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| − | [[Image:Map of Great Plains.svg|thumb|350px|The Great Plains covers much of the central [[United States]], portions of [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]]. The 100th meridian west is denoted with the red line.]]
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| − | The '''Great Plains''' are the broad expanse of [[prairie]] and [[steppe]] that lie east of the [[Rocky Mountains]] in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]. This area covers parts of the U.S. states of [[Colorado]], [[Kansas]], [[Montana]], [[Nebraska]], [[New Mexico]], [[North Dakota]], [[Oklahoma]], [[South Dakota]], [[Texas]] and [[Wyoming]], and the [[Canada|Canadian]] provinces of [[Alberta]], [[Manitoba]], and [[Saskatchewan]]. In Canada the term ''prairie'' is more common, and the region is known as the Prairie Provinces or simply "the Prairies".
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| − | The region is about {{convert|500|mi|km}} east to west and {{convert|2000|mi|km}} north to south. Much of the region was home to gigantic [[Bison|bison]]) herds until their decimation during the mid/late 1800s.
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| − | ==Geography==
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| − | Some current thinking regarding the geographic location of the Great Plains is shown by a map [http://www.unl.edu/plains/about/map.shtml] at the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It extends the eastern boundary of the Great Plains down the Assiniboine River to [[Winnipeg]], Canada, southward down the Red River of the North to South Dakota’s and Nebraska’s eastern border then down the [[Missouri River]] to [[Kansas City]], down the eastern border of Kansas to Oklahoma where it breaks southwest toward Oklahoma City before continuing south through Ft. Worth and central Texas then west toward the [[Big Bend]] of the [[Rio Grande River]].
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| − | ===Geology===
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| − | [[Image:DSCN5051 greatplainswestofkearney e.jpg|275px|right|thumb|Great Plains near Kearney, Nebraska]]
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| − | The Great Plains are the westernmost portion of the vast [[North America]]n Interior Plains, which extend east to the Appalachian Plateau. The [[United States Geological Survey]] divides the Great Plains in the United States into 10 subdivisions:
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| − | *Missouri Plateau, glaciated – east-central South Dakota, northern and eastern North Dakota and northeastern Montana
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| − | *Missouri Plateau, unglaciated – western South Dakota, northeastern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota and southeastern Montana
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| − | *[[Black Hills]] – western South Dakota
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| − | *High Plains – eastern New Mexico, northwestern Texas, western Oklahoma, eastern Colorado, western Kansas, most of Nebraska (including the Sand Hills) and southeastern Wyoming
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| − | *Plains Border – central Kansas and northern Oklahoma (including the Flint, Red and Smoky Hills)
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| − | *Colorado Piedmont – eastern Colorado
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| − | *Raton section – northeastern New Mexico
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| − | *Pecos Valley – eastern New Mexico
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| − | *Edwards Plateau – south-central Texas
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| − | *Central Texas section – central Texas
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| − | The High Plains is used in a more general context to describe the elevated regions of the Great Plains, which are primarily west of the 100th meridian. The 100th meridian roughly corresponds with the line that divides the Great Plains into an area that receives 20 inches (500 mm) or more of rainfall per year and an area that receives less than 20 inches (500 mm). In this context, the High Plains is [[semi-arid]] [[steppe]] land and is generally characterized by [[ranching|rangeland]] or marginal [[farming|farmland]]. The region is periodically subjected to extended periods of [[drought]]; high winds in the region may then generate devastating [[dust storm]]s.
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| − | During the [[Cretaceous]] Period (145-65 million years ago), the Great Plains was covered by a shallow inland sea called Western Interior Seaway. By the Late Cretaceous to the [[Paleocene]] (65-55 million years ago), the seaway had begun to recede, leaving behind thick marine deposits and a relatively flat terrain.
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| − | === Flora and fauna ===
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| − | The Great Plains are part of the floristic North American Prairies Province, which extends from the [[Rocky Mountains]] to the [[Appalachian Mountains]].
