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001120 CHAPTER 3 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS The Missouri River Basin, or Region. as used v,H1ously herein. contains a potpourri of social and economic characteristics. In part, the basin IS a microcosm of the Nation and, in part. it is wholly unique in char:fcter. Some socio-economic traits are common throughout Its territory, but there are others wh\ch have signIficant special variations. The basin's present day social and economic char3c- teristics have largely been determined by its settlement history affected strongly by geographic location, climatic conditions, ,md the aV::Iibbility of natural resources. Three elements of the bnsin's lustory are of particular interest. First, the relationship of the people of the basin to their environment and the unique cultural traits which h:lVe evolved; second, the distinct patterns of livelihood which have developed during the settlement period; and third, the reluctance to change which tends tl) be prominent among various groupings of the basin's people. SETTLEMENT PERIOD Initial settlement in the basin started about 1800 and ended for the most P:Ht wIth the dOSIng of the frontier in 1890. During this tllne. most of the arable land was claimed and put to agricultural uses. However, the intensity of land use and settlement density varied greatly. determined largely by two factors - the availability of transportatIon and the extent of readily exploitable naturJI resources. Exploration <lnd travel into and about the basin during the first half of the 19th century had St. Louis. Mo., as a focal point with three routes open to the traveler looking west - to the southwest along the Santa Fe Trail. west over the Oregon Trail. and northwest along the Missouri River. The national impurtance of these routes as the means for traversmg the Great Plains by traders. rhe military, Jnd settlers has been well documented. Moreover. they had :.J special signitlcance to the basin. Places sllch as 51. Louis, Independence. KallSas City, SI. Joseph, and Omaha along the Missouri River had their origms as starting points or way stations for the westward traveler; thus. they served as gateways to setllement of the baslll. From the first settlement to the present. most of the goods needed within the basin and the products It exported passed through these gateways. ExploratIons and surveys of the plains portion of the ba5in dming the first h:llf of the 19th century classed this area as a desert and unfit for agriculture, at least as it was known in the more humid Easl. As settlement reached the edge of the plains, it was apparent that the te~hnology developed in opening the eastern United States was not adequate to overcome the obvious hazards of the plains. Transportation, water, building materials, fencing, and the Indians all were problems that lhe pioneer was not able to cope with fully at this early date. Indian Camp On Pine Ridge Agency Area - 1891 The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 established two separate territories, the first west of the Missouri River. This act stipuh1ted that the people who settled in the new territories were to decide for themselves whether or 110t to legalize slavery. Partisans for both sides of this political question rushed to occupy the new land and produced the first settlement boom of consequence. Availability of the new land was certainly a stimulus to the resulting influx of settlers to Kansas and Nebraska. However, a major ~ontributing re3S011 was a 17