The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (LC call no. F595.E38 2006) tells the stories of families who decided to stay rather than flee one of the worst ecological disasters in history. The Dust Bowl was the product of wreckless, economic-driven misuse of the land coupled with drought and high winds causing numerous dust storms throughout the 1930’s. It destroyed over 100,000,000 acres and displaced thousands of people causing them to flee the Great Plains.
Egan tells the stories of people who settled in the Great Plains, both Americans and immigrants, in order to farm it. He interviews those who stayed, suffered, and survived the Dust Bowl, including Hazel Lucas who gave birth during this time only to have her baby die of “dust pneumonia” when her lungs became filled with dust.
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America (LC call no. E757.E325 2009) tells of the horrific wild fire of 1910 in Idaho, Montana and Washington State and its aftermath. When Roosevelt left the Office of President, he had left a legacy that included the creation and protection of public lands by the newly created Forest Service. Immediately after Roosevelt was out of office, interest groups opposed to public land, fought for it to be returned to private interests and development.
From August 20-21, 1910, several wild fires merged into one huge burning inferno, ultimately killing 87 people and over 100 firefighters. The result of the fire was the destruction of 3 million acres and 5 towns. The devastation of the great fire solidified public opinion of the protection of the country’s forests.
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