15:09,782 --> 01:15:14,686
ONE OF HIS EX-NEIGHBORS IN

1239
01:15:14,686 --> 01:15:16,321
AND WAS PREPARED FOR THIS

1240
01:15:16,321 --> 01:15:22,127
AND MET HIM, ARRANGED THAT
HE COULD STAY WITH THEM

1241
01:15:26,465 --> 01:15:27,933
Narrator: FOR A WHILE,

1242
01:15:27,933 --> 01:15:30,302
BECK WAS ALLOWED TO STAY
AT A CHICKEN FARM,

1243
01:15:30,302 --> 01:15:34,073
WHERE HE IN EXCHANGE
FOR EGGS TO EAT.

1244
01:15:34,073 --> 01:15:35,741
BUT HE FINALLY LANDED A JOB

1245
01:15:35,741 --> 01:15:37,543
WITH THE LOS ANGELES
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT

1246
01:15:37,543 --> 01:15:42,214
AND STARTED A NEW LIFE FOR
HIMSELF AND HIS DAUGHTER.

1247
01:15:42,214 --> 01:15:43,148
Hauer: IT'S A FRESH START.

1248
01:15:43,148 --> 01:15:46,885
I GUESS THAT'S THE
TO USE--A FRESH START,

1249
01:15:48,587 --> 01:15:51,557
IT REALLY WAS.

1250
01:15:57,162 --> 01:16:03,635
Narrator: BECK DIED OF
HEART ATTACK IN 1947, AT AGE 54,

1251
01:16:03,635 --> 01:16:08,073
SPREADING BLACKTOP
ON A CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY.

1252
01:16:08,073 --> 01:16:10,909
Beck: HE HAD A TOUGH LIFE.

1253
01:16:12,945 --> 01:16:16,048
HE HIS LIFE WAS
THE REASON THAT I SAID,

1254
01:16:16,048 --> 01:16:22,821
"GOD, WHAT DO I HAVE

1255
01:16:22,821 --> 01:16:25,491
"AND NOT BE A FARMER,
I'LL DO IT.

1256
01:16:25,491 --> 01:16:27,826
"I DON'T CARE WHETHER
IT'S BEING A PIMP.

1257
01:16:27,826 --> 01:16:30,863
"I DON'T CARE
WHETHER IT'S STEALING.

1258
01:16:30,863 --> 01:16:34,633
I'l NOT GONNA FARM,

1259
01:16:34,633 --> 01:16:39,004
I'M NOT GOING
TO BE BROKE."

1260
01:16:39,004 --> 01:16:43,976
AND THAT'S BEEN
MY DRIVING FORCE.

1261
01:16:43,976 --> 01:16:45,911
IT HAS BEEN.

1262
01:16:45,911 --> 01:16:51,216
AND I'M NOT A FARMER,
AND I'M NOT BROKE.

1263
01:16:51,216 --> 01:16:54,987
I'M NOT A PIMP,
EITHER, THANK GOD.

1264
01:16:56,588 --> 01:17:01,393
Guthrie:
I'M A DUST BOWL REFUGEE

1265
01:17:01,393 --> 01:17:04,463
Narrator: CALVIN CRABILL'S
FATHER, JOHN,

1266
01:17:04,463 --> 01:17:06,698
RESCUED
HIS WIFE FAMILY

1267
01:17:06,698 --> 01:17:08,700
FROM THE DUST
OF EASTERN COLORADO,

1268
01:17:08,700 --> 01:17:12,804
BUT THE HARD TIMES FOLLOWED
HIM TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

1269
01:17:12,804 --> 01:17:16,375
HE MOVED FROM ONE TEMPORARY
JOB TO ANOTHER--

1270
01:17:16,375 --> 01:17:21,113
COLORADO COWBOY, FAR FROM
THE PLAINS HE LOVED.

1271
01:17:21,113 --> 01:17:24,349
Crabill: MY FATHER

1272
01:17:24,349 --> 01:17:26,518
HE WAS A GENTLE, QUIET MAN,

1273
01:17:26,518 --> 01:17:29,655
I THINK HE COULD
TAKE IT WELL.

1274
01:17:29,655 --> 01:17:33,225
IT MADE ME WITH A CHIP
ON MY SHOULDER

1275
01:17:33,225 --> 01:17:35,360
THAT I PROBABLY
CARRY TO THIS DAY,

1276
01:17:35,360 --> 01:17:37,930
THAT I THOUGHT I WAS

1277
01:17:37,930 --> 01:17:40,098
THE POOREST KID
IN HIGH SCHOOL.

1278
01:17:40,098 --> 01:17:42,868
WE RENTED A LITTLE HOUSE
ON THE ALLEY IN BURBANK,

1279
01:17:42,868 --> 01:17:46,538
THE HOUSE IN FRONT,
THE PEOPLE MONEY,

1280
01:17:46,538 --> 01:17:49,141
THEY WERE
VERY AWARE THAT WE WERE

1281
01:17:49,141 --> 01:17:52,277
THE PEOPLE
ON THE BLOCK.

1282
01:17:52,277 --> 01:17:54,213
IN THOSE DAYS,
YOU COULD GET SOMETHING

1283
01:17:54,213 --> 01:17:55,480
TO PUT ON YOUR LICENSE PLATE

1284
01:17:55,480 --> 01:17:57,616
THAT WOULD BE
SOME KIND OF A SLOGAN.

1285
01:17:57,616 --> 01:17:59,384
IT "PEACEFUL VALLEY,"

1286
01:17:59,384 --> 01:18:01,053
MY FATHER
LIKED THAT PLACE,

1287
01:18:01,053 --> 01:18:02,821
HE PUT IT
ON HIS LICENSE PLATE.

1288
01:18:02,821 --> 01:18:06,825
THE PEOPLE AT HIS JOB

1289
01:18:06,825 --> 01:18:08,961
AND WROTE "PEACEFUL ALLEY"

1290
01:18:08,961 --> 01:18:13,298
HE LIVED ON AN ALLEY.

1291
01:18:13,298 --> 01:18:16,468
IF YOU'RE DOWN,
THEY PUSH YOU DOWN, FELLA,

1292
01:18:16,468 --> 01:18:17,736
THEY PUSH YOU DOWN,

1293
01:18:17,736 --> 01:18:19,271
HAPPENED TO HIM,

1294
01:18:19,271 --> 01:18:23,075
OVER OVER OVER,
OVER OVER.

1295
01:18:23,075 --> 01:18:27,579
HOW BRAVE THEY ALL ARE.

1296
01:18:27,579 --> 01:18:30,015
I HAVE NOT HEARD
ONE COMPLAINT.

1297
01:18:30,015 --> 01:18:34,419
THEY ALL WANT
HATE TO HAVE HELP.

1298
01:18:34,419 --> 01:18:37,289
Narrator: AS SHE MOVED

1299
01:18:37,289 --> 01:18:39,791
SANORA BABB KEPT
A NIGHTLY JOURNAL,

1300
01:18:39,791 --> 01:18:41,860
WHICH SHE PLANNED TO
TURN INTO A NOVEL,

1301
01:18:41,860 --> 01:18:46,398
ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHE HAD MET
AND WHAT THEY HAD GONE THROUGH.

1302
01:18:46,398 --> 01:18:51,236
SHE ALSO WROTE DETAILED
FOR HER BOSS TOM COLLINS,

1303
01:18:51,236 --> 01:18:53,272
SHARING HER NOTES

1304
01:18:53,272 --> 01:18:56,041
WITH A WRITER WORKING
ON A MUCK-RAKING ARTICLE

1305
01:18:56,041 --> 01:19:00,979
NAMED JOHN STEINBECK.

1306
01:19:00,979 --> 01:19:02,948
WHEN STEINBECK FIRST CAME,

1307
01:19:02,948 --> 01:19:06,952
HE HAD TO STOP SEEING THEM
BEFORE THE DAY WAS OUT.

1308
01:19:06,952 --> 01:19:08,787
TOM COLLINS SAID HE SAID,

1309
01:19:08,787 --> 01:19:11,156
"BY GOD, I CAN'T
STAND ANYMORE.

1310
01:19:11,156 --> 01:19:15,327
I'M GOING AWAY AND BLOW
THE LID OFF THIS PLACE."

1311
01:19:15,327 --> 01:19:17,796
Narrator: SANORA BABB
WOULD EVENTUALLY SEND

1312
01:19:17,796 --> 01:19:20,365
SOME CHAPTERS OF HER NOVEL
TO BENNETT CERF,

1313
01:19:20,365 --> 01:19:24,202
PROMINENT EDITOR OF
HOUSE IN NEW YORK CITY,

1314
01:19:24,202 --> 01:19:26,405
WHO WAS SO IMPRESSED
HE ASKED HER

1315
01:19:26,405 --> 01:19:28,907
TO COME EAST TO TALK ABOUT IT.

