USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Wood for building houses was hard to get, because there are not many trees in that area. So the early settlers made their houses from sod-the top layer of soil and grass-cut and stacked to make the walls. Even the roof was often made of sod placed over wood beams.

Detailed explanation-2: -European immigrants flooded onto the Great Plains, seeking political or religious freedom, or simply to escape poverty in their own country. Younger sons from the eastern seaboard-where the population was growing and land was becoming more expensive-went because it was a chance to own their own land.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Plains were hard to live on. Many of the newcomers were used to living in villages and then walking or riding out to their fields to farm. But the Homestead Act required those claiming the land to live on it, and the act forced settlers to farm the land in 160-acre plots.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Prairie Provinces were settled by British, German Russians (many of them Mennonites), Ukrainians, and Scandinavians. Many of the immigrants were religious, thrifty, hardworking people who developed a strong attachment to the land.

Detailed explanation-5: -The frontier settlers faced extreme hardships-droughts, floods, fires, blizzards, locust plagues, and occasional raids by outlaws and Native Americans.