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Show - , , i \las las \ aS s a"Happy a"Happy a "Happy Happy " p ' NewUI New Year earr earrf earrd.Hungry UI " for . f pel-Hungry pel Hungry nd-Hungry nd d.Hungry dHungry . - Settlers Sefflers 7 75 5 Years Ago U Ut | the Hometead Homestead Home ead Law Went Into $ Effectand Effect t + ry 1.1863 11863 1 ' . 1863 . , and Many a Man Who Had Beenng Been W _ C Ar RL-l RL l RLlM . - ML L + C.t Ct . LLA . . L Sam Is Rich - Enough -M M to Give Us l " "Uncle Uncle 'uncle " ' All Alla a Farm . " Joined . . _ ng ng'uncle , , - - . _ in 11 , the ,11 11 , Rush i\ujn i ujn \ to iu Pay Payfee i ay W r Frontierr FrontierQ FrontierFee Frontiera > Q a wfe- wfe wfe0 Fee - of 16\Q 16 Q $18 18 $ \ and Secure His 160 Western Acres of Landon Land on the Western Frontier 0 Newspaper Unionr Uniony Unionk Unioni Union - . . - - r y i k < 4 to toU toY tois is isa a a + \ \ rx U Y i * C ' ri k ka kaAR + * a r aARr aAR + a \ , aY'A aYA ' Ca'L CaL Ca'Ln ' n e Y a + t \ Y " $ ! _ Rx " y h + D tsi ) e } j j'tG 'tG tG ' R Rrx rx ' r rt t Q ' 1 it + i iQ ( t $ # 3x 3xa4r a4r ads i > 4 4A A SOD HOUSE IN NORTH DAKOTAr1sthe DAKOTA DAKOTArts rts r1sthe the type of dwelling : in which winch Ined lied the pioneers who settled the trans-Missouri trans Missouri trans-11lissouri 11lissouri - region aft- aft aftpssise aft-i aft i - pssise e of the Homestead Act in m 1863 . r rBy i iBy I By ELMO CLl\10 CLl 10 \ SCOTT WATSON 'VATSON VATSON ' WATSONOU ' -OU OU - au OU won't wont ' find the name of Darnel Damel Daniel Freeman many manyof in anyof any of the dictionaries dICtlonanes or encyclopedias of bIOgraphy biography.Nevertheless biographyNevertheless . Nevertheless , he was an important figure m In the thelustory thehistory thehistory lustory history of our country-as country as country - as a symbol of what has hasbeen hasbeen hasbeen been called "one one " of America's Americas Amenca's Amencas ' big adventures adventures"For adventuresFor . " For Daniel Damel Freeman was "The The " First Homestead- Homestead Homestead-al Homestead al Homesteadhe - he acquired acgwred that title Just dust ] ust 75 years ago when he heithe hea ithe . the possessor of 160 acres of land near Beatrice Beatnce , under nder ender the provisions of the new Homestead Law Lawrent Lawsent Lawyent rent sent into mto effect on January 1 , 1863 . i ( recognition recogmtIon of Freenaht Freeright Free- Free Freenght - . ' , nght naht right b wasb to fame was"th was waslast waslast last year when "th th "the the "theestead "theanestead theanestead " e eestead estead taken in m the theStates theStates theStates States " was set aSIde aSIdenatIonal asidenational asidenational natIonal monument monument.ecently monumentecently . ecently lcently his name has hasught hasought hasrought ught ought to the attentIon attentIonoontrymen attentionruntrymen attentionMintrymen oontrymen runtrymen : . . That was wasji wasJ was.i J .i i . "The The " Sod House HouseI House.r,1854-1890 House.r18541890 House.r,1854 Houser1854 1890 . I , ,1854.1890 1854.1890 18541890 1854-1890 1854 1890 - - . , , " wntten written wnttenEverett writtenEverett written.Everett writtenEverett . Everett Dick , profeshrstory profeslustory profes- profes profeshistory - - ; history hrstory lustory m Union Umon col- col colcoIn colcoln col-acoln col acoln - coIn coln , Neb , and pub- pub pubby pubby pub-liy pub liy - by the D Apppleton- Apppleton Apppleton-7 Apppleton 7 Apppleton1 - - 1 company of Newtook New Newtook took rook is an important ado ad- ad adthe ad-ia ad ia - o the literature of , Amer- Amer Amereer Amer-aeer Amer aeer - -eer eer - l life e It tells for thea the ' a the complete story ofmillions ofmillions of ofmillions millions of acres of pub- pub - pub-ilhat pub ilhat pubfilat pubthat filat that stretched westwardMissouri westward Missouri hssoun river to the themountams themountains themountains mountams mountains were opened openedent ent , how land hungry hungrysv.armed