The most general force that changed the ecosystem of the Great Plain was through the development of agriculture and overgrazing following the human settlements (Hidinger 2000).
How did human activity affect the Great Plain?
The human has had historically impacted the Great Plain pretty negatively. The most general force that changed the ecosystem of the Great Plain was through the development of agriculture and overgrazing following the human settlements (Hidinger 2000).
What are the settlement patterns of the Great Plains?
The settlement patterns of the Great Plains reflect the sum total of the effects of these ongoing processes. Native Americans, who only 150 years ago were the region's sole inhabitants, have been relegated to relatively small areas.
Why did farmers leave the Great Plains in the 1930s?
Settlement came in years of good rains, so the Great Plains were overpopulated in the first rush. A heavy emigration followed the twin blows of drought and economic depression in the 1930s. Many grain farmers left because their farms were too small and more vulnerable to drought than the cattle ranches.
How was the population geography of the Great Plains diversified?
The population geography was diversified by settlers from Europe. Chain migration, in which early settlers wrote back to the home folks in Scandinavia, Germany, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to encourage their migration, led to many ethnic colonies throughout the Plains, many of which survive in some form to the present.
What was the Great Plains settlement?
The Great Plains were sparsely populated until about 1600. Spanish colonists from Mexico had begun occupying the southern plains in the 16th century and had brought with them horses and cattle. The introduction of the horse subsequently gave rise to a flourishing Plains Indian culture.
Why did Settlement increase in the Great Plains?
In 1862, at the height of the US Civil War, Abraham Lincoln took advantage of the absence of the slave-owning southern states to sign into law the Homestead Act of 1862. This revolutionary act opened up huge amounts land in the American Great Plains to private settlement.
How did the environment of the Great Plains affect the way of life?
The land was dry and unproductive making it difficult to grow crops. Furthermore, dangerous animals, such as buffalo, roamed free. The Plains Indians had adapted their way of life in order to live in these difficult conditions. Their survival depended on hunting buffalo.
What problems did people face as they settled on the Great Plains?
Water shortages – low rainfall and few rivers and streams meant there was not enough water for crops or livestock. Few building materials – there were not many trees on the Great Plains so there was little timber to use for building houses or fences. Many had to build houses out of earth.
Why are the Great Plains important?
Today, the plains serve as a major producer of livestock and crops. The Native American tribes and herds of bison that originally inhabited the plains were displaced in the nineteenth century through a concerted effort by the United States to settle the Great Plains and expand the nation's agriculture.
What promoted settlement of the Great Plains?
The railroads promoted settlement by providing land along their tracks and by mounting vigorous advertising campaigns. Attracting immigrants to the Plains was economically important for land companies, as well as for the already settled residents of the territories and many newly organized states.
How did the settlers of the Great Plains increase the vulnerability of the land?
People settled the region in greater numbers, increasing the amount of land being plowed and grazed. What caused dust storms to become even larger and more destructive in the 1930s? Severe droughts hit the Midwest, making the soil dry and more vulnerable to winds.
How did technology help settlers adapt to life on the Great Plains?
Railroads were an important technological advance that made it possible to settle the West. They could bring in supplies at an affordable price. They also made it possible for farmers to ship out their crops and ranchers to ship out their cattle.
Why was settlement of the Great Plains difficult?
Before 1860, few people moved west to try to settle on the Great Plains. The poor soil and harsh climate discouraged them - along with the fact that the Plains were officially Indian territory - land was expensive to buy, and anybody wanting to go west faced a long, dangerous and uncomfortable journey.
What factor caused the greatest increase in settlement of the Great Plains after the Civil War?
Encouraged by the Homestead Act of 1862 which gave willing farmers land on the Great Plains, and new technologies which allowed people to live in more challenging environments, farmers and immigrants flocked to the Great Plains during the decades after the Civil War.
What encouraged settlers to move west to Great Plains?
The Homestead Act encouraged settlers to move to the Great Plains. Life was hard, but settlers discovered that they could grow wheat using new technologies. By 1890 the land had been settled and farmed, and there was no longer a true frontier in the United States.
How were people encouraged by the government to settle on the Great Plains?
In 1862 the government encouraged settlement on the Great Plains by passing the Homestead Act. For a small registration fee, an individual could file for a homestead—a tract of public land available for settlement.
How did the geography and climate of the Great Plains influence migration and settlement patterns?
The vast, open space of the Great Plains was attractive to settlers but the climate made it difficult to settle there. Settlers had to adapt to the land in new ways. Because the Great Plains were comprised of dry grasslands, trees only grew along rivers and streams. This meant that settlers had little access to timber.
Why did grain farmers leave the Great Plains?
Many grain farmers left because their farms were too small and more vulnerable to drought than the cattle ranches.
What did the Spanish bring to the Plains?
