FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY DESERT PROGRAM PARTNERS.

NARRATOR: IT WAS THE PERFECT STORM OF AGRICULTURAL ARROGANCE, CLIMATIC EXTREMES AND FINANCIAL COLLAPSE.

THE DEPRESSION ERA DUST ROSE FROM THE GREAT PLAINS AND CARRIED ITS MISERY ACROSS THE NATION, CHANGING ARIZONA FOREVER.

IN ITS WAKE, THE DUST BOWL OF THE 1930S PROVIDED AN ABUNDANCE OF LESSONS FOR ISSUES WE STILL FACE TODAY, LESSONS PERHAPS UNLEARNED.

♪ MUSIC ♪ NARRATOR: IN THE MID 19TH CENTURY THE LAST TERRITORY OF THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES WAS ACQUIRED FROM MEXICO.

FINALLY, ALL THE LAND THAT WOULD BECOME THE STATE OF ARIZONA WAS WITHIN THE U.S. BORDER.

WHILE THE REST OF THE NATION WAS REVOLUTIONIZING INDUSTRY AND SETTLING OPEN SPACES, ARIZONA WAS ADJUSTING TO THE END OF DECADES OF MEXICAN RULE.

THIS LANDSCAPE KNOWN MOSTLY FOR ITS INDIAN WARS AND DRY, DESOLATE TERRAIN WOULD SOON BE PUT TO PRODUCTIVE USE.

DURING THIS PERIOD ARIZONA’S ECONOMY WAS DOMINATED BY EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES, ESPECIALLY WHAT WE CALL THE THREE CS OF CATTLE, COPPER AND COTTON.

CATTLE WAS THE FIRST TO DEVELOP AND THEN THE GREAT COPPER MINES IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY BUT COTTON REALLY DIDN’T EXPLODE ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE UNTIL WORLD WAR I.

NOT ONLY THE U.S. MILITARY BUT U.S. TIRE COMPANIES ALL OF A SUDDEN HAD TO FIND A NEW SOURCE FOR LONG STAPLE COTTON WHOSE PRIMARY USE WAS IN TIRES AT THAT TIME.

AND SO THEY FOUND THE PERFECT GROWING CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL ARIZONA, PARTICULARLY THE SALT RIVER VALLEY AND THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON WENT FROM SOMETHING LIKE 7,000 ACRES IN 1916 TO 180,000 ACRES BY 1919.

IT WAS RIGHT AROUND THE TIME FOR WORLD WAR I WHERE GOODYEAR, ARIZONA IS THE GOODYEAR TIRE AND RUBBER COMPANY CAME OUT AND BOUGHT LARGE ACREAGES IN CENTRAL ARIZONA, DEVELOPED THAT LAND FOR AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION AND PRODUCED A LOT OF THIS PIMA COTTON FOR USE WITH THEIR TIRES AND VARIOUS HOSES AND RUBBER PRODUCTS THAT THEY WERE MANUFACTURING AT THAT TIME.

THE PIMA OR THE LONG STAPLE HAS A LONG, FINE, STRONG FIBER AND IT CAN PRODUCE YARNS AND TEXTILES THAT ARE VERY HIGH QUALITY, ALMOST FEEL LIKE SILK.

NARRATOR: THE FUEL FOR THIS EXPLODING INDUSTRY WAS ABUNDANT, LOW-COST LABOR THAT MOST OFTEN CAME FROM MEXICAN-AMERICANS OR MEXICAN NATIONALS.

AGENTS FROM ARIZONA’S POWERFUL AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY WERE DISPATCHED INTO MEXICO TO RECRUIT WORKERS.

BETWEEN 1918 AND 1920 APPROXIMATELY 35,000 MEXICANS WERE BROUGHT TO ARIZONA TO WORK IN THE COTTON FIELDS.

MORE CAME ILLEGALLY.

THEY PRIMARILY OCCUPIED THE LOWER ECHELONS OF THE LABOR FORCE.

SO FOR EXAMPLE, THEY OFTEN WERE HIRED TO HARVEST THE CROPS.

IT WAS HARD WORK, IT DID NOT PAY VERY MUCH SO MEXICANS BECAME THE PREDOMINANT LABOR FORCE IF YOU WILL IN MUCH OF THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY.

THEY WERE CONSIDERED DEPENDABLE WORKERS, HARD WORKERS.

PEOPLE WHO SUPPORTED THE USE OF MEXICAN LABOR ARGUED TWO REASONS THAT THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BRING IN MEXICAN WORKERS.

ONE IS THAT THEY WERE VERY DOCILE.

THAT WAS THE STEREOTYPE, THAT MEXICANS DIDN’T CAUSE PROBLEMS LIKE AMERICAN WORKERS WHO WANTED TO UNIONIZE AND WANTED MORE RIGHTS.

SECONDLY, MEXICAN WORKERS WERE CONSIDERED TO BE TEMPORARY, THAT IS, THEY WERE NOT HERE TO SETTLE PERMANENTLY.

THEY WOULD COME HERE, DO THE JOB, WHEN THEY WERE NO LONGER NEEDED THEY COULD BE RETURNED TO MEXICO.

AND SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE COMMON STEREOTYPES.

THE OTHER STEREOTYPE IS THAT THEY WOULD DO WORK THAT THE WHITE MAN WOULD NOT DO.

NARRATOR: ARIZONA’S ROAD TO STATEHOOD HAD NOT BEEN AN EASY ONE.

DURING THE 1800S 28 STATES WERE GRANTED STATEHOOD, NOT ARIZONA.

THE U.S. CENSUS OF 1860 COUNTED UPWARDS OF 6,000 ARIZONA RESIDENTS, MORE THAN 60 PERCENT WERE NATIVE AMERICAN.

EVEN AFTER THE TURN OF THE CENTURY THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT OPPOSITION, ESPECIALLY BY ALBERT BEVERIDGE, CHAIRMAN OF THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON TERRITORIES.

THERE WAS DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER ARIZONA SHOULD BECOME A STATE IN 1912.

ONE OF THE MAIN ARGUMENTS, ESPECIALLY BY SENATOR ALBERT BEVERIDGE FROM INDIANA WAS THAT THERE WERE TOO MANY MEXICANS IN ARIZONA, THAT THE NATIVE POPULATION HADN’T BEEN PACIFIED AND THAT HE DIDN’T WANT TO ALLOW ARIZONA INTO THE UNION BECAUSE OF THOSE CHARACTERISTICS.

BUT ULTIMATELY THEY WERE ABLE TO ACHIEVE STATEHOOD.

AND THEN WITH THE GROWTH OF THE MINING INDUSTRY IN WORLD WAR I THE POPULATION CONTINUED TO INCREASE DRAMATICALLY.

♪ LITTLE ’OL MAN, COME IN FROM THE PLOW, DAN DO, DAN DO.

LITTLE ’OL MAN, COME IN FROM THE PLOW, TOMMY CLASH, TOM CLINGO.

LITTLE ’OL MAN, COME IN FROM THE PLOW, SAID ’OL WOMAN GOT DINNER READY NOW, BLUNE, BLUNE BLAG A DAGO.

♪ NARRATOR: THE GREAT PLAINS WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT WITH GOOD REASON.

THOSE FEW WHO JOURNEYED ACROSS IT THOUGHT IT LOOKED LIKE A DESERT WITH THE LACK OF TREES, SCANT RAINFALL AND HARD-PACKED PRAIRIE SOD.

THE INVENTION OF THE STEEL PLOW ENABLED HOMESTEADERS TO TILL UNDER THE NATIVE GRASSES AND PLANT WHEAT.

RAILROAD COMPANIES REAPED THE PROFITS OF RAILCARS FULL OF HARVESTED WHEAT AND ENCOURAGED FARMERS TO PLANT MORE.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF HARD SCRABBLE SETTLERS RESPONDED TRUSTING THE UNFOUNDED PROMISE THAT RAIN WOULD FOLLOW THE PLOW.

AND IT SEEMED SO FOR A FEW YEARS, THEN IT STOPPED.

HARDEST HIT WAS AROUND THE PANHANDLE REGION OF OKLAHOMA BUT THE DROUGHT SPREAD FROM CANADA TO MEXICO.

THE GREAT PLAINS BECAME THE DUST BOWL.

