1. Do Now
1. Would you move to a place no one lived if others were moving there? Explain your answer. 2. Where are the Great Plains? 3. What are the Great Plains like?

2. Great Plains Challenges
Before the Civil War, the Great Plains were considered a "treeless wasteland".
The winters were bitter cold.
There were few rivers and streams for water, and few trees for wood.
Low rainfall caused drought and dust storms.
Fierce winds and frequent dust storms eroded and blew away the soil.
The remaining tough soil was thought to be unsuitable for farming.

4. How did people’s perceptions and use of the Great Plains change after the Civil War?
Before 1860, those who crossed the Mississippi generally traveled all the way to the west coast. Few settled in the Great Plains. “Treeless wasteland”

6. The Great Plains
Because of new technologies People saw the Great Plains not as a "treeless wasteland" but as a vast area to be settled.

7. Great Plains Physical Features
Between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains

8. Great Plains Physical Features
2. Flatland that rises from EAST to WEST

9. Great Plains Physical Features
3. Dry land eroded by wind and rain.

10. Great Plains Physical Features
4. Low rainfall with frequent dust storms.

14. Technological Advances allowed people to live in more challenging environments.

15. Technological Advancements
Barbed Wire
To keep animals contained

16. Technological Advancements
Steel Plow
Farmers able to cut through hard soil

17. Technological Advancements
Dry Farming  
Allows famers to grow crops in dry soil.

18. Technological Advancements
Sod houses
Sod packed and stacked together to build homes.
Sod - grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots.

24. Technological Advancements
Beef Cattle Raising
For meat on the vast plains.

25. Technological Advancements
Wheat farming
Grown for food and money on the plains.

26. Technological Advancements
Windmills
Pump water from the ground using wind power.

27. Technological Advancements
Transcontinental Railroad
Completed in 1869
Provided access to trade and fast transportation.
Moving goods and people!