Settlers
Many different people settled in the Plains. The African Americans that came from the South became known as Exodusters. People came from all around the U.S. and even from other countries. Sometimes, people from Germany or Czech wanted land in the Great Plains. So, their relatives that lived in the U.S. would buy the land for them and ask them to come settle in America.
Reasons for Settlement
People wanted to move to The West because they hoped to find success in the Plains by creating their own farm and farm land was becoming scarce in areas like New England. To help settlements grow, the government let unmarried women own land. The opportunity to have equal rates brought a large group of Southern African Americans.
Acts & Opportunities
The Homestead Act gave the government-owned land to small farmers and to any adult who was a U.S. citizen or was planning to become one. The government promised the land for five years. The Morrill Act granted more the 17 million acres of federal land to the states. The act required each state to sell this land and use the money to build colleges like the Texas A&M. Opportunities of land for farming brought settlers from different countries to the Plains.
Farming the Plains
Farming on the Plains was difficult. The soil was hard to plow and it always broke the farming tools. This soil was known as sodbusters. The farmers had to get new equipment. Cyrus McCormick designed, built, and sold new farming equipment. Just in case, the farmers came up with a new farming system called dry farming. The method shifted from crops that depended on water to crops that didn't depend on water like red wheat. The method helped farmers through drought years.