WEBVTT - The Wild West 9: Doomtowns 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:07.800 It was eighteen seventy five, and the people under the 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:12.200 blazing Minnesota sun hoped for relief. At first, they welcomed 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.640 the ominous cloud forming on the horizon, but instead of rain, 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.919 came locusts. Like something out of a horror movie. They 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:24.120 blanketed everything before them, eating and chewing through every green 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.000 growing thing, and then when they had devoured every crop, 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.360 the ravenous insects took to paper, cloth, and even the 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.440 wool off of sheep. Intense summer heat had caused the 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:39.200 grasshopper population to explode. For some mysterious reason, certain species 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.640 morphed into hideous, long winged, ravenous locusts, and while yes, 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:47.159 insects are pretty light, estimates put the total weight of 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.720 the swarm at roughly the equivalent of a full grown bison. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:54.440 They blanketed the skies and fields from Texas in the 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.040 south all the way to the Dakota Territory in the north. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:01.360 The locusts washed up against fences, creating drifts a foot deep. 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.440 As one landowner put it, they ate everything except the mortgage. 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:10.440 Farmers filled trenches with sticks and leaves before setting them ablaze, 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:13.560 but the thick wave of locusts smothered the flames. It 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.880 was like bringing a fly swater to a gunfight. When 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.480 Autumn rolled in, the bugs sunned themselves on the railroad tracks. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.559 But when the cooler morning came, the chili insects found 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.440 themselves unable to move. If you're imagining a slippery, gooey 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:30.759 mess and train wrecks, then were both on the same page. 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:35.440 Communities turned to the government for assistance. Unfortunately, state governments 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.720 offered next to no relief, and Congress tossed a measly 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.559 one hundred thousand dollars at the problem. In eighteen seventy five, 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.240 the locusts returned in record numbers. At an astounding one 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:49.520 hundred ten miles wide, eighteen hundred miles long, and a 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.120 quarter mile deep. They covered a staggering one hundred ninety 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:57.040 eight thousand square miles, and inside that buzzing cloud were 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:02.280 an estimated three point five trillion hung insects. Many settlers 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:06.520 abandoned their homesteads and ventured west, hoping for a fresh start. 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:11.480 But new isn't always better, and sometimes it comes at 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:16.760 an unimaginable cost. I'm Aaron Mankee, and welcome to the 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:30.400 wild West. They had always been wanderers. Ever since the 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.720 moment the ancestors first stepped off the Mayflower, the Ingles 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.480 family had been reinventing themselves through hardship, and they were 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:39.440 good at it. In fact, it might have been that 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:43.120 starting point in Puritan New England, where Martha Ingles had 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.720 been accused of witchcraft in the town of Salem, that 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:49.560 spurred their move westward. By the time Charles was born 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.760 in eighteen thirty six, the family had settled in New York. 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:57.320 Unfortunately for the Ingles family, America's first Great Depression came 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:59.720 along a year later. As it dragged on for the 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.480 next seven years, it decimated whatever wealth the family managed 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.360 to accumulate. Their search for a better life led them 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.679 to Wisconsin, and although the family was poor, Charles found 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:13.720 riches in another area of life. Love. He met Caroline 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:18.680 Lake Kuiner, whose family was equally poor. Romance blossomed between them, 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.640 and they married in February of eighteen sixty. For a 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.040 short time, life seemed good for both clans. Sadly, the 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.600 financial crash after the Southern Secession shattered their dreams of prosperity, 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.640 nearly wiping out both families life savings. It making matters worse, 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.160 Wisconsin put a controversial military draft in place as the 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:42.320 Civil War began. Caroline's brother Joseph tragically died after an 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.920 injury he sustained in the Battle of Shiloh. To avoid 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.320 the draft, many of the male residents of Wisconsin suddenly 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:53.240 developed a range of disabilities. Some claim to have bad eyes, 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:57.000 while others said they suffered from lameness or bronchitis. I've 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.240 seen no mention of bone spurs, but I'm sure that 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.800 excuse was you as well. Charles Ingles also managed to 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:07.160 avoid enlistments. Although it's unclear how, the Ingles headed north 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.120 to live closer to family who had settled in Pepin, Wisconsin. 