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| − | The North American Prairies Province is a large grassland bounded by the Canadian [[conifer]]ous [[forest]]s on the north and the arid semi-deserts to the southwest. The province itself is occupied by temperate grasslands, [[savanna]]s, and shrub lands (including such eco-regions as the [[Flint Hills tall grasslands]], [[Sand Hills (Nebraska)|Sand Hills]], and High Plains). Endemism is rather limited in this province, and its boundaries are vague. During the [[Pleistocene]] much of the province was [[Glaciation|glaciated]].
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| − | The American [[bison]] is the most famous animal of the Great Plains. Other [[mammal]]s are ground [[squirrel]]s, [[prairie dog]]s, and [[rabbit]]s. The swift [[fox]] was once very common, but humans have almost caused them to become extinct. [[Poison]]ing and [[hunting]] meant to kill [[wolf|wolves]] and [[coyote]]s often inadvertently harms the swift fox, and its habitat is rapidly being destroyed by humans.
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| − | ==History==
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| − | ===Pre-European contact===
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| − | Historically, the Great Plains were the range of the [[Bison|bison]] and of the [[Great Plains culture]] of the [[Native American]] tribes of the [[Blackfeet]], [[Crow Nation|Crow]], [[Sioux]], [[Cheyenne]], [[Arapaho]], [[Comanche]] and others. Eastern portions of the Great Plains were inhabited by tribes that lived in semipermanent villages of earth lodges, such as the [[Arikara]], [[Mandan]], [[Pawnee]], and [[Wichita (tribe)|Wichita]].
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| − | ===European contact===
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| − | With the arrival of [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]], a Spanish [[conquistador]], the first recorded history of Europeans in the Great Plains happened in [[Texas]], [[Kansas]], and [[Nebraska]] from 1540-1542. In that same period, [[Hernando de Soto (explorer)|Hernando de Soto]] crossed a west-northwest direction in what is now [[Oklahoma]] and Texas. The Spanish thought the Great Plains were the location of the mythological [[Quivira and Cíbola]], a place rich in gold.
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| − | In the next one hundred years the [[Fur and Game Farming|fur trade]] injected thousands of Europeans onto the Great Plains, as fur trappers from [[France]], [[Spain]], [[Britain]], [[Russia]], and the young [[United States]] made their way across much of the region. With the [[Louisiana Purchase]] in 1803 and subsequent [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] in 1804, the Great Plains became more accessible. A major fur trading site was located at Fort Lisa on the [[Missouri River]] in Nebraska. This type of early settlement opened the door to vast westward expansion, with settlements rising across the Great Plains.
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| − | [[Bison]] were once very numerous, but overhunting resulted in their near extinction. Herds were reduced from about 30 million in the 1500s to about 1,000 individuals, though the species has made a recovery. Bison are often called ''buffalo'' in North America, but this is incorrect since true buffalo are native only to [[Asia]] and [[Africa]].
