Thursday, June 4, 2015

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