PRIOR TO THE DUST BOWL, THEY WOULD FARM EVERY PIECE OF LAND.

OPENED IT UP AND THEN FARM IT CONTINUALLY EVERY YEAR WITH OPEN BARE TILLAGE.

LITERALLY PLOW THE LAND WITH MULTIPLE PLOWS SO THE TOP SOIL WAS TURNED OVER, THE SOD WAS TURNED OVER.

THE SOD WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED SO IT WAS BARE, OPEN SOIL.

THEY WOULD CULTIVATE IT CLEAN AND THAT REALLY EXPOSED THAT SOIL JUST TO THAT WIND AND PHYSICAL MOVEMENT THAT MOTHER NATURE CAN PROVIDE.

AND WE KNOW TODAY THAT’S A VERY FRAGILE AREA WITH REGARD TO THE RAINFALL.

IT HAS ABOUT THE SAME KIND OF RAINFALL OR LESS THAN WHAT WE HAVE HERE IN TUCSON, ARIZONA.

WE HIT ABOUT 10 INCHES A YEAR HERE AND THERE’S PLACES OUT THERE THAT GET LESS THAN 10 INCHES A YEAR IN THOSE HIGH PLAINS.

AND WITH THE COMBINATION OF A LOT OF LAND OPENED UP TOO FAST, TOO EXTENSIVELY, COMBINED WITH THE DROUGHT THEY HAD A DISASTER ON THEIR HANDS IN NO TIME AT ALL.

THE 1930S DROUGHT WAS CLEARLY A VERY DRY EPISODE AND ONE OF THE WORST DROUGHTS OF THE LAST HUNDRED YEARS BUT ALL IN ALL FOR ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, IT WAS NOT THAT MAJOR A DROUGHT.

IN COMPARISON WITH THE LAST 100 TO 150 YEARS IT WAS NOT AS BAD AS LET’S SAY THE 1950S DROUGHT.

SO IT’S UP THERE AS ONE OF THE TOP ONE, TWO OR THREE DROUGHTS OF THE LAST CENTURY BUT NOT EXTRAORDINARY.

TREE RINGS TELL TALES AND THEY TELL STORIES ABOUT THE PAST AND THE WOOD ITSELF CONTAINS THE HISTORY.

TREE RINGS CAN TELL US ABOUT PAST CLIMATE VARIATIONS, ABOUT THE HISTORY OF PEOPLE AND THEIR SOCIETIES, THE RISE AND FALL OF CIVILIZATIONS, ALL KINDS OF THINGS.

WHEN WE LOOK BACK WITH THE TREE RING RECORD OVER THE LAST 1,000 TO 2,000 YEARS, ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING PERIODS WE SEE IS THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD, SO-CALLED MEDIEVAL DROUGHT PERIOD HERE IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.

SO THIS IS FROM ABOUT 900 A.D. TO ABOUT 1300 A.D. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, DOZENS TO HUNDREDS OF VILLAGES WERE ABANDONED WITHIN A DECADE SO A VERY, VERY RAPID DECLINE OR COLLAPSE OF POPULATIONS AT THAT TIME.

SO IN THE 1930S OF COURSE IT WAS CATASTROPHIC FOR PEOPLE LIVING IN OKLAHOMA AND WEST TEXAS AND INDEED MANY VILLAGES AND TOWNS WERE MOSTLY ABANDONED AT THAT TIME.

THESE GRASSLANDS HAD PERSISTED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS THROUGH PREVIOUS DROUGHTS OF WORSE MAGNITUDE.

BUT PEOPLE HAD TURNED THEM OVER AND THEN OF COURSE THE COLLAPSE OF THE FARMING AND THEN FALLOW LANDS BEING EXPOSED DURING THE GREAT DROUGHT OF THE 30S AND THE LANDSCAPE WAS MADE MORE VULNERABLE BY WHAT...

THE CHANGES THAT PEOPLE BROUGHT TO THE LANDSCAPE.

NARRATOR: THE ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE OF THE 1930S WAS NARRATOR: THE ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE OF THE 1930S WAS AS BLEAK AS THE PARCHED PRAIRIES.

THERE WAS NO ESCAPING THE LOOMING CATASTROPHE CAUSED BY THE SETTLER’S FARMING TECHNIQUES AND LAND USE PRACTICES BUT IT COULD NOT HAVE COME AT A WORSE TIME.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN CALAMITY OF THE DUST BOWL COINCIDED WITH THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

MANY FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEPRESSION, UNEMPLOYMENT, ECONOMIC POLICY, FAILED BANKS, FORECLOSED HOMES.

SEEMINGLY OVERNIGHT, PROSPERITY, MONEY AND JOBS VANISHED.

PEOPLE REALLY COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT CAUSED THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THERE WERE THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAD RETAINED AN ANTI-MEXICAN ATTITUDE THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE 1920S AND SO THEY ARGUED THAT THE DEPRESSION WAS IN LARGE PART CAUSED BY THIS CHEAP MEXICAN LABOR THAT WE HAD IMPORTED, THAT THIS MEXICAN LABOR WAS TAKING JOBS AWAY FROM AMERICAN CITIZENS.

THEY ALSO GREATLY EXAGGERATED THE NUMBER OF MEXICANS IN THIS COUNTRY AND THEY ALSO GREATLY EXAGGERATED HOW MUCH THE MEXICANS WERE TAXING THE WELFARE ROLLS.

SO THEY ARGUED THAT IF WE REMOVED THE MEXICANS FROM THIS COUNTRY THAT THESE JOBS THAT THEY WERE NOW TAKING WOULD GO TO AMERICANS, THAT THEY WOULD ALSO RELIEVE THE STRESS ON THE WELFARE SYSTEM.

AND SO THEY BECAME CONVENIENT SCAPEGOATS IF YOU WILL FOR PEOPLE TRYING TO FIND A READY SOLUTION TO WHAT WAS CAUSING THE DEPRESSION BUT ALSO TO FURTHER THEIR OWN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ENDS.

DURING THE DUST BOWL AS THE GREAT DEPRESSION WAS REALLY SPREADING ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INITIATED THIS REPATRIATION MOVEMENT WHERE THEY WOULD ACTUALLY GO AND SWEEP MEXICANOS OFF THE STREETS AND FORCIBLY DEPORT THEM TO MEXICO.

AND IT’S ESTIMATED THAT AS MANY AS 500,000 OR 600,000 MEXICANS AND MEXICAN CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES GOT CAUGHT UP IN THESE REPATRIATION RAIDS AND DEPORTED ACROSS THE BORDER TO MEXICO.

SO OBVIOUSLY THAT CREATED A TREMENDOUS DEMAND FOR LABOR IN THE FIELDS THAT MANY OF THOSE MEXICANOS HAD BEEN FULFILLING.

MANY OF THE REPATRIATION EFFORTS WERE LED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OR BY COUNTY GOVERNMENTS.

HERE IN ARIZONA FOR EXAMPLE YOU COULD BE REPATRIATED IF YOU WERE CAUGHT CARRYING A CONCEALED WEAPON.

AND SO THE BILLS THAT WERE PROPOSED, AND THERE WERE A LOT OF THEM PROPOSED NOT ONLY IN ARIZONA AND CALIFORNIA AND THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES BUT THEY WERE REALLY REDUNDANT BECAUSE THERE WERE OTHER METHODS THAT LOCAL AUTHORITIES COULD USE TO JUSTIFY IF YOU WILL THE REPATRIATION OF MEXICANS FROM THIS STATE AND FROM THE UNITED STATES.

IN FACT THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT IN SOME WAYS IN THE EARLY PART OF THE REPATRIATION MOVEMENT COOPERATED WITH AMERICAN AUTHORITIES BECAUSE MEXICO HAD BEEN UNDER CRITICISM FOR TWO REASONS; ONE FOR ALLOWING SO MANY OF ITS NATIONALS TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY TO WORK IN THE UNITED STATES AND TWO, BECAUSE OF THE WIDESPREAD ABUSES OF MEXICANS IN THE UNITED STATES THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT WAS SUBJECT TO CRITICISM FOR NOT PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF THEIR NATIONALS IN THE UNITED STATES SUFFICIENTLY.

NARRATOR: FOR THOSE HEADING BACK, THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT OFFERED TRANSPORTATION SOUTH FROM THE BORDER TO AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS IT HAD CREATED FOR THE WORKERS.

