Key Individuals/Countries
The Dust Bowl era affected several parts of the United States, as well as some Canadian
prairies. The area of the US that had to go through the unfortunate experience included
southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, parts of Texas and Oklahoma, northeastern New
Mexico, and eventually the entire country in one way or another. In the early 1930’s, the average
amount of rainfall per year only amounted to less than 20 inches. Dirt got blown away from
grasslands due to the drought, high winds, and poor land cultivation over the years. All of these
conditions in unison ultimately created what is defined as the Dust Bowl.
These giant dust storms are called “black blizzards” because they block sunlight from
coming down, sometimes even for days at a time. The largest one happened on April 14, 1935,
