Show I fit v It Was vias aa s a Happy New NevI Year for I Land Hungry Settlers 75 Years Ago rV a On January I 1863 the Homestead Law Went Into Effect and Many a Man M n Who Had Been I Singing Uncle Sam Is Rich Enough to Give Us All a Farm Joined in the Rush Ruh to Pay the Fee of 18 and Secure His H's is Acres of Land on the fhe Western Frontier 0 Western Newspaper Union 1 I I I CA I I II I 1 c I I s yg j Y Y a I A SOD HOUSE DOUSE IN NORTH DAKOTA J This was the type of dwelling in which lived the pioneers who settled the trans Missouri region b aft art after arter after I er the passage of the Homestead Act in 1863 1563 h By ELMO SCOTT WATSON VATSON OU wont won't find the name of Daniel Freeman in any of i J the dictionaries or encyclopedias of biography his his- IOU Nevertheless Nev he was an important figure in the his his- history r tory tort of our country country country-as as a symbol of what has been called one of Americas America's big adventures For I Daniel Freeman was The First Homesteader and he acquired that title just 75 years ago when he became posses posses- possessor I sor of acres near Beatrice Neb under the provisions of the thet t new Homestead Law which went into effect on January 1 1863 Tardy recognition of Free- Free Freesman's Freemans Freemans Freeman's mans mans man's right to fame was given last year when the first homestead taken in the United States was set aside as a national monument More recently his name has been brought to the attention of his countrymen That was done lone in The Sod House Houser r I Frontier 1890 1854 written by Dr Everett Dick professor sor of history in Union col col- college college college lege Lincoln Neb and pub pub- published published published by the D. D Appleton- Appleton Century company of New York This book is an important ad ad- addition addition addition to the literature of Amer Amer- American American American ican pioneer life It tells for the first time the complete story of how the millions of acres of pub pub- public public I lic lie land that stretched westward l' l from the Missouri river to the r. r Rocky mountains were opened to settlement how land hungry Americans swarmed over this smooth rolling virgin prairie once considered unfit for human t r habitation and there built the states of Kansas Nebraska and North and South Dakota 1 Beginning with the land law of 1800 each successive piece of legislation passed by congress had made it easier for the fron fron- frontiersman frontiersman frontiersman to acquire for himself a n small smaIl part of the public do do- main One of these was the land law of 1841 usually called the Pre-emption Pre Act It provided that the head of a family a wid wid- widow widow widow ow or a single man over twenty- twenty one years of age could file a claim for acres of the public do do- main The claimant was required to erect a dwelling on the claim make proof of his settlement to the register and receiver at nt the United States land office for which that official received fifty cents for each claimant Then the settler was required to swear that he had never pre pre- preempted preempted preempted empted before he was not the owner of acres in any state or territory he had not settled on the land for the purpose of selling seIling it and he had made no agreement or contract with any my- anyone anyone myone one directly or indirectly to turn the land over to anyone else After taking this oath and making proof pf bf of the truth of his claims the set set- settler settler tIer was allowed to purchase the claim at the minimum appraised price usually an acre Pre-emption Pre Frauds Despite these provisions of the law Jaw plus additional regulations established by the register and receiver to guard against fraud fr lUd settlers figured out innumerable schemes to beat the the game The land office usually required a ahouse ahouse ahouse house at least twelve feet square so some settlers whit whit- whittled whittled tIed out a tiny house 12 inches by 14 inches Then witnesses would V swear for them that his house was twelve by fourteen Or they might swear that his was wasa wasa wasa a habitable dwelling when it consisted of only four logs lo s laid in the form of a square Sure a 11 bird could inhabit such a dwell dwell- dwelling dwelling ing f 1 t Another form of fraud was to tot toz z L. mount a house on wheels and pull it from claim to claim It enabled the pre-emptor pre to swear that he had a bona fide residence tin tm his claim writes Doctor Dick in his book This structure was vas a real money makin making enter enter- enterprise enterprise enterprise prise since it rented for five dol dol- dollars dollars dollars lars a day Scores of pre were proved with it Even by thus cheating the gov gov- government government government the land hungry frontiersman fron fron- frontiersman frontiersman wasn't yet satisfied He thought that having to pay an acre was loo much So he continued to ask for more and more in the way of legislation 11 L. LA A BONA FIDE RESIDENCE making it easy for him to get land During the fifties there was wasa a popular song which declared Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm It expressed exactly the philosophy of these restless westward-faring westward pio pio- When Abraham Lincoln the first President from the Old Northwest was elected in 1860 it was a signal for residents of that part of the country to set up upa a clamor of free lands still far far- farther farther farther ther west The result was the Homestead Law which became a law on May 20 1862 Under its provisions any per per- person per person p r- r son who is the head of a family or who has hns arrived at the age of twenty-one twenty years and is a citizen of the United States or who shall have filed his declaration of in intention in- in intention intention to become such and who has never borne arms against the United States government or given aid and comfort to its en en- enemies enemies enemies was allowed to file a claim for acres of land in certain specified areas or for 80 acres in more favorable localities such as those within a railroad grant gr mt For each acres the home home- homesteader homesteader homesteader was charged a fee of 18 of which 14 was to be paid when he made his application for the theland theland theland land and the balance when final proof was established Within six months after the date of fil fil- filing filing fil- fil filing ing he had to be on the land and begin improvements on it Fur Fur- Furthermore Furthermore he was required make tomake to his homestead his permanent residence for five years from the date of the first papers Any time after that date the settler could take out his final papers provided that he did it within seven and a half years after filing This final process consisted of giving evi evi- evidence evidence dence that all the conditions of his contract with the federal gov gov- government government government had been fulfilled If he could give such evidence a land patent was then granted upon the testimony of two witnesses a for for- formality formality formality mality known as proving up An Irishman's Explanation