United States, Great Plains

The great plains region of the United States stretches in a broad band from Mexico in the south to Canada in the north and includes the states of Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. It is a region characterized by wide, flat lands with few trees similar to the steppes of Central Asia and the pampas of Argentina. The term prairie is often used, particularly in Canada. The Great Plains are part of a larger geographical area that extends to Texas and other more easterly states. It is possible to divide the Great Plains from the High Plains region approximately along the line of the 100th meridian. Land is more fertile to the eastern side, where the more generous rainfall supplements the ability of the land to sustain livestock, particularly cattle, as well as cereal crops and vegetables. [Page 1827]The High Plains region to the west receives significantly less rainfall and the land is subject to drought and dustbowl effects, most notably during the 1920s and 1930s when, in combination with the effects of the Great Depression, depopulation of the area became a major trend as farm failures became endemic. In addition to the geographic features of the Great Plains, this region of land is characterized in modern culture by the perception of the people who have settled and lived there. Given the hardships of farming the often-difficult land, the remoteness, and the extremes of weather, the Great Plains has given rise to a notion of its people as being hardy, self-reliant, and stoic.

The Great Plains regions may be further divided into a number of different sub-regions, each with its own pattern of settlement and geography. These range from the Black Hills area of the Dakotas, which are composed of dark, igneous rock related to the Rocky Mountains, to the heavily eroded Red River Valley of Texas. The topography affects wind flow and this in turn affects rainfall and attendant plant life. For example, the warm air that flows up the Mississippi River Valley helps contribute to the moister climate of the east and bypasses the western region altogether. This makes for significant variation of conditions across the Great Plains, which in turn leads to some extreme weather conditions. Intense thunderstorms rage across the interior of the region and many settlements are threatened by seasonal tornadoes that erupt on an annual basis. The tornadoes are generally small but occur frequently. Other forms of extreme weather also mitigate against extensive population settlement and successful agriculture.

It is believed that the Great Plains were created as a byproduct of the geological processes that created the Rocky Mountains. Before recorded history, they were the home of many native animal species such as the buffalo (American bison) and other large mammals subsequently hunted to extinction. Tribes of indigenous peoples used the Great Plains on either a temporary or semi-permanent basis by building earth mounds or log houses of various types. Because their lifestyles relied on hunting and gathering more than sedentary agriculture, the indigenous tribes moved their residences on a rotating, seasonal basis to follow food sources. The peoples who were present in the Great Plains included the Sioux, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and many others. Low population densities meant that conflict between different tribes did not generally lead to highintensity warfare, although raiding was a common occurrence. The horse was introduced by the Spanish and this revolutionized the lives of the native peoples whose long-range transportation abilities increased enormously; the ability to conduct hunting at long-range and to move further away from regular water supplies were significant.

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