The country was in dire straits when Franklin Roosevelt took office in March of 1933. He immediately declared a four-day bank holiday and signed the Emergency Banking Act to ease the banking crisis. But there was little he could do to improve the weather.
Drought hit the southern Plains in 1931. The crops died, and dust from over-plowed and over-grazed land began to blow. The number of “black blizzards” increased—fourteen in 1932, and thirty-eight the following year. Some storms blew dust all the way to Washington, D.C.
Many factors led to the Dust Bowl. An unusually wet period in the 19th century reinforced the belief that increased farming would lead to increased rain—because “rain follows the plow.” The Homestead Act encouraged westward settlement. Many settlers had little farming experience and relied on unsustainable practices.
After World War I, rising wheat prices drove people to plow up native grassland, leaving behind loose topsoil that was easily blown away.
The drought moved into the Northern Plains, but on this date in 1933, North Dakotans were breathing a sigh of relief. Reports said “North Dakota’s crop prospects were greatly improved by a general rainfall which occurred over the weekend.” Every section of the state saw precipitation.
Conditions had been so dry that just half an inch of rain was enough to declare the drought broken. A federal meteorologist said the moisture level was the best it had been in several years.
But the optimism was short-lived. Drought conditions continued to worsen. North Dakota struggled into the following year. In 1934, the state was slated to receive nearly four million federal dollars to assist farmers. Dr. Walster, extension director of the North Dakota Agricultural College, said the state would need twice that amount for drought relief.
The Dust Bowl has been identified as one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history with 1934 standing out as the worst year. It caused widespread crop failures, human migration, land degradation, and a permanent change in the social and agricultural structure of the Great Plains.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Bismarck Tribune. “Drought Which Had Caused Worry Ends Throughout State Ends.” Bismarck ND. 5/8/1933. Page 1.
- Bismarck Tribune. “North Dakota Will Get $3,900,000 Very Quickly.” Bismarck ND. 5/19/1934. Page 1.
- PBS. “American Experience.” https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dust-bowl-surviving-dust-bowl/#:~:text=For%20nearly%20a%20decade%2C%20drought%20gripped%20the%20Great,As%20the%20crops%20die%2C%20the%20%E2%80%9Cblack%20blizzards%E2%80%9D%20begin. Accessed 4/16/2025.
- Climate in Global Cultures and Histories. “The Dust Bowl.” https://www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/the-dust-bowl/ Accessed 4/16/2025.
- AGU. “The worst North American drought year of the last millennium: 1934.” https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2014GL061661 Accessed 4/16/2025.
