being the main culprits. Contemporary critics questioned Lorentz's understanding of the history of the Great Plains by pointing out how he emphasized agricultural expansion as the origin of the Dust Bowl and not the long droughts. Other critics have also explained that Lorentz had overlooked the diversity and vitality of the Great Plains economy and undervalued the quality of life of the farmers in order to build a case for converting substantial areas of the Great Plains back to grassland. Further critics also insisted that Lorentz had portrayed farmers as victims of modern technology and presented them with an unfair and negative image. Another critique of the film is that it also fails to mention the government's own role in the Dust Bowl disaster. Government settlement programs, land-use policies, and entrance into World War I pushed for an increase in agricultural production in the Great Plains are all state actions that critics have suggested contributed to the ecological problems in the Great Plains. The film only suggests that government intervention helped resolve the disaster, rather than that it also contributed to its cause. Political controversy Plains dwellers and politicians had a strong negative reaction to the release of The Plow That Broke the Plains. People from the region viewed it as a "great libel" against the Great Plains and accused the cameramen and Lorentz of selecting isolated spots to depict the entire region. This sentiment was felt particularly in the Dakotas, where residents and elected officials claimed the movie showed distortions and falsehoods. In the state capital of South Dakota, newspaper publisher J.B Hippie invited people to view the film in his Bijou theatre so that local residents could see how egregious the film was and be outraged at the portrayal of the Great Plains and its people. Because the scenes of the movie focused on the severely damaged counties in Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, Dakotans felt the film did not represent the whole plains region. Because the film did not make a distinction between the Great Plains regions, South Dakotans, in particular, feared that the film would deteriorate the state's image and discourage tourism, investors, and cause residents to flee. As a response to the film, South Dakotans created an illustrated pamphlet titled "The True Story of The Plow that Broke the Plains" which the Rural Credit Department distributed. The pamphlet's purpose was to display South Dakota's wealth and