1316
01:19:28,907 --> 01:19:33,612
BUT BY THE TIME SHE ARRIVED,
IN THE WINTER OF 1939,

1317
01:19:33,612 --> 01:19:35,213
STEINBECK HAD COME OUT WITH

1318
01:19:35,213 --> 01:19:37,883
HIS OWN PULITZER
PRIZE-WINNING NOVEL,

1319
01:19:37,883 --> 01:19:39,151
"THE GRAPES OF WRATH,"

1320
01:19:39,151 --> 01:19:42,321
WHICH CHRONICLED THE
TRIBULATIONS OF THE JOAD FAMILY,

1321
01:19:42,321 --> 01:19:45,190
TENANT FARMERS WHO HAD
MIGRATED TO CALIFORNIA

1322
01:19:45,190 --> 01:19:49,061
FROM THE COTTON FIELDS
OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA--

1323
01:19:49,061 --> 01:19:51,096
NOT THE DUST BOWL.

1324
01:19:51,096 --> 01:19:54,966
THE MARKET COULDN'T SUPPORT

1325
01:19:54,966 --> 01:19:56,968
SECOND NOVEL
ON THE SAME SUBJECT,

1326
01:19:56,968 --> 01:20:02,908
AND HER EDITOR ADVISED SANORA
TO PUT HER MANUSCRIPT ASIDE.

1327
01:20:02,908 --> 01:20:07,946
IT WAS FINALLY
PUBLISHED IN 2004,

1328
01:20:07,946 --> 01:20:10,649
A YEAR BEFORE HER DEATH.

1329
01:20:10,649 --> 01:20:13,685
Babb portrayer. YOU, WHO LIVE
IN ANY KIND OF COMFORT

1330
01:20:13,685 --> 01:20:16,955
OR CONVENIENCE, DO NOT
KNOW HOW THESE PEOPLE

1331
01:20:16,955 --> 01:20:20,559
SURVIVE THESE
THINGS, DO YOU?

1332
01:20:20,559 --> 01:20:22,394
THEY WILL ENDURE BECAUSE

1333
01:20:22,394 --> 01:20:26,798
THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE
ESCAPE FROM ENDURANCE.

1334
01:20:29,000 --> 01:20:31,536
THE REST MUST LIVE.

1335
01:20:39,644 --> 01:20:43,448
Henderson THE WORST
STORM THUS FAR IN 1937

1336
01:20:43,448 --> 01:20:46,852
OCCURRED IMMEDIATELY
AFTER A SLIGHT SNOWFALL,

1337
01:20:46,852 --> 01:20:50,689
DELUSIVE HOPES.

1338
01:20:50,689 --> 01:20:54,593
THAT SNOW MELTED
ON A TUESDAY.

1339
01:20:54,593 --> 01:20:58,296
WITH A RISING WIND,

1340
01:21:00,999 --> 01:21:06,438
AND UNTIL LATE FRIDAY NIGHT,
THERE WAS LITTLE RESPITE.

1341
01:21:06,438 --> 01:21:10,675
WE ARE NOW RELUCTANTLY
FEEDING OUR LIVESTOCK

1342
01:21:10,675 --> 01:21:17,482
THE SMALL REMAINDER
OF THE CROP OF 1931.

1343
01:21:17,482 --> 01:21:21,820
Narrator: IN MOST OF THE NATION,
THE DROUGHT ENDED,

1344
01:21:21,820 --> 01:21:24,356
BUT FOR CAROLINE HENDERSON
HER NEIGHBORS

1345
01:21:24,356 --> 01:21:27,159
WHO STAYED IN THE
HEART OF THE DUST BOWL,

1346
01:21:27,159 --> 01:21:31,296
1937 WOULD PROVE TO BE
THE WORST YET.

1347
01:21:31,296 --> 01:21:36,301
GUYMON, OKLAHOMA, JUST 30 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF HER HOMESTEAD,

1348
01:21:36,301 --> 01:21:40,939
WAS ENGULFED BY
DUST ST! THAT JANUARY,

1349
01:21:40,939 --> 01:21:45,310
14 IN FEBRUARY,
THEN 13 IN MARCH,

1350
01:21:45,310 --> 01:21:50,415
INCLUDING ONE THAT CLOSED

1351
01:21:50,415 --> 01:21:52,417
OFF OF BUILDINGS

1352
01:21:52,417 --> 01:21:57,923
A HUNDRED MILES AWAY

1353
01:21:59,958 --> 01:22:01,993
ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 21,

1354
01:22:01,993 --> 01:22:05,330
A LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER
NAMED FRANCIS CRAVER

1355
01:22:05,330 --> 01:22:06,998
NOTICED A DUST CLOUD APPEARING

1356
01:22:06,998 --> 01:22:11,303
OVER THE DORIC THEATRE
IN DOWNTOWN ELKHART, KANSAS.

1357
01:22:11,303 --> 01:22:15,807
HE GRABBED HIS CAMERA AND
CHRONICLED THE STORM'S DESCENT,

1358
01:22:15,807 --> 01:22:18,176
WHICH CAUSED THE
HIGH SCHOOL TO CANCEL

1359
01:22:18,176 --> 01:22:23,381
COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES
PLANNED FOR THAT EVENING.

1360
01:22:32,290 --> 01:22:37,128
IN HOOKER, OKLAHOMA, A FURNITURE

1361
01:22:37,128 --> 01:22:40,031
SAW ANOTHER WALL
OF DIRT APPROACHING.

1362
01:22:40,031 --> 01:22:43,268
HE SCRAMBLED TO THE TOP OF
THE TALLEST BUILDING IN TOWN

1363
01:22:43,268 --> 01:22:48,173
AND BEGAN TAKING PICTURES
WITH HIS BROWNIE CAMERA.

1364
01:23:00,585 --> 01:23:04,456
DROPPED 3 FEET OF DUST

1365
01:23:04,456 --> 01:23:08,960
ON HOOKER THE
SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.

1366
01:23:11,530 --> 01:23:15,200
BY THE END OF JULY, THE NUMBER
OF DESTRUCTIVE ST:

1367
01:23:15,200 --> 01:23:17,903
WOULD RISE TO 79;

1368
01:23:17,903 --> 01:23:21,840
BY THE END OF
THE TO 110.

1369
01:23:21,840 --> 01:23:24,576
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS

1370
01:23:24,576 --> 01:23:28,146
AND THE SAHARA DESERT,

1371
01:23:28,146 --> 01:23:30,081
WAS THAT A LOT OF
"DAMNED FOOLS"

1372
01:23:30,081 --> 01:23:33,485
WEREN'T TRYING TO
FARM THE SAHARA.

1373
01:23:33,485 --> 01:23:35,754
Williamson:
IF YOU WERE A FARMER,

1374
01:23:35,754 --> 01:23:36,755
YOU PLOWED THE GROUND,

1375
01:23:36,755 --> 01:23:39,124
YOU PUT SEED IN IT,
IT GREW UP.

1376
01:23:39,691 --> 01:23:45,030
YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THIS DIRT
THAT WAS GIVING YOU THIS FOOD

1377
01:23:45,030 --> 01:23:52,404
TO TURN ON YOU LIKE THAT
DESTROY YOU LIKE IT DID.

1378
01:23:53,772 --> 01:23:56,641
Robert McCoy: THOSE PEOPLE
THAT WAS REAL RELIGIOUS

1379
01:23:56,641 --> 01:24:02,781
DRIVE US OFF OF THE LAND.

1380
01:24:02,781 --> 01:24:05,216
I NEVER DID BELIEVE THAT,
NEVER DID BELIEVE IT,

1381
01:24:05,216 --> 01:24:09,454
AND WE BELIEVED WHATEVER DAD
BELIEVED, YOU KNOW, AS KIDS.

1382
01:24:09,454 --> 01:24:12,991
DAD SAID THEY'LL JUST BE
TIMES THAT THEY'LL BE BAD

1383
01:24:12,991 --> 01:24:15,260
AND TIMES THAT THEY WON'T.

1384
01:24:15,260 --> 01:24:19,364
Frantz: BOTH OF MY PARENTS
WERE VERY, VERY GOOD CHRISTIAN.

1385
01:24:19,364 --> 01:24:24,302
NO MATTER WHAT CAME ALONG,
THEY SEEMED TO ACCEPT IT.

1386
01:24:24,302 --> 01:24:28,473
THEY BOTH JUST SEEMED LIKE

1387
01:24:28,473 --> 01:24:29,641
DOING THE BEST THEY COULD,

1388
01:24:29,641 --> 01:24:32,210
THEY DIDN'T WHOLE
LOT OF GRIPING ABOUT IT.

1389
01:24:32,210 --> 01:24:36,114
Narrator: AROUND THE HOUSE,
VIRGINIA FRANTZ'S MOTHER

1390
01:24:36,114 --> 01:24:39,417
TAKE HER CHILDREN'S MINDS

1391
01:24:39,417 --> 01:24:43,688
OFF THE TROUBLES
STARING THEM IN THE FACE.

1392
01:24:43,688 --> 01:24:47,125
Frantz: § I'M PRESSING ON
THE UPWARD WAY

1393
01:24:47,125 --> 01:24:50,895
NEW HEIGHTS I'M GAINING
EVERY DAY

1394
01:24:50,895 --> 01:24:54,566
§ STILL PRAYING AS
I ONWARD BOUND §

1395
01:24:54,566 --> 01:24:59,170
IS HIGHER GROUND §

1396
01:24:59,170 --> 01:25:00,505
THEN IT WAS...

