Chapter 11 Section 2 Farming the Plains By: Haley Campbell and Megan Gooch

Great Plains ● Westward from the Rocky Mountains and Eastward to the Wheat Belt ● Major Stephen Long – Explored the region with an army expedition in 1819 – Named it the “Great American Desert” ● Construction of Railroads helped settle the Great Plains – Railroad companies sold land along the rail lines at low prices and provided credit to prospective settlers

Homestead Act ● Was an effort supported by the government to settle the Great Plains ● For a $10 registration fee an individual could file for a homestead – A tract of public land available for settlement ● Could claim up to 160 acres of land ● Received a title to the land after living there 5 years

Difficulties in the Great Plains ● Farmers faced many difficulties as they worked the new land – There were no trees so they built homes from sod – Drilled deep wells and had to pump water by hand – Faced hot summer temperatures greater than 100°F ● Prairie fires were a danger – Swarms of grasshoppers swept over crops and destroyed farms – Extremely cold winters ● Terrible blizzards

● New farming methods and inventions in the 19 th century revolutionized agriculture ● Soil could blow away during the dry season ● Sodbusters lost their homesteads due to drought, wind erosion, and overuse of the land ● In the 1880's farmers from the midwest moved to the Great Plains

● Most of North and South Dokota and parts of Kansas and Nebraska ● Began at the eastern edge of the Great Plains ● Bonanza farms – Farms that covered up to 50,000 acres and yielded a large profit – Farmers formed companies, invested in property and equipment, and hired laborers as needed The Wheat Belt

Farmers Fall on Hard Times ● Drought struck in the late 1880's destroying crops and turning soil to dust ● By the 1890's wheat prices dropped due to other countries producing wheat ● Most farmers forfeited their land to the bank ● Became tenant farmers and rented land off of the new owners

Closing the Frontier ● April 22, 1889 the last territory opened for settlement ● Caused the Oklahoma Land Rush ● More than 10,000 people claimed land ● In the 1900's there was still unoccupied land but “closing the frontier” marked the end of an era

Fresh Start ● Settlers used moving to the Plains for a fresh start ● Planted trees and gardens ● Railroads brought lumber and brick to replace sod as building material ● Bought manufactured goods from the East – Clothes – Household goods

● Typical homesteaders raised cattle, chickens, and a few crops ● The Great Plains is where people built homes and communities through great effort.