How Homesteaders Shaped the West

    With a stroke of his pen, on May 20, 1862 Abraham Lincoln opened millions of federally owned lands in the American west for settlement. On that day, he signed the Homestead Act into law. Carl Sandburg referred to this statute as offering "a farm free to any man who wanted to put a plow into unbroken sod."  Consistent with the prevailing philosophy of eminent domain, the Homestead Act had two main goals: to give the government a way to sell off its land to ordinary citizens, and to assure that the land would be used in an economically efficient manner.

Homestead Act - National Archives

      Citizens and immigrants who had applied for citizenship were eligible to file a claim to 160 acres of surveyed federal land as long as they had never borne arms against the United States government. Additionally, applicants had to be a “head of family” or, if single, at least 21 years of age. Thus, the Act was egalitarian in that it allowed Blacks, former slaves, immigrants, and some women a chance to find success in the western lands. Women who were single, widowed, divorced, or deserted were eligible, but those who were married were discriminated against for claiming land in their own name unless they could prove that they were the heads of their households.

Homestead Application - National Archives

     Once the government designated territory as available, homesteaders found a plot of land and filed their claims at the regional land office. They paid a filing fee of $18, which consisted of $10 to make a temporary claim on the land, $2 for commission to the land agent, and a $6 payment to receive an official title. To earn this final title, settlers had to live for five continuous years on the land. Union soldiers could reduce this residency requirement by an amount of time equal to their time of service in the Civil War. Settlers also had to build a house, at least twelve by fourteen feet, on the land and cultivate at least ten acres. Two neighbors or friends had to attest to the government that these requirements had been fulfilled. Land titles could also be purchased from the government for $1.25 per acre following six months of proven residency.

     Thousands of women claimed free land in the Great Plains. The majority of female homesteaders were young and single, looking for adventure and/or independence, and seeking personal financial gain.  

Woman's Claim in Broken Bow, NE - Library of Congress

     Several years ago, I researched women in nontraditional roles in the late nineteenth century for a novel I was writing. Since then, this topic has intrigued me and I have included it in two of my stories. The main character in my current work-in-progress is a woman who homesteads in South Dakota. In a previous novel, one of my secondary female characters claimed title to a homestead in Wyoming.

     Between 1862 and 1916, a series of laws were passed to provide incentives for people to move west. Collectively, these laws are referred to as the Homestead Acts.

      In the 1870s, racism in the Reconstruction South spurred many former slaves to move north and west, taking advantage of the Homestead Act. Before the Civil War, Kansas had a reputation of supporting abolition, making it an attractive destination for many southern blacks who expected to find freedom and justice there.  Former slaves who settled in Kansas were called “exodusters,” and the migration was referred to as the “Great Exodus.” Blacks considered their movement to be similar to the Hebrews’ journey across the desert from slavery to freedom in the Book of Exodus.

"Exodusters" - Library of Congress

     Both black and white leaders in the South encouraged this migration. In the decade from 1869 to 1879, 27,000 blacks moved to Kansas and several exclusively black settlements emerged. An article in an 1879 issue of the Topeka Colored Citizen declared, “Our advice…to the people of the South, Come West, Come to Kansas…in order that you may be free from the persecution of the rebels. If blacks come here and starve, all well. It is better to starve to death in Kansas than to be shot and killed in the South.”

      In 1887, the Dawes Severalty Act was passed. The aim of this law was to break up Indian reservation holdings as well as the tribes themselves by inducing them to integrate into the general society.  Under the provisions of this statute, tribal lands were broken up into 160-acre allotments, and any individual who agreed to claim a plot and leave reservation lands would become an American citizen. Congressman Henry Dawes believed this act had a “civilizing effect on Indians because it forced them to cultivate land, live in European-inspired houses, ride in Studebaker wagons…(and) own property.” 

Native Americans were Pressured to Assimilate - National Park Service

       This law was stacked against the Native Americans. As a result, they lost land holdings and the bargaining power of tribes was diminished. Additionally, many individuals who had taken homestead plots lacked funds to buy the tools and supplies they needed for farming start-up so they went into debt and eventually lost their claims to speculators.

     Life on a homestead was difficult, no matter the claimant’s race, gender or background. Many settlers had little previous farming experience, and homesteaders had to supply their own farming tools, which could involve considerable expense. Prairie fires, strong winds, harsh weather extremes, plagues of grasshoppers and prolonged droughts could destroy an entire year’s worth of crops. On the open grasslands, first homes often had to be built out of sod due to a lack of trees and the cost of shipping in lumber. Failures were common, with many homesteaders declaring bankruptcy or simply abandoning the land claim.

       Homesteading declined significantly in 1934 with the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, which regulated grazing on federal public lands. By then, approximately 270 million acres were claimed and farmed under the Homestead Act. 

     In his 1962 message to Congress on conservation, President John F. Kennedy stated, "One hundred years ago the Congress passed the Homestead Act, probably the single greatest stimulus to national development ever enacted."

     The Homestead Act and its impact on the United States is celebrated at the Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, Nebraska. More information can be found on their website: https://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm

Ann Markim

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Surviving Winter: Now and Then

It's mid January here in Chicago, the temperature has dipped to something-teen and we're digging out from a snowstorm. I'm tired of winter already. But when I go inside my house with central heating I can forget about it for a while. Also if I have to go anywhere, I have a car which also has heat. In the event I'm running low on food, I can take my warm car to the supermarket where someone has thoughtfully loaded shelves with food I can select and take home. So, I have the luxury of escaping the cold. Survival is more a matter of keeping up my spirits.
But what about the peoples who had to live through winters on the frontier? Keeping warm and planning ahead was a matter of survival. How did they do it?

