.0\51'1flmrrn rltNidl'Ihl' 11 ""~",,,j"rnr,, 1 r"ilr...w.seedsit oftenbroke or twistedthe iron bladesof
theirploughs.
Lackofwaterw asanotherproblem.TheGreatPlains
hadfewstreams and the rainfallwassolowand
unr eliablethatfarmers oftenwatched theircrops
shrivel up anddieinth e d ry ground.Firewas
anot he rd an gerofth e long, d rysummers.A
lightningflash.orl'VCIla sm all spark,couldstart a
fin:th atwould ra ce across the p rairiefasterthana
ho rse could gallo p.
In so me}TarSplag uesofinsects causedevenmore
destr uction than fire. Between1874 and 1877
grasshoppersswarmedacrosstheplains inm illions.
eatinge very thingtheyfou nd-crops.leatherb oots,
clothing ,woodend oor fram es.In one placethey
stoppeda railro adengin e bycoveringth e trackuntil
therailsbecametooslip pery fo rth e en gin etomove.
Somehomesteaders wen:d iscouragedb y such
pro blem s. The yg aveu p their landan dmoved back
cast. Hut mo ststayed. Gradual lytheybeganto
overco metheirearlydifficulties, Plo ug hs withsteel
bladesenabledthe mtocu tthroug hthepramcsod
andcultivate thesoil bene ath. Mechani calreap"Ts
made it poss ibletoharvestw hea tcro psten tim es
faster than befo re.Pumps d rivenby thep rairiewinds
raised life- givi n gwaterfrom hundred saffectbelow
thedry su rfaceoftheland. Barbedwirefences
sto ppedstraymgcattlefromrramplingcrops intothe
gro u nd.
Noneo f th eseaidswere made bythefarmers
themselves.Theyweremanufacturedin bign ew
facto riesIIIcities like Chicago.FromChicagoth e
railro adscar riedth emouttoth e Plains.Therailroa ds
1 5 FAR.\IJ:-<''IIll:GREATI'J.~INSHomesteadersandcattlemen
The firsthomesteader softenquarreled with cattle-
men,The d ifferentwaysinw hichth e twogrou ps
usedth e land m ad etro u blebetweent he malm os t
certain.C arrieranch ers andcowboyscompla in ed
[hat homesteaderswereblockingthecattle trails
andsaid that theirploughedfieldswerea wasteo f
g ood grazingland. Ho m esteadersbecameangry
w henth eircrop s wereeatenortrampledupon by
[he ranc he rs'cattle. Theybeganto build bar bed
w irefences around the irland tostopth is. This
madeth e catt lemenevenmoreangry,especiallyif
th e landthat wasfencedoffinclud eda strea mthat
their cattledepended u po n for drinki ng water.
Onecowboypurthecattleman'spointo f vic,v in
th esewords:
'Thosejavhawkcrs [thieves] wouldta ke up a
claimrightwheretheherdswatere dandcha rge us
fo r water.Theywouldplantacropalongsidethe
tr ail and plowafurrowaroundit fora fence,and
thenwhenthecattleg ot intotheirw heato rtheir
g arden patch, tht'y would come out cussing
[cursing) and wavingashotgunand yellingfo r
damages.Andthecattlehad been comingthrough
there w hen they were still growing pumpkins
[ vege tables]in Illinoi s, "
Insome p lacespeoplewerekilled in " rangewars"
asbothcatt lemenandhomestead ersused gu ns to
protect their interests .It tookyearsfor thetwo
g roupstolearnto livcpeacefull y side byside.T heFlUoft h<'CowboyIty/ :rrdml H....'i".~IO',.Thei",' nui..."of
MrMdu'irr""dIhl'fnrlill.~oflhl' p'oJiriri IhrroJl....rd 11 ,1'li{l'(lf lhl'
("wboy.63