1. The Close of the Frontier
Homesteaders

2. Homestead Act (1862)
Act passed by Congress which made public land available to citizens for a minimal cost ($1.25 an acre)
160 Acres in return you had to agree to work the land for 5 years
400,000 families took advantage of the deal

3. Oklahoma Land Grants Oklahoma had been reserved as “Indian Territory”
Government opened this territory to settlers on April 22, 1889
2 million acres were claimed in one day
“Sooners” - some people cheated and claimed land early

4. Exodusters
African- Americans who left the South for a new life on the frontier
Led by Pap Singleton
wanted to escape segregation in the South

7. The Life of Homesteader-
Housing
Very little wood available for construction
Sod Houses
Used “bricks” of grass and dirt
Provided insulation from heat and cold
Very leaky
Dug Outs
Dug homes into the sides of hill
Covered the front with sod bricks

13. Dugout

14. Inventions which helped Farmers
Barbed Wire (1874)
J. Glidden
Protected farmland from being trampled by Cattle
Joseph Glidden

15. Inventions which helped Farmers
Steel Plow
John Deere
Helped farmers break up the hard soil on the plains

16. An 1859 picture of John Deere's Plow Factory in Moline, Illinois.
John Deere's Factory in Moline, in the 1880's.

17. Inventions which helped Farmers
The Reaper
McCormick
Threshed wheat
* While this first machine required only 2 people for operation (a person to ride the horse and a man to rake the cut grain from the platform), it cut as much grain in one day as 4-5 men with cradles or men with reaping hooks

18. Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters
Blizzards in the Winter
Firestorms
Droughts
“Tornado Alley”
Locust Plagues

19. Emotional and Economic Pressures
Neighbors were not close by
Flat lands
Cabin Fever in the winter
Farming took up all time in the summer months
Crops and animals could be lost at any time due to weather
Railroads charged large fees to transport goods to and from eastern markets
Many farmers borrowed money from banks --- could not pay debts if they had a bad harvest

20. Frontier Settlements: 1870-1890