THE PROMISES THAT THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT MADE OF GREAT OPPORTUNITIES IN THESE COMMUNAL DEVELOPMENTS, THESE COMMUNAL AGRICULTURAL PROPERTIES DID NOT PAN OUT.

THE LAND WAS SUBPAR, THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE FOR THE REPATRIATES TO ADEQUATELY FARM THE LAND, SEED WAS EXPENSIVE.

THESE REPATRIATES WERE SORT OF CONSIDERED OUTSIDERS BY THE MEXICAN NATIONALS THEMSELVES.

AND THE OTHER THING THAT HAPPENED WAS THAT MEXICAN NATIONALS WHO REMAINED IN MEXICO SAW THESE REPATRIATES AS FURTHER COMPETITION FOR ALREADY SCARCE RESOURCES INCLUDING JOBS SO THEY WERE NOT WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS.

IT WAS NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE OVERALL FOR MANY OF THE REPATRIATES WHO WENT BACK TO MEXICO HOPING THAT THINGS WOULD BE BETTER THERE FOR THEM.

♪ I AM A RAMBLIN’ COTTON PICKER, HAPPY AS I CAN BE, ANY ’OL COTTON PATCH IS HOME SWEET HOME TO ME.

I HAVE NO CARE LIKE A MILLIONAIRE, NO GREED TO MAKE ME BLUE.

BUT I PULL MY SACK FROM DAY TO DAY AND PADDLE MY OWN CANOE.

I CAME OUT HERE FROM TEXAS... ♪ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DUST BOWL AND ARIZONA WAS THAT ALMOST ALL OF ARIZONA AGRICULTURE WAS IRRIGATED AND MOST OF THE AGRICULTURE BACK ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WAS DRY FARMING.

SO EVEN THOUGH ARIZONA ALSO EXPERIENCED A BAD DROUGHT DURING THE EARLY ’30S, IT DIDN’T HAVE AS MUCH IMPACT ON THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR BECAUSE THAT SECTOR WAS GETTING ITS WATER FROM THE SALT RIVER AND OTHER RIVERS THROUGH THE SALT RIVER PROJECT OR FROM GROUNDWATER PUMPING.

THERE ARE REALLY THREE THINGS THAT MAKE ARIZONA AND THIS REGION REALLY IDEAL FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COTTON.

ONE IS, COTTON IS A WARM SEASON CROP; SECONDLY, THERE IS A SALT TOLERANCE THAT THAT PLANT HAS AND IN THE DESERT ENVIRONMENTS HAVING HIGH SALINITY LEVELS IS NATURAL.

AND THEN THIRDLY IT’S REALLY A PERENNIAL PLANT THAT WE GROW AS AN ANNUAL IN A PRODUCTION SETTING AND SO OUR LONG GROWING SEASONS THAT TIES BACK INTO THAT CLIMATE REALLY IS CONDUCIVE TO MANAGING AND PRODUCING THAT CROP.

NARRATOR: COTTON HAS A LONG HISTORY IN ARIZONA.

IN THE 16TH CENTURY THE FIRST EUROPEANS ARRIVED TO FIND NATIVE COMMUNITIES ALREADY EMPLOYING FAMILIAR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES.

ARIZONA’S FIRST FARMERS EVEN BUILT CANALS AND BERMS TO IRRIGATE THEIR CROPS.

WHEN THE SPANIARDS FIRST ENCOUNTERED THESE NATIVE AMERICANS IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA, COTTON WAS ONE OF THE CROPS THAT THEY WERE PRODUCING.

SO COTTON WAS PRODUCED ALONG WITH SOME OTHER CROPS LIKE CORN, SQUASH AND BEANS, ETC., BUT IT WAS A MAJOR CROP IN THIS AREA EVEN BEFORE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT.

COTTON IS OFTENTIMES PLANTED THICK IN TERMS OF A HIGH POPULATION NOT KNOWING WHAT KIND OF SEED QUALITY YOU HAVE AND YOU RUN THE INSURANCE WITH PLANTING EXTRA SEED TO GET A GOOD POPULATION AND THEN FARMERS WILL GO BACK IN AND THIN THE CROP AND THAT HAS TO BE DONE BY HAND, AGAIN BY HOEING SO THAT’S LABOR INTENSIVE.

AND THEN OF COURSE PROBABLY THE MOST LABOR INTENSIVE PART IS PICKING, HARVESTING.

SO YOU GO THROUGH AND YOU START PICKING THESE BOLLS OFF THE INDIVIDUAL PLANTS.

A GOOD YIELD YOU’LL HAVE MAYBE 30, 40 BOLLS ON A PLANT.

THEN THEY DRY AND THE BOLLS OPEN UP AND AS THOSE BOLLS OPEN UP THE BURRS ARE SHARP AND THEY STICK YOUR HANDS, THEY CUT YOUR HANDS.

AND IT HAD TO BE DONE ON A TIMELY BASIS AND IT TAKES A LOT OF PEOPLE TO DO IT.

NARRATOR: MANY OF THOSE LABORERS WHO HAD DONE THE BACK BREAKING FIELD WORK WERE DEPORTED TO MEXICO.

THAT CREATED A TREMENDOUS DEMAND FOR LABOR IN THE FIELDS THAT MANY OF THOSE MEXICANOS HAD BEEN FULFILLING AND SO IN THAT CASE THEY TURNED TO WHITE AND BLACK REFUGEES OF THE DUST BOWL WHO HAD BEEN FORCED OFF THEIR OWN LAND EITHER AS OWNERS OR AS SHARECROPPERS AND WERE TRYING TO SURVIVE BY DRIVING DOWN ROUTE 66 AND HEADING FOR ARIZONA OR CALIFORNIA.

NARRATOR: AS IN ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA’S PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW AVERAGE BUT NOT CATASTROPHIC.

THE FERTILE VALLEYS OF CALIFORNIA BECAME THE MYTHICAL PROMISED LAND FOR THE DESTITUTE DUST BOWL REFUGEES.

THEY MAY ULTIMATELY HAVE BEEN BOUND FOR CALIFORNIA BUT A LOT OF THEM WERE RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS THAT THE ARIZONA FARM BUREAU DISTRIBUTED IN TEXAS, OKLAHOMA AND ARKANSAS.

♪ GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD FEELIN’ BAD, I’M GOIN’ DOWN MY ROAD FEELIN’ BAD.

I’M GOIN’ DOWN THAT ROAD FEELIN’ BAD, OH, LORD, AND I AIN’T GONNA BE FREE THIS A-WAY.

♪ JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY WHO WAS TRAVELING BY AUTOMOBILE PASSED ALONG ROUTE 66.

I MEAN, THERE WERE OTHER HIGHWAYS IN AND OUT OF THE STATE BUT IT WAS CERTAINLY THE MOST PROMINENT AND THOSE PEOPLE WOULD GET TO ARIZONA AND THEN SOME WOULD HEAD SOUTH TO WORK IN THE SALT RIVER VALLEY OR ALONG THE GILA RIVER OR IN CENTRAL ARIZONA.

THE EMPLOYERS WERE MORE THAN WILLING TO GIVE THE JOBS TO ANYBODY WHO HAD A LIGHTER SKIN BUT THAT MADE THEM LOOK KIND OF ALTRUISTIC BUT THEY REALLY WEREN’T BEING ALTRUISTIC.

WHAT THEY BASICALLY KNEW IS THAT THEY COULD JUST EXPLOIT THE OKIES AS MUCH AS THEY HAD EXPLOITED THE MEXICAN WORKERS.

THEY JUST SIMPLY COULD SAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, I’M BEING A GOOD AMERICAN BECAUSE I’M HIRING AMERICANS BUT THEY STILL PAID THE OKIES MISERABLE WAGES, THE OKIES WERE FORCED TO LIVE IN MISERABLE LIVING CONDITIONS AND SO THE PREFERENCE WAS GIVEN TO THESE NEWLY FORMED MIGRATORY WORKERS FROM THE SO-CALLED DUST BOWL AND FROM THE SOUTHEAST BUT IN REALITY IT WAS AGAIN REPLACING ONE EXPLOITED GROUP WITH ANOTHER.

