Life On The Great Plains Analysis

Because life on the Great Plains proved to be inhospitable to the uninformed, the Great Blizzard of 1888 resulted in devastating losses due to faulty judgement of settlers and the incompetence of the weather service. The American Great Plains held many promising opportunities for immigrants. It promised free fertile land that had perfect weather. Laskin points out that the immigrants’ loss of land in their home country made them look to other places for a new start. The immigrants saw America as their best opportunity for creating the new start they desired. Many people sold all their property just to afford the trip to America. Their journey featured many hardships that made travel to their new home difficult. Even after they arrived, their

In his book, Laskin describes the 3 “plagues” of grasshoppers, fire, and weather which terrorized the new inhabitants of the plains. Swarms of these locusts could be a mile high and hundreds of miles across. They swarmed fields, stripping them bare and leaving little to nothing for the farmers to harvest, which made it difficult for them to eat or make money. Fire also destroyed farmer's property and crops. Using the abundant dry grass as fuel, it quickly ran through the plains, burning down houses and destroying fields where it went. Weather also played an important role in creating harsh conditions for the new settlers. The weather caused fires, bad harvests, many adults and children to die, and just about every other problem they experienced on the prairie. Intense lightning, ceaseless wind, severe droughts, and devastating blizzards were all common of the prairie’s climate. The volatile weather of the plains gave little warning to impending trouble, allowing little time for settlers to prepare and get somewhere safe. Compounding the troubles of the physical environment faced by the pioneers was their inexperience of survival

Laskin describes the teachers that took children out into the blizzard to try to get them home, which caused them to lose their way and freeze to death in the snow. Some teachers acted quicker and sent their students home at the first sign of danger. Those teachers acted quickly enough to beat the storm and return the children to their homes. Other teachers bunkered down and huddled in the schoolhouse for warmth, burning desks and chairs to keep the stove burning. This kept the kids warm enough to survive until morning, when they came out and went home. Although the nteacher was to blame in most cases, some children played a role in their own