period of adequate rainfall during the same period. Likewise,nthere was increased immigration from Europe bynpeople anxious to own land, the introduction of improvednfarm machinery, and the building of railroads.nIn fact, the railroads had as much — or more — to do withnthe rapid westward migration as did the government itself.nThe transcontinental railroads were the recipients of millionsnof acres of public land, and they set up “landndepartments” and “bureaus of immigration” that luredncustomers and arranged prices, sales, and credit. They,nalong with steamship companies, advertised in Europe,nspending millions on brochures not closely related to thentruth and sometimes using high-pressure selling methods.nThe post-Civil War rush to the Great Plains was encouragednnot only by the railroads and steamship companies, butnalso by local residents themselves. Their goal, of course, wasnto drive up their property values. Almost every state andnterritory put out literature designed to lure settlers west, as,nfor example, this from Dakota Territory in 1870:nThink of it young man, you who are “rubbing”nalong from year to year, with no great hopes for thenfuture, can you accept for a little while the solitudenof nature and bear a few hard knocks for a year orntwo? Lay aside your paper gloves and kid gloves.nWork a little. Possess your soul with patience andnhold on your way with a firm purpose. Do this, andnthere is a beautiful home for you out here.nProsperity, freedom, independence, manhood in itsnhighest sense, peace of mind and all the comfortsnand luxuries of life are awaiting you. The fountainnof perennial youth is in the country, never in thencity. Its healing, beautifying and restoring waters donnot run through aqueducts. You must lie down onnthe mossy bank beneath trees, and drink fromngurgling brooks and crystal streams. . . .nYoung men predominate in the West, whilenmaidens are scarce; therefore I say to you, getnyourself a wife and bring her with you. You will benhappier and more contented, and, I have no doubt,nmake money faster.nTo young women I would say just a word. Outnheren”There is no goose so graynbut soon or late.nWill find some honest gandernfor a mate.”nTherefore, attach yourself to some familynimmigrating, and if you are over 21 years, your 160nacres of land, to which you are entitled, and yournother attractions, will soon find you a nest and anmate.nSuch advertising, along with government programs designednto put land into the hands of users as rapidly asnpossible, had the desired result. The amount of land innprivate ownership devoted to agriculture in the UnitednStates rose from 407 million acres in 1860 to 871 millionnacres by 1900. During the 1870’s alone, Kansas gainedn347,000 people, Nebraska 240,000, and other Plains statesnand territories in proportion.nMost of the farmers who rushed onto the Great Plainsncame armed with the courage of complete ignorance aboutnwhat they faced. The inhospitable climate ranged fromnblizzards to searing heat. Recurring droughts turned muchnof the region into a desert, and grasshopper plagues fillednthe Plains farmer’s cup of frustrations. The worst invasionnoccurred in 1874, when the whole area from the Dakotas tonTexas was devastated. The grasshoppers ate everything,nleaving, as one farmer said, nothing but the mortgage. Manynfarmers continued to fight the battle with nature. Othersnbecame cynical about Jefferson’s dream; as they left theirnbyword was, “In God we trusted; in Kansas we busted!”nFarmers were also plagued by falling prices and risingncosts as they became too productive. By the mid-1880’s thenUnited States had a surplus of wheat, along with too muchncorn and other commodities. The farmer was caught in ansqueeze. The price of what he produced was falling, whilenthe cost of moving his crop to market was rising, as was thencost of farm machinery. As one settler bitterly stated, “Thenfarmer sells wholesale and buys retail, but pays the freightnboth ways.”nMost of the farmers who rushed onto thenGreat Plains came armed with the couragenof complete ignorance about what theynfaced. The inhospitable climate ranged fromnblizzards to searing heat.nThese economic miseries sapped the spirit of many whonsettled the Plains, putting creases in their brows as theynworried about losing the homeplace to the bank andnbecoming tenants on land which they had broken to thenplow. And changing the look in their eyes from shiningnoptimism to tearful pessimism was the stark and soulwrenchingnloneliness of their existence.nThe pattern of settlement on the Plains was to homesteadnindividual plots of 160 acres, each family living on its ownnland. To provide them a place to shop and to market theirncrops, small towns were established at intervals of six to tennmiles apart, and county boundaries were drawn some 30nmiles square so that anyone (theoretically) could get to thencounty seat and back in a day’s time. This was totallyn. dissimilar to the practice in Europe, where farmers settled innwalled villages, going out to their fields each day to work andnthen returning to their homes with their farm animals eachnnight for security and protection. This meant that Europeanntowns were usually no more than three or four miles apart.nIn 1896 there was a brief bit of relief from the economicnmisery of Plains farmers when drought caused poor harvestsnin Europe, and there was great farm prosperity duringnWorld War I. But the agricultural depression descendednagain in the early I920’s and was compounded by thennecessity of buying farm machinery — great steam tractorsnand other types of steam-breathing behemoths. With themncame more debt. When this could not be repaid, thenbankers came to take the land. Tenancy was on the risendramatically in the 1920’s, and then was compounded innthe I930’s when the Dust Bowl days came to blow PlainsnnnNOVEMBER 1989/17n