Woody Guthrie, in this library of Congress recording of 1940, narrates and sings about the plight of the unfortunate mid-western farmers facing the repeating dust storms of the late 1930's, the great depression, terrible banks and the boll weavel pest attacking their crops. They left in droves for California where hey were looked down upon, exploited, settling down near river beds that flooded and drowned a thousand of them, picking up peaches for as little as one dollar a ton, picked, packed and crated. Most had no running water or sanitation, surviving on a diet of peaches and whatever they could fish out of the mostly dry river beds of Southern California. Hundreds of thousands of them, mostly forgotten today, dreamed about California where they were told that they would make $5 a day. This had to be before the Internet or snopes.com!. Thanks Woody Guthrie, you are a sweet man to remind us of all of them. It's been good to know ya! Also my thanks for 7 photos by James N. Gregory, American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California
(Below, a well-done YouTube of Woody singing)
