A Land Out of Balance

The above video of a jack rabbit roundup near Rupert, Idaho in 1931 is a reminder of two things: 1) how wildly out-of-whack American lands got at the turn of the century, and; 2) that Ken Burns' two-part, four-hour documentary on the Dust Bowl will air November 18th and 19th.

I have written about the Dust Bowl jack rabbit roundups in some detail in the past, and even got an email from a researcher for Ken Burns when they were putting together their documentary.  The four links at the bottom of this post tell the story of how it all came to pass.

A special thank to Doug P. for sending the above video link!  The video, below, has sound, and is from Kansas in 1934.

Note that "Jack Rabbits" are not actually rabbits -- they are hares.

• Related Links:
  ** Killing Bison to Kill Off the Native Population
  ** Enter Immigrants, Cattle, Wheat and Dust
  ** When Jack Rabbits Became Scapegoats
  ** When "Death Squads for Cattle" Saved America .