WSP01441

• File Number: 8407.500
• Description: Platte River Basin - River Basin General Publications - Missouri River
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 12/1/1971
• Author: Missouri Basin Inter
• Title: Missouri River Basin Comprehensive Framework Study-Volume VII-Plan of Development and Management-Appendix
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

primarily supported by capital and markets which are
located outside of the basin.
One of the very striking characteristics of the basin is
the absence of large urban populations on the plains. By
far, the largest concentration of the urban population is
along the eastern edge of the basin and there is a
secondary concentration along the foot of the moun-
tains in the west. Between these two there are virtually
no urban places of consequence.
The demographic shifts have produced their share of
problems. The large urban influx of population since the
1930's has certainly added to the social and economic
problems found in most of the larger cities today. The
relatively high social costs in the rural areas brought
about because of low density populations are also
incurred in the cities but attributed somewhat' to high
densities. These high-density populations have led to
ghetto and slum conditions, air and water pollution, and
general urban unrest stemming from high taxes which
cannot keep pace with the increasing need for better
housing, transportation systems, and, in general, a
quality environmen t for living. As the cities proved to be
the safety valve for the out-migration from rural areas,
these areas may become the "safety valve" for popula-
tion dispersion from the highly congested urban areas
back to the rural areas. The type of situation described is
national in character, and although many of the basin's
metropolitan areas are faced with these problems, they
are perhaps of lesser magnitude than those of other
major cities of the Nation.
With its continuing economic and demographic prob-
lems, the basin is still in a period of adjustment. It is still
in a process of trial and error in the quest to adjust to
the physical and social environment.

ETHNIC GROUPS

The people who settled in the basin created a number
of distinctive ethnic areas. Even though most of the
settlement was by individual families rather than by
groups of colonists, there was a tendency to cluster by
nationality into cultural islands throughout the basin.
Thus, there were numerous concentrations of settlers of
German extraction in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and
Montana; Russians in the Dakotas, Colorado, and
Nebraska; and Norwegians in North Dakota and
Montana. In addition to the clustering of the people
with similar national origins, there were concentrations
of settlers from specific areas of the Nation. For
example, the Ozark Plateaus were occupied primarily by
settlers from the southern Appalachians; northwestern
Missouri was occupied larg~ly by people from the Upper
South; some areas in Kansas were almost entirely settled
by people from Ohio and Indiana; and other areas in
Kansas, by settlers from New England. The remnants of
these settlement concentrations are still discernable.

32

)

The predominate nationality groups that came to the
basin were the Germans, Russians, Norwegians, Swedes,
Czechs, Italians and the English, in about that numerical
order. The Germans accounted for about 20 percent of
the foreign born population. However, if all of the
people with a British Isles background were grouped
together, they would probably rival the Germans as the
most numerous. In addition, there were several other
nationalities but their numbers were relatively small. By
and large, it is the descendants of these original settlers
that occupy the basin today for later immigration has
been relatively small.
The population shifts, easier communications and
transportation, military service, and the general social
mobility of the basin has tended to blur the boundaries
of most of the cultural islands since the settlement days.
Today, the majority of the population has fully assimi-
lated and is approaching the cosmopolitan attitude
exhibited in the more densely settled parts of the
Nation. However, some of the ethnic clusters are still in
evidence and are distinguishable by their kinship
patterns, religious institutions, and the perpetuation of
their national languages.
The Indians are basically a financially poor people,
and are concentrated on 23 reservations. The Indian
family annual income averages under $3,000 and is often
below $1,000. The basic economy for the reservations
has been ranching, some farming, and the leasing of land
to whites. Traditionally, unemployment has been high
on the reservations with rates of over 80 percent not
uncommon, and rarely has the standard of living on
reservations kept pace with the rest of the basin. And, in
many instances, the standard of living on the reserva-
tions has not been rising as fast as in the rest of the

basin's society. Consequently, some of the reservations

are actually poorer in relation to the rest of society.

Public Housing Enables Indian Families To Move
From Bare Shetler, As Shown On the Left,
To More Adequate Housing