Dustland to Grassland

[@cephasmartin8593]

My dad used to talk about the dust bowl days, and was more than a little dismayed when young farmers began tearing out shelterbelts. The land I farmed was highly erodible and there were farmers around me who tore out shelterbelts and tree rows so they could farm fence row to fence row. The best thing I did for my land was put most of it back to native grasses. I don't make as much from the land, but the grass is beautiful and makes excellent hay.

[@Hellosecsi]

Farming practices make soil less vulnerable than ever not to mention the fact that some shelter belts may cause issues like waste through overlap. It's easy to criticize anyone who does differently than I but imposing upon someone else can come back to haunt you.

[@mahbriggs]

I have mixed feelings about those shelter belts, and how necessary they are today. Today's farming practices are different than the 1930s. And those shelter belts require a fair amount of work to maintain.

[@b_uppy]

Additionally I suggest you read Mark Shepard's Restoration Agriculture. His methods are adaptable to your areas. Farmer and land resiliency is important... You'll rethink those shelter belts as farming profit opportunities...

[@jandrews6254]

Well then, I’d say your land was ver productive!

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

There are always going to be people who can justify anything so they can do what they want and squeeze a little more money out of something. Here - they are removing some of the resiliency from the system, With Climate Change impacting us - that resiliency could be valuable as things get worse. The trouble is - things like Shelterbelts take time to create - however easily they were removed. You don't have a Civilian Conservation Corps to plant all those trees for free any more. Anyone tearing out a Shelterbelt would probably NOT be able to put it back - which would make that a permanent loss. There is small recourse for those in the future that would suffer for these things being destroyed. If we keep the destroyers names in memory though - our grand children can make a pilgrimage out of pissing on their graves. .

[@texanasimmons1761]

My grandmother was born in southern Oklahoma and as a child her family moved to the Texas panhandle. When I would visit my grandparents and aunts, uncles and my great-grandparents, I would hear assorted stories of their memories of The Dustbowl days. One memory was a favorite of my uncle who was about 12-13 yrs old and he saw a storm coming their way. As it got closer it began to veer away from their farm. When it got to the area just west of their farm he noticed that he could see into this rolling dust. He said it was like looking into a large, open-ended tube. One left-over habit of my 'Dustbowl' family had was taking a table knife and pushing cotton into the cracks around the windows, to keep the very fine dust out of the house. When my grandmother would sweep her floors, she would wrap a piece of wet fabric around the bristles of the broom and fasten it with straight pins. She said it got the fine dust/sand off the floor better. She would sweep the dirt into a dustpan then dump it outside the back door. Then she unpinned the cloth, rinsed it out and hung it on a nail in the broom closet.

[@JSCRocketScientist]

My Father-in-law worked for the CCC. He supported his mother and sister as a teenager. He agreed that we can face these challenges!

[@lynnwood7205]

My mother spoke of how once when she was a child living in Sioux Falls South Dakota she went next door to play with her friend. A dust storm came up and the day turned to night where literally you could not see, and if outside could not breathe. The telephone still worked. The adults determined it was best she stayed until her father could come get her. Grandfather tied a rope to himself which grandmother let out. Now this was in the built up city proper, the houses next to each other. He had a bandana over his face, carrying a pillowcase for my mother to put over her head. He made his way next door by memory as it was so dark. My mother placed the pillowcase over her head and was carried by her father back to the house, he guided by the rope as grandmother pulled it back in. The day was Sunday November 12, 1933, she just having just turned eight years old.

[@raerae6422]

Thanks for sharing that. I was spellbound. Fascinating how something as simple heading home from next door could be so harrowing.

[@markhollis5850]

I grew up in Kansas. My grandfather had wind rows on his property and, towards the end of his life bemoaned the fact that many wheat farmers were plowing under the wind rows planted in the 1930s to preserve the soil. My father was born in 1931 in Osage County, Kansas. He and his older sister were babies when the dust storms came through. Both came down with pulmonary fibrosis from the dust in their 70s. The dust storms did more than just blacken the sky. They killed, many years later.

