1934 July 11th Wednesday
Bright, hot day but N.W. breeze comfortable all day and dusty when breeze stirred the dust by driving cattle or autos passing, for Ed, Rena and Yvonne came and took Will, Henry Arcorne and I to Rosebud Beef-Issuing Day* and we passed the herd at Soldier Creek going from Boarding School to Rosebud and was issued in p.m. but we didn’t get ours, so came home and Tom and Henry Arcorne staid. Maggie and Elmer made Fly-trap and did all the work. Elmer and Ben Clausen got in Jack, and Elmer rode the new saddle-horse. Maggie got meals for Ben, Ed Haisch, Chas. Mieder and Ben McKathnie, the latter three came to see about their cattle. Noble walked over again and Elmer took he and Harry up but Harry thought there was too big load with Tom, so came back and went with us.
Note from Lisa: The Emergency Cattle Agreement of 1934 was designed to address the extreme drought in the Great Plains and elsewhere and the resulting lack of suitable grazing land. The agreement allowed farmers and ranchers to enter into an agreement with the government to receive cash for cattle. County and state officials worked with federal employees to inspect cattle to determine whether they were fit for production or Would need to be destroyed.
In addition, a separate program provided cattle to Indians. Harley Furrey notes that these cattle were branded ERA (Economic Relief Administration) but that some referred to the brands as “eat right away.” He writes, “Some cattle evaded slaughter and were kept for breeding or sold to white operators. One operator got some of these cattle and tried to sell them at auction. When asked about the ERA brand, he said it stood for Eagle Creek Ranch Association. The cattle that weren’t given away were shot and buried in ditches.”
The following is from the 1935 report The Drought of 1934 (click on the title to view or download the entire document):
“The drought took its heaviest toll during July. The rapid expansion of the drought area, due both to absence of moisture and intense heat, caused an enormous increase in the number of cattle offered to the Government under its Emergency Cattle Purchase Program.
By the end of July, most of the western cattle producing country had been classified in the emergency area, except the western part of Montana and a small strip running down through the high mountain areas of Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. In Missouri and southern Iowa, where conditions were relatively favorable the first part of June, continued hot weather and lack of rainfall during July caused heavy deterioration of the com crop, and a serious water shortage in many localities.
The original tentative estimate of cattle purchases, set on May 29, 1934, was 50,000 head per week. This number, of course, included: (1) Those condemned on the farms, (2) those assigned to local relief committees for immediate relief distribution or canning through local work relief projects within states of origin, and (3) the remainder, those shipped by the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation to processing plants in all sections of the country.
Unforeseen and unexpected proportions in drought development are reflected in the fact that purchases passed the half-million mark in seven states before July 1, with an average of approximately 200,000 head per week.
In spite of the fact that the drought area almost doubled, the purchase level of the last half of June obtained during the first half of July, due to limited processing facilities.
Increased drought continued to wipe out great quantities of livestock feed. Cattle were starving for want of feed and water. Spurred by pressing demands, the number of purchases were more than doubled during the second half of July…”
“By the first of August nearly 2,000,000 cattle had been purchased in 19 states, at an average cost of about $13.54. Approximately 240,000 or 12 percent, had been condemned as unfit for food, and about 1,750,000 had been turned over to the Federal Surplus Belief Corporation for relief purposes.
During the last week in July instructions were issued to all state directors that in all cases priority in the purchase of animals should be given those areas which were in most distressed condition on account of the drought.”