What is homesteading?

The Homestead Acts were laws issued by the US government to promote expansion into the American West by giving away land. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Homesteading Act into law. Under this initial law, a US citizen could claim a 160-acre plot of public land in the West by filing an application, living on and improving the land for a minimum of five years, and filing for a deed within seven years.

Although the Homestead Act was promising for many individuals, homesteaders soon realized how difficult it would be to settle a claim. It was risky to move out to a homestead without knowing whether the soil would be fertile or the rain would be plentiful that year. Some lower quality plots were cut off from rivers, which made irrigation a challenge. Homesteading also meant living a life of solitude in remote locations across the Great Plains.

Later acts and amendments were passed to make homesteading easier. One example is the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, which promised an additional 160 acres (for a total of 320 acres) to farmers willing to claim more marginal lands in the Great Plains where irrigation was particularly difficult. An important act for Western South Dakota, where Badlands National Park is located, was the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916. This act promised a total of 640 acres of public land for ranching purposes. Many plots around the Badlands were not fertile enough for agriculture but could support ranching operations.

While the Homesteading Acts offered land to settlers for “free,” this “free” land came at a great cost to Native Americans. Much of the land offered for homesteading was seized from the Native Americans who previously inhabited the Great Plains. This was accomplished through legislation like the Dawes Act. Through the Dawes Act, Native Americans who did not comply with government divisions of their land were pushed off of it.

Source: nps.gov