Millions of tons of Great Plains dirt traveled over 2,000 miles to the East Coast. When this airborne soil mixed with winter precipitation, it turned the falling snow dark.

Windblown dust generated intense static electricity that arced across barbed wire. The charge was often strong enough to knock people down or short out car ignition systems.

Native prairie grasses had deep, extensive root systems that anchored dirt during droughts. Plowing destroyed these roots, leaving loose topsoil vulnerable to high winds.

This pseudoscientific theory claimed that cultivating soil permanently altered the climate. An unusually wet period in the late 1800s falsely convinced pioneers it was true.