Great Depression and Dust Bowl

  • Black Tuesday

    Stock Market crashes and lose 16 billion dollars
  • Severe Drought

    A severe drought hits the Midwestern and Southern Plains. As crops die the ¨Black Blizzards¨ begin.
  • Franklin Roosevelt

    When Roosevelt takes office, the country is in despair. He takes quick steps to declare a four day bank holiday.
  • Emergency Farm Mortgage Act

    They get 200 million dollars for refinancing mortgages to help farmers facing foreclosure.
  • Unemployment

    The Unemployment rate was 24.9%
  • Dust Bowl Spreads

    The drought is the worst ever in US History, covering more than 75% of the country and affecting 27 states.
  • Pueblo Colorado

    Experts estimate that 850,000,000 tons of topsoil has blow off the Southern Plains during the course of the year.
  • Black Sunday

    The worst black blizzard of the Dust Bowl occurs and causing extensive damage in Oklahoma and Texas.
  • Soil Erosion

    Congress declares soil erosion “a national menace” in an act establishing the Soil Conservation Service in the Department of Agriculture (formerly the Soil Erosion Service in the U.S. Department of Interior). Under the direction of Hugh H. Bennett, the SCS will develop extensive conservation programs that retain topsoil and prevent irreparable damage to the land. Farming techniques such as strip cropping, terracing, crop rotation, contour plowing, and cover crops are advocated.
  • Comes to and End

    In the fall comes the rain finally comes and brings an end to the drought.