THE GRASS LANDS 161 



FEDERAL CONTROL OF RANGE LAND 



With the grass of the range already weakened by years of 

 overgrazing, and more and more of what was once farm land 

 abandoned to the "black blizzards" of dust, the droughts of 

 1934 and 1936 came like the final blows to overthrow the 

 tottering range economy. Individuals were helpless. What the 

 people needed was immediate help, and the only agency that 

 was organized to give help was the federal government. 



Grass and water for livestock shriveled and vanished under 

 the blistering, endless sunshine of the summer of 1934, and 

 again in 1936. In the latter year, after the water supply and 

 grass had been weakened by the previous drought, the dry 

 spell was even longer and more severe. The cloudless sky of 

 the range country rang with the bellowing of thirsty cattle. 



To help the drought-stricken areas, the Surplus Commodi 

 ties Corporation, a federal agency, bought the thirsting stock 

 and moved it to the humid East, or slaughtered it. Relief agen' 

 cies provided money for starving ranch families. Federal agen' 

 cies lent money to tide the ranchers over until a better year. 



SUPERVISED LOANS 



These activities were merely temporary measures to stave 

 off the disaster of the drought. There was a second type of 

 government activity which was designed to bring some perma' 

 nent improvement. First there was the problem of the dry 

 farmers and ranchers whose houses and fields were lost in the 

 drifts of the black blizzards of dust. The Resettlement Admin 

 istration lent money to these people to establish themselves on 

 new land and lent money to farmers and ranchers so they 

 could get a new start on their own land. (See p. 75.) 



This agency was later reorganized as the Farm Security 

 Administration. Primarily, the function of this division of the 

 federal government has been to help those who must depend 