hungry'as hungryas hungryiii ' iii ss sv sv.armed svarmed . . armed over thJS this thJS"Oilmg this'owing thisfiling "Oilmg Oilmg 'owing owing ' " virgin vIrgm prairIe prairieasiiered , Zsldered dered unfit for humanand humanand human humansnd thed snd and there built bUllt the theB d Kansas , Nebraska andLd andi.d and Ld i.d id . South Dakota . Sg S * . . . a g nth v1th vlth the land law of ofith ofaca 2ch ith 2chsuccessive ithsuccessive ! successive piece ofpassed ofpassed of , passed by congress " . , it easier for the fron- fron fron-d fron d - - fronto toacqUIre to acquire for hImself hImselfPart himselflie himself"Part himselfPart " Part of the public publ1c do- do doe do-"ae do "ae ae - lieof of ofthese these thesewas lie " e of these was the land land"m landm landt t " 1m 18t1 , usually called the'lon theon the f60 'lon lon ' . : on " Act It provided -lead lead .head head 'head providedlead provIded.head provided'head wlda wid1 - . ' of a family , a wld- wld wid- wid wid-"ngle wid "ngle ngle - - a 1 ' SUlgle Ingle " man over twenty- twenty twentyage - , twenty-dotage twenty dotage I'sof Isof twentyI'sof twentyt I'sofage ' $ t age could file a claim 'icres icres ' res of the public do- do do-- do doclaimant - .dorn dore .do- .do , . rn re ' - claimant daimant required required's requireds reqUlreda requireda was reqUlred ' a dwelling dwellmg on the claIm , claimy f of his settlement tor tor to r andreceIver and receiver at the the.wes thewes . States theStates landoffice land office , for Hat bt tat forHat forbt fortat , . . _ btofficIal tatofficial officIal officIalreceIved nffi nffi.i receIved ---.i .i - - - fifty tf - < teach teachclaimant I each claImant claimant.1016 claimant1016 . the settler was required < < : T requiredT requiredthat that "at at " he had never pre- pre - , pre-BeIo pre BeIo prebefore pretetore before tetore e . , he was not the the9.l320 . . 9.l320 9l320 01320 9.l320acres 01320acres uw acres m in any state statehe , settledI2Iid settledhnd . state"y statey " . , he had not settled settledl ofd I2Iid hnd l tor for the purpose of ofand of19'and of19and d ' and he had made no no'or noor ' nt at nont noat ntor ator " ' or anyuy anylly anyOy contract with WJth any1 any- any anyM - 1 turnOver lly Oy uy or nr indirectly mdirectly , , . to turn turnanyone M iaver Over Aftert Afters to anyone else After Afteroath t s oathand oath and making makmg proof ) proof'n proofuth thof uthof uth th 'n n ' of1us of his lus 1us setaUov setalloy claims , the set- set setoved - . aUov alloy oved ed to purchase the theI thettthe ttthe , I the " "enimimum enimimum rnUUtnum minimum appraised appraisedy + Ja.1ly Ja1ly rially . y $1 1 $125 125 $125an ? $ 1 25an 25 an acre . tmption e-tmphon e tmphon e'emption eemption ' - rrauds Frauds.these Fraudsthese . . e these provisions of theaddItIonal theadditional the regulationsu additional regulatIonsby regulations u by the register andgu and " to andto 10 . _ . _ . guard Pllir Pllir.x r - -.x .x - / againstfi fir guardagamst agamst against fraud , fi figured figuredout outagainst fiI gu ed edout out Innumerable Innumerableto I to " " 0 "beat beat " the game . otnce ice Usually requIred a aAat , . ,1 1 at least feeti Aat twelve feet 1 i whit-a whit a whIta 80 so ' some settlers whIt- whIt - tahf3y whittahf3y a tmy y house , 12 Inches inchesThen inches- inches inchess tches s Then wItnesses - t1lear bear witnessesy hIs'twelve ' for them that his his.lwclvo . 