[@bradleyberdahl6148]

Im an outdoorsman,and I live in North Dakota..my dad grew up in the dirty 30s in a sod house so I say.."GOD BLESS YOUR FATHER AND HIS SERVICE!!!!!!!!!"

[@douglassauvageau7262]

"Disasters can be overcome". A profound statement 'rooted' in humanity.

[@ronaldmcdonald3965]

I suspect most kids nowadays don't appreciate how good they have it now. The Greatest Generation lived through the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, and WWII.

[@ac_in_tuc4473]

My mother was an okie during the time of the dust. She told me many stories but one that stands out. She remembered waking up, many times, as a young person (about 6 years old) and having a halo of dust forming a perfect outline of her head on her pillow. Sleeping with a piece of wet cloth covering her nose and mouth to keep the dirt from turning to mud in her mouth. History worth remembering...thank you sir for sharing this video...very good content, as usual.

[@stevehilliard1495]

Mom told me one blow covered their tractor to the point that only the exhaust pipe was visible. Even now you can sometimes detect old fence lines that drifted over

[@b.t.2796]

And I complain when the humidity is high….thanks for the reality check.

[@jmitchell6094]

My grandmother told me Oklahoma stories of this time period that stood with me as well. They had shutters on the house instead of real windows and had to constantly sweep out the dirt. Folks that had money had glass windows. It’s pretty surreal to think about it. They lived a very fascinating and terrifying childhood.

[@musewinter9369]

Oh fuck. Thank you for sharing. Holy shit.

[@rockinrolla102]

Crazy

[@pixeldragon6387]

Being called a Good Man is all we can hope for when it comes to being remembered by our children. Hats off to your family

[@kaptainkaos1202]

I have the reverse occur in my family. When I describe my son I tell people he’s just a good man. I’m so proud of him.

[@tasteslikeawesome]

I would rather be remembered a complex man, like Washington or Jefferson; Good, yet on both sides of the line, wrestling the boundaries of Man.

[@tomvoncharon6359]

To all of the Good Men of forestry, past, present and future.

[@morrismonet3554]

I just try to be the man my dog thinks I am.

[@norml.hugh-mann]

"Good men" are just men history has propgandized

[@XHollisWood]

My Wife’s Grand Parents were from Nebraska and the dirty 30’s. I started my Firefighter Career with The Forest Service. Thank you THG

[@tommunyon2874]

My father was 10 and living in northwest Kansas when Black Sunday occurred. He went on to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps as a teenager, surveying for shelter belt plantings.

[@Jimmys4AU]

My grandfather dropped out of school and left home when he was fifteen to go work at a CCC camp. He did it to help support his family back home. He made one dollar a week he told me; more money than he'd ever seen at one time. I'm very proud of my grandfather, he taught me the value of hard work. He earned his GED late in life, not long before he retired; maybe just to prove to himself that he could do it. He'll always be an inspiration to me.

[@pennyarcos-xr7tu]

School of life.

[@pamelamays4186]

It's nice when your family is part of the history you're presenting.

[@ESmyth-nu7ug]

13:13 ... Why the heck do the endings of your episodes have me getting legitimately choked up, with a tear in my eye

[@kenkeep69]

I am a historic architect working on a project in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma and about a mile away is the Parallel Forest which was a test site for forest wind breaks. It was planted in the 1930s, I believe and is 16 acre of red cedars planted 6 feet apart from each other.

[@ObservingtheObvious]

My mother grew up in Kansas in a farming family. She recalled going to school and it was so dark out the windows from the blowing dust that they had to have the lights on to do their school work. She also marveled that her dad managed to hold onto his land thru the dust and depression until later into the 30’s. Think it was ‘39. Her grandparents(I believe ) were German immigrants. Her parents were full blooded German as of course was she.

[@rexmyers991]

The “dust bowl phenomena” was still going on in Texas in the early sixties. I remember the dust blowing so thick and so hard that you COULD NOT go outdoors. We remained in the house until the dust storm (as they were called) passed. The dust was so fine that it would find its way in through the walls and windows. There would always be a small pile of dust on the floor under the wall outlet in my bedroom. You could see the dust coming through the electrical outlet and pile into the floor.