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| − | ===Early settlements on the Great Plains===
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| − | *'''Fort Lisa''' (1812-1823) was established in 1812 by famed fur trader [[Manuel Lisa]] and the Missouri Fur Company in the present-day neighborhood of North Omaha in [[Nebraska]]. It was associated with several firsts in Nebraska history, including Lisa as the first European farmer in Nebraska,<ref>(n.d.) [http://court.nol.org/tour/tour.htm Visual Tour of the Nebraska Courts]</ref>; the first American settlement set up in the then-recent [[Louisiana Purchase]]; the first woman resident of European descent in Nebraska (Lisa's third wife); and the first steamboat to navigate Nebraska waters, the ''Western Engineer'', which arrived at Fort Lisa on September 19, 1819.<ref>(1904) [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/SCHofNE/ Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska - 1904]. Retrieved August 6, 2008</ref>
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| − | *'''Fontenelle's Post''', first known as Pilcher's Post and also the basis of the community of Bellevue, was built in 1822 in the Nebraska Territory by trader Joshua Pilcher, as president of the Missouri Fur Company. Located on the Missouri River, it was among the first settlements by United States citizens in Nebraska. The post served as a central trading point with local [[Omaha (tribe)|Omaha]], [[Otoe tribe|Otoe]], [[Missouri (tribe)|Missouri]], and [[Pawnee]] tribes. In 1828 Lucien Fontenelle, a French-American fur trader representing the American Fur Company, bought the post and became the lead agent. In 1832 he sold the post to the U.S. government, which used it for the Missouri River Indian Agency (or Bellevue Agency) until about 1842. The post also served as the first home of Moses and Eliza Merrill, Baptist missionaries who arrived in 1833. The Indian agent offered them the trading post building as a temporary home. The Merrills founded the first Christian mission in Nebraska Territory in 1835.
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| − | *'''Cabanne's Trading Post''' was established in 1822 by the American Fur Company as Fort Robidoux near present-day Dodge Park in North Omaha, Nebraska. It was named for influential [[fur trapper]] [[Joseph Robidoux]]. Soon after it was opened, the post was called the French Company for the supposed nationality of its operator, who was actually born and raised in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. It was also called Cabanné's Post, named after its operator, Jean Pierre Cabanné. Located 10 miles north of [[Omaha, Nebraska]], six miles south of Fort Atkinson, and 2 miles south of Fort Lisa, Cabanné's Post was an important link in relations between the United States and [[Native American]] tribes in the Louisiana Purchase. The Cabanné Archaeological Site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.<ref>(nd) [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ne/Douglas/state.html National Register of Historic Places - NE, Douglas County]. Retrieved June 7, 2007</ref>
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| − | ===Pioneer settlement===
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| − | This settlement led to the near-extinction of the [[Bison|buffalo]] and the removal of the [[Native Americans]] to reservations in the 1870s. Much of the Great Plains became open range, hosting [[ranching]] operations where anyone was theoretically free to run [[cattle]]. In the spring and fall, roundups were held and the new calves were branded and the cattle sorted out for sale. Ranching began in [[Texas]] and gradually moved northward. Texas cattle were driven north to [[railroad]] lines in cities such as Dodge City, Kansas, and Ogallala, Nebraska; from there, cattle were shipped eastward. Many foreign, especially [[United Kingdom|British]], investors financed the great ranches of the era. Overstocking of the range and the terrible winter of 1886 eventually resulted in a disaster, with many cattle starved and frozen. From then onward, ranchers generally turned to raising feed in order to winter their cattle over.
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| − | Pioneer towns on the Great Plains included:
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| − | *Sioux City, Iowa
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| − | *Sioux Falls, South Dakota
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| − | *Fargo, North Dakota
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| − | *Pierre, South Dakota
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| − | *Omaha, Nebraska
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| − | *St. Joseph, Missouri
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| − | *Las Vegas, New Mexico
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| − | *Florence, Nebraska
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| − | *Cutler's Park, Nebraska Territory
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| − | The [[Homestead Act]] of 1862 provided that a settler could claim up to 160 acres (65 hectares) of land, provided that he lived on it for a period of five years and cultivated it. This was later expanded under the Kinkaid Act to include a homestead of an entire section. Hundreds of thousands of people claimed these homesteads, sometimes building [[sod|sod house]]s out of the very turf of their land. Many of them were not skilled [[dryland farming|dryland farmer]]s and failures were frequent. Germans from [[Russia]] who had previously farmed in similar circumstances in what is now [[Ukraine]] were marginally more successful than the average homesteader.
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| − | ===After 1900===
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| − | The region roughly centered on the Oklahoma Panhandle, including southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, the [[Texas Panhandle]], and extreme northeastern New Mexico was known as the [[Dust Bowl]] during the late 1920s and early 1930s. The effect of the drought combined with the effects of the [[Great Depression]], forced many farmers off the land throughout the Great Plains.
