Read Online (Free) relies on page scans, which are not currently available to screen readers. To access this article, please contact JSTOR User Support . We'll provide a PDF copy for your screen reader.
With a personal account, you can read up to 100 articles each month for free.
Get StartedAlready have an account? Log in
Monthly Plan
- Access everything in the JPASS collection
- Read the full-text of every article
- Download up to 10 article PDFs to save and keep
Yearly Plan
- Access everything in the JPASS collection
- Read the full-text of every article
- Download up to 120 article PDFs to save and keep
Log in through your institution
Purchase a PDF
Purchase this article for $14.00 USD.
How does it work?
- Select the purchase option.
- Check out using a credit card or bank account with PayPal.
- Read your article online and download the PDF from your email or your account.
journal article
Great Plains Farming: A Century of Change and AdjustmentAgricultural History
Vol. 51, No. 1, Agriculture in the Great Plains, 1876-1936: A Symposium (Jan., 1977)
, pp. 244-256 (13 pages)
Published By: Agricultural History Society
//www.jstor.org/stable/3741648
Read and download
Log in through your school or library
Alternate access options
For independent researchers
Read Online
Read 100 articles/month free
Subscribe to JPASS
Unlimited reading + 10 downloads
Purchase article
$14.00 - Download now and later
Journal Information
Agricultural History is the journal of record in the field. As such, it publishes articles on all aspects of the history of agriculture and rural life with no geographical or temporal limits. The editor is particularly interested in articles that address a novel subject, demonstrate considerable primary and secondary research, display an original interpretation, and are of general interest to Society members and other Agricultural History readers. The Agricultural History Society was founded in Washington, DC in 1919 "to promote the interest, study and research in the history of agriculture." Incorporated in 1924, the Society began publishing a journal in 1927. The term "agricultural history" has always been interpreted broadly. Currently the membership includes agricultural economists, anthropologists, economists, environmentalists, historians, historical geographers, rural sociologists, and a variety of independent scholars.
Publisher Information
Agricultural History is published by the Agricultural History Society. Initially affiliated with the American Historical Association, the Agricultural History Society is the third oldest, discipline-based professional organization in the United States.
Rights & Usage
This item is part of a JSTOR Collection.
For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions
Agricultural History © 1977
Agricultural History Society
Request Permissions
This little house on the prairie is constructed of sod walls and a dirt roof. It is one of the few pioneer dwellings still standing in the Badlands today.
A homestead at last! Many eastern families who longed for the opportunity to own and farm a plot of land of their own were able to realize their dreams when Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862. That landmark piece of legislation provided 160 acres free to any family who lived on the land for five years and made improvements. The same amount could be obtained instantly for the paltry sum of $1.25 per acre.
Combined with the completed transcontinental railroad, it was now possible for an easterner yearning for the open space of the West to make it happen. Unfortunately, the lives they found were fraught with hardship.
Money Problems
There were tremendous economic difficulties associated with Western farm life. First and foremost was overproduction. Because the amount of land under cultivation increased dramatically and new farming techniques produced greater and greater yields, the food market became so flooded with goods that prices fell sharply. While this might be great for the consumer, the farmer had to grow a tremendous amount of food to recoup enough profits to survive the winter.
Zillmer's Antique Farm Museum
This 1924 Hart Parr model 20-C, is the only running tractor of its kind known to exist.
New machinery and fertilizer was needed to farm on a large scale. Often farmers borrowed money to purchase this equipment, leaving themselves hopelessly in debt when the harvest came. The high tariff forced them to pay higher prices for household goods for their families, while the goods they themselves sold were unprotected.
The railroads also fleeced the small farmer. Farmers were often charged higher rates to ship their goods a short distance than a manufacturer would pay to transport wares a great distance.
A Harsh and Isolating Environment
The woes faced by farmers transcended economics. Nature was unkind in many parts of the Great Plains. Blistering summers and cruel winters were commonplace. Frequent drought spells made farming even more difficult. Insect blights raged through some regions, eating further into the farmers' profits.
Farmers lacked political power. Washington was a long way from the Great Plains, and politicians seemed to turn deaf ears to the farmers' cries. Social problems were also prevalent. With each neighbor on 160-acre plots of land, communication was difficult and loneliness was widespread.
Farm life proved monotonous compared with the bustling cities of the East. Although rural families were now able to purchase mail-order products through catalogs such as Sears and Roebuck's and Montgomery Ward, there was simply no comparison with what the Eastern market could provide.
These conditions could not last. Out of this social and economic unrest, farmers began to organize and make demands that would rock the Eastern establishment.
1900 Horse-powered Farm
This illustrated page briefly explains the changes that took place in life on a typical Iowa
far between 1850 and 1900. From "Living History Farms" of Urbandale, Iowa.
Report broken link
Orphan Trains of Kansas
Orphaned and homeless children in New York and a shortage of labor in the West. Placing the children for adoption in Kansas
seemed like a win-win solution. Read here about the oprhan train placements, with a history, timeline, stories of some of the children, and newspaper accounts. Historic photographs, too.
Report broken link
The
First Homestead
Daniel Freeman was the first homesteader under the Homestead Act of 1862. Here is his story, with links to photographs of him and his homestead in Nebraska.
Report broken link