NARRATOR: DUST BOWL MIGRANTS HAD PLENTY TO FLEE, NOT ONLY MISERY BUT ALSO DEATH AND NOT JUST FROM STARVATION BUT ALSO FROM A PLAGUE THEY BROUGHT ON THEMSELVES; FALLOW, BARREN FIELDS WITH DRY EXPOSED TOP SOIL COMBINED WITH A DEADLY WEATHER PATTERN TO CREATE A WIND STORM AND ITS FELLOW TRAVELER, DUST PNEUMONIA.

WIND STORMS ARE COMMON IN THE SPRING SO IT’S A NATURAL CYCLE IN THE GREAT PLAINS WITH THESE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS THAT COME SWEEPING OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND HEAD ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS FROM THE NORTHWEST TO THE SOUTHEAST USUALLY.

THEY DEVELOP SOME HORRENDOUS WINDS JUST NATURALLY SO WHEN YOU HAVE ALL THAT LAND OPENED UP AND BARE, NO TOP SOIL, NO SOD OR NO GRASS, NATIVE GRASSES, TO HOLD THE TOP SOIL, THAT LAND WILL BLOW.

I THINK ON APRIL 14TH, 1935, WHICH IS REFERRED TO AS BLACK SUNDAY, THERE’S ESTIMATES I BELIEVE IT’S LIKE 300 MILLION TONS OF TOP SOIL WERE LOST IN ONE DAY FROM THIS ONE HUGE WIND STORM THAT WENT SWEEPING ACROSS THE PLAINS.

DUST ARE SMALL PARTICLES THAT COME UP FROM THE SOIL, MAINLY THE COARSE DUST IS CENTERED ABOUT TEN MICRONS, THAT’S ABOUT THE WIDTH OF A HUMAN HAIR, NOT VERY WIDE.

AND THEN BELOW THAT THERE ARE TWO MORE FAMILIES OF DUST.

THERE’S THE ULTRA FINE AND THEN THE FINE.

THOSE COARSER PARTICLES, IF YOU INHALE IT, ARE TAKEN OUT IN THE UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT SO THEY’RE FILTERED OUT IN THE NOSE OR THE BACK OF THE THROAT AND THEN ULTIMATELY ONE SWALLOWS THOSE PARTICLES AND SO THEY’RE ELIMINATED THROUGH THE GASTRIC SYSTEM.

BUT THE FINER PARTICLES ARE NOT TRAPPED IN THE UPPER RESPIRATORY SYSTEM AND THEY CAN GET DOWN VERY DEEP DEPENDING ON THEIR SIZE.

THOSE FINE PARTICLES THAT GET DEEP INTO THE LUNGS CAN’T BE SWEPT OUT BECAUSE THE HUMAN RESPIRATORY SYSTEM CLEANS ITSELF OUT WITH THESE TINY FIBERS LIKE LITTLE HAIRS IN THE LUNGS AND THEY’RE CONTINUALLY SWEEPING OUT THE PARTICLES AND THE ASSOCIATED FLUID BUT REALLY DEEP DOWN IN OUR LUNGS THOSE LITTLE HAIRS NO LONGER EXIST AND SO THE PARTICLES RESIDE THERE AND THE BODY’S RESPONSE IS TO TRY TO COVER THEM WITH MUCUS AND THEN TRY TO DISSOLVE THEM AND THAT BUILD UP OF FLUID IN THE LUNGS TURNS INTO PNEUMONIA TRIGGERED BY THESE TINY PARTICLES, HENCE DUST PNEUMONIA.

NARRATOR: HERE IN ARIZONA THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS THAT DUST GETS AIRBORNE AND CAN ENTER THE LUNGS.

COMBINED WITH THE RIGHT TYPE OF WIND THIS DUST CAN BECOME A DUST DEVIL, A DUST STORM OR A HABOOB WHICH LOOKS LIKE THE GREAT PLAINS DUST STORMS.

THE HABOOB IS FORMED QUITE DIFFERENTLY AND DOESN’T LAST NEARLY AS LONG.

THE TERM HABOOB COMES FROM THE ARABIC AND IT JUST SIMPLY DESCRIBES THAT VERY STRONG DOWN BURST OF AIR COMING DOWN FROM A BIG CONVECTIVE STORM LIKE WE GET HERE IN THE MONSOON SEASON.

SO THE PHENOMENON OF THAT STRONG COLD DOWN BURST STRIKING THE GROUND AND THEN GIVING RISE TO THESE WAVES, THESE FRONTS OF COLD AIR WHICH LIFT UP THE DUST, THAT’S CALLED A HABOOB.

♪ I THOUGHT AT FIRST THAT I WOULD NOT GO NO FURTHER WEST THAN NEW MEXICO BUT THE WORK IT WAS SCARCE AND THE WEATHER WAS BAD, I FELT LIKE I’D LEFT ALL THE FRIENDS THAT I HAD.

WE LANDED AT PEORIE ONE SAD LONELY DAY, NO PLACE FOR A SHELTER BUT A RAG HOUSE TO STAY.

I FELT LIKE ARIZONA WAS TOO MUCH FOR ME, I CRIED ’TIL MY HEART ACHED AND I SCARCELY COULD SEE.

♪ NARRATOR: MOST IMMIGRANTS COMING WEST WERE SO DESTITUTE THEY CARRIED VERY FEW POSSESSIONS.

BUT WHAT THEY DID BRING WAS THEIR CULTURE AND HERITAGE.

MUCH OF THAT WAS CONTAINED IN SONG.

A LOT OF THE MUSIC THAT YOU SEE IS OLD MUSIC, IT’S FOLK MUSIC, IT’S HYMNS THAT PEOPLE USED TO SING, IT’S SONGS THEIR MOTHERS AND FATHERS SANG TO THEM.

THE OTHER THING THAT YOU SEE A LOT OF IS OLD BALLADS FROM THE ANGLO-BRITISH TRADITION, A LOT OF REALLY OLD STYLE BALLADS LIKE BARBARA ALLEN AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT HAVE PERSISTED FOR THE YEARS BUT PEOPLE FIND MEANING IN THEM.

♪ YOUNG JIMMY GRAY ON HIS DEATH BED LAY FOR THE LOVE OF BARBARA ALLEN.

HE SENT HIS... ♪ SOME OF THE NEWLY COMPOSED MUSIC IS DEFINITELY DOCUMENTING TROUBLES, SORROWS, WOES AND ASPIRATIONS OF HOPE AND GETTING THROUGH THIS AND BEING STRONG THROUGH IT.

♪ SO I MOSEYED DOWN THE HILL, COTTON BOLLS A-CALLIN’ STILL, LONG ROWS AND THE BOSS MAN WAITING TO NAIL YOU UP IN A WOODEN CRATE.

AT SIX BITS A HUNDRED, LIVIN’S HARD BUT DYIN’S DEAR IN THE COUNTY YARD.

25 BUCKS A HUNDRED WEIGHT.

♪ AH, THERE’S REALLY INTERESTING SONGS ABOUT THE DISTINCTIVE ARIZONA EXPERIENCE.

THERE’S ONE JUST CALLED ARIZONA .

♪ YOU PEOPLE IN OKLAHOMA, IF YOU EVER COME WEST, HAVE YOUR POCKET FULL OF MONEY AND YOU BETTER BE WELL DRESSED.

IF YOU WIND UP ON THE DESERT, YOU’RE GONNA WISH THAT YOU WERE DEAD.

YOU’LL BE LONGIN’ FOR OKLAHOMA AND YOU’RE GOOD ’OL FEATHER BED.

♪ THAT’S A SONG ABOUT HOW WE DON’T WANT THESE MIGRANTS HERE, YOU GO BACK HOME, LEAVE US, GO BACK TO TEXAS, GO BACK TO OKLAHOMA, WE DON’T WANT ANY OKIES AND TEXIES HERE IN ARIZONA.

CLEARLY THE COMPETITION FOR WORK WAS A WORRY BUT IT DIDN’T HAVE TO BE JUST ABOUT THIS REGION.

A SONG’S LYRICS COULD BE ABOUT SOMETHING FAIRLY FAR AWAY.

LISTENERS ARE GOOD AT MAKING RELATIONSHIPS AND DRAWING METAPHORS AND SOMETIMES A LITTLE DISTANCE IS GOOD FOR A LISTENER.

