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Lecture 11 was on the Dust Bowl. It is easy to understand how living through a time like that could have a lasting impression on people. Dr. Isern talked about how people from that era talked about it in a biblical sense. They would say things like they thought it was the end of the world. I don't know what I would think if I saw a wave of dust rolling towards me. It must have been a nervous time for the farmers.

The first video we watched was originally intended to get people to move west. It was titled "The plow That Broke the plains". this title was meant to say that the farming techniques had broken the planes. Some people thought that the plains would not be a viable place for a long time so they thought it best for people to move out. The video made it look like a desert. There were sand dunes and equipment buried under piles of dust. The last three minutes of this film was missing and that is the section that told people to move west.

The second film was titled "Rain for the Earth". This one was telling people to hold on in the plains. this one also said that the plains were best meant for animals instead of crops. Sheep were shown in this particular film.

Both of these films showed a different theory for the plains. The Dust Bowl was a difficult time for the plains and it came during the depression so it was extra tough. The farmers eventually got through it and it has stuck with the people who lived through it.

Mitch Tommerdahl