During the "Dust Bowl" of the 1930's a vast migration of rural people departed from the countryside of the United States. Buffeted by the prolonged drought, the collapse of commodities prices at the end of World War 1, as well as the swift introduction of motorized farming equipment, America shifted in a few short years from a rural population to one that was primarily urban.

The midwest and the high plains of the southwest were extremely hard hit. Land that was marginal in the best of times, due to low rainfall patterns and crop productivity, became nearly worthless. In scenes reminescent of war torn Europe, whole families walked alongside roads seeking work. Those who remained on the land cropped ever larger areas using the newly developed tractors as labor saving devices.

Tractored Out. Texas. 1939 Dorothea Lange. FSA/OWI, Library of Congress.
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