Baca County History

by the Plainsman Herald

Category: Dust Bowl

  • Baca County’s Connection to 1939 Czechoslovakia: Another Unusual Baca County Dust Bowl story.

    Baca County’s Connection to 1939 Czechoslovakia: Another Unusual Baca County Dust Bowl story.

      The Sudetenland, a region located in the western part of what was Czechoslovakia (The Czech Republic until 2016, and is now called Czechia) has a long and complicated history that has been marked by controversy and conflict. The area is known for its cultural diversity, and strategic importance, which has made it a coveted […]

  • The View from Ground Zero: Sunday Oct 11, 2020 winds bring memories of Dirty Thirties

    The term ground zero is usually associated with an explosion and describes the location closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ground zero refers to the point on the ground directly below the detonation.   In recent American culture it often refers to the location nearest 911 terrorist attacks on […]

  • Dust Bowl Poems(1930s) by Nellie Grover Bamber

    This post is a true pleasure. There are some little things to look for. The image of Grandma Bamber printed on an early dot matrix printer is a piece of history in itself. The poems? Priceless. In the not so recent past I had a conversation with Nancy Hall Nelson about using her Grandma’s Poems […]

  • Growing Up in Baca County, Episode #4 by John Havens

       As the dust storms increased many of the farm families and a few of the town residents had to pull up stakes and look for greener pastures.  As a kid working around the service station I observed first hand family after family load all their belongings into cars and onto pickups and head out […]

  • Growing up in Baca County, Episode #2b, by John Havens.

    A couple years ago, Kathy pushed out a series in the Plainsman Herald by John Havens. We are going to replay that on this blog over the next few weeks. Kathy’s intro is as follows: A Little Bit of History, By Kathy Nutt. “A while back we received a letter and several pages of history […]

  • Growing up in Baca County, Episode #2 – John Havens.

    A couple years ago, Kathy pushed out a series in the Plainsman Herald by John Havens. We are going to replay that on this blog over the next few weeks. Kathy’s intro is as follows: A Little Bit of History, By Kathy Nutt. “A while back we received a letter and several pages of history […]

  • Growing up in Baca County, Episode #1 John Havens.

    A couple years ago, Kathy pushed out a series in the Plainsman Herald by John Havens. We are going to replay that on this blog over the next few weeks. Kathy’s intro is as follows: A Little Bit of History, By Kathy Nutt. “A while back we received a letter and several pages of history […]

  • Dust Bowl Research Update: Origins of the term”Dust Bowl”, Maps and more

    I have been collecting artifacts of the Dust Bowl as it relates to Baca County for awhile. My focus is compiling a resource that tells the “Dust Bowl” story from the perspective of the Baca County Newspaperman, in particular, Springfield Democrat Herald, Editor Ralph Williams.   However, the research from other newspapers across the country […]

  • The Dust Bowl Days: by George Chatham

    The Dust Bowl Days: by George Chatham As I shared in an earlier post the Elmer & Lela Chatham family left Baca County and moved to Power’s county sometime in the mid 1920’s. My grandparents (Fred and Ethel Chatham) moved from the “dug-out” on Fred’s homestead to Elmer Chatham’s homestead March 13, 1924. The reason […]

  • Were the Dirty Thirties the Good Old Days?

    Posted with permission of Gloria Jean. Original article appeared in the Huckaby Times (Cousin Newsletter), April 2004 On Sunday April 14th, 1935, the sun came up in a clear sky. The day was warm and pleasant, a gentle breeze whimpered out of the southwest. Suddenly a cloud appeared on the horizon. Birds flew swiftly ahead […]