- 15 - -
FARMING THE GREAT PLAINS
In 1862UnionandConfederatearrrucswerefighti ng
someofthebloodiestbattlesoftheCivilWar.Hu t
thatsameyearCongressfoundtimetopassalawthat
hadnothingtodowiththewar.T helaww as called
theH o m esteadAct.
T heHomesteadActofferedfree farms
(rbomcsrcads")intheWest( 0familiesofsettlers.
Eachhomesteadconsiste do f 160acresofland and
anyh eadofa familywhowas at leasttwe n ty-one
y ea rsofageandanAmericanci tizen co u ld claimone.
Socouldimmigrantswhoinrende d to become
ci tizens.Allthathomesteade rshadtodo\'J5to
m o veOIHOa pieceofpubliclan d-c rhatis,land owned
byth egovernment~live 011 itfo r fiveyears and th e
landbecametheirs.If afamilywantedtoown its
homesteadmorequicklythanthisit couldbuy the
landafteronlysixmonthsfo r a verylo w priceof
Sl.25anacre.
~" ~ LARGE DISCOUNTS FOR CASH, '1iioill "I
B ETTER TERMS -T H A N EVE R!ill! ......PREMIUMS FOR IMPROVEMENTS,"'liiII ~
T ran sconti nent al railroadcompantesliketheUnion
Pacificalsoprovidedsettle rswith cheapland. T he se
companiesh adbeengiven la ndbesidetheirtracks by
th egovernment.Toincrease their profitstheyw ere
kee n fo r peo pletobeginfarmingthislandsothey
advertisedfur settlers.T hey didth i snotonlyin the
easternU n itedSta tes,bur as farawayasE u rope.
T hey shi p pedimmigrantsacrossthe Atlantic,gave
th em freerailroadtransporttoth e Westandoften
help edth emto start thei r farmsandcommunities.
E astoftheMississip pi,small famil yfarmswerethe
usu alw ay of cultivatingthe land.Fro m thelH70s
on war ds farmsof thissort began tospreadoverth e
G reat Plain s.As aboy,H aml in Garlandwastakento
live on thePlainsbyhisp arent s. Yearslaterhe
rem em bered thefirst sig htofthelandthat was to be
Ius newh o m e:
" EachmiletookLI Sfartherandfa rt herintothe
u nsettl edp rame u ntil inth e afternoonofthesecond
d ay ,wecameto ameadowsowidethatits western
rimtouched the sky...The plain w ascoveredw ith
g rassas tallasripewheatandw he nmyfather
stoppedhis team[ofhorses,p ullingthewagon ] and
came backto us and said,'Well,children.here wearc
o nThe Big P ra irie' ,weloo kedarounduswith awe."
Bu ilding ahousewas the firsttaskth ehomestead ers
faced .Theyh ad todothisthemsel ves,for there\·...as
no one elsetodoit for them .limth ey hada
p ro b lem. Whatcouldtheyuseas build ing mat eri al?
Notrees grewonthe plains.onlym ileaftermileof
long, w avi nggrass.
T hesettle rsbuiltth eirhousesfro mth e m attedroots
ofthis g rass. T heycutthickpiecesofearthandg rass
roots -"sods"~fromthedrygroundandusedthem
as buildin gbricks.This custo mearnedhome st ead ers
a ni ckn ame bywhichtheywereoftenknown-" sod
busters ."These sam etangledgrassrootsalsogave
h o m estead ers alot oftrouble. TheGreatPlainshad
n everbefo rebeenploughed.T herootso f its gra sses
fo rmeda t ang ledmal at leastfouri n ch esthic k. Whe n
fanners triedtocutth rou ghthismattosowth eir