Settling on the Great plains The government gave grants of over 170 million acres a lot of farmers and immigrants settled there Five transcontinental railroads Homestead act had to be the head of yo

[2Justin]

1. Settling on the Great plains
   1. The government gave grants of over 170 million acres
   2. a lot of farmers and immigrants settled there
2. Five transcontinental railroads
3. Homestead act
   
   1. had to be the head of your house
   2. gained 160 acres to improve it for 5 years
   3. only 10% of the land was actual homesteaders
   4. Oklahoma wasn't part of it but there was a land run on april 22 1889
4. in 1872 yellowstone was created
5. Frontier settlers had a rough to,e because of disasters like droughts and locust plagues
6. Most settlers built houses out of dirt because trees were scarce
   
   1. fireproof and leaked when it rained
7. Farming improvements
   
   1. In 1837 John Deere made a steel plow
   2. 1874 - Barbed wire fence
8. Machines were expensive so farmers often borrowed money for that