The Last Man Club was a mutual support group for farmers that chose to stay in the Southern Plains of Texas, US in spite of the devastation caused by the Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s. It was the first American Dream.
During the Dust Bowl, many farmers around Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle Area experienced the worst of the Depression. By the time the summer of 1936 hit, they had already been experiencing dust storms, winds that carried away all the precious topsoil and made it impossible to grow crops, plagues of Grasshoppers and starving jackrabbits that devoured anything left over in their fields, and terrible Dust Pneumonia, caused by the dust that had settled over everything.[1] Many farmers, about a quarter of the population of the panhandle, packed up their few belongings and left for California, nicknamed the "Peach Bowl", in search of jobs as fruit harvesters. However, of the ones that did, few found the jobs they searched for, and even they had extremely low wages. These job-searchers were nicknamed "Okies", as so many of them were from Oklahoma.
John McCarty, an editor of the Dalhart Texan, formed the Last Man Club in Dalhart, Texas as a mutual support group for those farmers that chose to stay in the drought-swept Great Plains[2][3] or, as he called it, "Grab a Root and Growl."
The Last Man Club beginsEdit
Declaring that the plains were "the best damned country God’s sun ever shown upon," McCarty published a pledge in the newspaper he worked for, stating that he would stay until everyone else was gone, and he dared others to join him.[4]
He got the idea for starting the Last Man Club when he read about a similar club that was started by a Civil War unit.[5] Members had to swear to be the last man to leave the Dust-Bowl-swept area. The exact pledge words were "In the absence of an act of God, serious family injury, or some other emergency, I pledge to stay here as the last man and to do everything I can to help other last men remain in this country. We promise to stay here ’til hell freezes over and skate out on the ice."[6] McCarty worked to instil a sense of pride in the region in the members of his club. He actually celebrated dust storms, saying that the heroism of locals was proved through their determination to remain in the Great Plains.[7]
The Last Man Club In Popular CultureEdit
The 1977 movie Catastrophe has a segment referencing Last Man Clubs.[8]
ReferencesEdit
^"The Last Man - Waiting Out the Dust Bowl - edHelper.com". edhelper.com.
last, club, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, available, assist. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Last Man Club was a mutual support group for farmers that chose to stay in the Southern Plains of Texas US in spite of the devastation caused by the Dust Bowl disaster of the 1930s It was the first American Dream During the Dust Bowl many farmers around Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle Area experienced the worst of the Depression By the time the summer of 1936 hit they had already been experiencing dust storms winds that carried away all the precious topsoil and made it impossible to grow crops plagues of Grasshoppers and starving jackrabbits that devoured anything left over in their fields and terrible Dust Pneumonia caused by the dust that had settled over everything 1 Many farmers about a quarter of the population of the panhandle packed up their few belongings and left for California nicknamed the Peach Bowl in search of jobs as fruit harvesters However of the ones that did few found the jobs they searched for and even they had extremely low wages These job searchers were nicknamed Okies as so many of them were from Oklahoma John McCarty an editor of the Dalhart Texan formed the Last Man Club in Dalhart Texas as a mutual support group for those farmers that chose to stay in the drought swept Great Plains 2 3 or as he called it Grab a Root and Growl The Last Man Club begins EditDeclaring that the plains were the best damned country God s sun ever shown upon McCarty published a pledge in the newspaper he worked for stating that he would stay until everyone else was gone and he dared others to join him 4 He got the idea for starting the Last Man Club when he read about a similar club that was started by a Civil War unit 5 Members had to swear to be the last man to leave the Dust Bowl swept area The exact pledge words were In the absence of an act of God serious family injury or some other emergency I pledge to stay here as the last man and to do everything I can to help other last men remain in this country We promise to stay here til hell freezes over and skate out on the ice 6 McCarty worked to instil a sense of pride in the region in the members of his club He actually celebrated dust storms saying that the heroism of locals was proved through their determination to remain in the Great Plains 7 The Last Man Club In Popular Culture EditThe 1977 movie Catastrophe has a segment referencing Last Man Clubs 8 References Edit The Last Man Waiting Out the Dust Bowl edHelper com edhelper com John L McCarty http www johncletheroe org usa can usa dbowl2 htm https news google com newspapers nid 2206 amp dat 19350501 amp id Ti4uAAAAIBAJ amp sjid lNUFAAAAIBAJ amp pg 6450 6761870 dead link Biography John McCarty American Experience PBS PBS Hurt R Douglas The Dust Bowl an Agricultural and Social History Chicago Nelson Hall 1981 Print https www pbs org wgbh americanexperience features introduction dustbowl introduction information from Judge Cowen http www seattlemagazine com ME2 Audiences dirmod asp sid amp nm amp type Publishing amp mod Publications 3A 3AArticle amp mid 3E1DA341B2834604B64A1EB3BA74CCFB amp tier 4 amp id 9A54B11A79FA4D19AE3BC20BC358E8F2 Catastrophe 1977 1977 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Last Man Club amp oldid 1168428091, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
