Apocalyptic 1930s Photographs Of America’s “Black Blizzards”

Few ecological disasters in US history have left a deeper mark on the country than the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

The advent of gasoline-powered tractors and combine harvesters early in the 20th century had made large-scale cultivation of the Great Plains possible for the first time. When wheat prices skyrocketed in the aftermath of WWI, thousands rushed to cultivate the prairies.

But as farmers converted grasslands to cropland, they eliminated the native grasses whose roots kept the topsoil in place.

When drought hit in the 1930s, the unanchored topsoil blew away in huge dust storms like the one pictured above. The resulting ecological disaster ravaged 100 million acres of land and contributed to the displacement of 3.5 million Americans.

A black wall of dust advances on Beaver, Oklahoma. The car on the road gives a sense of scale. 1935

Dust storm approaching Springfield, Colorado.

Buildings are engulfed by a dust storm on “Black Sunday.” April, 1935

The aftermath. An automobile is buried in dust left behind by a “Black Blizzard.” 1936

A tractor buried in dust. The advent of mechanized farming was a contributing factor to the Dust Bowl.

Refugees. An American family displaced by the Dust Bowl.

The thousand year stare. The poverty-stricken migrant mother of three who came to symbolize the human cost of the Dust Bowl.

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