Webblog

The Great American Desert was a lecture that started out by questioning those that called the plains a desert and if they were in fact questioning "God's Will" as William Gilpin stated. We discussed what settlers found and first thought of the plains. Some explored just plains amazing landscape, but others were driven to explore for their country and even more were discovering just for their individual benefit. Among the first to explore the plains were the Spanish. Coronado began his expedition in 1541, and though he and his fellow countrymen had to ambition to settle on this land, they felt as though they needed to claim it for their country's sake of safety. Meanwhile the French also came upon the plains with the motivation for exploration and trade. They were successful with this as they encountered many natives. After the Louisiana Purchase, the Americans also felt the need to settle the plains land area. Because of Thomas Jefferson's view on the importance of farming as an occupation, many moved west in search of good agricultural land. We briefly mentioned on how the British and Canadian explorers hoped to reach land in which they could extend their country. After reviewing this lecture and thinking about why some called it a desert, it makes me wonder what the actual landscape of the plains looked like then compared to now. I wish there were some way we could look at them back then in order to grasp the whole feel of why they may have been interpreted as The Great American Desert.