[@timothykeith1367]

The dust blows in the Lubbock area in January because the exposed soil of farms has been tilled and little rain occurs during that time of year. Winter cover crops can be beneficial but these require costly irrigation to get started.

[@cymacymulacra2301]

I wonder if anybody else ever considers the previous time N.A. had a desert drought was 900 years ago, per the Indian legend of "The Gambler," and this never happened before in the archeo record. Why not admit that the 1930's climate desertification was caused by bounding expansion of artificial radio emissions, unregulated and even produced by malicious mischief, like Tesla's mad tinkering, but on a continental scale? I think ppl miss the point, and are doomed to repeat history, even if radio frequency is being used since then for weather modification.

[@daneclark3161]

@@cymacymulacra2301- 🤣🤣🤣

[@stevenschnepp576]

@@cymacymulacra2301 Because we know how radio signals work.

[@skie6282]

​@cymacymulacra2301 thats not how raio waves work wtf.

[@TheYeti007]

I love that this ended as a story of hope and recognition of humanities adaptability.

[@ADHJkvsNgsMBbTQe]

Those who are allowed to skip the lessons of history doom the rest of us to repeating the same mistakes. You’re doing vitally important work THG. Thank you.

[@jeanmm2996]

I saw a lengthy documentary about the dustbowl. It's a fascinating subject. I would love to visit the grasslands, from here in the northeast.

[@kakumee]

Is that a tornado behind your shoulder?! Cool! I hope everyone was ok if it was.

[@rainydaylady6596]

I lived in Arizona and saw many dust storms. It was scary when driving because you had to pull over (on the highway) and couldn't see a thing. If you didn't have AC you had to sit in a hot car without being able to open a window. Luckily, they didn't last long, but it gave me a new understanding of how awful the Dust Bowl was.

[@stevedietrich8936]

"Haboob"

[@garyacker7388]

We got stuck in a duststorm in Wyoming in my dad's 39 Dodge and had to just sit. My poor sister almost panicked and I can't remember being more frightened in my short life. I'm 77 now.

[@jamese9283]

@@garyacker7388 How long did you have to sit?

[@garyacker7388]

@@jamese9283 I can't remember for sure, but it must have been for a few hours. Seems like an eternity then.

[@cmdraftbrn]

of course now you're sitting in a leyden jar

[@ricoramos9864]

"History that deserves to be remembered" Amen

[@KristineStrasburger]

I really enjoyed this episode, as my grandfather grew up in Kansas during that time, and served in the CCC. Also, my husband's great grandparents were homesteaders in Nebraska. The original family home out in the Sandhills still survives and is lived in by relatives. The Ogallala aquifer is truly the lifeblood of the area.

[@bradmitchell3765]

Back in the 80's we had a hot dry summer in NE South Dakota. I knew a lady who'd lived through the dust bowl and she proclaimed, "This is the dirty 30's all over again" This was before my neighbors turned to "no till" which meant they didn't disc their fields until they were black with nothing laying on the surface except dirt. Another time an elderly gentleman and I were talking. It turned out he'd been in the CCC and had planted the shelterbelt behind my house which still stands today. I also urge anyone who visits South Dakota to visit the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. 8 miles S of Wall SD is an ideal place to camp where you can look E and see what looks like forever while your camped on the "wall" that overlooks some of the badlands. Just remember to pick up after yourselves before you leave.

[@davidcox3076]

Thank you for another brilliant episode. It's hard for us to imagine the impact of the Dust Bowl on agriculture. It's good to remember all those who pitched in to to mitigate the damage and help ensure there would be crops in the future.

[@scotto9591]

Thank you Mr. Bradford

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Bradford is my mother’s maiden name. Harold was my maternal grandfather.

[@skywatcher5616]

There is never an episode that does not reveal some facts that were missed in school. Always entertaining and always illuminating, thank you History Guy.

