The Worst Hard Time

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 

Southern Great Plains

This book talks about a time in the early twentieth century when the weather turned dry and farmers in the Southern Great Plains (Texas panhandle, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado) suffered. The author begins with a discussion of the background of the region, of how the white man and cattle displaced the bison and Indians (Comanches, Kowa, Kowa-Apache, Querecho and Cherokee).

Wheat Farmers

In the early twentieth century ranchers were replaced by wheat farmers. The native plants had deeper roots than the agricultural plants  and did a better job of holding the soil from the winds during dry periods than did the plants of the ranchers and farmers.

Not Suitable for Farming

The rainfall was too low to support farming, but farming this ranching land was promoted by both the federal government and private companies, such as the Southwestern Immigration and Development Company. The early farmers made lots of money by growing and selling wheat. Eventually, so much wheat was grown that the price headed down due to oversupply.

Drought and Dust Bowl

The weather was wet in the late 1920s, but became dryer in the 19030s. But the grassland that was plowed up for farming became dry and blew away, into dust, when the drought hit it. The author personalizes the dust bowl by talking about how its affected many particular families and communities.