Embedded Files
A Sea of Grass
Where is the Great Plains region in Texas?
The North American Great Plains region has been called the “bread basket of the world.” This fertile area stretches from Canada to Texas. It is bounded on the east by the Mississippi River and on the west by the Rocky Mountains. Folk songs written about the Great Plains compare the region to a sea of grass, because the area can seem as vast as an ocean. In Texas, the Great Plains region reaches from the upper north corner of the state, known as the Panhandle, to the Rio Grande.
Land Use
Great herds of North American bison, or buffalo, once roamed the Great Plains. They fed on the deep-rooted wild grasses that covered the region. Nomadic Native Americans followed the herds, hunting them for their meat and hides. After the arrival of the Europeans, settlers moved onto the land, first using it to graze sheep and, later, cattle. Once farmers came to the region, much of the grasslands were plowed up to plant crops, such as corn and wheat.
Around the 1920s, oil and gas were discovered in the Texas Panhandle and elsewhere. (The Panhandle is the northern rectangular part of Texas that reaches east to Oklahoma and west to New Mexico.) In the 1930s, the Great Plains experienced a terrible drought resulting in Dust Bowl conditions. Lack of rainfall, high winds that caused erosion, and poor farming methods led to the near collapse of farming throughout the Great Plains. Shortly after, the federal government established national grasslands in Texas and throughout the Great Plains area. Its purpose was to preserve and protect the depleted land. Today the land is used largely for grazing livestock, but the overall plan allows for recreational use, wildlife habitat, soil conservation, and water protection.
Climate
The Great Plains is a dry region. Elevations are higher than those found in eastern Texas, although not as high as those generally found within the Mountains and Basins region. High elevations mean that summers and winters are cooler in the Great Plains than in lower elevations to the east. In this dry region farmers irrigate crops from underground water sources, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, a massive source of groundwater for Texas and other areas of the country.
Explaining How do Texas farmers manage to water their crops under the dry growing conditions of the Great Plains region?
The High Plains
The High Plains
What is the significance of geographical features in the High Plains?
Three smaller geographic sections make up the Great Plains of Texas: the High Plains, the Edwards Plateau, and the Llano Basin.
The mostly flat High Plains of Texas cover the Panhandle in the northernmost tip of Texas on the Oklahoma border, and they extend some 350 miles (563 km) southward. To the east, the Caprock Escarpment provides a natural border to the North Central Plains. This escarpment, a steep cliff, stretches from the Panhandle into Central Texas. Elevations in the northwestern portion of the Panhandle are quite high: more than 4,000 feet (1,219 m) above sea level.
Landscape and Rivers
Visitors to the High Plains are often awed by the great, flat expanse of the landscape. Imagine how they must have seemed to the region’s first settlers, especially those who came from city landscapes or mountain regions. One Spanish explorer, Pedro de Castañeda, described the plains as “spacious and level.” He further wrote:
“The country is like a bowl, so that when a man sits down, the horizon surrounds him all around. . . . [A]nd even if a man only lay down on his back he lost sight of the ground.”
Running through the Panhandle are two rivers: the northerly Canadian River, and to the south, the Red River. Cattle graze on the Canadian Breaks, a rugged valley created by the Canadian River as it cut through the Caprock Escarpment. Long ago the Red River also carved a channel through the Caprock Escarpment to create the remarkable Palo Duro Canyon. Palo duro is Spanish for “hardwood,” and it refers to the many hardwood trees found throughout the area. The canyon averages about 6 miles (9.6 km) wide and 800 feet (244 m) deep. Native Americans sought shelter within the high canyon walls to protect them against fierce storms common to the area. Wildlife includes turkey and deer. Cactus plants, yucca, mesquite, and cedar grow here.
Caprock Escarpment
North and South Plains
North and South Plains
The High Plains is made up of two geographic sections—the North Plains and the South Plains. The North Plains reaches from the Panhandle’s border with Oklahoma to just north of Lubbock (lu-buck). Industries that dominate the North Plains economy include petroleum, cattle ranching, and farming wheat and sorghum, a grain used for cattle feed. Amarillo (am-a-rill-o) is the largest city in the North Plains. Amarillo is active in the distribution of wheat and in cattle markets. Oil field equipment is manufactured here.
