Episode 67 - Homesteaders Go West

On May 20, 1862, with the Civil War barely underway, Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act. For a small filing fee, any qualified applicant could claim 160 acres of surveyed federal land, one quarter of a square mile. The catch was five years: build a home, cultivate the ground, and live on it before the title was yours.

Remarkable for the era, single women and widows could file in their own names, and immigrants intending to become citizens could qualify. More than 270 million acres, roughly ten percent of the United States, eventually passed into private ownership through the Act. But only about forty percent of claims ever ended in ownership. Drought, blizzards, grasshopper plagues, and isolation drove the rest off the land.

Key Takeaways

Congress had debated homestead legislation for years before the Civil War. Southern congressmen repeatedly blocked the bills, fearing that free farms would strengthen free states and weaken the political influence of slave-holding states. Once the Southern states seceded, that opposition largely disappeared, and the bill passed.
On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. For a small filing fee, a qualified applicant could claim 160 acres of surveyed federal land, one quarter of a square mile. The claimant had to build a home, cultivate the land, and live on the property for five years before receiving legal title.
Remarkable for the era, single women and widows could file claims in their own names. Immigrants who intended to become American citizens could also qualify, which encouraged large-scale immigration from Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Russia.
The first successful claim is generally credited to Daniel Freeman. Just after midnight on January 1, 1863, Freeman persuaded officials in Brownville, Nebraska Territory, to open the land office, and within minutes filed Homestead Application No. 1 for 160 acres near present-day Beatrice, Nebraska.
Altogether, more than 270 million acres, about ten percent of the land area of the United States, passed into private ownership through the Homestead Act. Approximately 1.6 million successful claims were completed between 1863 and the late twentieth century.
Homesteading was brutally hard. With few trees available, many settlers built homes from thick blocks of prairie sod, structures known as "soddies." Drought, blizzards, grasshopper plagues, poverty, and isolation forced many families to abandon their claims. Only about forty percent of homestead applications ultimately resulted in permanent ownership, and some who succeeded eventually sold out to large land speculators.
The Southern prediction proved correct. The Homestead Act cultivated populations in the Great Plains that were generally more sympathetic to the anti-slavery North than to the pro-slavery South.
The Homestead Act was repealed for the lower 48 states in 1976, with Alaska granted a ten-year extension. The last American homesteader was Kenneth Deardorff, who received just under 50 acres near Stony River, Alaska. He filed in 1986 and his title was issued on May 5, 1988.

Questions & Answers:

Q1: What was the Homestead Act of 1862?

The Homestead Act was a federal law signed by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. It allowed any qualified applicant to claim 160 acres of surveyed federal land, one quarter of a square mile, for a small filing fee. To receive legal title, the claimant had to build a home on the land, cultivate it, and live there for five years. It became one of the most significant domestic reforms in American history, eventually transferring more than 270 million acres into private ownership.

Q2: Why did Southern congressmen oppose the Homestead Act?

Southern congressmen repeatedly blocked homestead bills in the years before the Civil War because they feared that giving away free farms would fill the western territories with small independent farmers, strengthening the free states and weakening the political influence of slave-holding states. Once the Southern states seceded and their representatives left Congress, that opposition largely disappeared and the bill passed. The Southern prediction turned out to be correct: the Great Plains populations that grew under the Act were generally more sympathetic to the anti-slavery North.

Q3: Could women file homestead claims?

Yes, and this was remarkable for the era. Single women and widows could file homestead claims in their own names, at a time when married women in many states could not independently own property. Immigrants who intended to become American citizens could also qualify, which encouraged large-scale immigration from Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Russia.

Q4: Who was the first homesteader?

The first successful homestead claim is generally credited to Daniel Freeman. Just after midnight on January 1, 1863, the first day the law took effect, Freeman persuaded officials in Brownville, Nebraska Territory, to open the land office. Within minutes he filed Homestead Application No. 1 for 160 acres near present-day Beatrice, Nebraska.

Q5: How many homesteaders actually succeeded?

Only about forty percent of homestead applications ultimately resulted in permanent ownership. Approximately 1.6 million claims succeeded between 1863 and the late twentieth century, but many more families were driven off by drought, blizzards, grasshopper plagues, poverty, and isolation. Some who did prove up their claims eventually sold out to large land speculators. The five-year residency requirement was the hard part: a family had to survive on the land before it was ever legally theirs.

Q6: What was a sod house?

On the Great Plains there were few trees to cut for lumber, so settlers built homes out of the prairie itself, cutting thick blocks of matted sod and stacking them into walls. These structures were known as "soddies." They were cheap, well insulated against both prairie winters and summer heat, and notoriously leaky and dirty. One early homesteading family wrote home: "Our home is only a little sod house, but it is our own."

Q7: When did the Homestead Act end, and who was the last homesteader?

Congress repealed the Homestead Act for the lower 48 states in 1976, but granted Alaska a ten-year extension. The last American homesteader was Kenneth Deardorff, who claimed just under 50 acres near Stony River, Alaska. He filed for the land in 1986 and his title was issued on May 5, 1988, 126 years after Lincoln signed the original law.

