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Amarillo in thick of Dust Bowlby
Delbert Trew | |
| "Amarillo - The Story
Of A Western Town" by Paul H. Carlson is a must read for old-timers and those
who arrived later. Most who have lived in the Panhandle
very long remember seeing or hearing of our most notorious history, but few know
the little details of how and why the stories unfolded. The book is a treasure
chest of details based on published fact. |
For
example, in March of 1933 banks across the nation closed down for two weeks, including
the four banks in Amarillo.
But, when the nation's banks reopened - and in direct contrast to most of the
rest of America where thousands of customers withdrew their money - the people
of Amarillo stood in line to
deposit nearly $1,435,000, showing their faith in their banks.
Almost
unknown to most, but still beneficial today, was the National Industrial Recovery
Act which established codes of "fair practices," creating a uniform system
of working hours and wages. Participating businesses also adopted many standard
ethical practices which are followed closely today. |
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| The most enduring
act of the New Deal Programs was the Social Security Act of 1935. The Banking
Act of that same year strengthened the Federal Reserve System with regulation
and deposit insurance protecting depositors. Farm foreclosures were almost stopped
with The Emergency Farm Mortgage Act of 1933. These programs along with
the WPA and the CCC put America back to work again and prospering.
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| The
dust storm of April 1935
Photo courtesy Louise George |
Just
how bad was the drought during the Dust Bowl? Agricultural historian Dr. Gary
L. Nall wrote that nine of the years from 1929 to 1940, rainfall was below average
with only 9.96 inches falling in 1933 and 1934. Insignificant but true, I was
born in June of 1933 right after a bad dust storm which required a damp diaper
to be placed over my bassinet. My father often laughed saying, "he thought every
bad thing had already happened that year and then I came along."
Dr. Nall
verified that Panhandle residents
experienced some 192 dusters from January 1933 to February 1936. What was the
worst dust storm of all? Most agree it occurred on March 3, 1933. For Amarillo
residents the most dramatic dust storm rolled in about mid-afternoon on April
14, 1935. To many it appeared to be "the end of the world."
The term Dust
Bowl has endured the test of time and is still the most descriptive term in Great
Plains history. Robert Geiger, an Associated Press reporter from Denver, coined
the term after experiencing the dust storm on April 14, 1935. |
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