Raymon Haddix was raised in Bryan County, Oklahoma, near Bokchito during the Depression. He and his wife raised a family on a small farm running cattle and growing peanuts. He also worked for Potter's Sausage Company in Durant for many years. When Raymon, an African American, decided to retire from the company, the peanut program was being eliminated, and he wanted to find a way to replace...
Farming the playa lake had not been profitable for farm manager Bill Smithton. Though he could get his crop seeded, the shallow wetland filled with rainwater and runoff too often, allowing harvest only one out of every four or five years. Bill found an answer. He enrolled the playa lake in the CRP Wetlands Restoration Initiative, aimed at restoring 250,000 acres of playa lakes and prairie...
Fifty years before CRP was established, strong winds blew dry, unprotected soil into huge clouds, ruining crops and pastures in the southern Great Plains. The term Dust Bowl aptly described the scene, as ongoing dust storms destroyed people's livelihoods and lives....