1397
01:25:00,505 --> 01:25:03,441
OH, LIFT ME UP
LET ME STAND

1398
01:25:03,441 --> 01:25:06,177
BY FAITH,
ON HEAVEN'S TABLE

1399
01:25:06,177 --> 01:25:09,547
HIGHER FAITH
I HAVE FOUND

1400
01:25:09,547 --> 01:25:13,018
OH, LIFT ME UP
ON HIGHER GROUND

1401
01:25:13,018 --> 01:25:16,554
HA HA! IT'S BEEN

1402
01:25:16,554 --> 01:25:19,357
SINCE I'VE HEARD THAT SONG.

1403
01:25:19,924 --> 01:25:24,162
I REMEMBER WE HAD THE RADIO,
AND HE'S LISTENING TO IT

1404
01:25:24,162 --> 01:25:27,532
TALKING ABOUT A FLOOD
ON THE OHIO

1405
01:25:27,532 --> 01:25:31,836
AND HOUSES FLOATING DOWN
AND PEOPLE ON THEM HOUSES.

1406
01:25:31,836 --> 01:25:33,204
MY DAD TURNED

1407
01:25:33,204 --> 01:25:36,508
"WE'VE GOT IT BETTER HERE
THAN THEY HAVE UP THERE."

1408
01:25:37,809 --> 01:25:42,080
SO HE THOUGHT THAT THE DIRT
WAS BETTER THAN THAT WATER.

1409
01:25:43,481 --> 01:25:45,750
Narrator: IN APRIL OF 1937,

1410
01:25:45,750 --> 01:25:50,321
FARMERS FROM 5 STATES MET
IN GUYMON,

1411
01:25:50,321 --> 01:25:54,025
"THE PROBLEM IN THE DUST BOWL
IS ENTIRELY TOO LARGE

1412
01:25:54,025 --> 01:25:57,662
"FOR THE REMAINING GOOD FARMERS
TO EVEN ST.

1413
01:25:57,662 --> 01:26:00,065
TO COPE WITH," THEY WROTE
THE GOVERNMENT.

1414
01:26:00,065 --> 01:26:05,837
"WE MUST HAVE HELP, AND IT'S
IMPERATIVE WE HAVE HELP NOW."

1415
01:26:05,837 --> 01:26:09,374
Riney-Kehrberg: I THINK
IT HAS TO BE EXTREME

1416
01:26:09,374 --> 01:26:11,342
FOR A GROUP OF FARMERS,

1417
01:26:11,342 --> 01:26:14,379
VERY INDEPENDENT-MINDED,
VERY STUBBORN,

1418
01:26:14,379 --> 01:26:18,283
'A GROUP THAT ON THE WHOLE
DOESN'T LIKE TO BE MEDDLED WITH

1419
01:26:18,283 --> 01:26:21,853
AND MEDDLE WITH US."

1420
01:26:21,853 --> 01:26:22,854
BUT AT THIS POINT,

1421
01:26:22,854 --> 01:26:26,524
THEY'RE INTO THEIR
SIXTH OF NO INCOME,

1422
01:26:26,524 --> 01:26:28,893
THEIR FIFTH OF NO CROPS,

1423
01:26:28,893 --> 01:26:33,465
AND THEY'RE SEEING NEIGHBORS'
FIELDS BLOWING INTO THEIR OWN,

1424
01:26:33,465 --> 01:26:37,135
THEY'RE SEEING ENORMOUS
CLOUDS OF DIRT IN THE AIR,

1425
01:26:37,135 --> 01:26:39,771
THEY DON'T KNOW
WHAT ELSE TO DO.

1426
01:26:39,771 --> 01:26:42,907
AND WHEN YOU DON'T
KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO

1427
01:26:42,907 --> 01:26:45,477
YOU'RE
OF LOSING YOUR FARM,

1428
01:26:45,477 --> 01:26:50,348
THEN YOU BEGIN TO ASK FOR
RATHER MORE EXTREME MEASURES

1429
01:26:50,348 --> 01:26:53,985
THAN YOU WOULD HAVE
ASKED FOR OTHERWISE.

1430
01:26:53,985 --> 01:26:56,855
IF ONE
MISHANDLED HIS LAND,

1431
01:26:56,855 --> 01:27:00,125
UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.

1432
01:27:00,125 --> 01:27:03,061
THOUSAND-ACRE FARM

1433
01:27:03,061 --> 01:27:04,996
BLOWING DIRT BADLY

1434
01:27:04,996 --> 01:27:08,533
TO DISRUPT THE LIVES
OF EVERYBODY AROUND HIM.

1435
01:27:08,533 --> 01:27:11,236
IF THAT FARM OPERATOR
ACTUALLY HAPPENED

1436
01:27:11,236 --> 01:27:14,239
TO BE LIVING IN
AMARILLO OR DENVER

1437
01:27:17,842 --> 01:27:22,580
THERE WAS NO AUTHORITY TO

1438
01:27:22,580 --> 01:27:26,785
Narrator: THE FARMERS WANTED
EVERY LANDOWNER TO BE REQUIRED

1439
01:27:26,785 --> 01:27:30,088
TO LEAVE STUBBLE ON
HARVESTED FIELDS,

1440
01:27:31,356 --> 01:27:34,692
TO HAVE ABANDONED ACRES
PLANTED WITH COVER CROPS.

1441
01:27:34,692 --> 01:27:39,664
TO DO IT, THEY EVEN SUGGESTED
THAT MARTIAL LAW BE DECLARED.

1442
01:27:39,664 --> 01:27:43,001
Egan: THEY WANTED THE ABILITY TO
CONDEMN OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY

1443
01:27:43,001 --> 01:27:45,069
IF THEY WEREN'T KEEPING IT UP.

1444
01:27:46,638 --> 01:27:48,606
TO HOW MOST OF
THESE PEOPLE THOUGHT.

1445
01:27:48,606 --> 01:27:50,909
IN SOME COUNTIES,
THEY WERE GRANTED AUTHORITY

1446
01:27:50,909 --> 01:27:52,277
TO GO OUT
CONDEMN SOMEONE,

1447
01:27:52,277 --> 01:27:54,379
TO SLAP THEM IN JAIL
IF NEED BE,

1448
01:27:54,379 --> 01:27:55,980
IF HE WAS LETTING
HIS LAND BLOW AGAIN.

1449
01:27:55,980 --> 01:28:00,151
VERY AUTHORITARIAN MEASURE
FOR FOLKS WHO

1450
01:28:00,151 --> 01:28:03,955
CONSIDERED THEMSELVES
HIGHLY INDIVIDUALISTIC.

1451
01:28:05,623 --> 01:28:08,393
ALL IDEOLOGY GOES OUT
THE WINDOW.

1452
01:28:08,393 --> 01:28:09,794
SO HERE IS A GROUP OF PEOPLE

1453
01:28:09,794 --> 01:28:12,197
WHO VERY ANTI-STATE,
ANTI-GOVERNMENT,

1454
01:28:12,197 --> 01:28:14,032
GOVERNMENT INTERFERING

1455
01:28:14,032 --> 01:28:17,168
WITH ANYTHING THEY DID
TELLING THEM WHAT TO DO,

1456
01:28:17,168 --> 01:28:18,970
BUT WHO, WHEN THE
CHIPS DOWN,

1457
01:28:18,970 --> 01:28:21,906
GOING TO ASK FOR
THE ONLY HELP THEY GET,

1458
01:28:21,906 --> 01:28:25,009
AND THAT'S FROM THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

1459
01:28:25,009 --> 01:28:26,377
Narrator: EVENTUALLY,

1460
01:28:26,377 --> 01:28:29,414
SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS
WERE ESTABLISHED,

1461
01:28:29,414 --> 01:28:35,520
MEANT TO ENFORCE BETTER FARMING

1462
01:28:36,955 --> 01:28:39,924
AT THE SAME TIME,
THE GOVERNMENT WAS BUYING BACK

1463
01:28:39,924 --> 01:28:43,995
AS MUCH LAND AS IT COULD
FROM DUSTED-OUT HOMESTEADERS

1464
01:28:43,995 --> 01:28:47,966
AND SLOWLY RETURNING IT

1465
01:28:47,966 --> 01:28:52,303
GASOLINE FOR THEIR TRACTORS

1466
01:28:52,303 --> 01:28:55,840
IF THEY WERE DOING

1467
01:28:57,208 --> 01:29:02,013
THEY EVEN RECEIVED PAYMENTS

1468
01:29:02,013 --> 01:29:07,252
Worster: "WE HAVE GOT TO BEGIN
TO INDUCE PEOPLE TO PLANT LESS."

1469
01:29:08,419 --> 01:29:10,455
YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE
THEIR AWAY FROM THEM.

1470
01:29:10,455 --> 01:29:13,524
THEM NOT TO PRODUCE.

