Black Sunday: The Great Dust Storm of April 14, 1935 Book

The morning broke bright and clear on that Sunday morning, April 14, 1935. The weather was dry, but it had been dry for three years causing the soil to dry out to a depth of three feet. Lack of rain had hit Southern Plains agriculture particularly hard. Grasshoppers and jack rabbits were eating the sparse stands of crops. The folks around Tyrone, Oklahoma were going to end the foot-legged problem by driving the rabbits into a trap and killing them right after church. Suddenly a tall, black cloud was spotted on the horizon moving rapidly across the Panhandle of Texas and much of Oklahoma. Described as "rising like a long wall of muddy water as high as 7,000 or 8,000 feet high," the cloud was being pushed by the north wind. Tons of dirt, sand and dust blackened the sky. This story of dirt and sand destroying crops and property, as well as the mental and physical health of individuals in its path is documented in Black Sunday - The Great Dust Storm of April 14, 1935.