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:13.600 In January of eighteen sixty five, they welcomed their first child, 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.920 Mary Amelia. Two years later, in February of eighteen sixty seven, 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.359 Laura Elizabeth was born, but it wasn't long before the 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:24.400 family hit the open road again. This time, they traveled 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:28.280 through Missouri and then to southeastern Kansas. At first, they 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.279 tried to settle in Native American territory, but that didn't 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:33.920 work out as plan, so they began searching for a 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.200 new opportunity. It was the rumor of rich farmland in 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:42.080 Minnesota that finally drew them north. During their travels, Caroline 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:45.320 gave birth to two more daughters, Carrie and Grace. The 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.599 Ingles had very little to no money, but the newly 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.880 minted Homestead Act gave the family of six an opportunity 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:55.080 that they couldn't resist. And we've talked about the Act 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.599 before on this show, but here's a quick refresher. Established 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:01.919 in eighteen sixty two, it offered lower income Americans the 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:05.000 chance to own their own land. Homesteaders could either take 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.040 to squatting on land or pay a small fee. But 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.560 nothing comes without a catch, does it, And those seeking 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.279 property also had to reside on it for five years, 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.320 and there were other conditions too. Applicants had to be 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.719 either the head of a household or at least twenty 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:21.599 one years old. Two neighbors or friends had to vouch 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.880 that claimants had never taken up arms against the US 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:28.760 and intended to honor the requirements, and freeland was too 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.280 good to pass up. After filing a claim for a 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.760 nice piece of property along the banks of Plum Creek 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:37.599 near Walnut Grove, the Ingles settled down once again, but 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:41.040 carving out a new life was far from easy. Homesteaders 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:45.520 faced blizzards and limited supplies. Open fields meant fewer trees 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.880 for building materials, and their livestocks struggled with the lack 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:53.600 of proper vegetation. Despite their hard work, the family remained poor. 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.040 For Christmas one year, Laura and her siblings felt lucky 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.600 enough to get a piece of candy that was it 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:03.360 tucked away deep in the woods. Predators like wolves howled 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.599 in the night. Fire was an ever present threat, and 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.919 the distance between neighbors and towns made getting crops to 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.240 market difficult. But hope outweighed the risks for them, and 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.679 when the first railway connecting the east to the West 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.719 coast was completed on May tenth of eighteen sixty nine, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:24.279 farmers everywhere rejoiced. More land rushes spurred on a wave 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:29.040 of homesteaders, but with all the difficulty and the locust invasions, 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.480 the Ingles began to look elsewhere. This time, the family 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:36.400 set off for Dakota Territory. Unbeknownst to them, though the 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.680 best land had already been taken, that wouldn't be the 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:49.880 worst of their troubles. I can only imagine what it 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:54.120 looked like. Newspaper ads depicted fields of bountiful crops utter 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.960 abundance to those who were down on their luck. But 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.680 little did they know that those railroad company ads were 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.960 nothing more than an illusion. You see, the Great Plains, 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.960 including the d Quota Territory, had remained largely unsettled until 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:10.440 the late eighteen seventies for a few reasons. For one, 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.440 Native Americans had put up a valiant resistance against displacement 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.920 from their ancestral territory. One clear example of this could 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:21.480 be seen as gold seekers descended upon the Black Hills, 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.720 forcing the Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux to fight to protect 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.440 their sacred land. And then there was the environment. To 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.560 put it bluntly, the Great Plains was a farming nightmare. 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:35.120 Even as far back as eighteen oh three, Thomas Jefferson 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.280 called it and I quote, an immense trackless desert, and 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:43.000 over the years numerous explorers and surveyors echoed his sentiments. 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.760 In eighteen seventy seven, Major John Wesley Powell, a war 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:51.680 hero and a scientist, conducted extensive expeditions into the Western territories. 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.760 He classified the land into three categories, humid, sub humid, 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.240 and arid. And here's the kicker. According to Powell, a 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.160 mere three percent of the arid land was suitable for farming. 