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| − | From the 1950s, on, many areas of the Great Plains have become productive crop-growing areas because of extensive [[irrigation]]. The southern portion of the Great Plains lies over the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast underground layer of water-bearing strata dating from the last [[Ice age|ice age]]. Center pivot irrigation is used extensively in drier sections of the Great Plains, resulting in [[aquifer]] depletion at a rate that is greater than the ground's ability to recharge.
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| − | ==Demographics==
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| − | The population of the Plains is growing, says John Wunder, professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. According to the most recent United States census, all five of the states in the Plains region experienced growth from 1990 to 2000; four of the five states' population increased at a rate ranging from 8 to 9 percent. In all five states, the white population showed the slowest average rate of growth, with the growth in population in large part due to an increase in other races. The regional average shows growth rates of 18.7 percent for [[African American]]s, 17.1 percent for [[Native American]]s, 48.0 percent for [[Asia]]ns, 50.0 percent for Pacific Islanders, and 107.8 percent for Hispanics.
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| − | Once thought to be largely rural and agrarian, those who live on the Plains are more and more occupying municipalities. The Plains is the most urbanized of all the regions of the United States; the majority of people in each of the five states is distributed in the 15 most populated cities.
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| − | ==Looking to the future==
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| − | With the movement of people from rural areas, commerce has shifted from its traditional foundation in [[agriculture]]. From 1989 to 1999, earnings by persons employed in various industries became concentrated in areas such as services, [[tourism]], light [[manufacturing]], [[construction]], [[finance]], [[insurance]], and [[technology]]. In South Dakota, the slowest growing industry during this period was agriculture, which decreased by 1.7 percent. The national average wage and salary disbursement is $32,702, whereas in Plains states, these figures range from $23,178 to $27, 411, in some cases nearly $10,000 less than the rest of the country. Seven of the ten poorest counties in the United States are in the Great Plains.<ref>[http://www.unl.edu/plains/about/overview.shtml] University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Retrieved January 24, 2009</ref>
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| − | [[Image:DSCN5136 abandonedgasstation e.jpg|250px|left|thumb|Abandoned gas station west of North Platte, Nebraska]]
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| − | The rural Plains have lost a third of their population since 1920. Several hundred thousand square miles of the Great Plains have fewer than six persons per square mile—the density standard Frederick Jackson Turner used to declare the [[Frontier|American frontier]] "closed" in 1893. Many have fewer than two persons per square mile. There are more than 6,000 ghost towns in [[Kansas]] alone, according to Kansas historian Daniel Fitzgerald. This problem is often exacerbated by the consolidation of farms and the difficulty of attracting modern industry to the region. In addition, the smaller school-age population has forced the consolidation of school districts and the closure of high schools in some communities. This continuing population loss has led some to suggest that the current use of the drier parts of the Great Plains is not [[sustainability|sustainable]], and propose that large parts be restored to native grassland grazed by bison.
