Transient cotton choppers on the road

Migrant workers who led nomadic lifestyles, traveling from place to place as the seasons changed, were common across the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. In the 1930s, a combination of droughts, the Depression, and the increased mechanization of farming prompted a migration of small farmers and laborers from Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to the West.

While working for the F.S.A., Mydans encountered these migrant workers walking alongside a road carrying all of their belongings. Due to the small wages being offered in these areas, this couple was headed to another work location: "Damned if we'll work for what they pay folks hereabouts."

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