History Of The Great Plains
Introduction
On central North America’s continental slope lies a vast grassland region-the Great plains. This vast grassland region covers Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana as well as some areas in both North and South Dakota. The region is estimated to cover an area of 1,300,000km2 . Until the late 1800’s the great plains had an abundance of the American biston herds which were largely hunted and currently very few remain. In this text, I will look at what is so distinctive about the history of the Great plains.
An overview of the physical geography
According to Starita (2009), a large part of the rock strata in the great plains is made up of sediments that are believed to have been deposited by the sea. This is informed by the fact that earlier on, vast areas of the great plains were under an inland sea. This area is served by water from several rivers which include the Cimarron, Canadian, Arkansas, Republican, Platte, Missouri as well as the Saskatchewan rivers. The climate here is basically semiarid with an annual precipitation of below 51cm. High velocity winds and temperatures which are largely seasonal are experienced in this area. It is also good to note that the short grass prairies can be considered to be the dominant vegetation in the great plains.
The History of the great plains
West (1998) notes that Native Americans were the original inhabitants of the great plains and one of the main activities they engaged in during this period was hunting. Their widespread hunting of buffaloes almost caused their extinction and it has been noted that it is this extensive hunting of buffaloes that is to blame for their drastic decline in numbers in the 19th century. During the 17th century, the Spanish largely explored the great plains and during this time the central area of the plains were largely known as the great American desert. Much of the development of the great plains was in one way or the other influenced by the laing of railroads. This was during the period proceeding the civil war. This development can be said to have informed the increased settlement in the region but droughts that followed would force settlers to immigrate. Raban (1997) notes that the tendency of the settlers to manage soil poorly and overgrazing were to blame for dust storms and crop failure in a majority of the great plains states.
West (1998) notes that it is estimated that that Paleo-Indians, who were the first Americans to inhabit the great plains settled in this vast region for a period of about 10,000 years. Paleo-Indians were part of the earliest American continent inhabitants. Within a relatively short period of time, this group had spread out so vastly to areas including the great plains as well as Canada and parts of Atlantic coast Gaspe Peninsula. The Paleo-Indians lifestyle is thought to have been largely influenced by the area they settled on but a common trend has been identified with regard to their lifestyle. This trend includes the style utelized or used in the production of the stone tool. Paleo-Indians used some of the tools they produced for hunting purposes which included but was not limited to micro blades, hummer stones as well as spear points that were flute styled. The micro blades were largely utelized for processing hides as well as butchering. There has been a wide range of stone tools found in the great plains and it is believed that this tools were actually items of trade largely from North Dakota.
Raban (1997) notes that in a large way, the culture in the great plains included that of plains Indians. Several tribes consisted of this group and this included the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfoot etc. Miles (2005) notes that a number of tribes inhabited most of the eastern parts of the great plains. These tribes were to be found in some earth lodge villages which happened to be semipermanent. This earth homes utelized the natural terrain as walls as well as other aspects of the house. Starita (2009) notes that during the Louisiana purchase, a large number of plains Indians had been killed by a chickenpox attack.
Between the years 1540 and 1542, Nebraska, Kansas as well as Texas became the places where the first European and Native Americans met or encountered each other. This encounter was inform of a Spanish conquistador, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. This has is however the first recorded encounter and it cannot be known whether an initial encounter of this sort between the native American and Europeans had taken place. It is also during this time period that the west-northwest crossover by Hernando de Soto took place.
West (1998) argues the immigration of a vast number of ethnic Europeans into the great plains was informed by the flourishing of the trade in fur in the following one century. It can be argued that a large part of the European American contact in the great plains was influenced by the fur trade. Groups of individuals interested in fur came from the U.S, Russia, Britain, Spain as well as France and transversed the region in search of fur.
However, as Starita (2009) notes, much about the plains came to be known soon after then Louisiana purchase by the U.S. This was in the time period falling between 1804 and 1806. Additional information about the great plains initiated the entry of a big number of pioneers into he region. Some of this pioneers included Manuel Lisa. The contribution Manuel Lisa made to fur trading is largely extensive given the large site he came up with for trading in fur. This site was located in Nebraska.
The 19th century brought about a far reaching migration of Europeans as well as European Americans into the great plains. This was informed by the westward expansion. The westward expansion was part of the territorial acquisitions by the U.S. The growing population in the plains combined with the laying of the railroad posed a threat for the bison which was subject to extensive hunting and this nearly made it extinct. In fact, the railroad facilitated the hunting as the herds were now easily accessible to hunters. Most of the hunters were doing it for sport and they are to blame for the bison near extinction. During this period, ranchers and farmers who had immigrated to the great plains started encroaching on settlements and this brought them on a collision course with native Americans. Eventually, in the 1870s, Raban (1997) notes that most tribes in the great plains were removed as a result of the political pressure asserted by the settlers on the U.S. Most of the tribes were moved by the United States to the Indian reservations. This enabled almost any individual to run cattle as essentially, the great plains were now largely inhabited after the tribes were moved. From here, ranchers would during spring and fall treat and prepare cows for sales well as brand new-born calves. Texas was the genesis of this ranching and ranchers would often lead cattle north from where they would be headed to Kansas and Dodge and destined for eastern parts. A good number of the ranches were supported by wealthy individuals some of whom were British.
