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Homesteading in Nebraska · Nebraska History Podcast

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The following episode features a historic article from the
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Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
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language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
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valuable insight into the past, may content, expressions, or
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viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
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Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
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perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
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I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles
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written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
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The Homestead Act promised Freeland, but the reality was a
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complex web of railroad bills, land grants, and legal hurdles.
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In this episode we explore the laws and the grit that built the
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Cornhusker State through the 1972 Nebraska History Magazine
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article, Homesteading in Nebraska, 1862 through 1872,
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written by William H Beasley. The opening of Nebraska to
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settlement in 1854 initiated the vigorous search for political,
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social, and economic advancement that characterized America's
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frontier experience in frenetic undertakings alternately called
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enterprise and speculation. Farmers and merchants,
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newspapermen and politicians did not rely on their own abilities
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alone, but sought the aid of the federal government.
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Territorial opinion particularly championed free homesteads from
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the national domain. Nebraska's governors directed
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that sentiment by calling repeatedly on the Legislature to
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memorialize the Congress for a homestead bill.
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Governor Mike Izerd proposed that settlers, after living in
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the territory for two years, receive land donations like
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those given in Oregon and Florida.
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A successor, Governor Alvin Saunders, in the best rhetoric
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of the 19th century, foretold quote.
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With such a law enabling the industrious with limited means
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to secure homes for their dependent families, a very few
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years only will roll around before the rich valleys of the
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Platte, the Loop, the Elkhorn, the Nemaha, the Nyebra and other
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streams in the territory will be made to bloom as the Rose.
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End Quote. Political pressure reached a
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false climax when Congress passed, but President Buchanan
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vetoed a Homestead Act in 1860. Settlers deserted their
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Democratic allegiance and were rewarded for supporting the
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Republican Party when President Abraham Lincoln, its first
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successful candidate, signed into law the Homestead Act of
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May 20th, 1862. Congress designed the Act of
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1862 to provide free farms quote to actual settlers on the public
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domain End Quote who would obtain a fee simple title after
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improving their claim during five years of residence.
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The offer, extended to all citizens of majority age, to
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heads of families, and to immigrants who had declared
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their intention to be naturalized, passed during the
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Civil War Congress excluded anyone who had taken up arms
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against the United States and made a special concession that
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any Union veteran of two weeks or more might obtain a claim
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without consideration of his age, his nationality, or his
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familial status. Qualified persons could claim as
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much as 160 acres of public land valued at $1.25 per acre or 80
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acres assessed at $2.50 an acre. The ACT freed the homestead from
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liability for debts contracted before the issue of the final
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title. The well known commutation
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clause allowed an entry man to acquire final title by purchase
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after living on his claim for six months.
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The terms of the ACT provided only one opportunity.
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If a settler failed in his first attempt, legally he was no
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longer eligible to homestead. During the first decade, 1862 to
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1872, Congress modified the original legislation, increasing
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consideration of military men. In 1864, an amendatory act
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permitted men on active duty to file entries before their
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commanding officers or allowed wives to act as proxies before
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local land officials. And then in 1870, a provision
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enabled veterans who had served at least 90 days in the Union's
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cause to claim 160 acres of double minimum.
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Two years later, in the Soldiers and Sailors Act, the duration of
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a military hitch became deductible from the period of
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residency. Wounded and disabled Union
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survivors were excused entirely from residency requirements,
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although they had to live on the land one year as an act of good
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faith before receiving the title.
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Decisions by commissioners of the General Land Office also
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affected the operation of the Homestead Act.
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Because a settler legally received only one chance to
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homestead, it was necessary to rule under what circumstances an
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entry man gave up his claim. The commissioner declared an
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entry forfeited when the settler was absent from the land longer
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than six consecutive months during the required five years,
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and he found that sale of a homestead before receipt of the
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title prima facie evidence of abandonment.
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In all cases the defunct claims reverted to the public domain.
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Of particular interest to settlers on the plains was a
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decision that entry men could use trees on their land for
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improving their claims, but the timber was liable to seizure if
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they attempted to market it. Contrary to these restrictions,
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A settler could transfer a portion of his claim without
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penalty for the use of a church, cemetery, school, or railroad
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right of way. Another ruling restricted an
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alien's ability to prove up his homestead.
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Although immigrants who declared an intention to become citizens
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might enter land, the commissioner decided in 1867 and
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reiterated in 1868 that they could not receive a completed
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patent until they had been naturalized.
