Life on the Prairie

Grace

Though times were hard, young Grace was not sad,

Each day she found reasons to be glad.

 

Families and friends would closer be

If they survived dust and no money.

 

Scarred from losses, humanity would mend,

When the Great Depression came to an end.

 

This blog changes on the first and third weeks of the month.

 

Prairie Girls

 

 

Hello. It’s me again. Today I want to tell you about my cousin, Ginny. Her mom and my mom are sisters. Ginny lives in western Kansas with her mom, dad, and baby brother. We write letters to each other and enclose them in the envelopes with our mothers’ letters. My family doesn’t have a lot of money, but our life is not as difficult as Ginny’s family’s life. She writes of days and nights filled with blowing dust. Our storms are not as severe here in the eastern part of the state.

When Cousins Came Calling

                                                By Collette

Whenever my aunt and uncle came to visit my parents, we cousins always got into trouble. It was nothing serious, but enough to draw attention. As we got older, we learned to fly under the radar better. The cousins played endless card games from “battle” to “slapjack” to “spoons.”  We had several board games that we wore out also. When the time came to go home, much whining occurred because we had so much fun together.

The bad part of this was after they left, my sister and I had a room in shambles. As we got older the whining changed to begging them to help put everything back into order. Of course, that never seemed to happen. The worst mess was the time we jumped on the beds and broke one of the slats. Thank goodness it was my sister’s bed. My dad had warned us several times to stop it, but we had to try it one last time.

Although we played outside some of the time, we always seemed to end up playing inside whether it was at Grandma’s house or one of my aunts. My oldest cousin was four years older than I, so we generally followed her lead. She was the best at picking the games anyway. Since my dad was an only child, this side of the family was extra special, and we loved the times spent together. Three of the six of us are gone now, and I miss them and our times together dearly.

The History Fact

The Dust Bowl

                                      By Collette

 

The drought of the Great Depression began on the East Coast in 1930, but didn’t start on the Great Plains until 1934. Farmers had been urged by the government to plow up the grasslands in order to grow more crops to export to war ravaged Europe during and following WWI. The removal of the native grasses, overgrazing by livestock, poor farming practices, lack of rain and thin soils created a disaster. When strong winds blew, the dirt gathered into great clouds, darkened the skies and deposited tons of dust elsewhere. More than 150,000 square miles of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas were affected. Nearly 60% of the population packed up and left the region. The area was named the Dust Bowl by a reporter following Black Sunday, the worst dust storm of the era.

Government intervention, rainfall and improved farming methods brought an end to the Dust Bowl. Rotation of crops, contour plowing, strip farming and the planting of shelter belts improved and protected soils from erosion. Although droughts occur every 25 years in parts of the region, nothing can compare with the “dirty thirties” and the effect it had on agricultural families.

The following sources provide more information.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features
http://www.history.com/topics/dust-bowl
http://thegreatdepressioncauses.com/dust-bowl
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/lange

 

 

 

Prairie Recipes

Great Depression Salads

                                             By Collette

Any of these recipes might have been served to a family during the Great Depression.

Apple Salad

Take 1/3 as many apples as cabbage or celery and chop fine. Add one cup peanuts and salad dressing to make it nice and juicy.

Salmon Salad

1 can salmon                                              1 stalk celery
3 large cold boiled potatoes                        1 cup mayonnaise
6 small sweet pickles

Remove salmon from can, drain well. Remove skin and bones. Dice potatoes and add to salmon. Slice pickles very thin and add. Chop celery fine as possible, mix to combine all ingredients.

Corn Bread Salad

Make a skillet of corn bread. After baking crumble into a bowl (not powdery). Then add:
8 pieces of crumbled, crisp, fried bacon               1 diced onion
1 chopped green pepper                                       1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

Add dressing carefully; you don’t want this soggy and may not need a full cup. Today, you could use ranch dressing in place of the mayonnaise. Serves: 6

 

 

Dust Storms Still Exist

Dust Storms Still Exist

                                               by Collette

I taught school with several teachers who worked or grew up in Western Kansas. Each had his own story about dust storms in their areas, but after the “dirty 30’s.” Although farming practices have vastly improved, there is still the occasional dust storm. Crop residue, strip farming, shelter belts and “no tillage” have stopped most of the problems today. Yet, when it doesn’t rain and the wind blows, dust stills gathers and spreads into the atmosphere.

My favorite story about dust blowing recently was at a track meet. Depending on which end of the track you were viewing, when the runners got to the opposite end the fans could no longer see them. They had to wait until they got out of the cloud before viewing them again. Surprisingly, the lead often seemed to change while the runners were inside the cloud of dust.

One January day several years ago, my husband and I made a flying trip to Colorado to pick up a piece of equipment for the greenhouses. We actually went up on Pikes Peak the last day of the cog rail’s season before it closed and saw how empty the nearby reservoirs were. On the way back across Southwestern Kansas the drought continued as we saw ground so dry the wheat could not stand the blowing wind. In many places the ditches were full of uprooted wheat the wind destroyed. Making a living in this area is still difficult when it doesn’t rain.

 

Dust or Mud

 

 
 

Dust or Mud?

                                              by Judy

While I did not experience dust comparable to the dust of the dust bowl years, I did live in a house on a rock road while a child. Our house did not have air-conditioning, and every window in the house was open during the long, hot summer days. If a family member saw a ball of dust approaching, notice was quickly given for all available personnel to close the windows. Funny thing about that dust, though, it found its way through the smallest crevice, and our farmhouse had a lot of small crevices.

My mother tried to keep the house dusted, but it was a happy day in her life when she learned our county road was scheduled to become a “black top.” What she didn’t realize was that before the road could become a blacktop, the rock road would become a mud road. In order to get to the one room school we kids attended, we had to travel a mile…on the dusty or muddy road. During warm weather, we either walked or rode our bicycles. The condition of the road did not bother us.

The dust or mud, whichever the case was, did bother Mother and our teacher. The worst days were the cold days of winter. On those days Daddy took us in the old WWII jeep our family owned. It had a homemade tin top over the seat, but the benches in the back were not covered. Mud splattered off the wheels onto our clothing.

Our dog liked to ride in the back of the jeep and usually made the trip to school. In addition to having mud splatters on my dress, I sometimes smelled as if a wet dog had shared my bench in the back of the jeep. One had, in fact, just done that. I still miss that dog.