Farmers of the adjacent South Plains raise large quantities of cotton. The world’s largest cottonseed processing industry is found in Lubbock. It is both a large commercial center and cultural center. Cottonseed processing is big business in Lubbock. Whole cottonseed and its by-products (oil, meal, hulls, and short, fuzzy fibers called linters) are used to produce a wide variety of products, including cattle feed, rubber and plastics, fingernail polish, sausage casings, x-ray film, salad dressing, margarine, and cosmetics.
The petroleum-rich Permian Basin is found in the southernmost part of the High Plains. There, oil is important to the economies of two cities, Midland and Odessa. Area farmers and ranchers also depend on the cities for commerce, entertainment, and culture.
Identifying What is the largest city on the High Plains, and what are three main economic activities there?
Edwards Plateau
Edwards Plateau
How does geography affect the economy of the Edwards Plateau?
In the far south of the Great Plains region is the Edwards Plateau. The plateau is a high-level land area rising from an escarpment. Its large land area—nearly 300 miles from east to west, and 50 to 175 miles from north to south—is flat or gently rolling hills. Its southern boundaries include the South Texas Plain and the Rio Grande. The Blackland Prairie meets the plateau’s eastern border at the Balcones Escarpment. In Spanish, balcones means “balconies,” which captures the essence of this high overlook to the plains below. The hilly land nearing the escarpment is a section called the Hill Country.
Land and Economy
The plateau’s thin soil and cover of mesquite, cedar, small oak trees, and scrub make it more suitable for grazing livestock than for farming. Plateau ranchers raise cattle and sheep. The plateau is also famous for producing Angora goats, whose long hair is sheared and sold as mohair, which is used to make sweaters and fabrics.
Ranchlands comprise much of the plateau, with few cities or towns. The largest city of the Edwards Plateau is Del Rio, located on the Rio Grande. Like El Paso in the Mountains and Basins region, Del Rio is a border town. Trade with Mexico and cross-border tourism are important economic activities there.
Fredericksburg - settled by Germans
Hill Country
Hill Country
Within the Hill Country lay the cities of Fredericksburg and Kerrville. The resort town of Fredericksburg was settled by German immigrants and is famous for its peaches. Visitors come to see and hike a huge, pink, granite landmark named Enchanted Rock. In Kerrville, music fans flock to a large yearly music festival held there. It attracts top performers in folk and other musical styles. Exotic game ranches offer hunting excursions in Kerrville and areas nearby. Native game is abundant in the Hill Country. The area is noted for its large population of white-tailed deer. Other Hill Country attractions include Longhorn Cavern State Park, Barton Springs, and Pedernales Falls State Park.
Flooded Llano River
Llano Basin
Llano Basin
How has the Llano Basin landscape been shaped by nature as well as by human activity?
The Llano (LAH•noh) Basin is an area of rolling plains and hills crossed by two main rivers: the Llano and Colorado rivers. The work of flowing river waters and time has caused significant erosion, or loss of soil and minerals, from the basin area. It is the state’s smallest geographic region, with elevations lower than the rest of the Edwards Plateau.
The construction of dams on the Colorado River created a series of reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes. Lake Buchanan is the largest. These lakes are a popular spot for activities such as boating, fishing, and swimming.
The Llano Basin economy relies on tourism, hunting, and livestock production. Pecans are an important crop in the basin’s northern town of San Saba. The cleaning and processing of wool and mohair happens in the town of Brady. Also, the market and supply center of Mason caters to nearby ranches and a growing tourism industry.
Explaining What is responsible for erosion in the Llano Basin?
Midland, Texas
Sand storm in Lubbock
Tornado in the TX Panhandle
Cadillac Ranch, outside of Amarillo
It was the inspiration of Cadillac Range in Cars.
Page updated
Report abuse