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The original Homestead Act, congressional amendments, and
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decisions by the commissioner of the General Land Office created
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a legal framework in which the settler could obtain his free
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acreage. The ACT specified that free
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farms would come from the public domain, but not all categories
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of federal land were open to homesteaders.
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In its primary description, the General Land Office designated
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land as unsurveyed and surveyed. Only pre emptors could select
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farm sites in an unsurveyed region.
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After surveyors had marked townships and sectional lines
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and had forwarded their plat books for approval first to the
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national office and then to the local land office, the
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administrators classified this district as unoffered surveyed
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land open to both pre emptors and homesteaders.
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Claims by other procedures were excluded until a presidential
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decree placed a district in the offered category.
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For frontiersmen who intended to homestead, rapid surveys were
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essential. The surveyor general of the
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Kansas Nebraska district in 1854 began to mark a boundary between
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the territories as a baseline for future surveys, but it
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proved difficult. Surveying parties encountered
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numerous problems. The absence of trees
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traditionally used to mark sectional corners, the
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unabridged Platte River, and harassment by hostile Indians.
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More constraining than environmental obstacles were
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political considerations. The surveyor general and his
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staff were patronage appointees, sensitive to partisan pressure
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and popular concerns. Technically limited only by
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orderly rectilinear progression of townships, the surveyors
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responded to political interests.
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Most surveys occurred in Kansas during the struggles in the
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1850s for political control of that territory After passage of
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the Railroad Act, National interest focused on completion
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of the transcontinental route, so surveying expeditions worked
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primarily in the Platte Valley to give the company access to
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its land and to allow the lane of the right away.
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The concentration of surveying parties in one area would not
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have been so detrimental if the Land Office had not operated
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with such meager funds. But appropriations were always
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limited, and in 1865 Congress failed to provide any funds for
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the survey. Perhaps it was constant
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legislative parsimony that moved one Nebraska surveyor to seek
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greater efficiency from his crew by making them not merely
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surveyors, but foresters as well.
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Surveyor General Robert R Livingston proposed in 1869.
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Quote It should be feasible and entail no additional cost to the
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United States to introduce a clause in surveying contracts in
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the treeless portion of the district whereby the contractor
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should be bound to cause his chain men to deposit 3 to 6
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seeds of some Hardy and rapidly growing tree, such as the
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blueberry, coffee bean, or honey locust, at every tally.
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No time would be lost, for when the hind chairman came up with
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his tally pins, they could be thrust into the yielding soil.
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A sufficient hole or holes made to plant the seeds in, and after
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planting A slight blow from the heel of his boot would cover
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them. End Quote.
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Nothing came of the proposal, despite physical, political and
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administrative obstructions. Slowly the surveyors manage
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their duties. The Surveyor General estimated
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in 1870 that surveys in the eastern quadrant and along the
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railroad route in the Platte Valley had covered 3/8 of
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Nebraska Territory. Plat books of surveyed districts
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went to the local land office, staffed by registrars and
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receivers, where settlers entered claims under all of the
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disposition laws. Congress established the first
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district office in Nebraska at Omaha City July 22nd, 1854, and
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the first plat books arrived June 1856, making the
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administrators more accessible to settlers. 3 new units opened
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in 1857, the Nemaha District with its office at Brownville,
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the S Platte District with an office at Nebraska City, and
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Dakota District with an office at Dakota City.
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The offices remained unchanged until westward movement of
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settlers forced the relocation in 1868 of three farther W The
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Brownville administration moved to Beatrice, NE City to Lincoln
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and Omaha to West Point, while the Dakota City office remains
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stationary. A fifth unit was opened April
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20th, 1869 at Grand Island to accommodate settlers in the
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Platte Valley. Responding to memorials from the
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state legislature and pressure of increased land transactions,
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Congress created 2 land districts in 1872, one for the
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Republican Valley at Lowell and another for the Western Region
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at North Platte. After the Lowell office was
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moved to Bloomington, the seven offices remained unaltered until
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1882. Before the passage of the
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Homestead Act. The lack of business in Nebraska
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made the land administration a sinecure of sorts.
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Registers and receivers dealt with pre emptors, purchasers and
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those with bounty script, but dilatory surveys and national
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attention on Kansas initially restricted settlement in
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Nebraska. On the eve of the Civil War, the
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prospect of a fratricidal struggle also limited
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immigration into the territory. The commissioner reported that
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both Kansas and Nebraska, large tracts of surveyed land remained
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unclaimed. Local officials performed only
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minimal duties. The Homestead Act promised to
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increase business, so the administration developed a
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systematic procedure to handle the anticipated crush of
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entries. First, the prospective
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homesteader had to locate land that appeared suitable for
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farming and was open to homestead entries.