1471
01:29:13,524 --> 01:29:16,828
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE GREAT

1472
01:29:16,828 --> 01:29:17,729
THEY COULD KEEP THEIR LAND,

1473
01:29:17,729 --> 01:29:22,267
THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO OUT EVERY
FALL WHEAT AGAIN,

1474
01:29:22,267 --> 01:29:24,302
THE GOVERNMENT WOULD
SEND THEM A CHECK,

1475
01:29:24,302 --> 01:29:27,005
THIS COULD GO ON,

1476
01:29:27,005 --> 01:29:29,440
AND UNTIL BETTER TIMES EMERGED.

1477
01:29:29,440 --> 01:29:31,075
Hurt:
NOBODY KNEW WHETHER

1478
01:29:31,075 --> 01:29:34,779
OR HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE.

1479
01:29:34,779 --> 01:29:38,883
MIGHT BE 50 YEARS,
MIGHT BE 70 YEARS; NOBODY KNEW.

1480
01:29:38,883 --> 01:29:40,919
IT'S A TIME PERIOD IN WHICH
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

1481
01:29:40,919 --> 01:29:45,623
ENTERED AGRICULTURE AS NEVER
BEFORE, AND IT'S NEVER LEFT.

1482
01:29:45,623 --> 01:29:49,093
Narrator: MEANWHILE,
NEAR DALHART,

1483
01:29:49,093 --> 01:29:51,896
DUNES THAT HAD ONCE
TOWERED 36 FEET

1484
01:29:51,896 --> 01:29:54,933
FINNELL'S EMPLOYEE'S CARS

1485
01:29:54,933 --> 01:30:00,538
HAD BEEN TAMED IN 18 MONTHS OF
PAINSTAKING RESTORATION WORK.

1486
01:30:00,538 --> 01:30:05,543
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN CONTOURED
FIELDS THAT CAPTURED THE RAIN

1487
01:30:05,543 --> 01:30:09,714
AND THOSE FARMED THE

1488
01:30:09,714 --> 01:30:11,349
SUCH TANGIBLE RESULTS,

1489
01:30:11,349 --> 01:30:15,586
MORE AND MORE FARMERS DECIDED
TO TAKE FINNELL'S ADVICE.

1490
01:30:15,586 --> 01:30:20,191
BY THE END OF 1937, DESPITE
THE PERSISTENT DUST STORMS,

1491
01:30:20,191 --> 01:30:22,994
THE AMOUNT OF
DANGEROUSLY ERODED

1492
01:30:22,994 --> 01:30:27,031
HAD BEEN REDUCED
BY MORE THAN HALF.

1493
01:30:30,735 --> 01:30:34,572
IN 1938, THE RAINFALL
EDGED UPWARD--

1494
01:30:34,572 --> 01:30:36,941
18 INCHES
IN BOISE CITY--

1495
01:30:36,941 --> 01:30:41,212
AND ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF DUST

1496
01:30:41,212 --> 01:30:43,081
SOME FARMERS IN NO MAN'S LAND

1497
01:30:43,081 --> 01:30:47,251
BROUGHT IN A WHEAT CROP
OF 10 BUSHELS PER ACRE--

1498
01:30:47,251 --> 01:30:49,420
NOTHING CLOSE TO A BUMPER CROP,

1499
01:30:49,420 --> 01:30:53,891
BUT ALMOST BOUNTIFUL
TO PREVIOUS YEARS.

1500
01:30:53,891 --> 01:30:59,430
THE DROUGHT SEEMED
TO BE LOSING ITS GRIP.

1501
01:30:59,430 --> 01:31:02,533
WHEN THE WORST
WAS ARGUABLY OVER,

1502
01:31:02,533 --> 01:31:05,169
WHEN THEY SEEN THE
BACKHAND OF NATURE,

1503
01:31:05,169 --> 01:31:10,708
WHEN THEY'D SEEN MORE YENOM
AND ANGER AND OUTRIGHT EVIL,

1504
01:31:10,708 --> 01:31:13,344
THEY CALLED IT,
THAT THE SKY THROWN AT THEM,

1505
01:31:13,344 --> 01:31:15,513
THAT ANY HUMAN BEINGS
COULD EVER TAKE,

1506
01:31:15,513 --> 01:31:17,015
THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OVER,

1507
01:31:17,015 --> 01:31:20,018
CAME ONE
ALMOST BIBLICAL PLAGUE.

1508
01:31:20,852 --> 01:31:22,987
MOSTLY WERE CRAWLING,

1509
01:31:22,987 --> 01:31:27,258
BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU SCARE THEM,
THEY'D JUMP FLY.

1510
01:31:27,258 --> 01:31:29,894
BUT MOST OF THEM
WERE JUST CRAWLING,

1511
01:31:29,894 --> 01:31:32,764
JUST LIKE A WHOLE SEA OF THEM.

1512
01:31:32,764 --> 01:31:37,001
THEY ATE
EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.

1513
01:31:37,635 --> 01:31:41,506
IT IT ALMOST LOOKED LIKE
THE GROUND WAS MOVING,

1514
01:31:41,506 --> 01:31:43,141
THEY WOULD GET THAT BIG,

1515
01:31:43,141 --> 01:31:46,778
AND THEY WOULD EAT ON
THE BARK OF THE TREES,

1516
01:31:46,778 --> 01:31:48,246
AND THEY ATE EVERYTHING

1517
01:31:48,246 --> 01:31:51,649
THAT THEY COULD COME
IN CONTACT WITH.

1518
01:31:53,017 --> 01:31:57,155
FROM HERE, THEY LEFT ON,
AND WHAT I UNDERSTAND,

1519
01:31:57,155 --> 01:32:01,325
SOMEWHERES IN
THEY GREW WINGS,

1520
01:32:01,325 --> 01:32:03,494
THEY ALL TOOK FLIGHT,

1521
01:32:03,494 --> 01:32:05,763
THEY
THEY SHADED THE SUN

1522
01:32:05,763 --> 01:32:09,100
BECAUSE THEY WERE
ALL TOGETHER.

1523
01:32:09,100 --> 01:32:12,670
Narrator: FARMERS HOOKED UP
SLEDS TO THEIR TRACTORS

1524
01:32:12,670 --> 01:32:14,872
AND DRAGGED THEM

1525
01:32:14,872 --> 01:32:18,076
TRAPPING GRASSHOPPERS
IN VATS OF KEROSENE.

1526
01:32:18,076 --> 01:32:20,978
SOME TRIED CRUSHING THEM
UNDER ROLLERS.

1527
01:32:20,978 --> 01:32:24,115
THEIR NATIONAL GUARDS

1528
01:32:24,115 --> 01:32:26,584
TO SPREAD POISON,

1529
01:32:26,584 --> 01:32:31,155
MOLASSES OIL,
ALONG THE ROADSIDES.

1530
01:32:31,155 --> 01:32:35,626
HOW MUCH MORE OUT

1531
01:32:35,626 --> 01:32:37,428
WHEN THEY'RE NOW
POURING STRYCHNINE

1532
01:32:37,428 --> 01:32:39,263
ON WHAT HAD BEEN THE

1533
01:32:39,263 --> 01:32:42,567
TO KILL GRASSHOPPERS WHO

1534
01:32:42,567 --> 01:32:45,203
BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING
ELSE LEFT TO LIVE?

1535
01:32:45,203 --> 01:32:48,172
THAT ITSELF, BY THE TIME
THEY WERE POURING POISON

1536
01:32:48,172 --> 01:32:50,541
ON THE THAT
BEEN KILLED BY THEM,

1537
01:32:50,541 --> 01:32:52,710
I THINK THEY HAD GONE
SO FAR DOWN THE ROAD

1538
01:32:52,710 --> 01:32:55,079
IN ALTERING THIS

1539
01:32:55,079 --> 01:32:58,516
THAT IT WAS ALMOST
BEYOND

1540
01:33:02,320 --> 01:33:05,223
Robertson: ALL THE
DEMOCRATS WERE EXCITED.

1541
01:33:05,223 --> 01:33:09,093
THERE WERE PEOPLE IN AMARILLO
WHO DID NOT LIKE ROOSEVELT,

1542
01:33:09,093 --> 01:33:13,498
THEY WERE USUALLY
THE WEALTHY PEOPLE.

1543
01:33:13,498 --> 01:33:17,802
I KNOW ONE OF THEM WAS--
ONE OF THE RICH MEN I HEARD SAY,

1544
01:33:17,802 --> 01:33:24,375
"THIS SOCIALISTIC REGIME
IS NOT AMERICAN.

1545
01:33:24,375 --> 01:33:26,711
IT'S ANTI-AMERICAN."

1546
01:33:26,711 --> 01:33:29,313
THOSE OF US WHO
WERE, YOU KNOW,

1547
01:33:29,313 --> 01:33:34,085
APPRECIATED THE PROGRAMS
THAT ROOSEVELT STARTED.

1548
01:33:34,085 --> 01:33:36,454
Narrator: ON JULY 11, 1938,

1549
01:33:36,454 --> 01:33:40,158
TRAIN BEARING THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES

1550
01:33:40,158 --> 01:33:43,261
PULLED INTO THE STATION
AT AMARILLO, TEXAS,

1551
01:33:43,261 --> 01:33:46,697
IN THE DUST BOWL.