[@RolloTonéBrownTown]

Dust in the wind baby dust in the wind. Kansas said it first and Kansas said it best. Rock on brother

[@coloradohikertrash9958]

The Pawnee National Grasslands are just a short drive from my house. The history of the dust bowl is all around you there; The ghost town of Keota, the windmills that were (and still are!) used to pump up water for livestock to the tattered and crumbling foundations of old homesteads. And don't forget the ever present wind, it's absolutely relentless . If you look a little closer you can still find old tools or nails and bolts laying around. THG's statement about "their dreams being blown away like dust in the wind" is in fact the only way to describe these lands. Beautiful and somewhat haunting at the same time.

[@danahansen5427]

I live in Weld County as well. The Grasslands are beautiful, but quite different from my Wisconsin birthplace. The towns of New Raymer and Briggsdale are a couple more towns like like that.

[@justplanebob105]

I lived there for 24 years and still think they are beautiful. I used to tell my family back east, the deer and the antelope really do play here. :)

[@maggiemae7539]

There is a small town named keota near me. I’m in SE Oklahoma

[@eljefe62]

My uncle retired from the SCS as regional director in KS and has since passed. His daughter worked her way up the ranks and now holds the same post. It is an interesting job for sure.

[@mcsomeone2681]

As someone growing up in a city heavily affected by the dust bowl I think everyone who lives here needs to watch a video like this. The newest developments cause dust clouds not a problem with older neighborhoods.

[@hamentaschen]

"The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli."

[@rabbi120348]

"No soup for you! Next!" The Soup Nazi

[@johnos4892]

I've read the tree planting portion of the Prairie States Forest program was named the Great Shelter Belt project and in total the CCC is credited with planting over 1 billion trees across all the US.

[@MarkSmith-on5gg]

my mom grew up in western Kansas. she talked about it with use kids I was a terrible time but it brought my dad and mom together when my mom's parents moved to Missouri away from the dust

[@larrybrennan1463]

In September 2015, I was riding the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago. Amtrak often had Park Service docents on trains, and as we crossed eastern Montana, ours pointed out that the fields we were passing were plowed in furrows running north and south and not east and west. He said that since the winds across the plains are mostly from the west, this prevented it from easily picking up the topsoil and blowing it away - one of the lessons learned from the Dust Bowl.

[@Helloreality101]

Your energy is always so great!

[@peggyjones3282]

My grandmother left Kansas during the dust bowl. I read the book The Worst Hard Time and was in awe realizing what they went through. I love this take-- what we did to fix it. It really is a hopeful message, plus I wondered how they got the soil back in check. Thanks for the great video!

[@mikeburrowes8862]

Another great documentary! Thank you.

[@RetiredSailor60]

Good morning History Guy from Ft Worth TX. Experienced a dust storm in Bahrain in 1992 when I was in the Navy.

[@HM2SGT]

Haboob baby! Must be seen to be believed. ⬅️ HM2

[@john_smith_john]

The one time you'd like to be stationed in a sub.

[@Treeplanter73]

10 years ago the 5acres I bought was over grown with buckthorn and Asian honeysuckle. The rest weeded old pasture. Now years later, a beautiful forest, it just takes hard work and determination. It can be done.

[@Noah_E]

So true. It's a lot of work, but worth it. Over the last 7 years I've managed to buy three adjoining parcels for a total of nearly 80 acres and have been trying to buy 2 more acres, but the current owner won't drop her asking price. As soon as I get the mortgage balance down to 75% of the undeveloped land value I plan to tear down a house on one lot and let nature take over

[@Aengus42]

You needed Woody Guthrie's "Dust Pneumonia Blues" at the beginning & "This Land" at the end. I'm a Brit & look upon "This Land" as your true national anthem. Beautiful. Although Mungo Gerry nailed "Dust Pneumonia Blues" too! That's some kickin' harp playing!

[@stelladonaconfredobutler9459]

i do too. Woody's This Land should be our national anthem.

[@maquabear5242]

I'm from California. My grandparents moved there during the dust bowl. Along with thousands of other Okies, they lived in a tent city in Stockton California. That part of town is still called Okieville.

[@PhantomLover007]

The passion and emphasis of this episode is very evident with you having family that survived, learned, overcame, and repaired a horrible period in our country’s history. Thank you THG

[@duckaneer1]

I grew up in NW Oklahoma. You can drive around there still today and see the old growth trees planted to serve as wind breaks. That you for this story.

