Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 14, Lesson 4, Resettlement of the Land (pp. 427-432)
I. Ranching on the Plains
B. After cattle were rounded up, they were driven to towns on the
railroad lines, and then sold to eastern markets.
C. As more farmers moved west, ranchers were forced to drive their
cattle on trails further west.
D. Cattle ranching was profitable for only a few years, until several
droughts and the introduction of barbed wire fences limited the open range.
II. Farming on the Plains
B. Because of the dry climate, farmers on the Great Plains had
to develop new farming methods.
C. Many farmers had to borrow money to buy farm machinery, but
some could not pay their debts and lost their land.
D. Technology helped some farmers produce large harvests of
wheat, which they sent to the East by railroad.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. Ranchers in the West grazed their cattle on public lands owned
by the government, branding the cattle to identify their owners.
A. Advertising, the Homestead Act's promise of free land,
and access to the railroad brought both white settlers and freed African Americans, who were called Exodusters.
to the Plains to farm.
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