1552
01:33:46,697 --> 01:33:48,466
IN HONOR OF THE
PRESIDENTS VISIT,

1553
01:33:48,466 --> 01:33:51,869
ORGANIZERS HAD ASSEMBLED
WHAT THEY CLAIMED TO BE

1554
01:33:51,869 --> 01:33:56,507
THE WORLD'S LARGEST MARCHING
BAND: 3,000 PEOPLE--

1555
01:33:56,507 --> 01:34:00,378
ANYONE, THEY SAID,
BETWEEN THE AGES OF

1556
01:34:05,249 --> 01:34:08,719
ESTIMATED CROWD OF 200,000--

1557
01:34:08,719 --> 01:34:11,956
TIMES THE POPULATION
OF THE CITY ITSELF--

1558
01:34:11,956 --> 01:34:15,026
TURNED OUT,
LINING THE 3-MILE ROUTE

1559
01:34:15,026 --> 01:34:19,730
OF ROOSEVELT'S MOTORCADE
TO ELLWOOD

1560
01:34:21,065 --> 01:34:23,634
"PEOPLE WHO ARE IGNORANT
AND PEOPLE WHO THINK

1561
01:34:23,634 --> 01:34:27,738
ONLY IN TERMS OF THE MOMENT,"
THE PRESIDENT SAID,

1562
01:34:27,738 --> 01:34:29,574
"SCOFF AT OUR EFFORTS SAY,

1563
01:34:29,574 --> 01:34:32,843
"OH, LET THE NEXT GENERATION
TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.

1564
01:34:32,843 --> 01:34:35,546
"IF PEOPLE OUT IN THE DRY
PARTS OF THE COUNTRY

1565
01:34:35,546 --> 01:34:38,983
CANNOT LIVE THERE,
LET THEM MOVE OUT."

1566
01:34:38,983 --> 01:34:41,652
Egan: AND THEN THE MOST
AMAZING THING HAPPENS.

1567
01:34:41,652 --> 01:34:44,889
REMEMBER, THE DROUGHT HAS

1568
01:34:46,390 --> 01:34:47,458
THESE CLOUDS COME
OUT OF NOWHERE.

1569
01:34:47,458 --> 01:34:50,728
IT'S A JULY DAY.
IT'S HOT SEASON.

1570
01:34:50,728 --> 01:34:52,029
CLOUDS BUNCH, IT RAINS.

1571
01:34:52,029 --> 01:34:55,066
IT'S AN OLD-FASHIONED
GULLY-WASHER.

1572
01:34:55,066 --> 01:34:58,436
AND THE RAIN COMES OFF OF
ROOSEVELT, AND HE CONTINUES.

1573
01:34:58,436 --> 01:35:00,571
HE'S GOT HIS CLAMPED
KNEES UP THERE,

1574
01:35:00,571 --> 01:35:02,473
AND HE CONTINUES

1575
01:35:02,473 --> 01:35:04,775
"I'M NEVER GONNA DESERT YOU."

1576
01:35:04,775 --> 01:35:08,479
Narrator: "I THINK THIS
LITTLE SHOWER WE HAVE HAD,"

1577
01:35:08,479 --> 01:35:12,550
THE PRESIDENT BEAMED,
"IS A MIGHTY GOOD OMEN."

1578
01:35:12,550 --> 01:35:14,819
Robertson: AND WE HAD
BEEN WISHING FOR RAIN,

1579
01:35:14,819 --> 01:35:18,923
PRAYING FOR RAIN, AND IT
RAINED THE DAY HE CAME.

1580
01:35:18,923 --> 01:35:24,228
IT RAINED. SO HE TOOK
CREDIT FOR THAT.

1581
01:35:28,933 --> 01:35:33,771
Narrator: A SNOWSTORM IN
EARLY 1939 BROUGHT HOPE,

1582
01:35:33,771 --> 01:35:36,340
WHICH GREW WHEN THE
SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE

1583
01:35:36,340 --> 01:35:39,510
ANNOUNCED THAT, THANKS TO
BETTER FARMING PRACTICES,

1584
01:35:39,510 --> 01:35:44,148
CONDITION IN 7 YEARS.

1585
01:35:44,148 --> 01:35:45,483
BY THE END OF THE

1586
01:35:45,483 --> 01:35:51,522
THE DUST BOWL HAD SHRUNK

1587
01:35:51,522 --> 01:35:53,324
I DON'T KNOW

1588
01:35:53,324 --> 01:35:55,893
WE'D GET A LITTLE RAIN
LITTLE RAIN.

1589
01:35:55,893 --> 01:36:01,699
THE THING I REMEMBER,
THAT WHEN IT FIRST STARTED,

1590
01:36:01,699 --> 01:36:04,101
THE SUNFLOWERS

1591
01:36:04,101 --> 01:36:09,707
THEY WERE IN OUR PASTURE

1592
01:36:09,707 --> 01:36:12,610
WHEN WE WENT TO GET
OUR MILK COWS IN,

1593
01:36:12,610 --> 01:36:13,944
WHICH WE DID ON HORSEBACK--

1594
01:36:13,944 --> 01:36:17,281
YOU TO HUNT THEM
BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T SEE THEM--

1595
01:36:17,281 --> 01:36:22,853
AND THE SUNFLOWERS WOULD
BE UP ABOVE OUR HEAD.

1596
01:36:22,853 --> 01:36:24,288
Narrator: IN FOLLETT, TEXAS,

1597
01:36:24,288 --> 01:36:27,758
TRIXIE TRAVIS BROWN'S FATHER
HAD BEEN TRYING FOR YEARS

1598
01:36:27,758 --> 01:36:33,497
TO PERSUADE HIS WIFE TO PULL UP
STAKES MOVE TO IDAHO.

1599
01:36:33,497 --> 01:36:36,701
Trixie Travis Brown:
MY MOTHER WAS VERY RELUCTANT

1600
01:36:36,701 --> 01:36:40,171
BECAUSE ALL OF HER FAMILY~--
YOU KNOW, WE HAD,

1601
01:36:40,171 --> 01:36:46,777
PROBABLY 50 PEOPLE
OF THE 437 IN FOLLETT

1602
01:36:46,777 --> 01:36:48,446
WERE ALL RELATIVES.

1603
01:36:53,184 --> 01:36:59,457
MY FATHER, HE EVEN HAD THE
LAND PICKED OUT IN IDAHO.

1604
01:36:59,457 --> 01:37:01,592
HE HAD THE MAP OUT.

1605
01:37:01,592 --> 01:37:05,463
MOTHER JUST KEPT
HOLDING OUT.

1606
01:37:06,364 --> 01:37:11,736
Narrator: THEN, SLOWLY,
THINGS BEGAN IMPROVING.

1607
01:37:13,204 --> 01:37:17,641
Brown: WE BEGAN TO GO OUT
ON A REGULAR BASIS.

1608
01:37:17,641 --> 01:37:21,712
MOTHER AND DAD LIKED

1609
01:37:21,712 --> 01:37:25,850
MOTHER GOT OUT WITH
ALL THE IN THE HOUSE

1610
01:37:25,850 --> 01:37:29,120
THAT SHE WOULD SAY,
"GEORGE, LET'S TAKE

1611
01:37:29,120 --> 01:37:31,856
OUT TO LOOK AT THE WHEAT."

1612
01:37:34,024 --> 01:37:39,397
SEE HOW HIGH IT WAS
TO US CHILDREN.

1613
01:37:39,397 --> 01:37:41,098
WE'D ST. THERE,

1614
01:37:41,098 --> 01:37:45,202
AND THEY'D SORT OF MEASURE
THE HEIGHT OF THE WHEAT.

1615
01:37:45,202 --> 01:37:49,373
THEN WHEN IT BEGAN
TO REALLY DEVELOP,

1616
01:37:49,373 --> 01:37:55,413
BE A REALLY GOOD WHEAT CROP.

1617
01:37:57,948 --> 01:38:00,184
THE WENT INTO A DRAWER,

1618
01:38:00,184 --> 01:38:07,958
THE TO IDAHO
WAS CANCELLED.

1619
01:38:07,958 --> 01:38:11,462
White: NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW

1620
01:38:11,462 --> 01:38:13,864
WHAT IT MEANT TO YOU
TO HAVE IT RAIN.

1621
01:38:13,864 --> 01:38:17,368
EVEN TO THIS DAY,
WE RAIN THE OTHER DAY,

1622
01:38:17,368 --> 01:38:22,072
AND I THOUGHT WHEN IT WAS
RAINING HOW NICE THIS WAS,

1623
01:38:24,442 --> 01:38:28,512
AND THAT'S WHAT WE WHAT WE
PRAYED, WHAT WE YEARNED FOR

1624
01:38:28,512 --> 01:38:33,017
WAS THE RAIN THAT CAME THAT
WOULD SOAK INTO THE GROUND

1625
01:38:33,017 --> 01:38:39,089
LET US RAISE A CROP
EVENTUALLY STOP THE DUST.

