Dorthea Lange/Library of CongressA family of Dust Bowl migrants from Oklahoma stands by the side of the road after their car broke down. 1936.In the 1930s, dust storms moved across the Plain states like a Biblical plague. Crops withered. Cattle choked on dust. And 2.5 million Dust Bowl migrants poured out of the American heartland in one of the largest mass migration events in U.S. history.But in fleeing an ecological disaster, many Dust Bowl migrants found themselves mired in new crisis. They faced difficult, lonely journeys, as well as hostile welcomes in their adopted states. Dust Bowl migrants were derisively called Okies, no matter where theyd originally come from, and often faced discrimination and even violence from their fellow Americans. This is the story of the Dust Bowl migrants, the 2.5 million people who fled the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. The Dust Bowl, One Of The Worst Ecological Disasters In U.S. HistoryU.S. Department of AgricultureDust storms across the Great Plains buried farms. Migrants abandoned their farm equipment to flee the storms.The United States was still reeling from the start of the Great Depression when another disaster struck the American heartland. In the 1930s, the Dust Bowl one of the greatest man-made ecological disasters in U.S. history began to grow in scope. The seeds of the disaster had been sown in the 19th century, when thousands of settlers poured into the Plains states following the Homestead Act of 1862. Farmers uprooted the native prairie grasses, and used the land to grow wheat or graze cattle. Without native grasses to hold the topsoil in place, high winds created massive dust clouds. And a long period of drought made these conditions even worse. In 1932, there were 14 dust storms. The next year, there were 38.National Archives and Records AdministrationKnown as the Black Sunday dust storm, this massive storm of April 14, 1935 blacked out the sun.Dust storms spread across the American heartland, from New Mexico and Colorado to Oklahoma and Texas. These black blizzards buried livestock and crops, and caused farms to fail. Many farmers could not afford to wait until the disaster dubbed the Dust Bowl came to an end. And so, 2.5 million Americans made the heartbreaking choice to abandon their homesteads. These Dust Bowl migrants poured out of the Plains states, and some 200,000 of them decided to make the journey to California. The Dust Bowl Migrants Difficult Trek To CaliforniaWith no other choice, Dust Bowl migrants packed their families, possessions, and life savings into their cars and trucks. After abandoning their dust-choked homes, many headed west to California, where they had heard about job opportunities and generous unemployment relief. They traveled along Route 66, which they called Mother Road.As the State of California Capitol Museum reports, some 70,000 Dust Bowl migrants settled in the San Joaquin Valley, where there was a wealth of agricultural jobs. Another 100,000 settled in Los Angeles.But the Dust Bowl migrants did not receive a warm welcome. Library of CongressDust Bowl migrants piled all of their belongings into cars and drove away from the storms.Viewed with disdain, Dust Bowl migrants were derisively called Okies. Locals viewed them as a competition for jobs (which were already scarce during the Great Depression) and looked down on them because of their dependence on government programs. In 1936, Los Angeles even sent 125 policemen to the states border to keep undesirables out. Californias relief rolls are overcrowded now. No use to come farther, a man at Californias border called out to migrants in 1935 according to PBS. There really is nothing for you here.But the migrants ignored the warning. So? one of them replied. Well, you ought to see what they got where I come from.The Difficult Life Of Dust Bowl MigrantsNot only did Dust Bowl migrants face discrimination, but they also faced harsh conditions in their newly adopted states. Many migrants lived in shanty towns or alongside ditches, and worked low-paying, back-breaking jobs. Picking grapes and cotton, farm workers made as little as 75 cents per day. A portion of this money 25 cents went to renting shacks with no floors or plumbing. Meanwhile, angry locals attacked migrant camps, beat up workers, and burned their shacks. The migrants, they declared, were Communists. Dorothea Lange/New York Public LibraryMigrant farmworkers in California often lived in shacks with no running water or electricity.The harsh conditions that Dust Bowl migrants endured was famously captured by writer John Steinbeck, who described their plight in his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath.This here fella says, Im payin twenty cents an hour,' one character exclaims in the novel. An maybe half a the men walk off. But theys still five hunderd thats so goddamn hungry theyll work for nothin but biscuits.Competition meant farms could cut wages and exploit workers. The more fellas he can get, less hes gonna pay. An hell get a fella with kids if he can.Dorothea Lange/Library of CongressFlorence Owens Thompson, the Dust Bowl migrant from Dorothea Langes famous photo Migrant Mother.Those who couldnt find jobs built their own shanties, where they lived with no plumbing or electricity. These Okievilles faced outbreaks of tuberculosis, malaria, typhoid, and smallpox. And though the federal government began building resettlement camps in California to house the Dust Bowl migrants in 1935, these camps held only 75,000 people.Meanwhile, local children bullied migrant children, calling them maggots instead of migrants. Even teachers mocked the childrens accents.We aint people, one migrant child lamented. We are sharecroppers.Dorothea Lange/Library of CongressThe children of Dust Bowl migrants faced harsh conditions and were targeted by locals. Another sadly stated, No one likes me, Im an Okie. The Legacy of the Dust Bowl MigrantsIn 1939, rainy weather returned to the Plains states. This helped bring an end to the Dust Bowl, and the start of World War II improved the national economy. But few Dust Bowl migrants returned home. Instead, many left farm work for defense jobs in Los Angeles or San Francisco, where shipyards and aircraft factories were hiring at a healthy clip to support the war effort. They replaced their shacks with homes, and settled permanently in the west. Meanwhile, works of art like Steinbecks 1939 novel, or Woody Guthries 1940 song Dust Bowl Refugees helped build sympathy for the Dust Bowl migrants. U.S. Department of AgricultureDust Bowl migrants experienced extreme poverty, discrimination, and violence. Yet for many, that was preferable to the ecological disaster theyd fled at home. But though the crisis had passed, the Dust Bowl revealed how precarious life could be. Unsustainable farming practices coupled with drought and depression had left millions on the brink of starvation. The Dust Bowl migrants were left with little choice than to pack up their possessions and start over somewhere new. That said, escaping an ecological disaster wasnt enough. The migrants still had to weather discrimination from locals, and frequently faced disease, violence, and deep, terrifying poverty. After reading about the Dust Bowl migrants, the 2.5 million Americans who fled the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, discover the stories of Hoovervilles, the shanty towns which were built out of desperation during the Great Depression. Or, learn about the true story behind Dorothea Langes famous Migrant Mother photo. The post Dust Bowl Migrants, The 2.5 Million People Who Fled The Dust Bowl In The 1930s appeared first on All That's Interesting.