ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the results of limited analyses of the social consequences of, and social response to, major droughts in the Great Plains. The invasion of the Great Plains by agriculturalists intent on cultivating a region subject to a highly variable moisture supply took place relatively late in American history. Aided by government land policies, technological innovations, railroads and land promotional schemes, periods of generous precipitation in the late 19th century lured thousands of farmers westwards from more humid territory. One of the common images of the Dust Bowl period is the flight of thousands of Great Plains farm families from their ravaged land to the west coast, particularly California. In terms of social consequences specific to the national level, the impact of drought was relatively minor, even in the 1930s. The research problem areas – drought, social consequences, adjustive mechanisms – are ones for which contemporary society has deep concern.
