Did Kansas have a lot of small farms in the 1800s?

Answer 1

Yes, they did

ANSWER:

The territory of Kansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. During the 1800's you didn't find alot of farms. In 1825, the federal government decided to take land from the Indians in the East and give them Kansas land in return. Between 1825 to 1842, about 30 tribes gave up their eastern lands and settled in the Kansas region. These tribes included the Chippewa, Delaware, Fox, Iowa, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sauk, Shawnee, and Wyandot. Other reservations were set aside for other Indians who already lived in the region.

Some white settlement took place during the same period. Other whites regularly crossed the area along the Santa Fe Trail. This road was opened in 1821, by a trader, William Becknell. In 1827, an army officer Colonel Henry Leavenworth, established the first United States outpost, Forth Leavenworth. In 1854, the land was opened for white settlement. Many of the Indians were sent to Oklahoma.

During the 1860's and 1870's, Kansas was commonly known for their cattle towns. Cattle owners began to drive herds of longhorn cattle from Texas to the Kansas railroad towns. As for farms, early Kansas farmers grew corn and wheat, but drought and insects often ruined their crops.

An example of this was in the beginning of 1886. Kansas had several consecutive years of drought, followed by dust storms, and a grasshopper plague. Clouds of grasshoppers, so thick that the shy was dark at midday, ravaged the land and ate everything in site. Between 1886 to 1890, half of the population of Kansas gave up and went back east.