Spanish colonists from Mexico had begun occupying the southern plains in the 16th century and had brought with them horses and cattle. The introduction of the horse subsequently gave rise to a flourishing Plains Indian culture. In the mid-19th century, settlers from the eastern United States began to supplant the Indians, ...
What are the crops grown in the Great Plains?
Thus, the Great Plains have remained basically an agricultural area producing wheat, cotton, corn (maize), sorghum, and hay and raising cattle and sheep.
Who settled the prairies?
The Prairie Provinces were settled by British, German Russians (many of them Mennonites ), Ukrainians, and Scandinavians. Buffalo Hunt, Chase, painting by George Catlin, 1844. Many of the immigrants were religious, thrifty, hardworking people who developed a strong attachment to the land.
When did cattle replace buffalo?
Indians on horseback exploited the buffalo herds for some two and a half centuries; but in the 1870s cattle replaced the buffalo, and cowboys replaced the Indians. In the 1880s and ’90s farmers began to crowd the ranchers, and wheat began to replace cattle. Settlement came in years of good rains, so the Great Plains were overpopulated in ...
What are the settlement patterns of the Great Plains?
The settlement patterns of the Great Plains reflect the sum total of the effects of these ongoing processes. Native Americans, who only 150 years ago were the region's sole inhabitants, have been relegated to relatively small areas. Throughout the region a pattern of large-scale farms is interspersed with abundant artifacts ...
What is the dominant pattern of settlement in the Great Plains?
The dominant settlement patterns of the Great Plains of the United States reflect both an initial 1800s pioneer landscape and subsequent changes: the evolution of the region's landscape is a continuing process. The pioneer settlement process divided the grasslands of North America into a vast checkerboard where squares were separated by section ...
How many acres were homesteaders in the nineteenth century?
In most areas, homesteaders in the nineteenth century located on dispersed farms of a quarter-section (160 acres). There were occasional interspersed rural schools, churches, and post offices. Initial building construction often utilized native sod, since lumber was not available.
How did the pioneers divide the grasslands of North America?
The pioneer settlement process divided the grasslands of North America into a vast checkerboard where squares were separated by section lines, which became roads, field divisions, county lines, and even state lines. The artificially imposed matrix of the U.S. Public Land Survey System, originating with the Ordinance of 1785, obliterated the natural landscapes known to the Native Americans. Six-mile-square townships were divided into thirty-six one-mile-square sections of 640 acres. European-style strassendorf villages or earlier New England–style village commons were virtually unknown, since the Homestead Law of 1862 required that homesteaders live on the land they claimed.
What are the Plains people?
The original Plains peoples, the Native Americans, remain an important and rapidly growing component of the region's population, especially on the Northern Plains and in Oklahoma. On the reservations, residential villages of Native American s are interspersed with farms, often occupied by European Americans, which were homesteaded as "surplus" lands or purchased as allotments in the decades following the Dawes Act of 1887. On some reservations, for example the Devils Lake Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, more than three-quarters of the land is owned by non-Natives.
How did the railroads affect the Plains?
The initial village pattern consisted of service centers at critical stream fords and at the intersections of wagon and horse trails. As railroad expansion spread a vast web of iron rails across the Plains, new sites emerged, since steam locomotives required water every eight to ten miles. These watering spots became the nuclei from which permanent villages, towns, or cities emerged. Here sprouted railroad depots, water towers, grain elevators, stockyards, stores, schools, and churches– facilities to enable the dispersed homestead farmers to obtain their supplies, market their products, and provide for their basic living needs. Early communities vied with each other for the right to be the county seat, and occasionally heated battles occurred. Such a role was perceived as essential if a place was to become dominant in the future urban hierarchy.
What were the changes in the settlement pattern?
As the twentieth century progressed, depression and dust bowl conditions modified the settlement pattern, initiating significant changes that continue to the present. Rural free mail delivery led to the discontinuance of many of the open-country post offices. Farm consolidation led to the abandonment of many section-line roads, and operations that were originally farms became ranches. Removal of much of the rural population led to the consolidation of rural schools and churches. The advent of larger railroad steam engines, and then of diesel engines, decreased the need for water-tower villages–only the grain elevator survives in many diminished places. Additionally, improved highways and the use of trucks doomed many of the branch railroads and the villages they served.
How will warmer winters affect the Great Plains?
Warmer winters are altering crop growth cycles and will require new agriculture and management practices as climate change impacts increase. Projected increases in temperature and drought frequency will further stress the High Plains Aquifer, the primary water supply of the Great Plains. Changes in water availability are likely to present ...
What are the Great Plains?
The Great Plains is home to the Rocky Mountains, prairie and grassland ecosystems, and the American Bison. Credit: USGCRP (2014) The Great Plains stretch from Canada to Mexico across the midsection of the country and consist of relatively flat plains that span from mountain elevations to sea level.
