Native Americans inhabited the Great Plains and Prairies region for a very long time.Many tribes lived off of the buffalo that used to roam free in large numbers within the region. It was their main food source, and was used to make many things; shelter, weapons, clothing, tools, and dinnerware. They followed the migration of the buffalo. Others lived in permanent settlements and farmed the land as well as hunted. They lived a very sustainable lifestyle, and lived in harmony with the land.
The European settler that resided in the eastern part of the United States hadn't become a threat as of yet. They didn't even become a problem during the Oregon Trail in the early 1800's when Lewis and Clark ventured all the way west to the Pacific Coast to create more European settlements on the west coast. It wasn't until soon after the Transcontinental Railway was established in 1869. There was a desire to settle the frontier by the end of the Civil War in 1865. The establishment of the railway made it possible to do just that. The railroad allowed for the transportation of goods to and from the great plains for buying and selling. Without it the future settlers wouldn't have been able to establish a good economy system.
The government was pushing for people to settle the region. All of the Indians tribes were driven out or killed by people hired by the government after promises had been made to leave them be in their territories. Instead that land was bought out and sold underneath them so that the European settlers could take over the land. Those that survived were forced to live on reservations. This finally ended in 1890.
White the government was destroying the Indians way of life, they were ushering in European settlers in the region. However, the people were very skeptical about moving into a vast, arid area filled with nothing but grass. The government flat-out lied to the settlers, selling them on the idea that the climate will change if they plant their crops. Promising them much success in the frontier. The settlers swallowed the lies and headed out west.
Settlers headed out to make homestead on their newly purchased land from the government, and to grow enough crops to feed their families and also to sell to other parts of the US via the railway. It was not at all easy for them to establish themselves. There were not many natural resources available to them to work with. There was no available lumber in this endless field of flat land and grass. Instead of wood, they had to build their houses out of sod. This was a long and excruciating process. They also used the sod for fuel since they had no other fuel source available to them.
They also need materials to build fences to keep in cattle, and to protect their crops and water resources. Millions of pounds of barbed wire was shipped using the railway so the people could construct the fences they needed.
Another problem was that of plowing the soil. The soil was hard for them to plow, they had to upgrade their equipment to steel plows with a certain shape to be able to work the land.
The next big obstacle they would have to contend with was the weather. The first year the settlers came to the region there was plenty of rain for their crops. This was not the case a few short years later when they were struck with their first drought, causing an economical disaster for the area.
A community problem that occurred within the established community was the competition for land between farmers and cattle ranchers due to the limited supply of fertile land. Farmers wanted it for their crops while ranchers wanted it for their cattle.
By the mid 19th century the farming style of the Great Prairies and Plains drastically changed. It was no longer the multiple family farmers who owned and worked the land. The land was being bought by commercial businesses, and commercial farming began. Some farms grew a variety of crops. There were now massive wheat fields to sell and also use to feed the growing herds of cattle.
Gang plows were invented and now more and more land could be cultivated much faster. This greatly increased productivity. Immigrants were used to work these plows because it took a lot of men to work them. It was not taken into consideration the balance between supply and demand. They were so ambitious that they just grew as much as they could with their new found technology. It wasn't until the drop in market prices due to the over abundance of these products that they realized there was a problem. Unfortunately, the farmers didn't realize that it was their over production that was the problem. They thought it was the fault of either the railway, banks, government, or all of the above. The farmers became very disgruntled with their inability to pay their debts and difficulty to feed their families.
The people in the west were stuck in a unhappy situation. They were responsible for growing the crops required to feed the country, and even though their role was so vital they were stuck living less than comfortable living situations and were struggling economically while the rest of the country was thriving due to manufacturing.
Outsourcing became a new problem for the farmers during the 20th century when International trade began to take hold, and they were now facing the struggle of competition from imports. This caused the market value of their products to drop once again.
