In his book ‘The Time it Never Rained’, Kelton describes an environment that is very harsh especially to ranchers. The drought that hit the area during that time was very severe, and the worst recorded in Texas’ history. The descriptions given in the book well suits Texas, a state that had problems with water. Drought was a common phenomenon in Texas, and the inhabitants knew this.
Texas is a place that expects drought at any time. The areas geography is such that the humidity and the aridity are always at war. In almost every decade, Texas experienced droughts. However, the drought that changed Texas forever was the one that took place between 1950 and 1957. During this time, lack of water was the main issue of concern, as wells and reservoirs had nothing to offer. The drought had considerable effects on the land of Texas, and this is visible even today. Many of the small cities are at various stages of withering away, and the number of ranches has decreased tremendously (Burnett, par 1). The drought that the author is talking about in his book is the 1950-1957 droughts in Texas. The ranchers in the novel experienced high losses as their crops dried up, and they were forced to sell their cattle (Kelton, 19-23). The conditions told in the book are an image of what took place during the drought. Dallas, a small city in Texas, was one of the major cities. The reservoirs in that area got very low that water had to be pumped from the Red River, which is a salt water river.
The ranchers in the novel undergo many problems trying to keep their ranches, to the point of accepting governments help. However, one rancher is resentful to this and is determined to keep the ranch on his efforts. He does not accept support from the government, which leaves him venerable to losing his farm (Skwire, par 4). The novel explores how the drought affected the relationship between different people. The book also examines the interference of the government in rancher’s activities, as well as land management through the PMA, which is now known as the Farm Service Agency. Ranchers had to report everything to PMA, and a time came when the auditing of finances took place. Many farmers were fined for taking too much of the Government given aid. As a result, many cashed their livestock and migrated to urban areas. The rural-urban migrations that began during the 1950-1957 droughts continue to take place until today.
The drought hit the whole of Texas very badly, but the most affected area was the West, with San Angelo having it worst. San Angelo was also the home of the author of the novel. One can say that Kelton wrote the book with his home area in mind, as it was the area most affected by the drought. The conditions he explains in the novel are similar to those that took place during the drought in Texas (Burnett, par 6).
We see how one rancher struggles through the drought, which is the worst that has ever hit his area. With no grass growing on his land, he was forced to overgraze the little available grass. Many ranchers were also forced to overgraze their land, making the lands susceptible to other damages. However, water is the main problem that faced the region during that time. The people watched as waterholes reduced to levels where only mud was coming out, thus they had no water to drink. These conditions are no different from what happened in Texas during the drought. Water had always been a problem in Texas, but the drought just made the issue worse.
The drought that lasted for seven years made the conditions unbearable. After the drought, the living conditions had taken a significant turn. People had moved, and the government came up with plans to avoid such extent of water shortage in case another drought hit the area. The drought brought about many alterations in the geographical conditions of Texas as many people moved from one place to another. The Comal Springs for the first and only time in history stopped flowing. Maybe the cases of these droughts were overuse of the little water available in the area. Keeping in mind that most people there were farmers, they needed water for their big herds of cattle and other animals they reared. On the other hand, water was not so much available, which might have led to the water shortage problems in the area.
It is, therefore, evident that the novel ‘The Time it Never Rained’ is a reflection of what happened in Texas during the 1950s drought. The author well explains how the ranchers suffered and how the Government took advantage of this to have total control of the farmers. The effects of the drought are also described in the novel, most of them geographical, and which match the present day Texas. The author was a resident of one of the most affected areas by the drought, and this is what might have triggered him to write the novel.
Work cited
Kelton, Elmer. The Time It Never Rained. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 1973. Print.
Burnett, J. 'When The Sky Ran Dry'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
Skwire,S. 'A Novel About "Guttiness" And Independence From Government : The Freeman : Foundation For Economic Education'. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