How does irrigation affect crops?
Center pivot sprinkler irrigation system located on a winter wheat cover crop in Morton, Texas. Credit: USDA In the Northern Plains, crop yields benefit from increased precipitation in winter and spring. However, if the fields become too wet, planting may be delayed and affect yields. [1] The projected heavier rainfall will also increase erosion and nutrient runoff, which could have detrimental impacts on crops and agricultural soil quality. Warmer temperatures lengthen the growing season, which could increase plant growth or allow for a second planting. Higher levels of carbon dioxide may also increase plant growth. However, summer precipitation is not projected to rise, which increases vulnerability to drought conditions, while higher summer temperatures are likely to reduce plant productivity. In the Central and Southern Plains, the higher temperatures and decreased precipitation will increase irrigation demands. If irrigation is reduced to conserve water and farmers transition to dryland agriculture, crop yields could be reduced by a factor of two. [1]
What are the prairie potholes?
These areas, known as Prairie Potholes (in the north) or playa lakes (in the south), provide habitat for many species to mate and nurture offspring. The lakes also help recharge the High Plains Aquifer. [9] . Agricultural practices have changed more than 70% of the large seasonal lakes in the southern Great Plains.
Where is the High Plains Aquifer located?
The High Plains Aquifer system is one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the world and underlies approximately 111 million acres in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. [4] .
What is the average temperature in the Great Plains?
In the mountains of Montana and Wyoming, average temperatures are less than 40°F, while in southern Texas, it is 70°F. [1] .
How does drought affect livestock?
Drought and increasing demand for available fresh water is already affecting the livestock industry. Animal operations require large quantities of water for drinking water, feedlot operations, dairy farms, and other on-farm needs. Some of the largest water withdrawals in the country occur in the Great Plains, with Texas having the highest water usage for livestock in the country. [8] Continued livestock production and associated water usage in this region will exacerbate water shortages as climate change impacts continue.
What was the main settlement of the Great Plains?
European Settlement of the Great Plains. The main settlement of the Great Plains occurred after the 1840 migrations to Oregon and the 1849 Gold Rush to California. Environmental historian William Cronon has interpreted the history of the Great Plains in terms of narrative. The grand narrative of America, Cronon argues, is a story of progress.
What were the two factors that led to the development of the Great Plains?
Historian Walter Prescott Webb's The Great Plains (1931) builds on Turner's progressive narrative, describing the rancher's and farmer's fron tiers on the Plains in terms of two formative factors — environment and technology . Webb states: "New inventions and discoveries had to be made before the pioneer farmer could go into the Great Plains and establish himself."12 Technologies allowed settlers to subdue a forbidding environment that had three main characteristics not found in the eastern United States. First, as pioneers moved west of the 100th meridian, the environment of the Plains became increasingly arid, lacking the minimum twenty inches of rainfall per year that would support agriculture reliably. Second, the Plains were treeless, and therefore did not provide the timber for fuel and building materials readily available in the East. Third, the Trans-Mississippi Plains were level, rising only gradually westward, which meant that rivers were shallow and lacked the power to operate mills or float ships.
What was the fourth technology that subdued the Plains?
The fourth technology that subdued the Plains was the John Deere plow. Like the mill, the plow was one of the important pieces of technology that changed Western history. The earliest plows of southern Europe, pulled by oxen, successfully scratched the dry shallow soils of the Mediterranean region.
What are the two formsative accounts of the Great Plains?
Two formative accounts reveal the environmental history of the Great Plains as a progressive narrative: Frederick Jackson Turner's "Significance of the Frontier in American History" (1893); and Walter Prescott Webb's The Great Plains (1931) . The opposite, or declensionist narrative, according to Cronon, relates history as environmental decline.
What technology did Webb use to control the Plains?
Following the Colt six-shooter (1835), which had subdued the Plains Indians, the second piece of technology that, from Webb's perspective, transformed the Plains was barbed wire.
What is the grand narrative of the Great Plains?
The grand narrative of America, Cronon argues, is a story of progress. The frontier narrative depicts that formative story and, as such, is the master narrative of American culture. A hostile environment, initially conceptualized as ...
What was the Great Plains?
A hostile environment, initially conceptualized as a Great American desert, was gradually brought under control and transformed into a garden, making the Great Plains a Garden of the World. That transition in perception occurred as people increasingly settled the Plains and gained control over nature.
How many lands are there in the Great Plains?
Great plains, a geographically and environmentally determined zone comprising ten lands portion which includes Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Traveling between Canada and Mexico, the territory extends from the 98th time (height 2,000 feet) to the Rocky Mountains (7,000 feet).
What percentage of the Great Plains is used for products?
Less than half of the area in the Great Plains has eternally been utilized for products. People can pick where to farm crops, it is the atmosphere that concludes where products will prosper.
