The Great Plains!

Railroad

Problem• Hard to move

people and resources

Why it Helped• Transcontinental

Railroad connected East and West!

Beef Cattle

Problem• Cattle needed to

be moved from the Southwest and Midwest regions

Why it Helped• Railroad took

cows to Chicago – farmers could now make a profit $

Barbed Wire Fences

Problem• Breeding cattle

increased the population – they needed boundaries

Why it Helped• No trees to build

fences – barbed wire was essential

Wheat Farming

Problem• Farmers under the

Homestead Act needed to grow food, but had little water

Why it Helped• Wheat from

Russia grew with less water – farmers could now farm wheat

Dry Farming

Problem• Little rain made

soil hard and dry – hard to farm

Why it Helped• If you use a strong

plow to pull up lower dirt it brings moisture to the top

Sod Houses

Problem• Few trees to build

homes

Why it Helped• Farmers began

making homes out of bricks of dirt (sod).

Windmills

Problem• Rarely rains,

water is deep in the ground

Why it Helped• Wind power acts

like a big straw and pulls up water to the surface

Steel Plows

Problem• Sod is very hard

and farmers wood plows broke easily

Why it Helped• Steel plows broke

up the hard soil and helped with dry farming