Life on the Homestead...

Life on the Homestead...

By Suzann Gilliland Peterson

High Desert Grange, Nevada

I’m a city girl. I’m a city girl who, as a child, dreamed day and night about becoming a farmer’s wife. No doubt, my dreams were inspired by visits to my great aunt and uncle’s farm in Lancaster, CA. I love the earth, the sky, the rain, streams and rivers, and all the animals on God’s green earth.

My young life, however, was spent the urban way living in Los Angeles. My father was an outdoorsman fishing streams, lakes and the sea and hunting locally and afar, all to provide for his family of four. Hunting with his camera for the perfect shot was, by far, his happiest pursuit as he sought to showcase environmental issues through his lens and his written words. Long before environmental issues took to the public eye, he was sounding the alarm about over-fishing our oceans and widespread poaching on public lands. I had the great fortune to accompany him on some of his excursions, which deepened my love of nature.

I now live in the Great Basin Desert, sixty miles east of Reno, Nevada. My husband, Dan, and I have a house on five acres of pure sand. Dan had homesteaded his first house which now belongs to his eldest son. Over coffee one morning, Dan approached me about homesteading our property as a precaution of what the future may bring. Both of us had lost our former spouses, so security was an important consideration for us. But I knew nothing about homesteading.

Perfect timing! I’ve been asked to do a quarterly article on homesteading for Good Day! magazine. The saying “when the student is ready, the teacher appears” is probably appropriate in this instance. I like reference points, history, and the opportunity to share what I’ve learned.

My stories will explore the history of homesteading, how it applies to today’s

world, and what it entails. Many of you are living the homestead experience; some of you are new to the Grange; and a few of you, like me, may come from an urban environment. My goal is to introduce/ reintroduce you to a facet of Grange that touches many of us… homesteading.

What is Homesteading?

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, “homesteading” means a selfsufficient lifestyle, one of subsistence agriculture on land owned or rented to support a household. It includes the preservation of home-grown food and livestock. Items made at home such as textiles, garments, and craft work for household use or sale on a small scale may also be part of homesteading. The term has been around for at least thirty-seven decades. What conditions created the need for such a concept?

American Life in the Mid-1800s

The socio-economic environment of America in the early 1840s catered to men with capital. Big farms were swallowing up smaller ones. A country of land monopoly was on the rise. The issue of slavery was front and center in American politics.

Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860 and the South seceded soon after. The Civil War ravaged the country. Precious metals and minerals were discovered in the west.

Amid the backdrop of such polarizing realities, Lincoln and a few Congressional leaders sought to provide an opportunity for every American to own land and provide for his family. At the same time, they sought to create an incentive for people to move to and settle the west.

The Homestead Act of 1862

On May 20, 1862, in the aftermath of the Civil War, President Lincoln signed into law the Homestead Act. For the price of an $18.00 filing fee with the local land office, individuals were granted 160-acre

plots of unappropriated public land.

To qualify, an individual must be thehead of a household or 21 years of age,have five years of continuous residenceon the land, build a home on it, farm it,make improvements, and certify that theyhave never borne arms against the UnitedStates. Two neighbors or friends wererequired to attest that the individual hadfulfilled the requirements. This individualwas known as a “homesteader.”

If a homesteader was a Union soldier,time served in the Civil War was taken intoconsideration as a way to decrease thefive-year residency requirement. Followingsix months of proven residency and a feeof $1.25 per acre, the government allowedthe purchase of land titles. This meant thatUnited States citizens or new immigrantsseeking naturalization were eligible tohomestead, as could single women andpeople of all races. Freed slaves would be

eligible upon becoming U.S. citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868. The Homestead Act cleared the way for westward expansion for those individuals who had the fortitude and strength to go the distance.

Challenges to the Act were many: The wording was ambiguous. With little oversight, much of the land went to speculators, cattlemen, miners, lumbermen, and railroads. Home-building requirements were specified in inches rather than feet, the exact measurements having never been noted.

Bleak and unpredictable weather, remote locations, and inconsistent water provoked many homesteaders to leave their claims before the five-year requirement was met. Nonetheless, the availability of cheap land for farming was enough to entice 1.6 million people to succeed, homesteading 10% of U.S. land or 270 million acres, land that went from the public domain to private hands.

The railroad was the biggest contributor to westward expansion bringing people, homesteaders included, and all that was needed to support personal and community success. New towns sprang up across the country. States were carved from territories. Homesteading and the west grew together. The 1870s and 1880s found the railroad industry charging exorbitant fees for farmers to transport and store their produce. In response, farmers initiated cooperatives and became politically active as they sought to improve their economic conditions.

Influence of the National Grange of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry

As readers probably know, founded in 1867, the National Grange of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry was created to advance methods of agriculture and to promote the social and economic needs of farmers throughout the United States. Membership in the early days included nearly 1,000,000 farmers, testament to the importance of agriculture.

It was the Grange’s belief that agriculture supported the country and

the county would, in turn, support farmers. The Grange assisted farmers in purchasing machinery, building grain elevators, lobbying for government regulations to keep the railroad industry from charging unrealistic shipping fees, and providing a network to support farm families.

Effect of the Homestead Act of 1862 on Native Americans

While homesteading the west spawned opportunity for many, it created unease and conflict between the newcomers and Native Americans whose home the settlers now invaded. Treaties with the U.S. government were not honored. Buffalo herds decreased. Water was diverted. Unsustainable farming methods were practiced. Non-native crops were planted. Fences were built.

The Native Americans found themselves pushed farther from homelands or pushed onto reservations that contained no viable soil for food sustainability. While Native American displacement began years before the Homestead Act, the introduction of large numbers of homesteaders and others accelerated tribal dislocation.

The Dawes Act of 1887 sectioned Native American reservations into 160-acre allotments. The Act gave the head of each family 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land. United States citizenship was offered only to those families who accepted an allotment of land.

This was considered comparable to the Homestead Act of 1862. There were differences, however. With the Dawes Act, the tribes controlled their allotted land and those lands were not owned by the federal government. However, much of their allotted land was not suited to farming. Large tracts were often leased to non-Native American farmers and ranchers. Once Native families claimed their allotments, any remaining tribal lands were designated as “surplus” and were given to non-Native families. This land was

then opened to homesteaders.

Under the Dawes Act, 65% of tribal lands were lost until the Act was repealed in 1934. Homesteading was not always the primary driver of Native American displacement. In some states, railroads, large cattle ranchers, mining interests, and land speculators often played a larger role.

Repeal of the Homestead Act of 1862

In 1976, the Homestead Act of 1862 was repealed. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act took its place. Its purpose was to keep public lands under federal ownership. The new Act gave the Federal Bureau of Land Management the authority to manage federal lands. Alaska allowed homesteading for another decade, but in 1986 homesteading under the Homestead Act of 1862 officially ceased.

Homesteading in today’s environment, rural or urban, is entirely different. It does not require the complex requirements of years ago. Homestead laws differ for each state. Modern homesteading is as creative as the homesteader.

Join me in upcoming articles as I explore the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of homesteading in the twenty-first century.