The Black Mountains section of historic Route 66 reflected the dramatic change in travelers during the heyday from 1937 to 1953: From the grim. but ever hopeful families fleeing the Dust Bowl. through the surge of glamour and adventure following World War II. to the nucleus of family vacations in the arid. but scenic Southwest in the 1950s. A halfmillion people migrated from the Dust Bowl States to the fertile California fields during the Depression era of the 1930s. Carrying all their worldly possessions in the Model A or Model T Fords. these hearty migrants feared the steep. winding grades of Route 66 over the Black Mountains. Many even hired local residents to drive or tow their car over the dreaded Silgreaves Pass in the cool of the evening before crossing the Colorado River into the Mojave Desert. As prosperity followed World War It. military convoys were replaced by convertibles and the glitz of Hollywood.
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migrants