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| − | ===Wind power ===
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| − | The Great Plains contribute substantially to [[wind power]] in the United States. In July 2008, oilman turned wind-farm developer T. Boone Pickens called for an investment of $1 trillion to build an additional 200,000 MW of wind power capacity in the Plains. Pickens cited Sweetwater, [[Texas]], as an example of economic revitalization driven by wind power development.<ref name="oilman_wind_power">
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| − | {{cite web
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| − | |url=http://www.startribune.com/business/25868279.html
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| − | |title=Legendary Texas oilman embraces wind power
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| − | |publisher=Star Tribune
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| − | |accessdate=August 24, 2008
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| − | |date=July 25, 2008
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| − | |last=
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| − | }}</ref><ref name="oil_addiction">
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| − | {{cite web
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| − | |url=http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2008/07/09/texas-oil-man-says-we-can-break-the-addiction
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| − | |title=Texas Oil Man Says We Can Break the Addiction
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| − | |publisher=Sightline Daily
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| − | |accessdate=August 24, 2008
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| − | |date=2008-07-09
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| − | |last=Fahey
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| − | |first=Anna
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| − | }}</ref><ref name="pickens_order">
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| − | {{cite web
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| − | |url=http://www.windtoday.net/info/articles.html?ID=57318
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| − | |title=T. Boone Pickens Places $2 Billion Order for GE Wind Turbines
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| − | |publisher=Wind Today Magazine
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| − | |accessdate=August 24, 2008
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| − | |date=2008-05-16
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| − | |last=
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| − | }}
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| − | </ref> Sweetwater was a struggling town typical of the Plains, steadily losing businesses and population, until [[wind turbine]]s came to the surrounding Nolan County.<ref name="block_2008">{{Cite web
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| − | |url=http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/008271.html
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| − | |title=In Windy West Texas, An Economic Boom
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| − | |first=Ben
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| − | |last=Block
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| − | |date=2008-07-24
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| − | |accessdate=November 5, 2008
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| − | }}</ref> Wind power brought jobs to local residents, along with royalty payments to landowners who leased sites for turbines, reversing the town's population decline. Pickens claims the same economic benefits are possible throughout the Plains, which he refers to as [[North America]]'s "wind corridor." By 2006, Texas surpassed California as the U.S. state with the most installed wind energy capacity. [[South Dakota]] has the potential to be the nation's largest wind energy provider. In 2008, it produced enough energy to supply 15,000 homes with power. With the inclusion of a pending 306-megawatt wind farm, said Dusty Johnson, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, the number of residents supplied would double. But transmission lines are also needed.<ref>[http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20247038&BRD=1302&PAG=461&dept_id=181987&rfi=6] S.D. experts see potential for growth in wind power. Madison Daily Leader. Retrieved January 24, 2009 </ref>
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| − | ==Notes==
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| − | <references/>
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| − | ==References==
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| − | *Gilfillan, Merrill. ''Chokecherry Places, Essays from the High Plains''. Boulder, CO: Johnson Press. ISBN 1555662277
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| − | *Hamil, Harold. 1976. ''Colorado Without Mountains, A High Plains Memoir''. Kansas City, MO: Lowell Press. ISBN 0913504335
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| − | *Grant, Michael Johnston. 2002. ''Down and Out on the Family Farm: Rural Rehabilitation in the Great Plains, 1929-1945''. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803271050
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| − | *Bonnifield, Paul. 1978. ''The Dust Bowl: Men, Dirt, and Depression''. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0826304850.
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| − | *Wishart, David J. 2004. ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains''. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803247877.
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| − | *D.H. Fairchild and J.E. Klete. 1993. ''Woody Landscape Plants for the High Plains''. Colorado State University, Technical Bulletin LTB93-1
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| − | *Stegner, Wallace. 1966. ''Wolf Willow. A history, a story, and a memory of the last plains frontier''. New York: Viking Compass Book. ISBN 067000197X
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| − | *Haruf, Kent. 2000. ''The Tie That Binds''. Vintage Books. ISBN 0375724389
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | *[http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/govdocs/text/greatplains/text.html North Dakota State University: ''The Geologic Story of The Great Plains'']
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| − | *[http://www.kansasheritage.org/prairie/ Kansas Heritage Group: ''Native Prairie, Preseve, Flowers, and Research'']
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| − | *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ndfahtml/ngphome.html Library of Congress: ''Great Plains'']
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| − | *[http://www.unl.edu/plains/ University of Nebraska-Lincoln: ''The Great Plains Study'']
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| − | [[Category:Geography]]
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| − | [[Category:United States]]
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| − | {{credit|Great_Plains|227532714|North_American_Prairies_Province|227216404}}
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