'twelve twelve by fourteen " II11ght II11ghtS .lwclvo lwclvo " Ught Ughtsv hts S\\ S sv Sear \ ear that that hIS hie was rac racttT Ie le wasIe wasle d\\clhng d clhng dwelling \ " itof when It itd d ttT fIn hudfIn fInof of ofonly only * ' four ' "Jv Jv " logs hud laid laidioUd ioUd of a square quare ( "Sure Sure " ' Sure . , ld Wiabit Wiabitsuch , inhabit Ulhabit such a dweU- dweU dwell- dwell dweUr dwellr dweller - er r torm form of fraud was to mount a house on wheels and andpull andpull andpull pull it from cIa claim un to claim . "It It "Itenabled "Itenabled "Itenabled Itenabled " enabled the pre emptor to swear swearthat swearthat swearthat that he had a bona fide resIdence residenceon on his claim , " writes Doctor DoctorDIck DoctorDick DoctorDick DIck in his hJS book . "This This ClThJS " structure structurewas structurewas structurewas was a real money making makmg enter enter- enterprIse enterprise enterprise - prise since it rented for five dol dol- dollars dollars dollars - lars a day . Scores of pre-emphons pre emphons pre-emptions emptions pre-emptionswere pre emptionswere preemphonswere preemptionswere - were proved with ItII it II " Even by thus cheating cheatmg the gov gov- government gov- gov government government - - ernment , the land-hungry land hungry - fron fron- frontiersman frontiersman frontiersman - tiersman wasn't wasnt ' yet satIsfied satIsfiedHe satisfiedHe satisfiedHe He thought that having havmg to pay pay$1 pay1 $125 125 $1 1 $ 25 an acre was too much . So Sohe Sohe Sohe he continued contmued to ask for more and andmore andmore andmore more m In the way of legislation t * t t"A I L L1 -1 1 - . .Ji- .Ji . ; . , , . . - f\- f \ - ' ) \ .Jif I fI 0\ 0 \ 0J , ' " ' \ . - Jv J I : ! - . - ; L , .i i .i'I JvVv " ' \ " \\\'I 'I I ' \ ' \ ' ' - * - - . -Vv\ Vv Vv"A ; \ "A A " BONA FIDE RESIDENCE " making makmg it easy for him to get getland getland getland land . During Durmg the fifties there was wasa wasa wasa a popular song which declared declared"Uncle declared"Uncle declared"Uncle declaredUncle "Uncle Uncle " Sam is rich nch enough to togIve togive togive gIve us all a farm " It expressed expressedexactly expressedexactly expressedexactly exactly the philosophy of these theserestless theserestless theserestless restless westward-faring westward faring westward-farmg farmg - pio pIO- pIOneers pioneers pioneers - - neers neersWhen When Abraham Lincoln , the thefirst thefirst thefirst first President from the Old OldNorthwest OldNorthwest OldNorthwest Northwest , was elected in 1860 1860It 1860it 1860it It was a signal for residents of ofthat ofthat ofthat that part of the country to set up upa upa upa a clamor of free lands still far far- farther farther farther - ther west The result was theHomestead theHomestead the thelomestead lomestead Homestead Law , whl which ch became a law on May 20 , . 1862 1862Under 18C Under its provisions " "any any " per- per person person per person - son who is the head of a famIly familyor , or who has arrived at the age of oftwentyone oftwentyone oftwenty-one oftwenty one twenty-one twenty one - - years , and is a cItizen cItizenof citizenof citizenof of the United States , or who shall shallhave shallhave shallhave have filed his declaration of m- m mtentIon mteution in intention - tention teution to become such " and who whohas whohas whohas has "never never " borne arms agamst agamstthe agamstthe againstthe the United States government or orgIven orgiven orgiven gIven aid and comfort to its en- en enemIes enemles en enemies - emies emles " was allowed to file a claim claimfor claimfor claimfor for 160 acres of land in III certam certain certamspecIfied certainspecified certainspecified specIfied areas , or for 80 acres III in IIImore inmore mmore more favorable localities , such as asthose asthose asthose those within wlthm withm a railroad grant . For each 160 acres the home home- homesteader homesteader homesteader - steader was charged a fee of $18 18 $18of 18of $ , of which $14 14 $ 14 was to be paid when whenhe whenhe whenhe he made his application appl1catIon for the theland theland theland land and the balance whenClfinal when Clfinal "final final Clfinalproof "finalproof "finalproof finalproof " proof " was established . WJthm Within WJthmSIX Withinsix Withinsix SIX months after the date of ill- ill 1l- 1l 1lmg illmg fil filing - ing mg he had to be on the land and andbegm andbegin andLbegin begm begin improvements on it . Fur Fur- FurI Furthermore Furthermore - thermore he was required