The land between the mountain ranges. Most of the Middle West Region is made up of plains They are a natural feature that makes this region different from others. Two parts of the Interior Plains are the Central and Great Plains The Central Plains are low and have plenty of rain. The Great Plains are mostly a dry grassland.

A Prairie is a flat area thickly covered with tall grasses and wildflowers. Until about 100 year ago much of the Central Plains was Prairie. Because the soil is so fertile, the farmers have plowed up many of the prairie plants to put in crops Land is so flat that huge fields can be easily planted. Corn is the main crop on the Central Plains. Wheat is the major crop on the Great Plains. Growing seasons are short.

Why are winters so cold and summers so hot? The flat land. Winds blow across carrying hot air in the summer and cold air in the winter. There are no mountains to block the way. The location of the Middle West also affects its climate. The region is far from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The distance from these bodies of water has a huge effect on its climate.

In the Middle West ocean breezes do not cool the land during the summer. Most of the Middle West is far from water..except the land near the Great Lakes. When wind blows across the lake from west to east they have similar effects as the ocean. In the summer the breeze is cool and in winter the breeze is warmer

Steel is made from a metal called IRON People were mining iron ore in North America as early as An ore is a rock that contains a metal such as iron. Iron is used to make stoves, tools, nails, and many other products The largest amounts were found in the Mesabi Range. Miners use open-pit mining. This is where huge power shovels are used to dig out ore. When worker are through with the mine they need to use reclamation. This is means to return the land to its original shape In the mid-1800’s huge deposits were discovered in the Middle West.

People started moving towards the Frontier-the edge of a settled area. In 1790 almost all American settlers lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic coast. By 1840 more than 4 million settlers had moved west of the Appalachian Mountains. One place many settled was the Ohio River Valley. The Ohio River Valley includes parts of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio.

Abraham Lincoln was already living in the Ohio River Valley. Lincoln was born in a small log cabin in Kentucky on February 12, When Lincoln was seven he moved to Indiana. His family could buy farmland from the government. Lincoln’s family traveled by foot. They marched through thick woods. They hired a boat to cross the Ohio River They finally reached their new home- Little Pigeon Creek, Indiana.

Some settlers traveled by foot Some traveled by flatboats Flatboats- were large flat bottomed boats that could carry two or three families at a time. When they reached their destination with the flatboats, they broke it up and sold the wood.

After more roads were built, Conestoga Wagons became the favorite transportation. They were sturdy, carried baggage, furniture, food, tools, bedding, and people over rough roads. To protect their cargo from weather, people stretched sheets of heavy cloth over a wooden frame above the wagon. Wagons could be pulled by mules, horses, or oxen. Travel was slow, pioneers could cover, at most, 25 miles per day.

During the 1600’s some Lakota started to move west. They moved to the prairies north of the Missouri River. In the 1700’s their way of life changed. Spanish colonist brought horses to North America The Lakota’s learned to catch and breed the horses. They became skilled riders. They traveled farther and faster because of the horse.

Madalyn and NicoleClayton and Adam

The Lakota Sitting Bull was born around By the time Sitting Bull was a teenager, life had changed for the Lakota. White settlers arrived in the 1840’s. As they took over lands they moved onto Lakota hunting ground. In the 1860’s the railroad workers came to the Middle West. They were hungry so the railroad hired hunters to shoot and skin buffalo. They killed up to 150 buffalo a day. When they were through with the buffalo they sold the hides. Without the buffalo the Lakota were in danger, also fighting broke out with settlers who had taken their land. The government decided to settle the fighting by forcing the Lakota onto a reservation. The Lakota were unhappy with reservation life. They could not travel freely, they had to depend on the government for food, and they were not treated fairly.