Although much of the land available under the Homestead Law was rich prairie that would produce abundantly after it had been broken by the huge prairie plows there was also much that justified the previous belief of its being unfit for farming So there was a certain amount of grim truth in a story current during that period It was the story of an Irish homesteader who explained the provisions of the law to an an- another another another other prospective e landowner by telling him that th bets ye wan hundred and sixty acres iv land against yer 13 18 that yell starve to death ye live there years As a concession to soldiers who served in the Union army certain modifications of the Homestead Law were made in later amend amend- ments One of these allowed war ar veterans to apply their service time in the army on the year five-year residence requirement Another allowed an soldier ex who had served nine months to take acres within the limits of a rail rail- railroad railroad railroad road grant whereas all others could take up only 80 acres It was this policy of favoring Union soldiers which thrust upon Daniel Freeman the fame of being The First Homesteader Prior to the Civil war Freeman had started a road ranch at Plum Creek Neb on the Oregon Trail Like other road ranchers he was nothing more or less than a squatter in the wild Indian in tested territory beyond the Mis Mis- They made little pretense of farming but kept some live livestock livestock livestock stock for trade with emigrants westward wound for the Oregon country or the California gold- gold goldfields goldfields goldfields fields sold them articles which they needed and provided bed bcd and board for or travelers Enlists in the Army Despite the fact that Freeman was doing a prosperous business with his road ranch he was pa pa- patriotic patriotic patriotic enough to enlist in the Union army soon after the out out- outbreak outbreak outbreak break of the Civil war During his term of service the Homestead Act was passed and anel late in 1862 he obtained a brief furlough and returned to Nebraska to look over some of the highly advertised land there A land office had been opened at Nebraska City and when he arrived there on December 31 he found the town crowded with set set- settlers settlers settlers eager to take up claims under un un- under under der the new law which was to go into effect the next day But New Years Year's Day was a holiday and Freeman had to rejoin his regi- regi regiA regiment I l j l lA A HABITABLE DWELLING ment immediately Other settlers magnanimously decided to give the boy in blue the opportunity for the first filing In the midst of a New Years Year's dance at the hotel the land office was opened at midnight and Free Free- Freeman Freeman Freeman man stepped up to file his claim claimon on acres near the town of Beatrice Five minutes later the theland theland theland land office was closed and Free Freeman Freeman Freeman man set out on his return journey to the theater of war Those five minutes were historic ones for they marked marled the opening of a n anew anew new era eia in the history of the Amer Amer- American American ican frontier the symbol of which was that distinctive pioneer home on the prairie the prairie the sod house or soddie J I MCW ju ai l J G J 8 OJ J il Q Qa a aNew w New Babylon on Paper and in Fact Although a great many settlers took advantage of the new opportunity opportunity opportunity to get land the greatest rush of settlement into the trans- trans Missouri region came in the sev sev- seventies seventies seventies enties and eighties After the Homestead Act passed the thoughts of many of the soldiers turned to the West As the boys in blue sat around the campfire they planned what they would do dowhen dowhen dowhen when the long bloody war ended Many looked forward to the time when as comrades they would move to the new land and start out life again In the course of time many of these plans plans' were broken up nevertheless a large wave of mi mi- migration migration mi- mi migration gration flowed westward soon aft aft- after after after er the war Other soldiers who had not previously planned seri seri- seriously seriously seriously on migrating upon arriving arriving arriving ing home were dissatisfied with the quiet life in the old surround surround- ings After a few years near the theold theold theold old home these men decided to cast their lot in with the West A Wave of Migration Confederate soldiers after a afew few years of the carpet-bag carpet rule in the South began to leave the chaotic environment forced on the people by military recon recon- I As a result of these combined factors a mighty wave of migration poured out onto the I prairies rolling rapidly toward the Rocky mountains until the i grasshoppers stopped its flow in inthe inthe I Ithe the middle of the decade d cade of the theA I 4 j. j f Lr T y j fi t. t t l 1 I t r rA I i s fr cy A I A HOUSE TWELVE BY FOURTEEN seventies Again the flow started westward only to sweep beyond the rain belt but the droughts of the late eighties once more flung nung the seekers home-seekers back to to- toward toward toward ward the East At a later time the tractor combine and dry farming have once more made this legion region habitable During the peak years in the early seventies and eighties whole counties were settled in a fashion which rivaled the work of a magician who by means of the magic wand brought forth a prosperous city ci ty True some of these boom boomtowns boomtowns boomtowns towns existed only on paper New Babylon Kan for exam exam- But others became realities and grew into cities On July 4 1873 at a n m in run o Burr county Neb children sang Sunday school hymns j months before wild Indians had roamed at will Although the land-hungry land Amer Amer- Americans Americans Americans of that era hailed the pas pas- passage passage passage sage of the Homestead Act as a great event in their nations nation's his his- history history history tory its results were not always as happy as the optimists had be be- believed believed believed they would be The act had one great weakness and that as Doctor Dick points out lay in inthe inthe inthe the fact that it made homestead- homestead homesteading ing too easy The government en en- encouraged encouraged encouraged failure by not requiring more than the mere minimum of ofa a shack for a home only ten acres under cultivation and a well There was no mention of at personal qualifications and equip equip- equipment ment Thousands were deceived into thinking that securing a piece of land was all nil that was necessary to make a competence for the owner Following the great boom of the eighties when the tide of mi mi- migration migration mi- mi migration gration began to recede central Dakota and western Nebraska and Kansas presented anything but a n land lend of occupied farms Everywhere was to be seen the scars scars of once-broken once patches which were fast reverting to the sod a caved in well and the down tumbled t walls of sod shan shan- shanties ties les that had served their purpose in In proving up for the settlers who had since left the country |