Problems faced by the homesteaders The Sod Houses that the Cattle and buffalo were a problem. The The grass that covered the Plains homesteaders built were made of cows from neighbouring ranches had thick deep roots that grew in earth and so were continually stray and trample the homesteaders’ tangled clumps that were dirty. They leaked dirty water crops. Buffalo were simply roaming wild, difficult to cut. The traditional into the living accommodation. still in large herds until the 1870s. iron ploughs broke when used on The floors were dirt. There were The lack of trees on the Plains meant the Great Plains. no medical facilities and diseases that there was no material to build like cholera, pneumonia were adequate fences. common The Plains are a vast open space Homesteaders faced the risk of Indian The Plains were known as the with very few trees. The attacks from 1860. Although many tribes Great American Desert - annual homesteaders needed to find had moved on to reservations, the rainfall on the Plains was only 38 other ways of building their reservations did not provide them with cm, the hot summers evaporated homes. They could not get enough food or supplies. any water that did fall. There supplies of wood from the East as There were outbreaks of violence in the were few lakes and rivers to it would be too expensive, and a Plains Wars in the 1860s and 1870s, provide water for irrigation, During Little Crow’s War, over 700 crops, or to drink
Problems faced by the homesteaders The Sod Houses that the homesteaders built were made of earth and so were continually dirty. They leaked dirty water into the living accommodation. The floors were dirt. There were no medical facilities and diseases like cholera, pneumonia were common Cattle and buffalo were a problem. The cows from neighbouring ranches stray and trample the homesteaders’ crops. Buffalo were simply roaming wild, still in large herds until the 1870s. The lack of trees on the Plains meant that there was no material to build adequate fences. The grass that covered the Plains had thick deep roots that grew in tangled clumps that were difficult to cut. The traditional iron ploughs broke when used on the Great Plains. The Plains are a vast open space with very few trees. The homesteaders needed to find other ways of building their homes. They could not get supplies of wood from the East as it would be too expensive, and a Homesteaders faced the risk of Indian attacks from 1860. Although many tribes had moved on to reservations, the reservations did not provide them with enough food or supplies. There were outbreaks of violence in the Plains Wars in the 1860s and 1870s, During Little Crow’s War, over 700 The Plains were known as the Great American Desert - annual rainfall on the Plains was only 38 cm, the hot summers evaporated any water that did fall. There were few lakes and rivers to provide water for irrigation, crops, or to drink