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:06.600 He warned anyone who would listen that the small farmers 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:10.200 flocking to Dakota Territory would likely be financially ruined within 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:14.320 a decade. Their only hope was cooperative farming. If local 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.720 farmers could pool their resources and knowledge, he suggested that 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.480 they might stand a chance, But railroad companies brushed away 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.440 Powell's scientific evidence and warnings. Instead, they waged a relentless 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.440 campaign to fuel the Dakota boom. After all, without the 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:32.360 farmers and travelers, the railroads wouldn't make a dime. Charles 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.000 found a job as a bookkeeper with a railroad company. 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.760 He scouted the area around Silver Lake for the perfect homestead, 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:41.880 eventually choosing a plot not far from the budding town 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.000 of Desmet. After the winter of eighteen seventy nine, the 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.640 area became a boom town, and the Ingles built a 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.280 structure not much more than a shack. Claim shanties like 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.600 the one that Charles and his family constructed were flimsy 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.760 structures made from spare materials and leftover lumber. The spring 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:01.800 and summer were beautiful that year, and the family needed 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.080 little more than what nature provided, and they barely had 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.040 more than that anyway. And although the weather was pleasant, 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.320 the soil and the farming conditions were meager at best. 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:16.720 But Charles was nothing if not resourceful. Wild grasses grew abundantly, 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.000 and he cut and sold them for a quick buck. 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.800 They invested in a mowing machine and a hay rake 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.160 with the money that they earned from that. But little 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.120 did they know that this crop would serve as a 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:30.120 lifeline during the unforgiving months to come. Charles and Caroline 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.280 had planned to rely on the railroads to supplement their supplies, 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.320 but nature had its own plans. In late September that year, 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.160 the summer drew to a close and rains arrived. Then, 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.800 in a twist of fate, on Friday, October fifteenth of 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.520 eighteen eighty, it happened the sun seemed to vanish from 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:52.600 the sky. The winds shifted to the northwest, bringing torrential rain, sleet, 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:57.079 and ice. Followed a blizzard, unusually early for the season, 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:01.559 descended upon desmet snowfall in intensified throughout the day and night, 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:05.800 transforming the landscape into a maze of enormous snowdrifts. While 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:08.520 there were no reported deaths, the blizzard wreaked havoc. The 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.240 Ingles battled the elements, performing chores and preparing meals, and 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:15.520 simply trying to stay warm. The wind in the region 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.160 howled at speeds of up to seventy miles per hour, 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:22.560 and unprotected animals succumbed to the bitter cold. Settler David 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.559 Gilbert and his father had been constructing a shanty made 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:28.440 of sod when the storm hit. They huddled together in 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.040 the structure for three days and prayed that the roof 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:35.200 would hold. Lucky for them, they survived to tell the tale. 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:38.040 Charles realized that the shanty would not be suitable for winter. 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.400 With the weather turning pleasant once again, the family packed 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:43.800 their belongings and moved to one of the store buildings 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.680 he had erected and dismet. The buildings were more secure, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:50.480 and the proximity to neighbors, shops, and the railway offered 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:54.120 a better chance of survival. Even before the Ingles arrived, 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:56.920 though a letter from a missionary had described the brutal 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.920 winters in Dakota Territory. It warned of how the north 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:04.960 wind raged with unimaginable violence, burying everything under thick layers 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.640 of snow. If only Charles had read those accounts, perhaps 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:19.920 he would have chosen a different path. Charles remained optimistic. Yes, 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.640 winter was coming, but people were close enough to town 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.320 to be ready to lend a hand should anyone need it, 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.480 And together they would also keep the railways clear, which 0:11:28.520 --> 0:11:32.160 meant that fresh supplies wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, those 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.360 townsfolk were about to come face to face with a 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:38.360 harsh reality. The first winter storm came calling in November. 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:42.720 Sure everyone expected snow, but no one expected the white 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:47.120 out conditions. The blizzard caught Laura Carrie, their teacher, and 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:51.120 their classmates by surprise. They shuffled along, keeping focused on 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.920 the direction of the closest building. Thankfully, the teacher's brother, 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.200 Cap Garland, had broken away from the group and taken shelter. 