A boyhood in the dust bowl, 1926-1934

the long version

The Great Depression and Prohibition are ominous memories in most historical accounts. But here is the true story of a little boy who found life full of excitement, wonder, and joy in the small mid-western town of Okemah, Oklahoma. Okemah, where Woody Guthrie once lived and wrote songs, was fighting for existence in the late 1920s and early 1930s as the oil boom ended, cotton fell to ten cents per pound, and Prohibition was in force. Yet this grim scenario frames Robert Rutland's colorful remembrance of a youth filled with adventure, characters, curiosity, and love.