During 1886, there was a catastrophe. A disastrous winter in this year caused the death of so many cattle and this lead many farmers to initiating several ways of ensuring that their cattle did not die during winter periods. In 1862, efforts were initiated to enhance agricultural progress in the great plains. This was in line with ensuring they he great plains were able to hold as well as sustain the raising population. All this was through the adoption of the homestead act. According to Miles (2005), This act was instrumental in the enhancing as well as fast tracking the ability of individuals to claim a maximum of 160 acres of land as long as they cultivated that piece of land and made it their home for a minimum of half a decade. This initiated the claiming of the same by a big number of individuals.
However, the problem herein lied in the inability of some of those who acquired vast parcels of land to cultivate such land. This is because a majority of those who wanted such lands were not skilled farmers and hence their ability to put such land to constructive use was in question. Jones (2002) notes that hundreds of thousands of people acquired this parcels of land in the great plains during periods that were largely wet. Various government authorities that should have helped the farmers cultivate the land ended up giving wrong information.
That is, most of their advice did not work. In fact, the only people who are believed to have done well in farming during this periods were the Germans from Russia. The advantage they had over other farmers was that they had farmed in the same conditions as those that were prevailing in the great plains as at that time.
1900 and beyond
In the early 19s, the great plains was informed by massive exits of farmers throughout the lands. This was as a result of widespread drought which was informed by erroneous cultivation methods. This drought was further compounded by the great depression further pushing farmers off their lands. It took more than a decade for the great plains to be used productively again. The 1950’s ushered in a shift in farming to the adoption of better methods including well defined irrigation. It has been claimed in some quarters that the the Ogallala Aquifer is facing an unsustainable rate of depletion as a result of overuse by the farmers in the southern parts of the great plains.
This aquifer lies beneath the southern parts of the great plains and it is believed to hold vast amounts of strata that bears water. The accelerated depletion of this aquifer has been blamed on center pivot irrigation that is extensively used in the southern parts of the great plains as well as other parts of the great plains that happen to be dry. Since 1920, the rural parts of the great plains have lost quite a large portion of its members. In 1893, Frederick Turner used a square mile as a standard density in the closure of the American frontier. In recent years that same standard Frederick Turner used in 1893has been used again to declare the number of people per per square mile. A couple of years ago, surveys carried out indicated that there were about six individuals every square mile, a drastic drop from previous years.
Over time, the great plains have had disastrous events and nothing depicts this clearly than the dust storm which originated from the a region in the great plains which is now widely known as the dust bowl. This dust storm which is billed as the worst in U.S history and it occurred in the mid thirties. There was also the 1890 massacre of approximately 250 individuals in one of the great plains areas, i.e. south Dakota. This 1890 massacre is billed as the one of the worst events to have occurred in the great plains.
The great plains today
Daniel Fitzgerald, a historian from Kansas notes that today, the state of Kansas alone has a very high number of ghost towns, 6000 to be precise. This trend has been informed by the lack of modern industry as well as the action to consolidate firms in the region. The regions covered by the great plains has also reported lower numbers of school going population. This has forced authorities to close schools as well as the consolidation of others. It has been claimed in some quarters that the ongoing use as well as utilization of the great plains’ drier parts is in one way or the other unsustainable in the long run. Experts propose a reverse of sorts to salvage the situation. One way to do this would be to restore the biston in the plains and ensuring that the native grassland is restocked in vast parts of the great plains. This has widely become to be referred to as the buffalo commons. Among those well placed in the raising of the bison are the native Americans. In general terms, the area covered by the great plains is largely sparse with ranching taking place in the vast fields.
The region’s biggest cities include Denver, Alberta as well as Edmonton and this is where a majority of people can be found. Wheat comprises he principal crop and it has been noted that in the presence of water, the region can end up being extremely productive. However, it is good to note that wheat is not the only crop that dominates the vast region as there are a variety of other crops too which are grown here and they include but are not limited to cotton, flax as well as sorghum. Most of the great plains also support the raising of cattle as well as sheep. Lastly, it can also be noted that the great plains also are home to several mineral deposits. This deposits include gold, coal, natural gas as well as Oil.
Conclusion
The great plains remain a classic piece of the history of the U.S. Though most individuals take the history of the great plains for granted, this plains serve as a constant reminder of the history of America and give a rare glimpse of one of America’s highly diverse regions. It is also a refreshing glimpse and reminder of the ancient cultures that originally occupied its vast plains.
References
Jones, D. C (2002). Empire of Dust: Settling and Abandoning the Prairie Dry Belt. 1987; Calgary:University of Calgary Press.
Miles, T. (2005). Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom.Berkeley: University of California Press.
Raban, J. (1997). Bad Land: An American Romance. New York: Vintage.
Starita, J. (2009). “I Am a Man”: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice. New York: St. Martin’s Press
West, E. (1998). The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado. Lawrence:University Press of Kansas
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