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:01.560 He organized a search part that found Laura and the 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.439 others just in time. But they hadn't been heading towards 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.760 safety after all. Disoriented by the conditions, they had been 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:12.280 heading straight out into the prairie. The blizzards were relentless 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.560 as the weeks went on. Snowdrifts covered the buildings, and 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.400 farmers had a tunnel from their houses to their barns 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.680 to feed the livestock. Snow piled up on the railroad tracks, 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.840 defying their best efforts to keep them clear, and according 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.840 to a few cowboys, the snow filled a nearby canyon 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.560 that was roughly thirty feet deep, and the situation only 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:35.000 became worse in January of eighteen eighty one, when railway 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.520 service to the area was suspended. The snow seemed unbeatable, 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.160 and without the trains bringing in fresh supplies, starvation became 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.160 an imminent threat. The one hundred people trapped in the 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.240 town began to wonder if they would live to sea spring. 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.920 Multiple families moved in with each other to help with chores. 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:56.200 Businessmen formed communities to assist in rationing shares of food 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:00.640 and fuel, and it was oppressive too. Snow piled against windows, 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.439 which blocked out most of the daylight, the constantly howling wind, 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.720 and the dwindling stock of lamp oil weighed heavily on 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:12.880 everyone's spirits. Coal was also in short supply, forcing settlers 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.960 to twist hay into sticks for fuel, and thanks to 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.600 the bitter cold, those fires had to be kept burning 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.160 day and night. The ingles took turn either twisting hay 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:26.280 or grinding seed for bread. Their family shared their building 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.679 with George and Maggie Masters, but Laura couldn't help but 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.160 notice that the couple did nothing to contribute to the 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.920 survival efforts. So Charles played the fiddle to keep everyone's 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.720 spirits up, although his hands were dry and cracked from 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.840 twisting so much hay. And then one night the strings snapped, 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.920 leaving them with nothing but conversation and the howling winds. 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:50.800 Under such strain, everyone's sanity began to slip. In the 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:54.319 midst of this desperation, a story emerged about a stockpile 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:57.120 of wheat for sale, but the problem was the lone 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.240 settler lived twenty miles away, so Elmonzo Wilder and Capgarland 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.640 embarked on a dangerous journey to acquire the wheat, a 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:08.640 tale later recounted by Laura, but in truth, there's very 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.600 little evidence to support her version of the events, and 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:16.880 alternative accounts suggest that other sources of wheat were available. Finally, 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.960 though spring arrived, but the hardships were far from over. 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.600 The warm April weather melted all of that snow, causing 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.920 massive flooding that nearly swept away the nearby town of Yankton. 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:30.000 In fact, more people died in the spring floods than 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.640 during the blizzards. When the first train arrived on April 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.920 first of eighteen eighty one, the settlers were elated, but 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.520 those hopes were dashed when they discovered it only carried 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:43.280 farm equipment. The disappointment led to near riots, with the 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:47.840 townspeople stealing telegraph poles to burn for fuel as the 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.560 town struggled to recover. The rest of the country entered 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.600 a period of prosperity known as the Gilded Age, and 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.160 while some prospered, Charles Ingalls never realized his dream of 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.400 a bountiful crop. Laura helped support the family of taking 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.320 on teaching positions, and Mary went to a college for 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.800 the blind, but of course the family's experience would live 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.000 on many years later. Laura began to write about her 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.320 life in the West and the time spent on the 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:16.160 Dakota Prairie. She also wrote about her courtship and engagement 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.560 to Elmonzo Wilder in eighteen eighty four and their small 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.280 wedding the following year, and it would have been a 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:25.600 happy ending except for a small note on the final 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:36.440 page What came next, she wrote, was nobody's fault. Laura 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.040 Ingleswilder lived in astonishing ninety years. It was a life 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.840 that left an indelible mark on American literature. Her novels 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.840 captivated children with tales of a young girl's life full 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.600 of courage and triumph on the prairie. For many of 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.080 those books were a beacon of hope for a better future, 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.480 and while based in reality, Laura's stories were a far 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.720 cry from the truth of her own life. In her 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.520 fictionalized accounts, she carefully omitted the darker aspects of her 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:06.440 childhood and entirely overlooked her married DearS. The reason might 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:08.880 be evident if we look a little closer. You see 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.280 in eighteen eighty nine, the Dakota boom had turned into 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.360 a bust, plunging the Wilders deeper into hardship and despair. 