1626
01:38:52,837 --> 01:38:56,841
Floyd Coen: WELL, WHEN IT
DID START RAINING,

1627
01:38:59,043 --> 01:39:02,780
WE'D GO OUT IN THE RAIN
AND HOLD OUR HANDS UP

1628
01:39:02,780 --> 01:39:05,549
LET THAT HIT
OUR OUR FACE

1629
01:39:05,549 --> 01:39:07,852
WORSHIPPED THAT RAIN

1630
01:39:11,121 --> 01:39:15,226
Glover: IT JUST SEEMED HAPPIER
EVERYWHERE YOU WENT--

1631
01:39:15,226 --> 01:39:18,128
EVERYBODY, NOT JUST MY FOLKS.

1632
01:39:18,128 --> 01:39:21,298
WHEN WE'D GO TO THE
NEIGHBORS EITHER SIDE,

1633
01:39:21,298 --> 01:39:23,701
THE THRASHERS
OR THE FREEMANS,

1634
01:39:23,701 --> 01:39:30,341
WE ALWAYS FELT LIKE
THINGS GETTING

1635
01:39:30,341 --> 01:39:32,009
I REMEMBER THE FIRST YEAR

1636
01:39:32,009 --> 01:39:38,048
THAT WE PROBABLY GOOD CROP
THE DIRTY THIRTIES,

1637
01:39:38,048 --> 01:39:40,217
WE GOT STUCK IN THE FIELD

1638
01:39:40,217 --> 01:39:42,653
DADDY DIDN'T
EVEN GRIPE ABOUT IT,

1639
01:39:42,653 --> 01:39:45,689
WE WERE HAVING RAIN.

1640
01:39:45,689 --> 01:39:48,826
Narrator: AT HIS FARM
IN THE PANHANDLE,

1641
01:39:48,826 --> 01:39:52,363
DOROTHY KLEFFMAN'S FATHER

1642
01:39:52,363 --> 01:39:57,167
TO BRING HIS WIFE
CHILDREN BACK FROM ARKANSAS.

1643
01:39:57,167 --> 01:39:58,035
THEY HAVE A SAYING HERE

1644
01:39:58,035 --> 01:40:01,138
THAT IF YOU OUTA
OF BOOTS HERE IN THE PANHANDLE,

1645
01:40:01,138 --> 01:40:05,442
YOU'LL COME BACK,
WHEN WE DID COME BACK,

1646
01:40:05,442 --> 01:40:07,745
THE LAND HAD BEEN RECOVERED.

1647
01:40:07,745 --> 01:40:11,048
THEY HAD LEARNED HOW
TO TERRACE THE LAND.

1648
01:40:11,048 --> 01:40:15,452
I REMEMBER MY
WHEAT CROP,

1649
01:40:15,452 --> 01:40:19,757
I THINK IN 1940, THAT WAS
A GOOD WHEAT CROP.

1650
01:40:19,757 --> 01:40:23,227
WE THOUGHT,
WE'RE BACK.

1651
01:40:34,572 --> 01:40:38,976
Henderson portrayer:
DECEMBER 13, 1944.

1652
01:40:38,976 --> 01:40:42,913
WE FOR ONCE
SUPER-ABUNDANCE OF RAIN

1653
01:40:45,583 --> 01:40:47,818
WHEAT WAS A FAIR CROP.

1654
01:40:47,818 --> 01:40:51,121
BETWEEN RAINS.

1655
01:40:51,121 --> 01:40:55,125
WE HAVE AMPLE PASTURAGE
WITH THE INCREASED RAINFALL,

1656
01:40:55,125 --> 01:40:58,796
AND CATTLE HAVE DONE
REASONABLY WELL.

1657
01:40:58,796 --> 01:41:00,264
AND WE HAD A NICE GARDEN,

1658
01:41:00,264 --> 01:41:04,568
WITH MOST OF OUR WINTER'S
LIVING ST AWAY.

1659
01:41:04,568 --> 01:41:07,671
Narrator: JUST AS IT
YEARS EARLIER,

1660
01:41:07,671 --> 01:41:09,707
A WAR IN EUROPE
AND THE RETURN

1661
01:41:09,707 --> 01:41:11,875
OF A RELATIVELY WET
WEATHER CYCLE

1662
01:41:11,875 --> 01:41:15,512
BROUGHT PROSPERITY
TO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

1663
01:41:15,512 --> 01:41:21,218
AND HARVESTS WERE BOUNTIFUL.

1664
01:41:21,986 --> 01:41:25,055
Henderson portrayer:
MAY 1945,

1665
01:41:26,790 --> 01:41:30,828
MOST OF THE MATERIALS FOR
PIPING WATER INTO THE HOUSE,

1666
01:41:30,828 --> 01:41:32,696
WITH A SINK IN THE KITCHEN

1667
01:41:32,696 --> 01:41:36,000
AND INDOOR TOILET
IN THE BATHROOM.

1668
01:41:36,000 --> 01:41:39,169
BUT WE NEED A SUPERMAN
TO DO THE

1669
01:41:39,169 --> 01:41:41,639
WE HAVE BOTH WORN DOWN FAST

1670
01:41:41,639 --> 01:41:47,845
DURING THE YEARS OF EXTREME
DESOLATION SINCE 1931.

1671
01:41:47,845 --> 01:41:51,949
EVERY SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENT
NOW SEEMS TO DEMAND

1672
01:41:51,949 --> 01:41:55,152
GREATER OUTPUT
OF ENERGY RESOLUTION

1673
01:41:55,152 --> 01:41:59,189
THAN IN THE YEARS
THAT ARE GONE.

1674
01:41:59,189 --> 01:42:01,692
Narrator:
CAROLINE HENDERSON WAS GRATEFUL

1675
01:42:01,692 --> 01:42:04,128
FOR BETTER WEATHER
AND HIGHER PRICES,

1676
01:42:04,128 --> 01:42:08,065
BUT SHE HER HUSBAND WILL
WERE NOW NEARING 70.

1677
01:42:08,065 --> 01:42:11,935
SHE SUFFERED FROM ASTHMA,
HE HAD A HEART CONDITION,

1678
01:42:11,935 --> 01:42:13,837
AND NEITHER OF THEM COULD FORGET

1679
01:42:13,837 --> 01:42:17,908
OF THE DUST BOWL.

1680
01:42:17,908 --> 01:42:20,344
Henderson
IT IS GOOD TO REMEMBER

1681
01:42:20,344 --> 01:42:24,448
THAT THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE
RECOGNIZE NO FAVORITES

1682
01:42:24,448 --> 01:42:30,854
AND CHERISH NO HOSTILITY
OR SMALL VINDICTIVENESS;

1683
01:42:30,854 --> 01:42:35,092
THAT BEFORE SUN RAIN,
ST WINDS,

1684
01:42:35,092 --> 01:42:37,828
KIND BENEFICENCE,

1685
01:42:37,828 --> 01:42:42,433
WE ALL STAND UPON
ONE COMMON LEVEL.

1686
01:42:44,702 --> 01:42:48,238
Narrator: IN THE FIRST
5 YEARS OF THE 1940s,

1687
01:42:48,238 --> 01:42:53,610
DEVOTED TO WHEAT EXPANDED
BY NEARLY 3 MILLION ACRES.

1688
01:42:53,610 --> 01:42:57,147
THE SPECULATORS AND
SUITCASE FARMERS RETURNED.

1689
01:42:57,147 --> 01:43:01,719
AN ACRE DURING THE DUST BOWL

1690
01:43:01,719 --> 01:43:08,759
SOMETIMES 100 DOLLARS AN ACRE.

1691
01:43:08,759 --> 01:43:11,662
EVEN SOME OF
THE MOST MARGINAL

1692
01:43:11,662 --> 01:43:13,964
WERE PUT BACK
INTO PRODUCTION.

1693
01:43:13,964 --> 01:43:16,567
"THE SAME PROCESS,"
HOWARD FINNELL WARNED,

1694
01:43:16,567 --> 01:43:20,671
"IS STARTING AGAIN
IN THE VERY SAME PLACE."

1695
01:43:20,671 --> 01:43:23,307
"Il ALWAYS
I WAS THE ONLY ONE

1696
01:43:23,307 --> 01:43:25,542
WHO COULD REMEMBER
THOSE DREADFUL DAYS,"

1697
01:43:25,542 --> 01:43:28,412
CAROLINE CONFIDED
TO A FRIEND, ADDING,

1698
01:43:28,412 --> 01:43:34,384
"PEOPLE HAVE SIMPLY ASSUMED
IT COULDN'T HAPPEN AGAIN."

1699
01:43:35,252 --> 01:43:37,755
THEN, IN THE EARLY 1950s,

1700
01:43:37,755 --> 01:43:42,626
WHEN THE WET CYCLE ENDED
DROUGHT REPLACED IT,

1701
01:43:42,626 --> 01:43:46,597
PICKED UP ONCE MORE.

