How We Came To Be Called Okies

[Doug Loudenback]

Even though Oklahoma City skirted the generally defined edge of the Dust Bowl and that the "event" is more an "Oklahoma" than an "Oklahoma City" topic, it would be wrong not to include it as part of Oklahoma City history. Even though its impact more directly hit western Oklahoma, particularly the northwest, the impact of the Dust Bowl was certainly felt in Oklahoma City and, in a broader sense, the general "label" which many in and out of Oklahoma City came to have if they are from Oklahoma -- was born -- "Okies."

Without the commentary in my blog post, here are the images in my blog post at Doug Dawgz Blog: The Dust Bowl .

The Most Concentrated Part of the Dust Bowl



Images from the Okc Metro Library Website

West of Oklahoma City
Sand Dunes In Far Western Part of OKC in 1936



Lake Overholser Looking North to US 66 In 1935
Notice the US 66 Bridge, NW 39th, at the Top



Images from the County Assessor's Photo Gallery

On Broadway



On Main



Western Oklahoma, Where Matters Were Much Worse














































Leaving For Points West










A Plague of Locusts

California Was Not Friendly To Okies

Unlike those recently extended compassion and welcome in the post-New Orleans Katrina exodus, Okies were not greeted with "open arms." In The Road Wanderer ~ Historic Highways, Lost Byways and Legendary Journeys, it is said,
"The plight of the Oakies became a part of the Route 66 story, the legend of the road. In 1934, Los Angeles police stationed themselves at the Arizona border in order to check the wave of dust bowlers. The police held all immigrants at the state line, allowing only a few across at a time and turning many back. This checkpoint didn’t last, however, and emigration on Route 66 continued through the 1930s. By 1939, the migration had reached epic proportions, and Californians reacted with fear and anger. One California grower put it in the following way: "This isn’t a migration—it's and invasion! They’re worse than a plague of locusts!"

And there were many, many others ...





Maybe we'll return the favor when western California drops off into the Pacific?

No, we won't ... that's not what Okies would do!

[redland]

Some of the blame can be put on John Steinbeck's shoulders. "The Grapes of Wrath" is a great novel. However he had the Joads (who were Okies) fleeing the dust bowl from their home near Sallisaw in far eastern Oklahoma, well beyond the boundaries of the dust bowl proper. People in other parts of the nation and world did not know Oklahoma geography, and so associated "Okie" with the state as a whole. The label used to cause me some consternation, but no more. We have outlived its stigma.

[Kerry]

Are those pictures from the sequal to "The Day After Tomorrow"? I think it is called "The Day Before Yesterday".

[bombermwc]

I remember seeing the picture of the mother and her children for years growing up and then when I learned it was from Oklahoma, it really made an impact as I thought about my grandparents growing up in OK at that time.

[Doug Loudenback]

The problem is, with the graphic files like I've posted, is that (even though I didn't experience it), small images like what I have never convey the power of the real thing ... I mean ... can you imagine this picture ...



... and then imagine that it was not just a picture and that you were actually standing in/beside one of those buildings as you viewed the impending dark doom closing in on you? Kiddie horror movies aside, this would have been the "real deal." For me, I'd have sht in my pants, if not other things (like called, "Momma! Hold me)!"

[Karried]

wow...Are you sure that's not a tornado? Cool pics Doug. Makes Global warming even more worrisome.. bring on the rain!