10.2

Most cattle drives ended at

• a ranch

• a big city

• good pasture land

• a railway line

Cow towns attracted settlers who wanted to

• be cowhands

• live in a community where families could thrive

• build factories

• live the freewheeling frontier life

Why did cattle owners have to buy private property on which to keep their cattle?

• They couldn’t graze their cattle on Indian reservations.

• Cattle in open-range herds got mixed together.

• Farms and the railroads carved up the open range.

• Diseases often wiped out entire herds.

Many African Americans moved to Kansas

• to work as sharecroppers.

• because the Homestead Act favored African Americans

• to escape discrimination in the South.

• because the best land in Oklahoma was already taken.

Why did the Populist movement break up after the election of 1896?

• Democrats adopted several Populist causes.

• They lost support for an 8-hour workday.

• People tired of a lack of prosperity.

• Its members decided to adopt the gold standard.

How did the growth of railroads contribute to the end of the cattle kingdom?

• The railroads disrupted cattle drive routes

• Passing trains killed too many cattle

• Cattle could not be transported on the railroads

• Cattle could reach railroads without long drives

What would have been the biggest challenge of living in a sod house?

• preventing the house from catching fire

• keeping the family and house clean

• finding enough sod to build the house

• having a dirt floor

What effect did this building technology have on the settlement of the Great Plains?

• It prevented settlement of some plains regions.

• It made living on the plains more possible.

• It encouraged a shift from farming to ranching

• It slowed the growth of cities

What made the Homestead Act less successful in establishing small farms than it could have been?

• There was too little competition for the homestead land.

• The market for wheat and corn wasn't sufficiently profitable

• People without farming experience had to wait five years for land

• Land for homesteaders was scarce

What made farming the western plains difficult?

• The harsh environment presented many difficulties.

• The soil did not provide enough nutrients for the crops.

• Neighbors often lived several miles away from each other

• The farms were larger and, therefore, more difficult to administer.