5.11 Living and farming on Plains

• Why did people move to the Plains?

  • Homestead Act 1862 - offered 160 acres of land free for 5 years

  • 1860s had good period of rain

  • land was cheap

  • railroad companies advertised Plains as a good place to farm

  • formerly enslaved people could buy land escaping south

  • 1880s banking crisis meant lots of unemployment

  • railroads meant good could be sold more easily

  • new technology mean water could be extracted easier
• What difficulties were there on the plains?

  • Plains far away from big town - finding supplies difficult and people left lonely

  • no trees on Plains

  • lack of wood to burn meant houses in winter were cold

  • lack of clean water meant disease like cholera were common and killed many

  • buffalo and wild cattle tramped crops

  • ploughing land was difficult - never ploughed before
• What extreme weather did people experience on the Plains?

  • harsh winds - destroyed crops

  • extreme heat - caused fires and plants struggled to grow due to lack of water
• What solutions did Homesteaers come up with?

  • made houses of sod (earth) bricks - meant it could be built quick and low cost

  • communities of shops, farmers, churches and schools formed

  • wind pumps - took advantage of wind to draw water

  • turkey red - crop which needed less water

  • dry farming - put layer of dry soil over wet soil

  • barbed-wire was cheap and enclosed large area

  • woman and homesteaders worked together to plough land

  • children collected buffalo chips which could be burned for cooking and heating