[@TimeWarp2000]

This makes me want to rewatch “The Grapes of Wrath”. Such a great film. Also my grandfather worked for the CCC. His job was in the tool shop. One of his jobs was to make sure all tools were returned at the end of the day. Apparently many fistfights broke out with men who wanted to sell those tools for cash.

[@nancyfahey7518]

The book was better.

[@drumboarder1]

makes me want to watch Garfield Gets Real

[@sherylcascadden4988]

Saw the movie before I read the book. Optional reading in my American History class. Learned a lot from both. Wish I could afford Magellan.

[@Bill-cv1xu]

Dude!

[@piedpiper1172]

@@nancyfahey7518 The book is awful. It’s about twice as long as it needs to be. By far the most over rated “great American novel.” At least Moby Dick has something to say after being so interminable.

[@dboconnor57]

Bless your dear father, indeed a good man, forever. I’ll bet he’s proud of how good a man his son is. Take care Mr. Geiger

[@BBerckdano]

That bow tie/cardigan combo is history that deserves to be remembered. Thank you for another informative morning!

[@99Z155]

I live and farm in the dust bowl area. 5th generation. The dust bowl is a major part of that history and hardships. Farming practices now allow the land of the area to be farmed well and to be highly productive in the right conditions.

[@hankvandenakker4271]

THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO. YOU ARE JUSTLY PROUD OF YOUR DAD & GRANDFATHERS WORKS. YOU STAND UP FOR OUR POSSIBILITIES BETTER THAN ANY POLITICIAN HAS IN 60 YEARS.

[@rossbryan6102]

THANKS FOR THIS STORY!! MY DAD WAS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER WHO BECAME AN AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER TO EDUCATE FARMERS TO PROPERLY TILL THE SOIL! MUCH OF MY VERY EARLY LEARNING WAS CENTERED AROUND THIS PIECE OF HISTORY!!

[@RemiCardona]

Once it is depleted, the history of the Ogallala aquifier will deserve to be remembered… Great episode nonetheless, thanks THG!

[@DorisS75]

Nice cardigan 😊 reminiscent of Mr Rogers. Like caring about your and father, too.

[@richardmourdock2719]

THG, a.k.a. Lance.. the grandson of two "GOOD MEN"... and I have no doubt they would say of him, "A Good Man!"

[@Mattthewanderer]

The pictures of contoured farmland made me smile and think of Louis Broomfield and his efforts to make farming work more efficiently.

[@chonconnor6144]

THG has to be one of the best channels on all of KZbin. Great presentation style full of details, context and honest analysis. So refreshing in an age of contrivance and arrogance.

[@charlayned]

Growing up in the Texas Panhandle, I heard stories of the dustbowl from my grandmother. She would stuff wet cloth (sheets, blankets, clothing, whatever) under the doors and around the windows to try to keep the dust out. She talked of the black clouds that would come over Amarillo. My husband's family was in eastern Oklahoma. We heard stories first hand. I can't imagine.

[@chiefpontiac1800]

Thanks HG. I have watched many a documentary on the dust bowls during the depression. I cannot imagine loosing everything in the depression, loosing your farm and livelihood in a dust storm, and loosing children due to breathing in dust particles that literally rip your lungs to shreds. Some of the dust would actually reach Europe. I don't know if I could have been as resilient as my fore folk were.

[@dannyatwood7266]

Grandmother and grandfather both lived in Oklahoma I have photos of dust storms. They were as tough as they came and never wasted anything.

