I remember my mother telling stories about the Dust Bowl in western Kansas. She was born in Quinter and had many cousins out in that area, especially in Sheridan County. Her stories were very personal. She told how the family survived in that horror and then moved back to Wamego.

I just finished a book called “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.” It is filled with stories just like mom’s, but also with an overview of what caused the Dust Bowl and what FDR did to help the families and start to restore the environment.

If your family lived through the Dust Bowl, you’ll want to read this book. It paints a very real picture of drought, famine, sickness and suffering and makes all those “I walked barefoot to school” stories much more understandable.