The Great Plains

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The Great Plains
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Physical Geography

• Topography
• Elevation rises gently from east to west
• Southern half unvaried topography
• Northern half characterized by badlands

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Physical features of the Great Plains
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Prairie Potholes
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Physical Geography

• Precipitation
• Most results from air mass interaction
• Anywhere from 10-40 inches annually decreases
  from east to west
• About 75 of the precipitation occurs April
  through August
• Major droughts occur vigesimally (20 yr cycle)
• 1890s, 1910s, 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s

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Precipitation Variability
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Physical Geography

• Temperatures
• Extremes in temperatures because of
  continentality
• Steppe (B), Continental (D) and Humid
  sub-tropical (C) climates
• Fluctuations increase from south to north
• Northern Texas has over 240 frost free days each
  year Canadas prairies less than 90

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Physical Geography

• Climate varies greatly in the Great Plains

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Physical Geography

• Winds a mixed blessing
• Among the highest velocities in North America in
  late spring and summer
• Ensures maximum efficiency for windmills
• High rates of evapotranspiration can minimize the
  precipitation effects

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WIND POWER Certainty Rating of the Wind Resource
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Physical Geography

• Chinooks
• Blizzards
• Occur when cold polar air masses push south along
  the Rockies can last for several days
• Tornadoes
• Far more tornadoes annually than any other
  comparable area in the world
• Parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas encounter
  200 300 per year

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Tornado Frequency
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Physical Geography

• Vegetation
• Tall and denser grass in the East, shorter and
  relatively sparser in the West
• Intricate root systems, difficult to plow
• Bonanza teams required to break sod

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Physical Geography

• Hydrology
• Great rivers, but supply strained
• Use of aquifer

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Historical Settlement

• Plains Indians
• Limited pre-European occupation
• Buffalo (bison) hunting primary activity
• Semi-permanent settlements along streams
• Greatly improved their mobility once the early
  Spanish explorers left behind horses

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Historical Settlement

• Early Problem Areas
• Average annual precipitation lt than East
• Variable precipitation
• Violent storms
• Winter blizzards snowdrifts
• The hot, dry winds carried away topsoil
• Sparse natural water supply to support tree
  growth no wood for building, fuel, fencing,
  etc.
• Ground difficult to plow

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Historical Settlement

• Settlement initially halted along eastern margins
• Permanent settlement initially inspired by the
  Homestead Act (1863)
• Gave 160 acres of land free to each settler
• 1867-1885 ranching was a viable alternative
• Late 1870s barbed wire, lumber, and windmills
  helped to overcome environmental constraints

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Historical Settlement

• Migration patterns
• Chain migration
• Naming of locations

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Aging in the Great Plains
Depopulation by US County
Percent elderly by US County
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Political Economy

• Agriculture Boom and Bust
• Technology paves the way
• Water laws
• Droughts
• Dust Bowl (1930s)

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Agriculture

• Wheat Shipment Patterns
• Canada
• In East, to Winnipeg then Thunder Bay
• In the West, Vancouver by rail then sea
• US
• Across the Great Lakes or down the Mississippi
  River

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Agriculture

• Key Spatial Processes
• Migrant Labor
• Not to be confused with migrant workers who
  harvest crops in other regions
• Comprise large crews that use numerous combines
  and trucks
• Travel from Texas in early June and follow the
  wheat harvest north into the Prairie Provinces
• four months total work

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Agriculture

• Key Spatial Processes
• Sidewalk Farmers
• Live in town and travel to their various acreages
  nearby
• Suitcase Farmers
• Live far from their fields and only visit them
  occasionally
• Other Crops

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Energy Resources

• Panhandle Field of Northwest Texas, Oklahoma, and
  Kansas
• Worlds leading supplier of natural gas
• All three are major petroleum producers, along
  with Wyoming and Alberta
• Coal is abundant in Wyoming
• Lignite, a brownish, soft coal is also readily
  available in North Dakota

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Typical Plains EconomyLincoln, Kansas
Between Hays and Manhattan, KS
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Canadian Great Plains
Calgary, Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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Reading Discussion

• Reading Kansas Like a Pancake
• Geographers Frank and Deborah Popper of Rutgers
  University think large areas of the Plains should
  be allowed to revert to their condition prior to
  the arrival of Europeansreplete with large herds
  of bison and perhaps a few Native Americans
  leading traditional lifestyles. That means no
  more agricultural production as we know it. How
  might this be accomplished? Should it?

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Related Books

• Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood. Vintage.
• Stirring true-life tale about one of the most
  ghastly murders in the Great Plains. Not for the
  faint of heart, but VERY vivid landscape
  description.
• Cather, Willa. 1913. O Pioneers! Boston Houghton
  Mifflin.
• Classic novel about rural Nebraska settlement in
  the late 1800s and early 1900s
• Shortridge, James R. 2004. Cities on the Plains
  The Evolution of Urban Kansas. Lawrence
  University Press of Kansas
• A chronicle of the founding and growth of Kansas
  cities from 1850 up to the present, showing how
  the states hierarchy of cities emerged from a
  complex series of promotional strategies
• Wishart, David J., ed. 2004. Encyclopedia of the
  Great Plains. Lincoln University of Nebraska
  Press.
• A groundbreaking reference book on the Great
  Plains with entries by 1316 authors on topics
  such as the regions images and icons, climate,
  politics, historical development, and folklore

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WebSources

• Geologic History of the Great Plains
• http//www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/govdocs/text/greatpl
  ains/text.html
• Agricultural Economy
• http//www.iisd.org/agri/
• Early Novels about the Great Plains
• http//www.willacather.org/