Homesteaders Ezra and Goldie Lowery had been in No Man’s Land since 1906. The Lowerys came up with the idea of canning thistles and putting them in brine. They believed that thistles were nutritious—high in chlorophyll and iron. They also planted flowering yucca for animal feed and their personal nourishment. These measures helped both the Lowerys and their livestock to survive. During the dust blizzards, their daughter, Odalee, came down with mumps, then the measles, and finally scarlet fever. She later graduated from her high school as class valedictorian.