tomahe tomahehIS to make makehis makehis I hIS homestead his permanent permanentresIdence permanentresidence permanentresidence resIdence for five years from the thedate thedate thedate date of the first papers Any tIme tImeafter timeafter timeafter after that date the settler could couldtake couldtake couldtake take out his final p pap papers 3pers , . provJded provided provJdedthat providedthat providedthat that he did it within wJthm seven and a ahalf ahalf ahalf half years after filing filmg . This final finalprocess finalprocess finalprocess consisted of giving glvmg evidence eVI- eVI eVIdence evi evidence - process dence that all the conditions of ofhIs ofhis ofhis hIs contract with the federal gov gov- government government government - ernment had been fulfilled If he hecould hecould hecould could give such evidence , a land landpatent landpatent landpatent the thetestImony thetestimony thetestimony patent was then granted upon testImony of two witnesses , . a fOl- fOl foi- foi fOlmahty foimality foi-mality foi mality - - mahty mality known as "proving proving "provmg provmg " up up"An upAn . " An Irishman's Irishmans ' Explanataon Explanation Explanation.Although ExplanationAlthough . Although much of the land landavallable landavailable landavailable avallable available under the Homestead Law was rich prairie that would wouldproduce wouldproduce wouldproduce produce abundantly after it had hadbeen hadbeen hadbeen been broken by the huge prame prairie prameplows prairieplows prairieplows plows , there was also much th that thatjustified thdtjustified t tJustIfied JustIfied the previous belief of ItS ItSbemg itsbemg itsbeing bemg unfit for farming farmmg So there therewas therewas therewas was a certain amount of grIm grImtruth grimtruth grimtruth truth in a story current durmg during durmgthat duringthat duringthat that peIOd pepod period ; It was the story of an anIrIsh anIrish anIrish IrIsh homesteader who e.plamed eplamed explained e.plamedthe explainedthe explainedthe } . the provisions of the law to an- an another another an another - other prospective prospectI\ prospectI prospectIe \ e landowner by bytellmg bytelling bytelling tellmg telling him hun that "th th " ' givernment government givernmentbets governmentbets givernmentbets bets ye wan hundred and SIXty SIXtyacres sixtyacres sixtyacres acres iv land against agamst yer $18 18 $ that thatye'll thatye'll thatye'U thatyeU ye'll yell ye'llstarve ' starve to death befur ye yelIve yelive yelive lIve there foive fOlve years " . As a concession to soldiers who whoserved whoserved whoserved served in III the Union army certam certain certammodIficatIons certainmodifications certainmodifications modIficatIons of the Homestead HomesteadLaw HomesteadLaw HomesteadLaw Law were made in m later amend amend- amendments amendments amendments - ments . One of these allowed war warveterans warveterans warveterans veterans to apply their serVIce serVIcetIme servicetime servicetime tIme m in the army on the five-year five year fiveyearresIdence fiveyearresidence five-yearresidence five yearresidence - resIdence requirement reqUlrement . Another Anotherallowed Anotherallowed Anotherallowed allowed an ex-sold ex sold ex-soldter ex soldter ex-soldier soldier - er who had hadserved hadserved hadserved served nine mne months to take 160 160acres 160acres 160acres acres within wlthm the limits of a rail raIl- raIlroad railroad railroad - road grant , whereas all others otherscould otherscould otherscould could take up only 80 acres It Itwas Itwas Itwas was this policy pollcy of favoring favormg Umon Union UmonsoldIers Unionsoldiers Unionsoldiers soldIers which thrust upon Damel Daniel DamelFreeman DanielFreeman DanielFreeman Freeman the fame of bemg being "The The "TheFIrst "TheFirst "TheFirst TheFirst " FIrst Homesteader . " " Prior to the Civil war Freeman Freemanhad Freemanhad Freemanhad had started a road ranch at Plum PlumCreek PlumCreek PlumCreek Creek , Neb , on the Oregon Trail |