[@b_uppy]

It should be said that the loss of the soil itself had negative effects. The 'dust' that was blown away was carbon-rich, loamy black topsoil¹. Carbon-rich soil is important for three reasons: 1) The carbon helps create a porous soil structure that let's water soak in deeply into the ground instead of running parallel to the ground as runoff. 2) The carbon creates little pockets that retain water, so surface soils stay adequately moist. The first is important for recharging the Oglalla (or any) Aquifer. Water's absorption i to soil reduces surface water accumulations that lead to flooding. The second is to reduce the need for well water irrigation. 3) The loss of this is black soil is a problem because it is difficult to replace in plowed earth agriculture... ¹Topsoil = the (often) thin dark soil layer at the surface, it's most desirable for growing food crops

[@timothykeith1367]

Its good to hear carbon being used to mean something beneficial

[@b_uppy]

@@timothykeith1367 It does. Carbon is an extremely important component to soil and plant growth. Much of our atmospheric carbon in the spring is from carbon from plowed soils. It's 1) plowing and 2) grazing the grass until it's too short that are problematic today. They deplete soil carbon and they make it difficult for plants to put carbon back in the soil, where it belongs. Plants can easily sequester¹ carbon through *proper* land management. We can change the state of the planet quickly if we change our buying habits, and encourage others to do the same. This would put pressure on farmers to change. It would certainly reduce certain kinds of disasters. Mark Shepard has a book called Restoration Agriculture. It discusses ideas that could improve cultivation, and farmer and aquifer resiliency. It'd would be smart to set up a scalar rating system for carbon farming (sequestering) methods. A standard like this would take the guesswork out of purchasing. Chemical companies would likely be miserable because it depends on monoculture¹ farming. ¹Sequester- store ²Monoculture- an agricultural technique that grows one crop only, per field, per growing season.

[@erinmac4750]

More need to learn or relearn this in the Midwest & West. I noticed on that map shown from 1935 that most of the Central Valley, CA was recommended for grazing and not agriculture, might've been able to save some of the wetlands like the Lake Tulare region if cotton hadn't been planted. Our uses of land and water need to be more mindful of long-term consequences than profit margin.

[@b_uppy]

@@erinmac4750 They could switch to savannah set ups. Mark Shepard uses it to great advantage. Have you seen his book Restoration Agriculture? Adaptations of his method would save a lot of smaller farms/farmers from being swallowed up by mega corporations. BTW, Mark's method is profitable and eco-sound.

[@donfields1234]

And thank our little red worms and the microcelium (sp) fungal ecosystem etc for that wonderful medium of plant food covering our most fertile parts of earth. We can rebuild earth back into the garden of eden she was, deserves to be, and has to be in order to sustain life as we know/knew it. Heck a large percentage of life has already gone extinct to the best of our knowledge, and more each day, the numbers, rates, and rates of increase/acceleration are horrifying to most climate wise intelligent humans, yet many still blunder around egoically self centered thinking all is here for their own use regardless of the interrelationships of all forms on earth and beyond. Such short sighted ignorance is rampant, and the sheeple easily led by the nose, imprisoned in invisible self sustained bonds, manipulated yet thinking they have free will and are free. One thing and one thing alone shall set you free, and that is realization of the truth. Humanity/earth are in a singularity now, our survival depends on whether we can still evolve into intelligent beings, evolve or die, its pretty simple. Sometimes the truth hurts and even kills, we have killed/driven extinct so many species often consciously, and all the while unwittingly we are at the same time driving ourself to extinction. All is one and what you do to another being, any being, even dirt and rocks... we do unto ourselves... that is an ultimate universal truth humanity will either awaken to or go extinct from its own ignorance of not.

[@retriever19golden55]

I saw the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands on a camping trip I took in 2009...two weeks from Bozeman to Rapid City, with side trips to Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, and Wounded Knee. I had no idea of the reasons why the Grasslands existed! A good book on the topic is Tim Egan's The Worst Hard Time.

[@Josh-of-all-Trades]

An important lesson to us that reminds us of our relationship with the earth.

[@capitalisa]

And how the government destroys it. Dust bowl would never have happened without all the government programs.

[@lpnelson6584]

@@capitalisa Live and learn, but we apparently have to re-learn these lessons, usually the hard way.

[@YAM2691]

Watch The Plow That Broke the Plains” for a powerful view of the events that caused the Dust Bowl. As others have noted, if we don’t find a way to save the aquifer instead of depleting it, dust bowl days may return if we’re not careful.

[@KevinSmith-yh6tl]

Brings back memories of my grandparents talking about their once home in Oklahoma during those days. To this day I'm so proud to be their grandson,remembering the stories they told all us kids of what it meant to really have to survive day by day. Thank You sir,for telling this story.

