1. Life on the Plains

3. Homestead Act Homestead Act— Oklahoma Land Rush— passed in 1862
to encourage settlement of plains area
gave 160 acres of land if improved in lived on for 5 years
Oklahoma Land Rush—
1893
biggest giveaway in history, all types of people raced for the free land

4. New Technology Deeper wells Steel plows: John Deere
Better farm equipment
-reaper and harvesters by McCormick, windmills, barbed wire, steel mill
Morrill Land Grants: gave land to establish agricultural and tech colleges, encouraged settlement of west
RR expansion

5. LIFE ON THE FARM
Sod houses: made from blocks of sod, less than $10 to build
Weather extremes: drought, fire, flood, dust storms
Animals: bugs ravaged crops
Isolation: far away from people
Trials: many were not experienced
It was a hard life to settle on the plains!

8. Decline of Farming Rise of industry— technology increases output
Urbanization— more and more move to cities
End of the frontier— settlement = territory = state
Frederick Jackson Turner: “Frontier Thesis” essay on how frontier life shaped American culture
Great debts— land was cheap, but settling and farming was expensive
Railroads charges– most farmers can barely pay the RR rates

9. Review Questions!
Inventions such as barbed wire, the steel plow, and the reaper
Led to the development of bonanza farms
Had no effect on western farmers
Impacted miners in Alaska
Allowed more people to work in the factories

10. 2. Sod houses
a. were commonly found on the East Coast
b. were developed by Cyrus McCormick
c. were built out of the soil of the western prairies
d. convinced Americans to move west

11. 3. The Morrill Act
a. offered 160 acres of land to Native Americans
b. offered 160 acres of land to white Americans
c. established the national park system
d. gave federal land to the states to help finance agricultural colleges

12. 4. Railroads influenced the development of the West by
a. making travel and trade across the country easier
b. giving farmers a way to ship their crops east
c. connecting western cattle ranchers with the Chicago stockyards
d. all of the above

13. 5. The Homestead Act
a. offered 160 acres of land to any citizen willing to settle and improve the land
b. offered land to Native Americans willing to adopt farming
c. attracted miners to Nevada
d. provided funds for farmers to purchase equipment such as barbed wire and plows

14. 6. What impact did the introduction of the mechanical reaper have on agriculture in the West?
It brought an end to the open range
It allowed farmers to harvest more wheat
It helped sheep ranchers produce more wool
It prevented crop dehydration