Hardships of the Great
Plains Settlers
Lack of building materials
 Few trees
 Lumber shipped in:
 expensive
How did they adjust?
•
Used Sod that busted up for
houses
•
Used Barbed Wire for fencing
in crops
•
When money was made from
crops/ bought wood.
How did people
adjust?
•
Windmills helped to get
water to areas
• Steel Plow helped break
through sod
Natural Geography
•
Mountain range both sides
• Hard to travel out
• Water was not always
available.
• Land near rivers and streams
taken quickly.
Climate Conditions
Winter- blizzards
•
Spring – tornadoes, hail,
floods
•
Summer- extreme heat
•
Fall- dry grass/fires spark
Isolation
*Travel between settlements
difficult
•
Communication not
available.
•
Made them independent.
Lack of revenue
•
Farming only way to make
money
•
Far away from industry
•
If had bad year for crops/
disaster for farm.
Rail Road
How do you think the railroad
helped the settlers overcome
some of these hardships?