By Karla Burkit
Probably no other single piece of legislation impacted more individual American families than the Homestead Act of 1862. American citizens and immigrants from every walk of life rushed to stake claims under the provisions of this Act. By 1900, nearly 400,000 individuals and families had paid the ten dollar registration fee and taken steps to "prove up" on a piece of the American Dream.
It was a daunting task. The would-be landowner must live on his claim for at least six months of each year for five years and make improvements in the property over that time. Aside from the constant threats of natural disasters, disease, and accidents, the homesteader faced the challenges of a nearly solitary existence and continuous hard work. Threatened from without by claim jumpers and wildfires, among other things, the homesteader also often waged an interior struggle against loneliness, doubt, and depression. And yet, the prospect of owning property and improving their station in life lured many thousands of middle and lower class people to gamble on the frontier.
The Homestead Act was notable for its specific inclusion of women. A single, divorced, or widowed woman, as long as she fulfilled the other requirements of the Act, was specifically granted the same rights to earn and hold property as a man. A large number of women thus became independent in an age when many modern people assume that they were unable to act on their own behalf. Children were also protected with rights of survivorship if both parents died.
The inclusion of these important rights was fundamental in shaping the communities that grew up in the American West. The presence of empowered women contributed to the rapid growth of schools, churches and civic organizations and incorporated many of the refinements of a more civilized society in the daily life of the rugged frontier. In a very fundamental way the Homestead Act encouraged "family values" in what is too easily portrayed as a singularly male culture.
The culture of the family was essential to the homesteader. Extended families often worked claims together, or proved up on adjoining sections. Children and grandchildren would build homes within easy distance of the homestead and share in the labor and the rewards of the farm or ranch. And, of course, the homestead would pass from generation to generation, providing home, income, and emotional roots to the descendants for many years.
A full force land-grab aimed at increasing federal holdings and forcing native people onto the most worthless lands? Yes. A governmental ploy to spread the anti-slavery Union territory as quickly as possible in the early years of the Civil War? Certainly. Without question, the Homestead Act reflected the prevailing nineteenth-century views of "Manifest Destiny" and the "White Man's Burden". From our modern stance we may see all the attendant problems and pitfalls more clearly. But to the countless new citizens searching for an opportunity to better their lives, and to the many poor factory, mill, and mine workers seeking for an escape from the poverty and horrible conditions of a newly industrial society, homesteading was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to claim a new and better future.
Perhaps the best way to examine any aspect of history, and especially the history of a movement so tied to the common people, is to learn the individual stories of those who lived it. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books have shared the experience of a homesteading family with generations of children. Elinore Pruitt Stewart shared a detailed portrait of her daily life in Letters of a Woman Homesteader and Letters on an Elk Hunt by a Woman Homesteader. But aside from these published works, there still remain many first-hand and second-hand accounts, and they may be as near as your own neighbors and family. Amazing tales of humor, adventure and passion may be released by a simple question such as "How did Grandma and Grandpa meet?" A common item like a simple wooden cabinet may have a story behind it bursting with imaginative possibilities.
Sharlot Hall Museum's Blue Rose Theater presents a new play entitled Homestead based on many of these same unwritten, unpublished, first-hand accounts. The fictional family portrayed in the drama is based on many true stories shared by family, friends and acquaintances. The unique experience of the generations of a single family tied to a piece of land, the patterns of family relationships, and the flow of time and change are all a part of this entertaining evening under the stars. Share the experience of the homesteader.
Karla Burkit is a Playwright for the Blue Rose Theater.