CHAPTER 5
TWENTIETH-CENTURY HOMESTEADERS
T,
he federal land lottery of Indian reservation land offered many twentieth century homesteaders the opportunity to acquire 160 acres of land with little cash expense. Those who settled on the reservation did so with high hopes and expectations to t u r n the virgin land into highly productive farmland through hard work and a desire to build a new life for themselves and their families. Many arrived with few belongings and resources. Through the sweat of their brows, the strength of their hands, and their faith and prayers some succeeded in proving up on their 160 acres, building homes, establishing communities, and creating Utah's twenty-eighth county.
It Was Less Than They Expected Not all who filed for the right to take up land on the reservation actually took up land, and, of those who did try their hand at homesteading, perhaps more than a third left the reservation within a year of settling. These failures did not halt other families from taking up homesteads, however. Those who stayed understood that the former reservation was 113