1702
01:43:47,798 --> 01:43:52,503
BUT THE DAMAGE
TO THE WAS MITIGATED

1703
01:43:52,503 --> 01:43:55,339
HAD CONTINUED USING

1704
01:43:55,339 --> 01:43:58,976
HOWARD FINNELL'S
CONSERVATION PRACTICES,

1705
01:43:58,976 --> 01:44:03,147
AND BECAUSE NEARLY 4 MILLION
ACRES HAD BEEN PURCHASED

1706
01:44:03,147 --> 01:44:05,349
BY THE GOVERNMENT
DURING THE DUST BOWL

1707
01:44:05,349 --> 01:44:09,353
AND PERMANENTLY RESTORED

1708
01:44:09,353 --> 01:44:11,922
THE SOIL DIDN'T BLOW AS MUCH.

1709
01:44:11,922 --> 01:44:16,693
HAD BEEN LEARNED.

1710
01:44:16,693 --> 01:44:18,362
WE WANT IT NOW,

1711
01:44:18,362 --> 01:44:23,734
IF IT IF IT MAKES MONEY
NOW, IT'S A GOOD IDEA.

1712
01:44:23,734 --> 01:44:26,970
BUT IT ISN'T NECESSARILY
IT'S A GOOD IDEA.

1713
01:44:26,970 --> 01:44:33,177
IF THE THINGS WE'RE DOING ARE
GOING TO MESS UP THE FUTURE,

1714
01:44:35,646 --> 01:44:39,082
DON'T DEAL ON THE MOMENT.

1715
01:44:39,082 --> 01:44:43,187
TAKE THE LONG-TERM
LOOK AT THINGS.

1716
01:44:44,855 --> 01:44:50,460
Egan: I THINK THAT THE MOST
BASIC LESSON WAS, BE HUMBLE.

1717
01:44:50,460 --> 01:44:52,129
RESPECT THE LAND ITSELF.

1718
01:44:52,129 --> 01:44:53,864
LISTEN TO WHAT
IT'S TRYING TO TELL YOU.

1719
01:44:53,864 --> 01:44:58,468
IF THE WIND BLOWS 60, 70 MILES
AN HOUR FOR 50% OF THE YEAR,

1720
01:44:58,468 --> 01:45:02,005
ONE THING IS GROWING THERE,

1721
01:45:02,739 --> 01:45:06,343
DON'T TRY TO PUT THINGS IN PLACE
THERE THAT DON'T BELONG THERE.

1722
01:45:06,343 --> 01:45:07,344
LISTEN TO THE LAND ITSELF.

1723
01:45:07,344 --> 01:45:12,382
Narrator: BUT NOW, INSTEAD OF
LOOKING TO THE SKIES FOR RAIN,

1724
01:45:12,382 --> 01:45:15,586
FARMERS BEGAN
LOOKING BENEATH THE SOIL,

1725
01:45:15,586 --> 01:45:19,656
WHERE THEY BELIEVED A MORE
RELIABLE--AND IRRESISTIBLE--

1726
01:45:19,656 --> 01:45:22,593
COULD BE FOUND--

1727
01:45:22,593 --> 01:45:26,964
THE VAST OGALLALA AQUIFER,
AN UNDERGROUND RESERVOIR

1728
01:45:26,964 --> 01:45:29,900
STRETCHING FROM
NEBRASKA TO NORTH TEXAS,

1729
01:45:29,900 --> 01:45:33,871
FILLED WITH WATER THAT HAD
SEEPED DOWN FOR CENTURIES

1730
01:45:33,871 --> 01:45:36,306
AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE.

1731
01:45:36,306 --> 01:45:40,644
COULD PUMP THE ANCIENT WATER UP,

1732
01:45:40,644 --> 01:45:43,881
IRRIGATE THEIR LAND,
GROW OTHER CROPS,

1733
01:45:43,881 --> 01:45:46,717
LIKE FEED
FOR CATTLE PIGS,

1734
01:45:46,717 --> 01:45:52,422
WHICH REQUIRE EVEN MORE
MOISTURE THAN WHEAT.

1735
01:45:52,956 --> 01:45:54,658
Charles Shaw:
THE ONLY THING

1736
01:45:54,658 --> 01:45:56,059
THAT'S HOLDING
THAT GROUND TOGETHER

1737
01:45:56,059 --> 01:45:59,129
IS THAT IRRIGATION WATER
THAT COMES OUT OF THE

1738
01:45:59,129 --> 01:46:04,568
THE IS ABOUT
100 FEET DEEP ON THE AVERAGE.

1739
01:46:08,572 --> 01:46:10,841
WE'VE GOT ABOUT
YEARS OF WATER LEFT

1740
01:46:10,841 --> 01:46:15,445
UNDER THESE 8 STATES OR THE
PORTIONS OF THESE 8 STATES,

1741
01:46:15,445 --> 01:46:16,747
AND IT'S DISAPPEARING.

1742
01:46:16,747 --> 01:46:19,416
IT'S GONNA BE
GONE IN 20 YEARS.

1743
01:46:19,416 --> 01:46:24,221
IF YOU LOSE THE WATER,
YOU'RE GONNA LOSE THE LAND.

1744
01:46:24,221 --> 01:46:26,723
AND THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL.

1745
01:46:26,723 --> 01:46:31,695
Lewis: MY FOLKS PUT IN ONE
OF THE FIRST IRRIGATION WELLS,

1746
01:46:31,695 --> 01:46:33,931
WE THOUGHT
IT WAS A GREAT IDEA.

1747
01:46:33,931 --> 01:46:40,137
THE BEGINNING OF A BAD IDEA.

1748
01:46:40,137 --> 01:46:45,609
HAVING IRRIGATION WATER
PERMITTED US TO DO SOME THINGS

1749
01:46:45,609 --> 01:46:50,013
THAT WEREN'T GOOD
FOR THE LONG TERM.

1750
01:46:50,013 --> 01:46:54,718
SOME OF THESE DAYS...
I'LL BE GONE,

1751
01:46:54,718 --> 01:46:58,155
BUT SOMEBODY IS GONNA
BE OUT OF WATER.

1752
01:46:58,155 --> 01:47:02,793
FOLKS ARE GONNA HAVE TROUBLE
GETTING ENOUGH DRINKING WATER,

1753
01:47:02,793 --> 01:47:04,861
THEY'LL LOOK BACK SAY,

1754
01:47:04,861 --> 01:47:09,499
"AND TO THINK BACK THERE
IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES,

1755
01:47:09,499 --> 01:47:14,104
THEY USED UP OUR DRINKING
WATER TO RAISE HOG FEED."

1756
01:47:14,104 --> 01:47:17,307
Worster: I THINK THE DUST BOWL
HAPPEN AGAIN--

1757
01:47:17,307 --> 01:47:19,710
MOST EMPHATICALLY

1758
01:47:19,710 --> 01:47:21,845
IT BECOME
CREEPING SAHARA.

1759
01:47:21,845 --> 01:47:25,082
THE SAHARA DESERT, A FEW
THOUSAND YEARS AGO,

1760
01:47:26,683 --> 01:47:28,952
WE KNOW THAT IT'S POSSIBLE

1761
01:47:28,952 --> 01:47:33,190
TO TURN FROM SAVANNAH
TOA ST DESERT,

1762
01:47:33,190 --> 01:47:36,626
AND THERE'S NO REASON TO
THINK THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN

1763
01:47:36,626 --> 01:47:39,363
IN THE MIDDLE
OF NORTH AMERICA.

1764
01:47:41,865 --> 01:47:45,902
Henderson portrayer:
AUGUST 1, 1965.

1765
01:47:45,902 --> 01:47:48,338
ANOTHER HOT
DESOLATE DAY.

1766
01:47:48,338 --> 01:47:52,576
WE BOTH QUITE WEAKENED
BY OUR STRUGGLES,

1767
01:47:52,576 --> 01:47:56,713
EITHER WITH ASTHMA
DESPERATE COUGH,

1768
01:47:56,713 --> 01:48:01,385
I BELIEVE LARGELY THE RESULT
OF WORKING WITH THE DUSTY WHEAT.

1769
01:48:01,385 --> 01:48:06,456
WE REASON TO HOPE FOR
GOOD RAIN FOR THE FEED CROP,

1770
01:48:06,456 --> 01:48:09,092
JUST NOW IN NEED
OF ENCOURAGEMENT,

1771
01:48:09,092 --> 01:48:14,965
BUT THE MOISTURE WAS CUT OFF
WITH ONLY A LIGHT SHOWER.

1772
01:48:15,932 --> 01:48:19,236
Narrator: ON HER HOMESTEAD
IN NO MAN'S LAND,

1773
01:48:19,236 --> 01:48:22,439
CAROLINE HENDERSON
CARRIED ON WITHOUT RESORTING

1774
01:48:22,439 --> 01:48:26,276
TO IRRIGATION WATER FROM
THE OGALLALA AQUIFER.

1775
01:48:26,276 --> 01:48:30,313
IT HAD BEEN NEARLY 60 YEARS
SINCE SHE FIRST ARRIVED,

1776
01:48:30,313 --> 01:48:33,383
FULL OF DREAMS OF
FARMING HER OWN LAND

1777
01:48:33,383 --> 01:48:36,620
AND PROSPERING FROM ITS BOUNTY.

