ifornia on what was referred to then as the "Mother road", Route 66. Route 66 linked Chicago to Los Angeles and rapidly became a heavily traveled channel that connected cities and small towns throughout the Midwest, Southwest and southern California. It was not the first transcontinental highway, nor the most traveled, but it is presently the best known (Fanslow, 3). It was the site of the great migration taken place in The Grapes of Wrath, and came to represent personal freedom and the promise of a better life in the escape from the poverty of the Dust Bowl. The migrants fled their homes in search of a better life for their families in California, where they heard there was a lot of work to be found picking crops, and where no one ever went hungry. Nevertheless, there ideal expectations were a bit sour. As the migrants came into California in the middle thirties, they congregated in "squatter camps" along the side of roads, on the banks of canals or close to a town where they could obtain water and supplies. These were not healthy living conditions. The mortality rate among small children and infants was high and many were suffering from malnutrition and rickets. Tuberculosis was prevalent among young and old alike. Many parents did not know where to turn for help. The Farm Security Administration was already starting to construct camps for migrant workers because, with a few exceptions, the camps managed by the farmers were not too much better than the "squatter camps."(Owens, 4). The winter of 1937 and 1938 was especially severe in California. Rivers and creeks overflowed their banks washing out squatter camps and flooding farm camps. Families were forced to flee, often abandoning what few possessions they had. Hundreds were left without food or water. Private groups and government agencies rushed to their aid. The F.S.A. intensified their efforts to get the camps built, and launched an emergency program along with me...