♪ MUSIC ♪ THIS WAS THE ERA WHEN THE PHONOGRAPH RECORDING WAS BECOMING POPULAR IN THE UNITED STATES BUT DURING THE DEPRESSION AND DURING THE YEARS OF THE DUST BOWL, A PHONOGRAPH VICTROLA WAS AS EXPENSIVE AS A CAR.

BECAUSE THEY CORRESPONDED WITH THE RISE OF THE RECORDING INDUSTRY AND THE GROWTH OF AN AMERICAN POPULAR MUSIC INDUSTRY, THE RISE OF THE FOLK PROTEST SONG AND CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE IMPOVERISHED PEOPLE OF THE DUST BOWL ERA AND THE PEOPLE OF THE DEPRESSION AND THE UNION BUILDERS, THIS WAS INDEED I THINK THE START OF A WHOLE NEW MOVEMENT OF PROTEST MUSIC.

♪ TIME FOR UNION RECOGNITION, TIME FOR BETTER PAY... ♪ I THINK THAT WAS ONE OF THE BIG ATTRACTERS TO THE FOLK ROCK SINGERS IN THE ’50S AND ’60S, THAT WHOLE TRADITION THAT CARRIED ON EVEN TODAY IS THAT SENSE THAT YOU SING A SONG AND A WHOLE GROUP OF PEOPLE CAN SING IT WITH YOU.

THESE ARE SONGS THAT YOU PASS AROUND.

THAT COMMUNITY BUILDING DIMENSION OF SINGING AND MAKING MUSIC OR DANCING TOGETHER AT THE END OF A LONG, HARD DAY, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS WERE REALLY VALUED BY THE FOLK MUSIC COMMUNITY.

♪ I’M A HOTSHOT BUM FROM MY WAY BOYS, YOU OUGHT TO SEE ME DO MY STUFF.

I’M A CLEAN CUT FELLA FROM CORNER’S CORNER, MY YOU MUST SEE ME STRUT... ♪ TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THIS IS ALMOST LIKE OPENING PRIVATE DIARIES OR PRIVATE RECORDS ABOUT WHAT AN EXPERIENCE WAS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING IT.

IT’S ALWAYS WORTH OUR TIME TO REMEMBER WHAT PEOPLE FELT AND COMPARE IT TO OUR PRESENT TIMES.

WE ALL GO THROUGH HARD TIMES, HOPEFULLY NOT AS HARD AS WHAT THOSE PEOPLE HAD TO ENDURE BUT LOOKING BACK ON SONGS REMINDS US OF WHAT PEOPLE FELT AND WHAT MADE THEM HAPPY AND HOW WE CAN MAKE OURSELVES MORE SENSITIVE TO THE PLEASURES AND PAIN OF LIFE.

NARRATOR: NO PLACE TO GO AND NO PLACE TO STAY.

THERE WAS VERY LITTLE WORK BUT PLENTY OF MISERY.

THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE DUST BOWL WERE MORE THAN MANY COULD TAKE.

WHEN THEY COULD, FAMILIES HELPED FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS HELPED NEIGHBORS.

THE REST, AND THERE WERE PLENTY, RELIED ON THE GOVERNMENT.

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT RESPONDED WITH A NEW DEAL PLAN THAT CREATED SEVERAL PUBLIC WORKS ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION, THE WPA AND THE CCC.

ABOUT 15,000 YOUNG MEN WORKED FOR THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORP IN ARIZONA DURING THE DUST BOWL.

IF YOU GO TO ANY OF ARIZONA’S NATIONAL FORESTS, YOU’LL HIKE ALONG TRAILS BUILT BY DIFFERENT CCC CAMPS.

THE DUST BOWL SCARED THE HELL OUT OF PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY AND IN A SENSE IT LED TO A REAL NATIONAL CRUSADE TO CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES, ESPECIALLY SOIL AND WATER ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DID WAS ACTUALLY TO STIMULATE DAM BUILDING.

THE BIGGEST DAM IN ARIZONA AND REALLY ALL OF THE SOUTHWEST WAS THE DAM THAT AT FIRST WAS CALLED BOULDER CANYON DAM AND THEN HOOVER DAM AND THEN BOULDER DAM AND FINALLY ENDED UP BEING CALLED HOOVER DAM.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST FEDERAL PROJECTS IN THE COUNTRY IN THE EARLY 1930S.

HOOVER DAM BECAME A REAL NATIONAL ICON OF HUMAN PROGRESS AT A TIME WHEN IT SEEMED LIKE NATURE WAS CONSPIRING AGAINST HUMANS.

♪ WHY DID I JOIN THE CCC?

WHY DID I JOIN THE CCC?

WHY DID I JOIN THE CCC?

THIS ’OL HARD LABOR’S KILLING ME.

THEY TREAT ME LIKE A DIRTY DOG... ♪ IT DEFINITELY PROVIDED A SAFETY NET FOR THOUSANDS OF ARIZONA’S WHITE, BLACK, MEXICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN ALTHOUGH WHITES WERE CLEARLY GIVEN PREFERENCE FOR ALL OF THOSE CCC AND OTHER NEW DEAL PROGRAMS.

WHEN THE NEW DEAL PROGRAMS BEGAN TO KICK IN, ESPECIALLY THE WPA FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WERE ARGUMENTS THAT THE WORK SHOULD ONLY BE GIVEN TO PEOPLE WHO WERE AMERICAN CITIZENS.

AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL THERE WAS NO SPECIFIC LANGUAGE PUT INTO THE LAW THAT WOULD DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN AMERICAN CITIZENS AND PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT RESIDENTS OF THE COUNTRY.

THAT WAS APPLIED AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.

THERE WAS A THREE YEAR RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT HERE IN ARIZONA.

YOU HAD TO PROVE THAT YOU HAD BEEN HERE FOR THREE YEARS AND SO THAT REQUIRED SOME KIND OF DOCUMENTATION.

BUT BECAUSE MEXICANS WERE KIND OF A HIGHLY MIGRATORY FORCE AND MANY OF THEM HAD ENTERED ILLEGALLY, OF COURSE THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY PAPERS THAT COULD PROVE THAT THEY WERE CITIZENS.

FURTHERMORE, SOME PEOPLE WERE AFRAID TO APPROACH PUBLIC WELFARE AND SOCIAL WELFARE NETWORKS BECAUSE IT MEANT EXPOSURE AND IDENTIFYING YOURSELF WHICH MEANT THAT YOU BECAME SUBJECT TO REPATRIATION OR ARREST BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

NARRATOR: MORE THAN 20 TRIBES HAVE TRADITIONAL HOMELANDS IN ARIZONA INCLUDING THE NAVAJO.

IN 1864 THE U.S. ARMY ATTEMPTED PACIFICATION BY FORCING THE NAVAJOS LIVING IN NORTHEASTERN ARIZONA TO RELOCATE TO NEW MEXICO IN WHAT IS TERMED THE LONG WALK.

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS AND THOUSANDS OF NAVAJO DEATHS THEY WERE ALLOWED BACK AND WERE FURNISHED LIVESTOCK BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

AFTER THE NAVAJOS HAD BEEN CONFINED BACK IN THE 1860S ON THE BOSQUE REDONDO WHICH REALLY WAS A CONCENTRATION CAMP ON THE PECOS RIVER, WHEN THEY WERE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND, NAVAJO POPULATION SKYROCKETED AND ALONG WITH THAT YOU HAD WELL OVER A MILLION SHEEP AND SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND HEAD OF CATTLE GRAZING NAVAJO LANDS.

FEDERAL OFFICIALS FELT THAT THE NAVAJO LANDS WERE SEVERELY OVER GRAZED, THAT THAT WAS CREATING SOIL EROSION AND THAT THAT SOIL EROSION MIGHT THREATEN THIS NEW ICON OF HOOVER DAM AND SILT UP THE COLORADO AND SILT UP THE RESERVOIR THAT WAS IMPOUNDING WATER AND SO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IMPOSED A SERIES OF STOCK REDUCTION MEASURES ON NAVAJOS ACROSS THE BOARD.

AND THESE CUTS WERE MADE REGARDLESS OF HOW WEALTHY OR HOW POOR INDIVIDUAL NAVAJO FAMILIES WERE.

THE STOCK REDUCTION IS CONSIDERED BY THE NAVAJOS AS THE SECOND LONG WALK, THE SECOND DISASTROUS TIME IN NAVAJO HISTORY.