1778
01:48:36,620 --> 01:48:37,921
IN THOSE 60 YEARS,

1779
01:48:37,921 --> 01:48:41,858
SHE AND WILL HAD SEEN
ONLY 10 BUMPER CROPS--

1780
01:48:41,858 --> 01:48:43,460
AND OFTENTIMES,

1781
01:48:43,460 --> 01:48:47,230
FEELINGS OF FAILURE

1782
01:48:47,230 --> 01:48:49,399
THEY APPROACHED
THE AGE OF 80,

1783
01:48:49,399 --> 01:48:51,501
THEY WERE STILL
USING THE FARM EQUIPMENT

1784
01:48:51,501 --> 01:48:54,271
THEY HAD PURCHASED
IN THE 1920s BECAUSE

1785
01:48:54,271 --> 01:49:00,277
CAROLINE REFUSED TO BORROW MONEY
FOR MACHINERY.

1786
01:49:00,277 --> 01:49:02,045
BUT THEY WERE FREE OF DEBT,

1787
01:49:02,045 --> 01:49:04,714
THEIR DAUGHTER HAD BECOME

1788
01:49:04,714 --> 01:49:08,985
GIVEN THEM A GRANDSON
WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE.

1789
01:49:08,985 --> 01:49:12,823
IN HER OLD AGE, CAROLINE

1790
01:49:12,823 --> 01:49:16,426
TO TURN HER LAND OVER TO
A FARM MANAGEMENT COMPANY--

1791
01:49:16,426 --> 01:49:20,464
MONEY-GATHERING CORPORATION,"

1792
01:49:20,464 --> 01:49:23,366
SHE CALLED THEM,
"WITH NO POSSIBLE INTEREST

1793
01:49:23,366 --> 01:49:27,137
IN THIS SMALL BIT
OF THE GOOD EARTH."

1794
01:49:27,137 --> 01:49:31,308
IN 1965, WITH BOTH
OF THEM IN HEALTH,

1795
01:49:31,308 --> 01:49:34,277
SHE FINALLY AGREED

1796
01:49:34,277 --> 01:49:37,013
TO LIVE WITH THEIR DAUGHTER.

1797
01:49:37,013 --> 01:49:39,449
THEY RETURNED TO
NO MAN'S

1798
01:49:39,449 --> 01:49:42,886
FOR A FINAL VISIT.

1799
01:49:42,886 --> 01:49:46,590
WILL DIED 3 DAYS LATER.

1800
01:49:46,590 --> 01:49:48,592
CAROLINE JOINED HIM--

1801
01:49:48,592 --> 01:49:52,562
CALLED "THE WESTERN GATE"--

1802
01:49:52,562 --> 01:49:54,464
WITHIN A FEW MONTHS.

1803
01:49:56,867 --> 01:49:59,669
THE HOMESTEAD WAS
PLACED IN TRUST,

1804
01:49:59,669 --> 01:50:04,774
ON THE CONDITION THAT IT
NEVER BE PLOWED AGAIN.

1805
01:50:04,774 --> 01:50:09,746
Henderson TO
THE GROUND AS WELL AS WE MAY,

1806
01:50:09,746 --> 01:50:14,417
TO SOW OUR SEEDS,
TO CULTIVATE CARE FOR--

1807
01:50:14,417 --> 01:50:16,786
THAT IS OUR PART.

1808
01:50:16,786 --> 01:50:21,224
YET HOW DIFFICULT IT IS
FOR SOME OF US TO LEARN

1809
01:50:21,224 --> 01:50:23,493
THAT THE RESULTS
WE MUST LEAVE

1810
01:50:23,493 --> 01:50:28,665
TO THE GREAT SILENT
UNSEEN FORCES OF NATURE,

1811
01:50:28,665 --> 01:50:34,804
WHETHER THE CROP BE
CHARACTER.

1812
01:50:34,804 --> 01:50:37,874
CAROLINE HENDERSON.

1813
01:50:43,180 --> 01:50:47,117
[CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
FRIENDS OF NCI]

1814
01:50:48,151 --> 01:50:51,421
THAT OLD DUST ST
KILLED MY BABY

1815
01:50:51,421 --> 01:50:55,892
BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1816
01:50:55,892 --> 01:50:59,596
THAT OLD DUST STORM,
WELL, IT KILLED MY FAMILY

1817
01:50:59,596 --> 01:51:04,301
BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1818
01:51:04,301 --> 01:51:07,737
THAT OLD LANDLORD,
HE GOT MY HOMESTEAD

1819
01:51:07,737 --> 01:51:12,108
BUT HE CAN'T GET ME, LORD,
HE CAN'T GET ME

1820
01:51:12,108 --> 01:51:15,712
THAT OLD DRY SPELL
KILLED MY CROP, BOYS

1821
01:51:15,712 --> 01:51:21,518
BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1822
01:51:53,216 --> 01:51:56,653
§ THAT OLD TRACTOR

1823
01:51:56,653 --> 01:52:01,191
BUT IT CAN'T GET ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T GET ME

1824
01:52:01,191 --> 01:52:04,728
§ THAT OLD TRACTOR
RUN MY HOUSE DOWN §

1825
01:52:04,728 --> 01:52:09,299
§ BUT IT CAN'T GET ME DOWN,
AND IT CAN'T GET ME §

1826
01:52:09,299 --> 01:52:12,869
THAT OLD PAWN SHOP
GOT MY FURNITURE

1827
01:52:12,869 --> 01:52:17,274
BUT IT CAN'T GET ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T GET ME

1828
01:52:17,274 --> 01:52:21,544
THAT OLD HIGHWAY,
IT'S GOT MY RELATIVES

1829
01:52:21,544 --> 01:52:25,982
BUT IT CAN'T GET ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T GET ME

1830
01:52:25,982 --> 01:52:29,419
THAT OLD DUST MITE
KILLED MY WHEAT, BOYS

1831
01:52:29,419 --> 01:52:34,624
BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1832
01:52:34,624 --> 01:52:37,961
§ I HAVE WEATHERED

1833
01:52:37,961 --> 01:52:43,733
BUT IT CAN'T GET ME, BOYS,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1834
01:52:49,272 --> 01:52:52,876
THAT OLD DUST STORM,
WELL, IT BLOWED MY BARN DOWN

1835
01:52:52,876 --> 01:52:57,547
§ BUT IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN,
AND IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN §

1836
01:52:57,547 --> 01:53:01,117
THAT OLD WIND MIGHT
BLOW THIS DOWN

1837
01:53:01,117 --> 01:53:05,789
BUT IT CAN'T BLOW ME DOWN,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1838
01:53:05,789 --> 01:53:09,159
THAT OLD DUST ST
KILLED MY BABY

1839
01:53:09,159 --> 01:53:13,363
BUT IT CAN'T KILL ME, LORD,
IT CAN'T KILL ME

1840
01:53:24,207 --> 01:53:27,110
Narrator: HISTORY, AS SEEN
THROUGH THE EYES OF KEN BURNS,

1841
01:53:27,110 --> 01:53:29,179
IS JUST
COLLECTION OF STORIES

1842
01:53:29,179 --> 01:53:31,381
ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENED
IN THE .

1843
01:53:31,381 --> 01:53:32,716
IT'S A CHANCE FOR US ALL

1844
01:53:32,716 --> 01:53:36,319
TO REFLECT ON HOW TO BUILD
A STRONGER TOMORROW.

1845
01:53:36,319 --> 01:53:37,754
WE SHARE IN HIS VISION,

1846
01:53:37,754 --> 01:53:41,024
WE'RE PROUD
TO SUPPORT HIS EFFORTS.

1847
01:53:42,992 --> 01:53:44,561
Announcer; FUNDING FOR
THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED BY:

1848
01:53:44,561 --> 01:53:46,529
MEMBERS OF
THE ANGELS SOCIETY,

1849
01:53:46,529 --> 01:53:50,300
DEDICATED TO HELPING KEN BURNS
TELL AMERICA'S STORIES,

1850
01:53:50,300 --> 01:53:53,970
INCLUDING THE HAMEL
FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST,

1851
01:53:53,970 --> 01:53:56,406
ROBERT
BEVERLY GRAPPONE;

1852
01:53:56,406 --> 01:53:58,408
THE ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS,

1853
01:53:58,408 --> 01:54:01,211
DEDICATED TO STRENGTHENING
AMERICA'S FUTURE

1854
01:54:01,211 --> 01:54:02,412
THROUGH EDUCATION;

1855
01:54:02,412 --> 01:54:05,181
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT
FOR THE HUMANITIES,

1856
01:54:05,181 --> 01:54:07,550
EXPLORING THE HUMAN ENDEAVOR;

1857
01:54:07,550 --> 01:54:09,652
THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION;

1858
01:54:09,652 --> 01:54:11,955
THE WALLACE GENETIC FOUNDATION;

1859
01:54:11,955 --> 01:54:15,125
THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING

1860
01:54:15,125 --> 01:54:18,328
AND BY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO YOUR PBS STATION

1861
01:54:18,328 --> 01:54:20,530
FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU.