2008 Standards; S. Duncan & L. Pennington, PPS

The Great PlainsThe Great PlainsFollowing the Civil War, many

people needed a new startThey headed west, Gold was

found in California (1849), but that was running out

Silver was found in Nevada (1850) but no one was making a lot of money there either

What to do now? Head west and see what you can find……….

The Great PlainsThe Great PlainsWhat does it look like?

◦Flatlands that rise gradually from East to West

◦Land eroded by wind and water◦LOW rainfall◦Frequent Dust Storms

The Great PlainsThe Great Plains

You have just taken a gamble and you think you have lost…..

It’s a Treeless WastelandNothing will growNothing to build with for homes or

barnsWhat do you think? Go or Stay…

New Inventions

Help or Not?

Steel Plows

Steel Plows

HELP!!! You can now break up the land for farming.

Windmills

New Inventions

Help or Not?

Windmills: HELPCan now pump water from underground to be used on the farms and houses.

New Inventions…Help or Not?New Inventions…Help or Not?

Dry Farming

People using dry farming technology work to reduce water

runoff and evaporation, and to increase moisture absorption

and retention in the soil. A main technique involves

loosening the soil so that water can sink in easily, and then

performing regular weeding so that the moisture is better

utilized. Also, a dust mulch formed by tilling is renewed

after each rainfall and seals water into the ground. This

turns the soil into a sponge, where the only place water can

go is into plant roots. The mulch also protects the surface

from evaporation. Farmers cultivate before and after

seeding, perform deep plowing, and leave alternate areas

fallow in rotating summers.

Dry Farming: HELPDry Farming: HELP Dry farming in the United States originated in the 1800s

as independent farmers experimented with growing

crops in locations having low annual rainfall. In the

1850s, California residents, for example, began to raise

winter wheat, where the main growing season occurred

during the winter rains. By the 1860s, Utah settlers were

successfully practicing dry farming, and settlers in the

Northwest and the Great Plains were doing so by the

1880s. Dry farming works well with grains and grasses,

including not only wheat but alfalfa, barley, corn, oats,

and rye, as well as with grasses for hay.

Railroads

New Inventions

Help or Not?

RailroadsRailroadsConnected the new farms to

distribution centers in the East and West

Helped people move and travelWas faster than a wagon trailIf you wanted the land, the

railroad company would give you land, you just had to work it!!!

There were no time zones until the railroads crossed the continent, it was the first time you needed a central time keeping system!!!

Sod Houses

New Inventions

Help or Not?

Would you go west yet???

Help!People found a way to build a house without lumber, and with the little rain, it was the best they could do!!!

YOU’VE FOUND A WAY YOU’VE FOUND A WAY TO GET THERE, AND TO GET THERE, AND BUILD A HOUSE, BUT BUILD A HOUSE, BUT HOW ARE YOU GOING HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE A LIVING OR TO MAKE A LIVING OR EAT???EAT???

BARBED WIRE ~ WHAT DO YOU NEED BARBED WIRE ~ WHAT DO YOU NEED THATTHAT

FOR? FOR?

To Keep your livestock from roaming ~ cattle, horses, pigs, chickens, etc…

WHEAT FARMINGWHEAT FARMING

WHY??WHY??

Didn’t require much water, found a way to Dry Farm wheat and other grasses and ryes

How the Great Plains got the nick name, Bread Basket

BEEF CATTLE RAISING ~ WHY??BEEF CATTLE RAISING ~ WHY??

Cattle could roam, eating any grass that wasn’t fenced in. (barbed wire)

It was the rise of the “Cowboy”, who would ride and wrangle the cattle from the farm in Texas to places like Montana, Nebraska and Chicago, for shipping to the east for food.

Because of New Because of New Technologies, people now Technologies, people now saw the Great Plains as a saw the Great Plains as a Vast Area to be SettledVast Area to be Settled

Steel PlowsDry FarmingWindmillsBarbed Wire

Wheat farmingBeef Cattle

RaisingRailroads