Some of the Native Americans picked up and moved to more hospitable winter locations--like some retirees today. For the Plains Indians this meant moving the tipis. At a first glance, the tipi doesn't look like a thing you'd want to hole up in for the winter, but in actuality they were quite cozy. The buffalo hide is an excellent barrier to the wind (It worked for the buffalo too.), and the openings at the ground and hole at the top create an updraft for the fire blazing in the middle. Inhabitants slept together under buffalo robes to share body heat.

Indian camp in winter

Not always as weather resistant was the frontier cabin, could be drafty by comparison.  If you were lucky enough to live in a sod house (and that's not a sentence I'll probably ever use again), you'd have the advantage of being better insulated from the cold. But, in either case the frontiersmen tended to build small one or two room cabins, which are easier to keep heated by a fire or stove. Families gathered together in front of the fire to wait out winter evenings. Some of these cabins had sleeping lofts for the children, and heat rises so it would be warmer up there. The children would bundle up in one or two beds under layers of quilts and blankets.

Togetherness in a frontier cabin, Iowa. 

Means to transport the heat from the fire to help warm beds, or to make the carriage ride more pleasant were developed. We've all seen the long handled bed warmer that was filled with hot rocks and slid under the covers. Similarly, metal boxes fitted into a wood frame or heated soapstone wrapped in rags were used as foot warmers in bed and in the carriages.

Ride in a one-horse open sleigh, brrrr. (oil painting by Cornelius Krieghoff)

One common winter survival trait to both Native American or settler families: togetherness. In modern times we have central heating, but that also allows family members to retreat to separate rooms in the house. I wouldn't trade my modern comforts, but I do wonder what we gained and what we've lost. How different would family life be? Would such togetherness bring everyone closer under trying times bring us closer? Or would the lack of privacy and personal space wear everyone out? Would they even been aware of such concepts?
What do you think? Can you picture you and your family hunkering down together in an isolated, one-room cabin?

WHAT WAS OLD IS NEW AGAIN By Sarah J. McNeal

In those pioneer days people had to rely on themselves, including for their winter provisions. There were no super markets in which to buy food. Hunting provided meat and fish. Those early settlers knew about conservation and sustainability because they were going to need meat and fish year after year. Killing bucks instead of does would insure new deer would be added to the forest. Harvesting enough fish without becoming overzealous was deemed necessary in order to leave enough fish to procreate for the following year. They gave the same consideration to their farm animals: pigs, chickens, goats, and perhaps a few cattle and a bull. Some eggs were allowed to hatch into chicks and a cow could provide milk as long as she was allowed to calve now and again.

When planting crops, a homesteader had to plant according to season year round. Cool crops such as spinach in the fall, summer crops of yellow squash, corn, and tomatoes, and early crops in the spring such as peas. Some things had to be dried or canned to preserve them while others, such as cabbage, turnips, and potatoes would keep nicely in a cool, dry place. Naturally, feeding livestock was a huge consideration. Fields of alfalfa and oats needed to be planted, maintained, and harvested as well providing a dry place for its storage.

The American Plains have some of the most severe weather on the planet. Weather was the master of the homesteader’s life. Drought, floods, hail, erratic temperatures, and tornadoes, all of which are common on the Great Plains, could destroy a homesteader. Life was hard and filled with work from predawn to sunset and maybe then some. There were other chores to do besides working the fields. As hard as life was though, work was also a good thing. There wasn’t much time to sit around and moan the blues. Work was therapy.

Canning Tools

My parents were young, just getting started in married life during the Great Depression. Like the homesteaders, they had to work hard and become self-reliant. They were proud of the results from their labor. Forget TV and all those electronic doodads we have now for entertainment. Pop used to enjoy working his garden, planning the next one, and showing visitors his beautiful work. It was a thing of pride for him.

Homemade Ketchup

Something I enjoyed as a kid was watching my parents work together canning the harvest from the garden. I remember how they worked on the ketchup recipe every year trying to get it just right, but they were never satisfied. At the time, I just wanted ketchup like we bought from the store. Little did I know then what a treat it was to have that homemade ketchup-—very tasty made from tomatoes with no preservatives and without pesticides. That pressure cooker stayed busy all summer. Pop always shared vegetables from his garden with friends and neighbors. Sometimes they swapped things with each other. Someone might try a different kind f vegetable that others didn’t have. I imagine the pioneers did much the same thing back in history.

Jars of Canned Food Just Like My Grandmother's

For so many years we have depended on the supermarket for all our food. Crops are now raised on huge corporate farms where pesticides are frequently used and processed in plants that are often in foreign countries like China where quality assurance and the FDA have no influence. Problems have arisen because of it both from health issues in the human population and the decline of our friends, the bees due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides.

Bee Keeping Technique

People are now rethinking their lifestyles and re-purposing their backyards from tennis courts to vegetable gardens once again. In the desire for better quality and safe food, we are returning to the old ways of the settlers and homesteaders of raising our own vegetables. Even people who live in apartments are planting gardens in containers in windows or on their patios and balconies. And so we are moving full circle and making what we once thought of as old and making it new again.

Do you have a vegetable garden? Is it a thing of pride for you? Do you peruse the seed catalogs in winter to plan the next year’s garden? What organic ways of controlling pests have you discovered? What satisfaction do you get from gardening?

Sarah J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. She welcomes you to her website and social media:

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