[@40Kfrog]

You are also a good man, and we will always remember you as such.

[@joebeal4212]

My Grandmother told us how her family came to Indiana escaping the dustbowl . Her six year old brother died passing through Arkansas , they stopped and buried him beside the road and moved on .

[@rhenderson9234]

I hope they were able to return to you his grave and either properly mark it or move it.

[@joebeal4212]

@@rhenderson9234 Nope .

[@joshuaking9651]

My Great-Grandfather worked with the CCC in the south during the depression as well. Another good man, so I’m told anyway.

[@bradbortner6982]

Thanks to you Dad and Grandfather for their service and stewardship. The most important message is that Conservation Works. The legacy of the CCC is still with us today, mostly good, some misguided by current thinking but nevertheless they did productive work that can literally be seen from coast to coast.

[@brianb7686]

My grandmother and her family picked up and left Arkansas during the dustbowl. They moved to Dallas and bought a dry cleaning business. When my great aunts hand was ruined in a press accident, they sold out and headed for San Diego, where grandma met granddad, a California native.

[@nextworld9176]

One of the best ever history presentations by the the best ever history presenter.

[@husermitchell]

This man's energy and enthusiasm history and teaching is inspiring ! I am enthralled Everytime.

[@aredman22]

Thank you for educating us about our agricultural and conservation history. As a former USFS employee, I especially appreciate you highlighting the role of land management agencies like the Forest Service. Hats off to your grandfather. He certainly sounds like a good man:)

[@grewntd]

This man's passion will out live his years. Well done

[@sterfry8502]

I’m a fourth generation farmer and I’m so happy you did this video. Great job and I can’t wait to tell people about it. Thanks again!

[@locklear2478]

This has great lessons for climate change and land usage today.

[@raclark2730]

Yes we can fix it.

[@rodgerhatfield3068]

My great grandparents went through the Dust Bowl in southwest Kansas. They told stories of hanging wet sheets over the windows and mud dripping from them in the morning! And needing wet handkerchief over your face when outside

[@johnnycage9283]

My grandfather told me when the first dust storm was about to hit he was out riding his bike when an old woman next door came outside and yelled “Gib get in the house the world is about to end”. He said he was terrified. That’s just one of many stories he told me about the dust storms in Kansas. rip Gilbert Pracht I miss you and love you!

[@heronimousbrapson863]

The dustbowl affected the Canadian prairies as well, parrticularly in southeastern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan.

[@patrickmichael1057]

Hello history guy. I'm quite sure you have read The grapes of wrath therefore you should be familiar with the name of my hometown, Bakersfield California. My grandparents came here in 1922 and when the dust bowl migrants began to arrive in the thirties they had their own established farm here. My grandmother always told of the signs and shop windows that read no Okies wanted, she said this attitude made her and my grandfather sick. They would only hire dust bowl migrants to work their farm. And another twist of irony when the book grapes of wrath came out it was banned in our city, my grandmother had to make a special trip to Los Angeles to buy a copy, mind you this was not a quick easy trip in the 1930s and '40s. This by far is my favorite episode yet, you keep up the good work and I will keep watching. Thank you.

[@McFlyOrPie]

I think you've been doing this long enough and doing such a bang up job, we need a "History Deserves to Remember THG, So Far" Jolly Good Show!

[@cynthicarlson5330]

My parents grew to adulthood in the thirties in the panhandle of TX. They talked of driving home from church with the men waling in front of the car directing the driver with their kerchiefs to keep him from falling off the road. Even during the 60s when wed have the occasional dust storm Mother wet sheets and hung them in front of windows a trick she had learned to keep dust out

[@robdenny553]

As a former environmental scientist and UN environment policy advisor, I appreciated this episode immensely. I grew up in a region of the foothills of the Appalachians (NC) where so many fathers of my peers had fathers with CCC experience. Of those, they all mentioned that as the CCC was winding down the World War was starting up. Apparently, many of those then lads got their first taste of regimented life out of doors in the Conservation Corps just before they were needed in Europe and the Island hopping towards Japan. To a man they all seemed appreciative for what that early experience gave them.