FOR NAVAJO PEOPLE LIVESTOCK IS LIFE, IT’S LITERALLY LIFE.

WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS THAT THE LIVESTOCK, IN PARTICULAR SHEEP AND GOATS ALSO AS WELL AS HORSES AND CATTLE, IT REALLY MEANT MORE THAN THIS SENSE OF SUBSISTENCE LIFE, IT BECAME A PART OF CULTURE, IT BECAME A PART OF A WAY OF LIFE, A RELIGION SO TO SPEAK.

IN FACT, EVEN IF A NAVAJO PERSON HAD 800, 1,000 SHEEP, HE OR SHE WOULD KNOW EXACTLY EVERY SINGLE SHEEP AND ACTUALLY HAD NAMES FOR MANY OF THEM AS WELL.

SO SHEEP BASICALLY IT MEANT LIFE AND HORSES MEANT LIFE AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ACTUALLY DIED OF HEARTACHE AS WELL BECAUSE IF SHEEP IS LIFE, IF HORSE IS LIFE AND IF YOU GET TO KNOW YOUR SHEEP AND KNOW YOUR HORSES, PEOPLE ACTUALLY WERE HEARTBROKEN BY THE SHEER SLAUGHTER OF THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS.

♪ WAY OUT IN ARIZONA, ON THE PAINTED DESERT GROUND.

WE HAD NO PLACE TO CALL OUR HOME AND WORK COULD NOT BE FOUND.

STARTED TO CALIFORNIA BUT OUR MONEY IT DIDN’T LAST LONG.

I WANT TO BE IN OKLAHOMA, BE BACK IN MY OWN HOME.

A WAY OUT ON THE DESERT... ♪ NARRATOR: AS THE NUMBER OF MEXICANS AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS IN ARIZONA DECREASED, THEIR STRONG CULTURAL AND SOCIAL INFLUENCE DIMINISHED.

AS MORE AND MORE MIGRANTS SOUGHT REFUGE, SOUTHERN AND MIDWESTERN CULTURES AND VALUES BEGAN TO RESHAPE ARIZONA.

ACCORDING TO THE WPA NEARLY HALF OF ARIZONA’S DUST BOWL MIGRANTS CAME FROM OKLAHOMA.

WHEREAS MANY OF THE MEXICAN MIGRANT LABORERS HAD COME, WORKED AND LEFT, MANY OF THE DUST BOWL REFUGEES STAYED AND BECAME ARIZONANS.

AT FIRST MANY OF THESE OKIES AND ARKIES WERE DEFINITELY LOOKED DOWN UPON BY THE GROWERS AND BY THE OTHER CITIZENS OF THE SMALL TOWNS, THE AGRICULTURAL TOWNS IN THE SALT RIVER VALLEY AND IN PINAL COUNTY WHERE THEY SETTLED.

BUT FIRST OF ALL THEY WERE WHITE AND SO THE COLOR BARRIER DIDN’T EXIST THERE AND SECONDLY, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, MOST OF THEM CAME FROM THE SAME REGION OF THE COUNTRY THAT THE COTTON FARMERS THEMSELVES CAME FROM, THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, THE SOUTHEAST, SO THEY SHARED COMMON PREFERENCES IN MUSIC, IN FOOD, PROBABLY SHARED COMMON PREFERENCES IN RELIGION.

SO THOSE THAT PROVED TO BE GOOD WORKERS COULD ACTUALLY KIND OF, THEY WERE THE ONES, NOT AFRICAN-AMERICANS, NOT MEXICANS, WHO BECAME FOREMEN ON THE FARMS OR WHO WENT TO WORK FOR THE COTTON GINS AND GRADUALLY SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE WERE SORT OF ABSORBED INTO THESE FARMING COMMUNITIES.

BY PULLING SO MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE INTO ARIZONA, IT CERTAINLY CHANGED ARIZONA’S POPULATION AND GAVE IT EVEN MORE OF A, AT LEAST IT’S WHITE POPULATION, GAVE IT EVEN MORE OF A SOUTHERN TWIST TO IT.

ALSO MANY OF THE...

MANY OF ARIZONA’S AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARRIVED AT THE SAME TIME AND EVEN THOUGH AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE A RELATIVELY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF ARIZONA’S POPULATION, MANY OF THEM WERE DUST BOWL REFUGEES AS WELL.

THE WAY THAT THE MEXICAN-AMERICANS WHO HAD LIVED HERE FOR SO MANY GENERATIONS WERE TREATED, THAT THEY WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BECAUSE OF THEIR SKIN COLOR, I THINK LEFT A LEGACY OF IF NOT RESENTMENT CERTAINLY OF SUSPICION IN THE MINDS OF PEOPLE.

IT REINFORCED NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES AMONG THE POPULATION.

THE ONE THING THAT DID OCCUR WAS THAT ESPECIALLY HERE IN TUCSON WHERE THE MEXICAN CULTURE WAS DEEPLY ROOTED IS THAT IT WAS REINFORCED.

ALTHOUGH THEY WERE AMERICAN CITIZENS, THEY FOUND OUT THAT JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE MEXICANS THERE WAS NO DIFFERENTIATION MADE BETWEEN MEXICAN NATIONALS AND MEXICAN CITIZENS WHO WERE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.

AND SO THERE WAS THIS REINFORCEMENT OF AN IDENTITY WITH THE MEXICAN CULTURE AND ECONOMICS ALSO REINFORCED THAT BECAUSE MANY MEXICANS RELIED ON THE EXTENDED FAMILY TO SURVIVE THE HARDSHIP OF THE DEPRESSION.

THEY BECAME ALSO REAFFIRMED IN THEIR BELIEF IN CATHOLICISM.

THEY BECAME EVEN MORE RELIGIOUS HOPING THAT BY TRUSTING IN GOD THAT THEIR WAY OF LIFE WOULD BE IMPROVED.

AND THEN MANY OF THE MIDDLE CLASS MEXICAN-AMERICANS WHO LIVED IN TUCSON REALIZED THAT THE AMERICANS WERE NOT GOING TO HELP THEIR PEOPLE WHETHER THEY WERE NATIONALS OR NOT AND SO THEY BEGAN TO FORM ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE SOCIAL WELFARE AND SUPPORT TO THE NEEDY IN THE MEXICAN POPULATION REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY WERE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY OR NOT.

♪ SO I’LL GO RIGHT BACK TO TEXAS AND STAY THERE ALL MY LIFE.

I HOPE TO MEET SOME PRETTY LITTLE GIRL AND I’LL ASK HER TO BE MY WIFE.

I’LL TRY TO MAKE HER HAPPY, I’LL LOVE HER ALL THE TIME.

BUT I HOPE SHE IS A MILLIONAIRE CAUSE I AIN’T GOT A DIME.

♪ NARRATOR: THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1935 TO HELP RELOCATE FARM COMMUNITIES.

IT WAS AN EXPENSIVE AND CONTROVERSIAL PROGRAM.

TO BOLSTER ITS IMAGE, THE FSA TOOK OVER 170,000 PHOTOGRAPHS DURING THE NEXT 10 YEARS.

INITIALLY THE IDEA WAS TO DOCUMENT THE POSITIVE OUTCOMES OF CASH LOANS MADE TO FARMERS.

BUT SOON THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT EXPANDED.

A FORMER UNIVERSITY ECONOMICS INSTRUCTOR MANAGED THE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECT.

WHAT WAS UNUSUAL ABOUT THE FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION WAS THAT RUSSELL STRYKER WHO WAS NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER BUT RECOGNIZED WHAT PHOTOGRAPHS COULD DO TO TELL HIS STORY, HE HIRED SOME OF THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS WORKING IN THE NATION, WALKER EVANS, DOROTHEA LANGE, JACK DELANO AND SO THAT REALLY DISTINGUISHED THAT AGENCY.

IT HAD A GOVERNMENT PURPOSE TO SHOW THE GOOD THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS DOING AND THE GOOD THINGS THE GOVERNMENT NEEDED TO DO.

NARRATOR: NEVER IN AMERICAN HISTORY HAS AN ERA BEEN SO EXTENSIVELY DOCUMENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT, THANKS TO THE FSA PHOTOGRAPHERS.

