Editing Oklahoma panhandle (section)

===Dust Bowl===
The panhandle was severely affected by the drought of the 1930s. The drought began in 1932 and created massive dust storms. By 1935, the area was widely known as being part of the [[Dust Bowl]]. The dust storms were largely a result of poor farming techniques and the plowing up of the native grasses that had held the fine soil in place. Despite government efforts to implement conservation measures and change the basic farming methods of the region, the Dust Bowl persisted for nearly a decade. It contributed significantly to the length of the [[Great Depression]] in the United States.<ref>[http://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/ok/es_ok_dustbowl_1.html Library of Congress. "America's Story from America's Library: The Dust Bowl of Oklahoma] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602021926/http://www.americaslibrary.gov/es/ok/es_ok_dustbowl_1.html |date=June 2, 2013 }}." Retrieved July 30, 2013.</ref> Each of the three counties experienced a major loss of population during the 1930s.{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}

The social impact of the dust bowl and the resulting emigration of tenant farmers from Oklahoma is the setting for the 1939 novel ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]'' by Nobel Prize-winning author [[John Steinbeck]].{{citation needed|date = September 2024}}