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In this crucial step, the land office offered only meager
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guidance. Local officials informed
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settlers of surveyed regions but provided no additional
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information about topography or farming potential.
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A settler who had just arrived in the territory might enter a
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claim blindly, or he might turn to the unofficial land officer,
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the land agent. The agent exploited the
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opportunity created by the settlers, unfamiliarity with the
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district, and by the administration's silence for
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assisting and selecting and purchasing land.
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Even entering claims the agent demanded a Commission or a share
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of the transaction. Despite their mendacity,
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Professor Paul W Gates insists that, quote, these Western land
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agents rank with the registers and receivers as among the most
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important people on the frontier end.
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Quote. The value of their assistance
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varied by the extent of their actual knowledge of the area.
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Some explored the surrounding terrain, others examined only
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the plat books. Nevertheless, for the newly
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arrived settler, the agent was a useful aid.
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After finding a promising site, the settler made his entry at
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the land office. In the application he stated the
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location of his claim, and in an affidavit he swore to his
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eligibility under the provisions of the Homestead Act and
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testified that the application was for his quote, exclusive use
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and benefit, and made for the purpose of actual settlement and
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cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the
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benefit of any other person. End Quote.
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If the land had not previously been entered and the forms were
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in order, the register accepted the claim and the settler paid
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the necessary fees and commissions to the receiver.
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At this point, the settler possessed an interlocutory land
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entry, which meant he could reside on the land while
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complying with the remaining requirements of the Homestead
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Act. The homesteader returned to his
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land to cultivate and to improve it.
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After five, but before 7 years of residency, the entry men, his
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widow, or their heirs could make a final entry.
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The claimant signed an affidavit that he was a citizen of the
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United States, had cultivated his land for at least five
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years, had not alienated any portion of the original entry,
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and had to remain loyal to the United States.
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Two witnesses attested to the affidavit.
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Then he paid his final fees and received and returned a
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certificate that entitled him to a patent if the General Land
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Office accepted his final entry before the title arrived, which
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might take years. The settler was placed in a
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rather anomalous position. The courts considered the
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settler the legal owner of the land and the claim became
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subject to many legal processes, including sale.
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Yet the title remained vested in the United States government and
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jurisdiction of the land remained with the General Land
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Office. Commutation provided another
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option for the homesteader. A settler who presented 2
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witnesses that he had lived on and improved his claim during a
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six month period could purchase his entry at minimum price
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without waiting for the five year period to expire.
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The procedure used by the General Land Office relied
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entirely on sworn statements by claimants and witnesses to
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enforce compliance with the regulations of the Homestead
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Act. For the first decade of
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homestead operations in Nebraska, over 28,000 entries
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were made, which included over 3.3 million acres.
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Of the 28,000 entries, 16,188 made final claims.
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Although entries rose constantly in the 10 years considered, the
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end of the Civil War brought a dramatic increase of entry men.
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The growing number of claims is the most obvious pattern in the
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statistics, but it is also quite apparent that only a little over
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half of the total entry men made final entries.
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The number who successfully completed the requirements for
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title never reached half the number of original entries in
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any one year until after Nebraska became a state.
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The trend lends credence to those historical accounts that
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find tremendous restlessness among the first farmers of the
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frontier. These numbers do not include the
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commutations during the same period because they were
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reported without distinction with the record for land sales.
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The Commissioner of the Land Office estimated in 1865 that
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50% of the homestead entries would be commutated, but
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research in three counties in Nebraska revealed that only
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about 1/3 of all the homestead titles were acquired under this
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feature of the ACT, Breaking the homestead figures into district
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components, the effect of survey location and the accessibility
16:59
of a region become apparent. The remoteness of the Dakota
17:02
District north of the Omaha Indian Reserve was mirrored in
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the lack of entries at that office.
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On the other hand, the greatest number of entries was made at
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those district offices South of the Platte River.
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The pattern of entries also reflected the survey of the
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Union Pacific route. The heavier settlement in the
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southeastern region and along the railroad line explain the
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westward movement of land offices and the creation of the
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Grand Island office in 1868. The records of land disposition
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under all forms of alienation at the Omaha office demonstrate
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that more land was entered under the Homestead Act, then was sold
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for cash, including commutations and agricultural script.