SOME TOOK UP THE CAMERA FOR THE FIRST TIME, OTHERS HAD EXTENSIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE.

RUSSELL LEE WAS A SHOOTER AND HE’D SHOOT DOZENS OF IMAGES AT ONCE AND HE WAS PROBABLY ROY STRYKER’S FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHER BECAUSE HE PRODUCED IN QUANTITY.

HE TOOK MORE PHOTOGRAPHS IN ARIZONA THAN ANY OF THE OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS.

DOROTHEA LANGE WAS MORE DELIBERATE.

SHE HAD TRAINING AS A PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER.

SHE KNEW MORE ABOUT HER SUBJECT THAN PROBABLY ANY OF THE OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS WORKING FOR THE AGENCIES.

SHE’D SEEN ON THE GROUND WHAT HAPPENED IN CALIFORNIA, ALL THE DUST BOWL REFUGEES, THE ARKIES, THE OKIES, THE TEXIES, HER SENSE OF FRAMING, HER SENSE OF COMPOSITION, HER SENSE OF TELLING A NARRATIVE STORY.

YOU SEE THE PICTURES THAT LED UP TO THE FAMOUS IMAGE OF THE MIGRANT MOTHER WHICH IS PROBABLY THE ICONIC PICTURE OF THE AMERICAN DEPRESSION.

SHE WORKED HER WAY THROUGH DISTRACTING PARTS OF THE SCENE, OTHER CHILDREN, AND CAME TO THE IMAGE THAT ABSOLUTELY NAILED THE KIND OF THING THAT SHE WANTED TO TELL THAT BECAME AN EMBLEM OF THE DEPRESSION.

THEY ARE HEART BREAKING.

THEY ARE HEART BREAKING CAUSE YOU SEE THE CONDITIONS THAT THEY WERE LIVING IN IN THE DEPRESSION.

THESE ARE PEOPLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE AT THE END OF THEIR ROPE, THEY HAVE NO RESOURCES LEFT AND YOU SEE THAT WRIT LARGE ON THEIR FACES AND SHE COULD WAIT UNTIL SHE GOT JUST THE RIGHT SCENE.

NOT ALL THE IMAGES THOUGH ARE HOPELESS AND THAT’S TRUE FOR ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHERS.

THERE ARE SOME THAT HAVE THAT RESILIENCE OF PEOPLE, WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, PEOPLE GATHERING TOGETHER TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT.

YOU SEE THAT IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS AS WELL.

IT’S A NATIONAL STORY.

THEY HAVE COMPARABLE IMAGES IN EVERY STATE SO YOU HAVE A VERSION OF THE MIGRANT MOTHER, A WOMAN STANDING, SHE’S ACTUALLY A GRANDMOTHER, SHE’S HOLDING HER GRANDCHILDREN IN THIS HOVEL THAT’S EVEN PROBABLY TOO GOOD A TERM FOR IT BY THE SIDE OF THE FIELDS WHERE THEY ARE PICKING AND SO THAT STORY IS A NATIONAL STORY BUT IT’LL COME DOWN LOCAL IN TERMS OF THE SUBJECTS.

NOT EVERY STATE SAY WOULD HAVE MINING, NOT EVERY STATE HAD COTTON, WE WERE PART OF THE COTTON BELT CAUSE WE HAD LONG STAPLE COTTON OUT HERE THAT WAS VERY FINE COTTON.

SO YOU’LL GET THE LOCAL STORY THAT RESONATES NATIONALLY BECAUSE THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS WENT ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES.

I COULD PROBABLY PUT A LABEL ON THEM AND SAY GEORGIA AND NO ONE WOULD KNOW.

THE BAGS THAT YOU HAUL, THE HAND PICKING, IT’S BRUTAL STUFF CAUSE IT’S GOT SPINES AND IT TAKES APART YOUR HANDS.

SOME OF HER PICTURES ALL YOU SEE ARE THE HANDS PICKING.

YOU HAVE CHILD LABOR PICKING THE COTTON HERE BECAUSE CHILDREN WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN SCHOOL BUT THE PARENTS COULDN’T AFFORD TO DO WITHOUT THE 25, 50 CENTS THEY WOULD MAKE IF THEY HARVESTED COTTON FOR EIGHT HOURS SO IT LOOKS JUST LIKE WHAT YOU SEE IN THE SOUTH.

YOU WOULD HAVE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PICKERS, PROBABLY FEWER THAN YOU WOULD IN THE SOUTH.

THEY LIVED IN SEGREGATED CAMPS, THEY WERE PAID LESS.

YOU HAVE TO THINK OF THE PURPOSE OF THE AGENCY WHICH WAS TO DEAL WITH WHAT THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS WERE DOING AND THEN IF THEY SAW A TALIESIN OR THEY SAW SOME OTHER TYPICAL THINGS ABOUT ARIZONA THAT RELATED TO TOURISM.

ONE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS HAS A CACTUS, A SAGUARO CACTUS LIGHT, A STREETLIGHT IN DOWNTOWN PHOENIX.

WHY DID WE NEED THAT, WE HAD PLENTY OF THE REAL THING BUT IT’S THE SORT OF WONDERFUL COMIC THING, THOSE CACTUS AND REPTILE STANDS THAT CATER TO TOURISTS.

SO THEY WOULD TAKE THEM WHEN THEY SAW THEM BUT IT WASN’T THE PRIMARY AGENCY PURPOSE.

♪ NOW THIS LITTLE CAMP IT’S STANDS HERE TODAY, THE LITTLE RAG HOMES FOR PEOPLE TO STAY.

FROM THERE THEY FIND WORK AND IT REALLY ISN’T BAD, ALTHOUGH IT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE LIFE THEY HAVE HAD.

♪ NARRATOR: AROUND 1940 THE CLOUDS FINALLY OPENED AND LET LOOSE THE RAINS THEY HAD HELD SO TIGHTLY FOR SO LONG.

THAT MOISTURE ENDED THE SUFFERING CAUSED BY THE WEATHER THROUGHOUT THE DUST BOWL.

IT WAS A STORM OF A DIFFERENT TYPE THAT BROUGHT AN END TO THE FINANCIAL DISASTER EXPERIENCED IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION.

THE ECONOMIC REVIVAL BEGAN IN RESPONSE TO THE AGGRESSION SPARKED BY DECEMBER 7TH, 1941.

IN REALITY, WORLD WAR II PULLED THE UNITED STATES OUT OF THE DEPRESSION BUT GENERATED SUCH A DEMAND FOR LABOR AND FOR GOODS TO GO INTO THE WAR EFFORT THAT IT CREATED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF JOBS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND THE FACT THAT SO MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YOUNG MEN WERE GOING OFF TO WAR CREATED ALL KINDS OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHERS, MEXICANOS, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, NATIVE AMERICANS, WOMEN IN DEFENSE PLANTS, THE MINING INDUSTRY, ALL THESE OTHER INDUSTRIES THAT SORT OF RATCHETED UP AGAIN BECAUSE OF WORLD WAR II.

I THINK WITHOUT WORLD WAR II CONDITIONS WOULD HAVE STAYED PRETTY GRIM IN ARIZONA AS WELL AS MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

NARRATOR: THE DUST BOWL ERA HAD TRANSFORMED THE NATION AND TAUGHT LESSONS ABOUT MANY OF THE SAME ISSUES WE FACE TODAY, LESSONS PERHAPS LOST.

THERE’S A LOT OF LESSONS I THINK TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS.

ONE IS OF COURSE THE LESSONS THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT THAT HUMANS HAVE ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

THE DUST BOWL WAS MANMADE.

IT WAS CAUSED BY OVER PLOWING AND OVER GRAZING, BY GREED AND OVER DEVELOPMENT.

PEOPLE HAD WARNED ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE GREAT PLAINS WERE NOT DESIGNED BY NATURE TO SUPPORT THAT SORT OF EXTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.

WE NOW FACE THE SAME SITUATION IN TERMS OF THIS GLOBAL WARMING ISSUE.

I THINK ANOTHER LESSON THAT WE LEARNED THAT WAS SOMEWHAT MORE POSITIVE IF YOU WILL WAS THAT THIS WHOLE IDEA OF POVERTY IN THE COUNTRY.

