Question

One difficulty settlers faced on the Great Plains was:

1. there was not enough inexpensive land for everyone
2. there had been no new agricultural machines developed in the last few decades
3. the weather was more extreme than they had expected

Answer 1

What problems did Homesteaders face living on the Great Plains? (5)

-They had to build a house to live in. There was no wood so they had to use the sods that lay around. It took about an acre of sods to build a sod house.

-Sod houses were difficult to keep clean, leaky in rainy weather. They were unhealthy places to keep clean.
-It was difficult to build the roofbecause that needed long supports. Trees were scarce on the Plains.

-Water was scarce. Wells had to be dug, often by hand, and they needed to be very deep.

-Fuel was expensive, so they used dried dung called "cow-chips".

-The climate was more extreme than anything most homesteaders had experienced. It was very hot and dry in Summer; very cold in Winter.