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.960 The final blow came in August of eighteen eighty nine, 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.640 when the family home caught fire, reducing their dreams to ashes. 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.200 Faced with oblique future in a region ravaged by a 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.000 devastating drought, the Wilders packed up and left the Dakota 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:35.720 territory behind. They briefly took refuge with Almonzo's family in Minnesota, 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.080 hoping to recover from their losses, and the move would 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.160 mark the end of the ingles time together as an 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:45.200 extended family unit. Laura seldom returned to Dismet after that, 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:48.360 except for a few brief visits. The entire area was 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.840 reeling under a catastrophic drought. The bitter truth was that 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:55.280 the farmers had unwittingly contributed to their own plight by 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:57.960 tearing up the fragile ecosystem to make way for the 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:02.000 thirsty wheat crop. The reduct of certain wildlife, too, such 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.959 as wolves and bison, also disrupted the delicate balance of nature. 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.879 Contrary to the belief that rain would inevitably follow the plow, 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:13.359 what followed instead was an unforgiving drought that lasted for 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.800 six long years, and like her father and those who 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:21.240 came before him, Laura became a wanderer. Finally settling in Missouri, 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.400 she and Almonzo acquired Rocky Ridge Farm, hoping to fulfill 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.120 their dream of becoming self sufficient and prosperous, And along 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:31.800 the way, Laura's tales helped her make sense of a 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.080 turbulent childhood and gave her a chance to honor her parents. 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.680 Her father, Charles passed away in nineteen oh two, followed 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:42.720 by Caroline in nineteen twenty four, and perhaps Laura used 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.600 the writing of these books as a form of self care. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.600 She constructed a world where hard work, determination, and grit 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:53.320 could bring the American dream to life. An ideal for sure, 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:58.360 maybe even a fantasy. The Homestead Act was a disappointment 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.639 for a lot of people of funds, the terrible weather 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:04.800 and all those wasted years working for a wheat crop 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:08.359 that failed to deliver led to a lot of shattered dreams. 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:12.000 In eighteen seventy one, the popular song Don't Leave the 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:16.000 Farm Boys encourage people to hold onto their dreams, but 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.840 are reworking of the hymn Beulah Land into Dakota Land 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.960 might have summed up Laura Wilder's childhood experience better. We 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.480 do not live, We only stay. We are too poor 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:36.920 to get away. I hope you enjoyed our journey into 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:39.439 the darker aspects of that old myth that the wild 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:43.000 West was the promised land. So much gets overlooked when 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.639 we sum it all up nice and concisely, And like 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:49.840 so many stories throughout history, this one reveals a darker underbelly. 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.080 But our battle against the elements isn't over just yet. 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:55.879 We've got one more tale about the brutality of the 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.400 wild West to share, and if you stick around through 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:02.159 this brief sponsor break, teammates Alie Steed will tell you 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:02.960 all about it. 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.439 The land was vast and fertile as far as the 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:17.199 eye could see. The rich soil hinted at bountiful harvests, 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:21.080 and the open sky foretold the future of life giving rain. 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:25.919 This vision drove European settlers across North America, from the 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:29.159 woods of New England to the Golden Promise of California. 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:34.600 Rain follows the plow had become a mantra. Armed with 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.399 this belief, farmers set out to conquer the untamed land, 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.440 and they were chasing a lie. By nineteen thirty three, 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:46.840 everyone realized there was something wrong with the weather. As 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.720 saying is just a saying. After all, what was once 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.879 a hot dry spell revealed itself as something more ominous. 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.240 Because it wasn't rain that followed the plow, it was drought. 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:01.040 They were entering the era we now call the dust bowl. 