Settling The West: Homesteaders

The Great Plains Great Plains region: begins in center of the Dakotas, extends through western Texas, continues to Rocky Mountains. The Wheat Belt begins at eastern edge of the Great Plains and includes much of the Dakotas, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Homestead Act 1862 Railroads made it easier to get to the West Promise of cheap farmland lured people to resettle The Homestead Act of 1862: established a process for people to claim federal lands in the West for a small fee Build a dwelling, live on land for 5 years Cultivate the land

Problems and Solutions Farming on the Plains Problems and Solutions

Problems: Plowing the land Growing crops Lack of water Lack of timber Farm machinery Plagues of insects Extreme weather

Tools Most land on Plains: like concrete; never plowed before. At first: farmers had to do everything by hand Most = too poor to buy farming equipment 1860s and 1870s: little technologyin the Most land on Plains: like concrete; never plowed before. 1837: Illinois blacksmith John Deere created a steel plow “sodbuster” plow - soon used by most homesteaders b/c it could plow through hard soil easily Work was physically hard and never-ending.

Farm Machinery The Reaper: cut and thresh wheat much faster spring-tooth harrow The Reaper: cut and thresh wheat much faster The spring tooth harrow: prepared the soil 1830: producing a bushel of grain =183 minutes.1900: using machines = 10 minutes reaper machine Federal government supported farmers by financing agricultural education The Morill Act of 1862 gave federal land to states to help finance agricultural colleges. The Hatch Act of 1887 set up experimental stations to inform farmers of new developments in agriculture.

Lack of Water -Plains not ideally suited to grow crops -Annual rainfall = low; evaporation 1870s: wind-driven pumps available for $25 provided constant supply of water to farmers Homesteaders were lucky if they lived near a watering hole, river, or stream. Those who did not had to collect water in buckets by hand several times a day and the journey to get the water could be many miles. By 1870s, however, wind-driven pumps were available to homesteaders for $25, which provided a constant supply of water to farmers. rain usually fell during hot summer months so sun quickly evaporated standing water

Lack of Water Dry Farming Farming techniques: dry farming 1. Every time it rained or snowed, homesteaders plowed land 2. Left thin layer of soil on top of newly fallen rain, trapping it underneath soil 3. Water then available for use when new crop was planted in the spring Homesteaders needed a way to trap the rainfall in the soil before it was lost. Dry Farming

1874: Daniel Halliday perfected wind pump technology Lack of Water Windmills 1874: Daniel Halliday perfected wind pump technology -high-powered drill used to dig 30-120 feet below ground to reach water -above the well, windmill harnessed wind power to pump constant supply of water for homesteaders -Although very expensive at first, price fell to $25.00 by 1890

Lack of Timber Sod Homes Homesteaders used sod (or grass) cut into bricks to build houses called “soddies” Soddies were dirty, drafty, and leaked when it rained. The walls and floor were infested with lice (and other varmits), which crawled over homesteaders as they slept. Mud fell off the ceiling into the homesteaders’ cooking pots and germs were rampant.

Gathering chips usually job of women and children Lack of Timber Fuel Shortage Homesteaders learned from the Native Americans to use buffalo chips for fuel. Buffalo dung was a relatively inefficient fuel and had to be collected on a continual basis. Buffalo Chips Gathering chips usually job of women and children

Many herds of stray buffalo & cattle trampled farmers’ crops Crops Trampled Many herds of stray buffalo & cattle trampled farmers’ crops 1874: Joseph Glidden invents barbed wire some --homesteaders fenced off land, turned open plains into fenced-in ranches. Barbed wire = cheap, easy to use led to conflict ( “range wars”) between farmers and ranchers

Swarms of Insects -No solution to swarms of grasshoppers and locusts - Caused devastation to crops - Many farmers left penniless, forced to appeal to state governments for help (until the 1900s when chemical companies started to mass produce pesticides).

Settlers raking grasshoppers into piles to burn them. 1874 Without warning, millions of grasshoppers descended on the prairies from the Dakotas to Texas. The insects arrived in swarms so large they blocked out the sun and sounded like a rainstorm. The insects ate crops out of the ground, wool from live sheep and clothing off people's backs. Paper, tree bark ,and even wooden tool handles were devoured. Settlers raking grasshoppers into piles to burn them. . Hoppers were reported to have been several inches deep on the ground and locomotives could not get traction because the insects made the rails too slippery. As a whole, Kansans refused to be defeated. The settlers did their best to stop the hoppers by raking them into piles, like leaves, and burning them, but these efforts were in vain because of the sheer numbers of the pests. Inventive citizens built hopper dozers or grasshopper harvesters to combat future visitations. The hoppers usually stayed from two days to a week and then left as they had come, on the wind.

Extreme Weather Tornadoes & Harsh Winters Great Plains: massive fluctuations in temperature Winters = long with freezing temperatures Summers = extremely hot, dry SO: hard to grow crops, dust storms, brush fires, tornadoes, & high winds

Extreme Weather Dust Storms

Extreme Weather Fire Great Plains: long hot summers left prairie grass and crops dry Accidental fires started, spread rapidly Without any water to put out fires, homesteaders forced to hide in sod houses until crops destroyed and fire died

Farming the Great Plains Problems Solutions Plowing the land Lack of water Lack of timber Farm machinery Plagues of insects Extreme weather Dry Farming & Windmills/Pumps Sod homes, buffalo chips Mechanized tools Barbed wire No Solution