and mike callicrate has every reason to be worried. his family have seen the high plains die once before. for a time, the waves of migrants who settled in the high plains in the late 19th and early 20th centuries had enjoyed success. demand was high, and the crops were rich and plentiful. but deep ploughing and over exploitation had loosened the top soil. [wind blows tumble weed] and when drought came during the 1930s, follow by high winds, the fine soil of the prairies blew as far as chicago and washington d.c. the high plains became a dust bowl covering 100,000,000 acres of land. many believed the day of judgment had arrived and the world was coming to an end. and in a sense, the worst environmental disaster in american history was a judgment. [haunting wind bellows] the farmers of the dust bowl knew there was water underground. they used to say they could feel it moving beneath their feet but they couldn't reach it. it was only in the '40s that geologists worked out that they were sitting on enough water to submerge the entire state