Episode 217: The Okies

A migrant family rides on the back of a truck in Gila County in 1935 (Source: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, History and Archives Division)

During the 1930s, millions of migrant workers and their families fled from the Dust Bowl. Tens of thousands of them drifted into Arizona, lured by the promise of plenty of work in the cotton fields. These workers would find themselves taking the place of displaced Mexican workers, both economically and socially.