[@HollyMoore-wo2mh]

Lessons learned from HISTORY. Damn ... who knew? Thank you.

[@derrickdinwiddie8759]

I was in a musical called "Horizons of Gold". It's set in the dustbowl of Kansas during the 30's. Ita about a family forced to move to California because of the drought. Through a series of terrible events, they move back to Kansas and try to save the farm. It's a beautiful story and shows just how much the dustbowl affected everyone in the US, not just those living through the dust storms. Definitely worth seeing of you can and, if you cant find it near you, see if you can get into contact with the writers and see if they can bring it to your area. :)

[@thebobs9343]

I didn't live though any of this, nor did my family as I was growing up. But sir, your enthusiasm your is enough to reignite a movement... Thanks!

[@chrismaggio7879]

So cool that you were able to have such a direct connection with the story and the event. As usual, I was enthralled and educated. Thank you.

[@jimvick8397]

Those hard years sure left an impression on my teenage grandmother who grew up in Kansas... When I was kid in the 80's I went in cellar and couldn't believe how much food she had organized down there. A giant butchers freezer stuffed with meat, a standing freezer loaded down with stuff, and rows and rows of canned/boxed goods. Nobody else I knew in my life had a cache of food like my grandma. When I asked her about it, she just uttered the words "dust bowl". It makes me wish I knew more about grandma and how she made her way out of the Kansas dust bowl down to Phoenix where she met my grampa. They sure were tough folks and from what I've heard, I'm lucky to be alive.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

Outstanding content as always from THG - definitely not an old dusty historian.

[@Farweasel]

And yet he hardly seemed irrigated.

[@umiami85]

Is he a a professor?

[@dedrakuhn6103]

Funny

[@EliasGraves]

My parents grew up in the dust bowl in western Oklahoma. My dad served in the CCC in the 30s prior to being drafted into WW2. I have many dust bowl photos. Quite a time.

[@marcsorensen2985]

wow my grandfather also worked planting shelterbelts and also had the same first name as yours.

[@BulaBeanMachine]

Of all the dustbowl documentaries I have seen this is the first one with positive news.

[@joynewsome6913]

What a lovely reminder that we can overcome the damage we're doing to our home but only if we ALL work together to do so.

[@TheHylianBatman]

Man, that enthusiasm is why I'm here. It's just a delight to watch. Man's tenacity is unlimited. Anyone can accomplish anything with a little determination and a little help.

[@ecouturehandmades5166]

When you mentioned the pods dug in SoDak, I thought of my Dad helping to BLAST the potholes in the Beltrami peatbogs (northern MN) for Ducks Unlimited. Lightning strikes would make some; the peat would burn, the rain and snow would come, extinguish the flames and fill the hole - instant duck pond. DU did it faster, without risk of long-term fire. Dad may have known your granddad, as he loved hunting in that area of SoDak.

[@cbwilson2398]

My father was also a good man. Inspired by his time in the CCC's he became the first in his family to go to college and then served in the Forest Service for 37 years.

[@stevedietrich8936]

Good Morning, and Happy Friday THG

[@MichaelPaoli]

Cool to hear also about your dad and grandpa's connection! :-)

[@CoachForsyth]

I can not tell you how nice it is to listen to/watch your content, almost everything else is nothing but doom and gloom.

[@GalenWill]

It was doom and gloom during the Dust Bowl. Then they overhauled their approach to tending to the land. Now it’s doom and gloom again. What do you think we need to do now?

[@MikeSamuelsII-ve8gp]

My grandfather was part of the CCC. We need another program like that today.

[@w.m.woodward2833]

A great reminder and lesson from the past of how humanity can cause its own disasters and, under the right circumstances, find relief from and remedy the trouble we inadvertently make for ourselves. Thanks for the history lesson, especially showing what can be learned from the past to help the present, and prepare for the future. Another episode of history that deserves to be remembered ! 😉

[@rabbi120348]

Also, how easy it is to make a mess of things and how much work it takes to undo that mess. Second Law of Thermodynamics.