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Memories of Black Sunday, the worst storm of the Dust Bowl
Topics: Dust Bowl, Black Sunday, dust, storm, Oklahoma, kansas, history
Posted by citizenjournalist Fri Apr 13, 2007 16:25:39 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments As a young man in Kansas and Oklahoma, I have memories going back to our ranch on the Beaver River in Oklahoma, just after the start of the Great Depression.

My parents moved into town so that we kids could be closer to school. This was about the time the dust storms started.

I recall that all the windows were covered in classrooms to keep out the dust. We were given dust masks and, every hour or so, groups of us would go downstairs to the water fountain and wet our masks.

My father went to work as the Beaver County Clerk and, later, opened his first clothing store. At the store, Dad had to keep everything covered and shirts were kept in boxes. I would go to the store before school and help clean up the dust.

At home, we had windows covered as well, and we were lucky to have a storm cellar to go to when the dust storms got bad. It was built like a concrete bunker inside the garage. Mother stored home-canned goods in the naturally climate-controlled storm cellar.

Black Sunday was the name given to the darkest, heaviest storm, occurring on April 14, 1935. Those conditions covered a broad area, across several states. It was reported to be more than 200 miles wide.

We held out through the Dust Bowl era, until 1943, when Mother said she had had enough. Dad sold the store and a wheat farm they also owned in Kansas and moved my mother and little sister to Bakersfield.

My older sister was attending Oklahoma University and joined the family later. As World War II was in full steam, I joined the Army, where I served with the First Cavalry Division in the South Pacific. After my tour of duty, I came to Bakersfield to be with my parents and continue my education.

During the Dust Bowl, the ranch and farm in Oklahoma and Kansas were doing little to raise a crop of any kind. Yet, there is still a Stephens Ranch in Ashland, Kan., 50 miles south of Dodge City.

My parents never talked about the hard times of the Dust Bowl. I think it was like battle fatigue — just too difficult to talk about.

To anyone interested in the history of the Dust Bowl, I recommend a book by Timothy Egan, “The Worst Hard Time.”

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