Settlers Face Hardships

Settlers Face Hardships

In 1862, the Homestead Act was passed. A settler’s home and land was called a homestead. If they could farm the land for five years, they could own it. Many homesteaders came from the eastern United States, where farmland cost a lot. In the Great Plains, land was cheaper.

Settlers had to learn how to farm on the Great Plains. The soil was held together by grass roots. It was called sod. Settlers were called sodbusters because they had to break

through the sod to plant crops. There was not a lot of wood, so settlers used sod to build homes. Winters were long and cold, and summers were hot and dry. There were many droughts and strong winds. There were grass fires because it was so dry. Farmers had to grow crops that did not need much water. They carried water from streams. Some farmers used windmills to pump water from underground. In the 1870s, millions of grasshoppers ate the crops. There weren’t many people in the area to do farm work, so farmers used new and better farm machines. New machines made it faster and easier to grow more crops.

1. According to the reading selection, what is a sodbuster?

A. name given to the soil that was

held together be grass rots.

B. name given to a settler who had

to break through sod to build

houses and plant crops.

C. windmills that were used to pump water from underground

D. grasshoppers that ate crops and lived in the sod

2. Why were grasshoppers a problem?

A. there were not enough

grasshoppers to use for fishing

B. grasshoppers ate the sod

C. grasshoppers ate the crops

3. If a farmer didn’t build his home near a stream, how did they get water?

A. they used irrigation canals to

bring water to their homes

B. they used pails to carry water

from the ocean

C. they started grass fires because it

was so dry

D. they used windmills to pump

water from underground

4. According to the Homestead Act, how many years did a settler have to farm the land before they could own it?

A. four years

B. five years

C. three years

D. fifteen years

5. Settlers faced many hardships

on the Great Plains. Which item

in the web is NOT a hardship

mentioned in the reading passage?

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