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As early as 1867, bills were introduced in Congress to encourage irrigation and reclamation of unproductive land and, in 1877, the Desert Land Act linked irrigation to grants of public land. Congress also authorized studies of the Westâs geology and water supply, which culminated in comprehensive reports.
Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Great Plains area west of Missouri and Iowa was a refuge for thousands of Indians, but white settlers learned that these vast expanses offered opportunities for farming and ranching. The natives had no effective champions and would again be forced to give way to the whites' encroachment.