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:05.520 Trouble began three years earlier, in nineteen thirty when rainfall 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.840 began to decrease, Yet it was only when the full 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.120 force of the drought hit that farmers and scientists realized 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.240 the magnitude of it all. So much of the soil 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:19.920 caught on the wind, creating rolling dusters, some could last 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.800 as long as twenty four hours, and every year the 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:27.679 number of storms increased. Imagine looking outside and seeing a 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:31.320 black cloud bearing down on you and realizing it's a 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:35.440 blizzard of dust, with drifts so deep that people took 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:40.040 to shoveling it like they would snow. The drought struck hard, 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:45.359 slashing normal precipitation levels by forty fifty and even sixty percent, 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.240 and a lot of these areas didn't get much rain 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.440 to begin with. The storms transformed the Great Plains into 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.400 a desolate waste land. The sky darkened for days on end, 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.639 and homes were infiltrated by a thick layer of dust, 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:04.480 no matter how well sealed. Nineteen states fell victim to 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.399 the wrath of the dust bowl. The toll on human 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:11.560 life was immeasurable. Aside from some people and animals being lost, 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:16.480 the storms caused health issues too. Dust pneumonia, a condition 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:21.840 caused by inhaling fine particles, afflicted the population. Estimates of 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:27.679 the death toll ranged from hundreds to several thousand individuals. Men, women, 0:21:27.840 --> 0:21:30.880 and children were all vulnerable, but it was the young 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:36.280 and the elderly who suffered the most. Malnutrition weakened their bodies, 0:21:36.440 --> 0:21:40.600 leaving them defenseless against the restless assaults of dust storms. 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.000 Livestock and wild animals fared no better. With their food 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:48.960 sources withered away. They resorted to desperate measures, devouring the 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:53.320 leaves from trees if they could find any. Farm animals 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:57.400 stood in fields, their nostrils caked with dirt, and many 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:03.120 suffocated people noticed that the dry air crackled with static electricity, 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:08.040 making even a simple handshake seem risky. On May ninth, 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:12.680 nineteen thirty four, twelve million pounds of dust rained down 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:16.800 on Chicago, and then the storm continued east, reaching the 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:19.560 coast and allowing the nation to witness the horrors of 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.320 the plane's first hand. But the worst was yet to come. 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:28.880 On April fourteenth, nineteen thirty five, a monster storm battered 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:33.439 the Oklahoma Panhandle. Winds reaching sixty miles an hour created 0:22:33.480 --> 0:22:36.800 a wall of dust so thick it blotted out the sun. 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.480 People were left stranded, unable to see their own hands 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:44.280 in front of their faces, and many believed the judgment 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:49.480 day had come. Associate Press reporter Robert Geiger aptly named 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:53.480 the disaster the dust Bowl after that storm, capturing the 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:58.240 essence of its terror. Desperation drove people away from their homes, 0:22:58.400 --> 0:23:01.280 selling anything and everything they could and embarking on a 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:05.920 journey to find work elsewhere. Nearly two point five million 0:23:06.000 --> 0:23:12.120 people left Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:15.280 The mass exodus was one of the largest migrations in 0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:19.960 American history. Programs such as the Soil Erosion Service and 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:23.640 the Prairie State's Forestry Project were established in nineteen thirty 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:27.960 five to combat erosion. The Soil Conservation Service now known 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:32.440 as the Natural Resources Conservation Service promoted new farming techniques 0:23:32.480 --> 0:23:36.119 to conserve top soil and restore the land. By nineteen 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:39.520 thirty eight, soil lass had been reduced by sixty five percent. 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:43.880 The drought finally broke in the autumn of nineteen thirty nine, 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:48.159 when rains returned to the prairies. But how did we 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:51.639 get here? The dust Bowl wasn't just a byproduct of 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:54.879 the weather or the Great Depression. It was one of 0:23:54.920 --> 0:23:58.919 the greatest man made catastrophes in history, born from the 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:03.800 relentless pursuit of the American dream. Farmers, enticed by the 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:08.000 promises of the Homestead Act and exaggerated claims by railroad companies, 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:12.520 unwittingly became the agents of their own destruction. Homesteaders and 0:24:12.640 --> 0:24:16.240 railroads tore through the Great Plains, plowing up a fragile 0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:21.040 ecosystem and disrupting the delicate balance of nature. The top soil, 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:24.000 which had taken thousands of years to create and settle, 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:28.600 was raked and plowed to oblivion, turning everything to dust. 0:24:30.040 --> 0:24:32.359 The scars left by the dust Bowl would forever mar 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:37.040 the landscape. The Dirty Thirties etched themselves into history as 0:24:37.080 --> 0:24:40.719 one of the most terrifying and desperate periods in American memory. 0:24:41.320 --> 0:24:44.320 But Laura Ingleswilder wasn't the only one writing about the 0:24:44.320 --> 0:24:47.600 people and towns on the edge of despair. From Woody 0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:51.760 Guthrie to John Steinbeck, the dust Bowl affected everyone and 0:24:51.800 --> 0:24:55.360 lives on in our collective consciousness. One of the darkest 0:24:55.359 --> 0:24:59.040 times in American history, and we brought it on ourselves. 0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:04.080 Grimm and Mild Presents The Wild West was executive produced 0:25:04.080 --> 0:25:06.960 by me Aaron Mankey and hosted by Aaron Mankey and 0:25:07.040 --> 0:25:11.040