Grandchildren and great grandchildren of Okies (Los Angeles, Sacramento: home, live, agricultural)

[Tex?Il?]

I was just curious,

southern California to most people is about as opposite of "American country-western culture" as one can get in America in many ways.

But I was curious. Are there parts of southern California, (despite the international diversity, and glitzy-galamarous lifestyle), where there are granchildren/great grandchildren of those dustbowl migrants that have an impact on local culture? Maybe through a stronger association with country music/or even things like bull-riding or an interest in westerns?

[ecvMatt]

Bakersfield.

[CA central coast]

Besides Bakersfield? Not that know of in the L.A. area. Maybe they settled in areas of Orange County. I really don't know.

[humboldtrat]

Bakersfield. I'v heard it called the "Bible-belt". There seems to be a stronger tie to Baptist - some would say fundamentalist religion in the area. I always pick up a few more religious radio stations while driving down I-5 near Bakersfield than elsewhere.

[wburg]

Most of the central agricultural valleys became a destination for Okies, from Redding to Bakersfield. Bakersfield became the home of Western swing partially because so many displaced Midwestern farmers ended up there, but they are also present in Sacramento, Stockton and every small valley town. It's kind of hard to tell three generations later, but midwestern farming culture definitely had an effect on California great agricultural valleys, and are an important part of the diverse Valley culture, from country music to diners where you can get great biscuits & gravy. I would assume that many also ended up in formerly rural Orange County, but their grandkids, raised in the suburbs that sprung up atop the orchards, are pretty far removed culturally from their Okie origins other than the trend of OC towards a conservative political outlook.

[Curmudgeon]

The Jode family is alive and well in Bakersfield and there's a section of the outskirts that is still referred to as, "The Okie."

As recently as 20 years ago, not much had changed since The Grapes of Wrath.

[Fontucky]

There were quite a number of the great migration Okies who settled in the ag communities along Route 66, which would mean the IE, Pomona Valley, San Gabriel Valley, etc.

[FresnoFacts]

A lot of the Dust Bowl migrants gave up farm life and settled in larger cities in Southern California. Remember they were looking for any work and the oil industry was also familiar to many.

There was a pretty big country music scene in Southern California until about 20 or 30 years ago. That is where Woody Guthrie got his start when he came west in the 1930s.

[Rhenzanite]

I used to go to Rodeos and livestock shows in southern California all the time. It's still there... there are a lot of really good ropers and reiners who still train horses and run cattle in So Cal.

[NYSD1995]

Okies are still here. Look inland, especially inland suburban areas of Los Angeles. Rodeos, Nascar, Motocross.