PRIOR TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION THERE WAS THIS COMMON BELIEF THAT IF YOU WERE POOR IT WAS BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN PERSONAL FAILINGS OR BECAUSE OF YOUR CULTURE OR BECAUSE YOU WERE LAZY OR BECAUSE YOU LACKED AMBITION.

WHEN THE DEPRESSION HIT HOWEVER, ONE OF THE GROUPS THAT WAS PROBABLY THE HARDEST HIT BY THE DEPRESSION WAS THE MIDDLE CLASS.

IT DAWNED ON THEM AFTER AWHILE THAT THEIR POVERTY WAS NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE LAZY OR INDOLENT OR UNAMBITIOUS OR BECAUSE OF THEIR CULTURE OR NATIONALITY, IT WAS BECAUSE OF FORCES THAT WERE BEYOND THEIR CONTROL AND IT DEVELOPED IN THEM A GREATER EMPATHY IF YOU WILL, MAYBE EVEN UNDERSTANDING, THAT POVERTY WAS SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE DID NOT NECESSARILY EMBRACE OR WAS DUE TO CULTURE.

A GENERAL LESSON IF YOU WILL THAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN WE’RE DISCUSSING THE IMPACTS OF HUMANS AND CLIMATE AFFECTING HUMANS THAT CARRIES OVER I THINK FROM DROUGHT AND HOW THAT INFLUENCES FARMING AND PEOPLE NOT ABLE TO SUSTAIN THEMSELVES IN PART BECAUSE THEY’VE CHANGED THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT AND THAT MAKES THEM MORE VULNERABLE TO DROUGHT, THE PLOWING OVER OF THE PRAIRIE SOD FOR EXAMPLE.

SO THIS IS, THE LESSON I THINK IS THAT IF WE’RE NOT CAREFUL ABOUT HOW WE USE LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS AND HOW WE CHANGE ECOSYSTEMS, WE CAN INCREASE THEIR VULNERABILITY, ECOSYSTEM VULNERABILITY AND HUMAN VULNERABILITY TO DROUGHT EXTREMES.

IT’S NOT A GOOD THING TO BE BREATHING DUST FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.

FOR SHORT PERIODS OF TIME IT’S SURVIVAL, OBVIOUSLY WE ALL SURVIVE DUST STORMS NOW AND THEN, WIND BLOWING DUST IN OUR FACES BUT OVER THE LONG HAUL IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU.

IF YOU WANT TO MITIGATE DUST STORMS AND REDUCE THEM, THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT THE WEATHER.

WE CANNOT CONTROL THE WEATHER.

SO WHAT YOU’RE LEFT IS TO TRY TO CONTROL THE SOURCES AND THAT WOULD BE LARGE AREAS OF UNVEGETATED LAND OR UNPAVED LAND.

TRY TO VEGETATE THEM.

IF THERE WERE GRASSY PLAINS OUT THERE OR TREES OR CROPS IN THE FIELDS, THEN THAT WOULD REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF DUST.

IF YOU VEGETATE A VACANT LOT WELL, YOU CAN REDUCE THE DUST.

STOCK REDUCTION, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THE DARKEST TIME, IT REALLY LED TO THIS SENSE OF NAVAJO NATIONALISM SO IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR AND RISING AGAINST WHAT SEEMED LIKE INSURMOUNTABLE ODDS, THE NAVAJO PEOPLE CAME TOGETHER AND ACTUALLY BECAME MORE UNIFIED IN WITHSTANDING ANY OTHER CHALLENGES THAT MIGHT COME FROM WHOMEVER, IN THIS CASE IT WAS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

INTERESTINGLY ALSO, THE MEN WERE SORT OF SOUGHT AFTER TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS.

HOWEVER, THE WOMEN ACTUALLY HAD MORE AUTHORITY OVER THE LIVESTOCK THAN THE MEN SO IT BASICALLY CHANGED THE DYNAMICS OF MEN AND WOMEN AS IT WAS BEING PERCEIVED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE CLANSHIP RELATIONS BECAUSE WE’RE A MATRILINEAL, MATRIARCHAL, AND MATRON LOCAL SOCIETY.

AND TO THIS DAY WE’RE STILL SORT OF RECOVERING FROM THAT, RECOVERING FROM THAT JUST ABSOLUTE ECONOMIC DEVASTATION THAT TOOK PLACE.

IN THE IMAGES YOU SEE THOSE FLASH POINTS OF RACE WITH MIGRATORY LABOR.

MIGRATORY LABOR IS STILL WITH US.

YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF MINING.

MINING IS A VERY VOLATILE INDUSTRY SO THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IS STILL THERE.

WATER USAGE IN A DRY STATE.

THEY VERY THOROUGHLY RECORDED THE SOÑJEROS, THE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN ARIZONA.

THOSE ARE THINGS THAT ARE STILL WITH US.

THE BIGGER ISSUES OF WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN FUNDING THE ARTS, WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN HELPING OR NOT HELPING PEOPLE, WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT VICE VIE STATES RIGHTS?

I MEAN, ONE THING THAT’S AMAZING TO ME ABOUT ARIZONA IS ARIZONA PRIDES ITSELF IN BEING A VERY STATES RIGHTS KIND OF THING BUT WHERE WOULD WE BE WITHOUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

I’M A GREAT BELIEVER IN THAT IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU’VE BEEN, YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING, AND THE FACT THAT THOSE PROBLEMS RELATING TO ISSUES OF MINING, OF WATER, OF MIGRANT AND IMMIGRANT LABOR ARE STILL WITH US SHOWS VERY CLEARLY WE’VE NOT REALLY LEARNED HOW TO SOLVE THOSE PROBLEMS AND NOT LEARNED FROM THOSE LESSONS OF HISTORY.

WHENEVER ECONOMIC BAD TIMES HIT THE COUNTRY, XENOPHOBIA AND NATIVISM RISE AND PEOPLE LOOK FOR SCAPEGOATS AND IN THIS CASE MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS WERE ONE OF THOSE SCAPEGOATS.

CERTAINLY DURING THE DEPRESSION MEXICAN LABOR WAS CONSIDERED A THREAT AND THAT CERTAINLY IS WHAT’S HAPPENING AGAIN TODAY IN THE WAKE OF THE SO-CALLED GREAT RECESSION.

ANYTIME WE AS HUMANS TEND TO DRIFT AWAY AND THINK WE KNOW MORE THAN MOTHER NATURE, WE’RE HEADING FOR TROUBLE.

FOR US IN ARIZONA THE MOST DOMINANT ONE WOULD BE THAT OF WATER RESOURCES.

HOW WELL ARE WE PLANNING AHEAD WITH OUR WATER RESOURCES FOR THE FUTURE, NOT ONLY FOR WHAT WE HAVE TODAY BUT WITH REGARD TO OUR DEMANDS AND NEEDS IN THE FUTURE AND RECOGNIZING WE HAVE A FINITE RESOURCE.

NARRATOR: DURING THE SUMMER OF 2012 DROUGHT COVERED OVER 60 PERCENT OF THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, ONE OF THE FIVE WORST IN RECORDED HISTORY.

JULY HAD THE WARMEST MONTHLY TEMPERATURES EVER.

SO THERE’S PLENTY OF LESSONS IN HISTORY FOR US AND I DON’T THINK WE’RE IMMUNE TO THAT TODAY.

HOPEFULLY WE HAVE THE CAPACITY AND THE INGENUITY TO FIGURE THINGS OUT AND LEARN FROM THE LESSONS OF THE PAST AND BE SENSITIVE TO WHAT’S TAKING PLACE AROUND US AND BE ALERT AND OBJECTIVE.

AND THAT’S FINALLY WHAT HAD TO HAPPEN TO THE FOLKS IN THE GREAT PLAINS IN THE ’30S.

IT TOOK A HARD LESSON TO LEARN THAT AND HOPEFULLY WE DON’T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT KIND OF A BRUTAL ABUSE AGAIN TO LEARN A LESSON BUT IT COULD CERTAINLY HAPPEN AGAIN WITH POOR JUDGMENT, POOR MANAGEMENT AND THE RIGHT KIND OF CLIMATE CONDITIONS HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME.

♪ MUSIC ♪ FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY DESERT PROGRAM PARTNERS.

YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT ARIZONA’S DUST BOWL: LESSONS LOST AT AZPM.ORG/DUSTBOWL.