The Spirit of Westward Expansion

In the nation's first century, nothing expressed the American spirit of opportunity and ambition more than westward expansion. Following the American Revolution, settlers poured across the Appalachian Mountains into the rich lands of the Ohio Valley. Between the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, the United States nearly tripled in size. The California Gold Rush drew fortune seekers west in 1849, while pioneers traveled the Oregon Trail in search of land, prosperity, and a new beginning. Then, not long after the Civil War broke out, a whole new field of opportunity arose as President Lincoln signed into law the Homestead Act of 1862.

The West in 1860

By 1860, California had about 380,000 residents. Oregon and the Washington Territory had 64,000 total. The Great Plains, however, were still sparsely populated by American settlers and remained the homeland of numerous Indian nations: the Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee. Dakota Territory had fewer than 5,000 non-Indian residents. Wyoming had less than 1,000. And Montana, only a few hundred.

Horace Greeley: "Go to the West"

Journalist Horace Greeley became one of the nation's leading advocates of western settlement. As early as 1838, writing in the New York weekly the New Yorker, he urged ambitious Americans: "If any young man is about to commence the world, we say to him, publicly and privately, Go to the West." His editorials helped persuade Americans that the nation's future lay beyond the Mississippi.

Why the South Blocked Homestead Legislation

By the eve of the Civil War, Congress had debated homestead legislation for years. Southern congressmen repeatedly blocked the bills, fearing that free farms would strengthen free states and weaken the political influence of slave-holding states. Once the Southern states seceded, that opposition largely disappeared.

Lincoln Signs the Homestead Act

On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law, creating one of the most significant domestic reforms in American history.

160 Acres and Five Years

The law offered ordinary Americans an extraordinary opportunity. For a small filing fee, qualified applicants could claim 160 acres of surveyed federal land, that's one quarter of a square mile. Applicants had to build a home, cultivate the land, and live on the property for five years before receiving legal title.

Women and Widows Could File

Remarkable for the era, single women and widows could also file claims in their own names. One of the first families to seize the opportunity wrote home: "We have begun life anew. Our home is only a little sod house, but it is our own, and we hope, with God's blessing, to make it a pleasant one."

Daniel Freeman Files Application No. 1

The first successful homestead claim is generally credited to Daniel Freeman. Just after midnight on January 1, 1863, Freeman persuaded officials in Brownville, Nebraska Territory, to open the land office. Within minutes he filed Homestead Application No. 1 for 160 acres near present-day Beatrice, Nebraska.

270 Million Acres

Over the next century, hundreds of thousands of families settled lands that became Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and other western states. Altogether, more than 270 million acres, about ten percent of the land area of the United States, passed into private ownership through the Homestead Act. Approximately 1.6 million successful claims were completed between 1863 and the late twentieth century.

Immigrants and the Sod House Frontier

Immigrants who intended to become American citizens could also qualify, encouraging large-scale immigration from Europe. With few trees available, many settlers built homes from thick blocks of prairie sod. The humble structures were known as "soddies."

Drought, Blizzards, and the 40 Percent

Drought, blizzards, grasshopper plagues, poverty, and isolation forced many families to abandon their claims. Only about forty percent of homestead applications ultimately resulted in permanent ownership. And some who succeeded eventually sold out to large land speculators. Yet within a few generations, lands once dominated by prairie grasses and vast bison herds became one of the world's most productive agricultural regions.

The Legacy and the Southern Prediction

The Homestead movement profoundly advanced the American belief in property ownership and the creation of personal wealth through property rights. As for the Southerners, it turned out, their predictions were true. The Homestead Act cultivated populations in the Great Plains that were generally more sympathetic to the anti-slavery North than to the pro-slavery South.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Generations of young readers would learn of America's homesteaders through the autobiographical stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder. After two unsuccessful attempts to settle, once when they mistakenly built a home on the Osage reservation in Kansas, Charles and Caroline Ingalls finally succeeded in homesteading in Dakota Territory, near what is now De Smet, South Dakota. Laura Ingalls married a fellow settler, Almanzo Wilder, the main subject of the book Farmer Boy.

The Peak Era, 1900 to 1930

With the development of national railroads, homesteaders made their way West with greater speed and efficiency. The most successful Homestead era fell between 1900 and 1930. In Wyoming, small farms cropped up next to large ranches. Waves of European immigrants homesteaded in North Dakota, especially from Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. After New Mexico attained statehood in 1912, homesteading expanded there. One area of the country that especially struggled during this period was Montana. Droughts there caused many homesteaders to fail.

The Last Homesteader, 1988

The Homestead Act drew to a close in 1976 when Congress repealed it for the lower 48 states. Alaska received a ten-year extension. The last American homesteader was Kenneth Deardorff, who received just under 50 acres near Stony River, Alaska. He filed for land in 1986. His title was issued on May 5, 1988.