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 RoadHow do you think the railroad helped the settlers overcome some of these hardships?