Groups Who Settled on the Great Plains
Farming Families moved West to receive land granted through the Homestead Act. They also traveled West
because there was little farming land in the North. The families saved money by paying a small fee for their land in the West instead of paying money for more expensive Northern land. Unmarried women were encouraged to move West to find husbands and begin families. They also held positions in communities on the Great Plains. Decendants of Earlier Pioneers also settled in the West to receive land grants. |
Mennonites were some of the first to move West and to begin farming on the Great Plains. They were Russian Protestant groups.
Exodusters moved West to escape sharecropping and own land for themselves. They were paid little for their hard work farming and they fell into debt. John Solomon Lewis stated that "I one day said to the man I rented [land] from: 'It's no use, I works hard and raises big crops and you sells it and keeps the money, and brings me more and more in debt, so I will go somewhere else.'" Immigrants also moved West in search of land. If they gained citizenship and said that they would remain on their land for five years, the immigrant would recieve the land grant through the Homestead Act. |
Acts and Opportunities
- Homestead Act: an act passed in 1862 that gave land owned by the government to farmers
- Morrill Act: an act that gave states land to resell. The money resulting from the sale was used to begin consturction of colleges.
- Available Land in Oklahoma: In the spring of 1889, land in Oklahoma previously inhabited by Native Americans opened for settlement. Thousands of people traveled to Oklahoma, and 11 million acres of land were claimed.
- Morrill Act: an act that gave states land to resell. The money resulting from the sale was used to begin consturction of colleges.
- Available Land in Oklahoma: In the spring of 1889, land in Oklahoma previously inhabited by Native Americans opened for settlement. Thousands of people traveled to Oklahoma, and 11 million acres of land were claimed.
Settlers in Oklahoma
Lifestyle on the Great Plains
On the Great Plains, pioneers were self-suffiecient, making their own everyday products. Many settlers on the Great Plains lived in small, uncomfortable shelters made from the tough Plains sod due to lack of wood. The roofs leaked and unwanted creatures sometimes entered the homes. Washing and mending clothes were tasks that the people themselves had to do. The settlers also were responsible for making their own soap from fat and ash. Many people raised their own livestock and grew vegetables. Butter was also churned for money. Tending to the crops was a family effort; the children often had several chores.
The farms were remote. Communities were the solution to the far away settlements. Pioneer communities contained schools and churches. Pioneers living in the communities aided in the construction of the school building. Plays and dinners were put on for entertainment.
One-room schoolhouses contained stoves for heat and windows to provide light. Children were only schooled for a small part of the year; the other part of the year was spent farming with their families. Few students owned books and all ages studied together. The teachers, who were usually women, were paid low wages for their service.
The farms were remote. Communities were the solution to the far away settlements. Pioneer communities contained schools and churches. Pioneers living in the communities aided in the construction of the school building. Plays and dinners were put on for entertainment.
One-room schoolhouses contained stoves for heat and windows to provide light. Children were only schooled for a small part of the year; the other part of the year was spent farming with their families. Few students owned books and all ages studied together. The teachers, who were usually women, were paid low wages for their service.