“Western Settlement” Study Guide

South Carolina Standard: 5-2.1 and 5-2.2

Vocabulary

Pioneer:an early settler of a region

Homestead Act :law that offered free land to American citizens and immigrants who were willing to start new farms on the Great Plains

Homesteader :settlers who claimed land on the Great Plains under the Homestead Act

Sodbuster :a Great Plains farmer who had to cut through sod, or thick grass, before planting crops

Exoduster :name for an African American pioneer who moved to the Great Plains after the Civil War

Technology :the use of new ideas to make tools that improve people's lives

“The Great Plains” p. 139

  1. What obstacles got in the way of pioneers heading west?

______mountains______, ______deserts______, and ______rivers______

  1. Who created the trails that the pioneers used to travel west? ______Native Americans______
  2. Many Americans referred to the Great Plains at the “______Great American Desert______”.
  3. What groups of people wrote guidebooks to help pioneers and missionaries heading West?

______Explorers______and ______Mountain Men______

  1. At first, migrants skipped over the Great Plains and settled on the west coast. Why?

They didn't realize how good farming could become in this area. They thought it was a desert.

  1. What groups of people used the land for its resources and moved on?

______Fur Traders______and _____Miners______

  1. What groups of people settled permanently and used the resources?

______Ranchers______and ______Farmers______

  1. What allowed “squatters” to claim land and keep it?

Confusing laws like the Homestead Act allowed people to illegally claim land and keep it

“American Fever” p. 141

  1. Who were the Exodusters?

African American pioneers who moved to the Great Plains after the Civil War

  1. Where did they settle? ______Nicodemus, Kansas______

“Life on the Plains” p. 142

  1. Why was it so important that settlers leave St. Louis in a timely manner?

The weather conditions in the Midwest often made the trails too dangerous in the Winter and Spring.

  1. The climate of the West was a challenge to both travelers and settlers. Why?

*hot, dry summers = fires

*drought and dust storms

*swarms of insects (locusts)

*snowy winters

*spring floods

*storms: tornadoes and hailstorms

  1. Were there any other challenges to travelers and settlers?

they lived far from towns, hard labor, conflict with Native Americans, buffalo running through crops

“Fact File” p. 143

  1. What new technologies were developed to make farming the Great Plains possible?

*______Steel Plow______-needed to ______till______the hard packed earth

*______Windmill______-brought scarce ______water______to the surface

*__Seeds______-seeds that would grow in this ___Climate______and “__DryFarming___”

*____BarbedWire______- to keep the ______animalsaway______