Legacies of Dust: Land Use and Labor on the Colorado Plains

In "Legacies of Dust," Douglas Sheflin examines how the Dust Bowl of the 1930s affected agricultural production and the people who fueled it, breaking Colorado's agricultural labor system. Federal support and local initiative established a conservation regime that helped thousands of farmers sustain themselves during the 1930s and 1950s.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 426 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2021
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was a catastrophic ecological disaster that had a profound impact on American history. When rainfall ceased and the land dried up, farmers and agricultural laborers on the southeastern Colorado plains were forced to adapt to new realities. The severity of the drought, coupled with the economic devastation of the Great Depression, compelled farmers and government officials to work together to achieve a primary goal: keep farmers farming on the Colorado plains.

In his book "Legacies of Dust," Douglas Sheflin takes an innovative and thought-provoking approach to examining how a natural disaster can affect every aspect of human life. He focuses on the period from 1929 to 1962, presenting the Dust Bowl in a new light by evaluating its impact on agricultural production and the people who fueled it. Sheflin demonstrates how the Dust Bowl fractured Colorado's established system of agricultural labor.

To address the disaster, federal support was combined with local initiatives to establish a comprehensive conservation regime. This regime facilitated production and helped thousands of farmers sustain themselves during the difficult 1930s and again during the drought of the 1950s. Sheflin's research draws from various fields, including western history, environmental history, transnational history, and labor history, to investigate how the Dust Bowl catastrophe and its complex consequences transformed the southeastern Colorado agricultural economy.

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was a devastating event that had far-reaching consequences for the American landscape and society. It serves as a reminder of the importance of environmental stewardship and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496224996