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Moreover, at the Omaha office, the acreage taken by all methods
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was never more than that claimed in homestead entries until 1872.
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Although these statistics illustrate that settlers did not
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receive an opportunity to locate a claim, the chart does not show
18:00
how the amount of land claimed by the railroads nor the number
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of entry men who failed to prove up their homesteads.
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Nevertheless, homesteading was the primary procedure for
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locating land in the first decade of its operation.
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The sale of land did continue and large purchases were news in
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Nebraska, particularly if the buyer was an outsider.
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In June 1867, the Nebraska City News reported quote a gentleman
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from New York said to be worth $3,000,000 entered 11,000 acres
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of land. End Quote.
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The gentleman may have been Ira Davenport of New York, who
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bought 17,000 acres in Nebraska from 1863 to 1873.
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In the first decade of homestead operation, 98 different persons
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purchased tracts of land, at least 2560 acres, 16 times the
18:52
maximum size of a homestead claim, from a public domain at
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the Omaha office. Of 136,450 acres purchased,
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98,440 acres were sold in blocks of 2560 acres or larger.
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Small wonder that governors encourage legislative memorials
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to the United States Congress to end the public sale of land.
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Acting Governor Algernon Paddock, during a speech in
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1867, requested the following modifications.
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Quote. First, prohibiting any further
19:27
issuing of warrants or land script for any purpose whatever
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except for the usual endowments to new states or for internal
19:36
improvements in the States and territories where the lands are
19:39
located. 2nd, Forbidding the location of any warrants or
19:43
agricultural college script of a greater amount than two sections
19:47
in each Township. And 3rd, Withdrawing the
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government's land from public sale and reserving all except
19:54
those donated as before mentioned, exclusively for
19:57
location under the homestead and preemption laws.
20:00
End Quote. He went on to suggest that
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Congress purchase the land donated to the Burlington
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Railway. Quote.
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Provided that every acre thus regained by the government
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should be held exclusively for the location under a homestead
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law, which should require every settler to cultivate at least 20
20:17
acres of timber on his homestead, the preservation of
20:20
which for five years should be one of the essential conditions
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of obtaining a fee simple of his land.
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End Quote. The sale of land remained,
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however, a major feature of the disposition laws.
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Paddock's apprehension reflected the contemporary concern that
20:37
actual settlers would be denied an opportunity to secure farms
20:41
from the national lands. That attitude assigned an
20:44
unwarranted primacy to the Homestead Act among the laws
20:48
governing the alienation of government land.
20:50
Once described as incongruous, the disposition laws formed a
20:55
comprehensive giveaway system that rapidly transferred public
20:59
land at little or no cost into the hands of private
21:02
individuals. The Homestead Act supplemented
21:05
the other methods of alienation by increasing the opportunity
21:08
for persons to participate in the development of the frontier
21:12
through personal labor rather than purchase.
21:15
In this sense, the ACT concluded a general trend to reduce both
21:19
the cash payment and the minimum size of an entry that began
21:22
shortly after the initial land provisions of the Ordinance of
21:25
1785. Although it was only one of the
21:29
possible procedures for acquiring land, it was
21:32
frequently used for initial entries in the early years.
21:36
One study calculated that despite the number of early
21:39
failures, 80% of the land available to homesteaders in
21:42
Nebraska eventually passed to private title through the
21:45
Homestead Act or other settler oriented legislation.
21:49
The opportunities for settlers under the homestead provisions
21:53
must not be overdrawn. The homesteaders great advantage
21:56
was the provision that allowed entries on unoffered land, but
22:00
claims still had to be made in survey districts.
22:04
The course of the survey in Nebraska opened land early in
22:07
the Platte Valley, but in many sections it lay astride the
22:11
railroad path and only 80 acres could be obtained.
22:14
A more serious disability handicapped the homesteader
22:17
because his claims could not be held liable for debts during the
22:21
five years of residency. That clause severely restricted
22:25
the claimants access to mortgage funds, leaving only short term
22:29
chattel loans. The inability to obtain credit
22:32
may account for much of the fraud under the Homestead Act.
22:36
Generally, homesteaders who obeyed the law only partially
22:39
participated in the frontier boom activities.
22:43
Residency requirements curtailed mobility, denying them access to
22:47
subsidiary income from temporary employment, and prohibitions
22:51
restricted funds from the sale of land parcels or timber stands
22:55
from their claim. Many of these provisions had
22:58
been made with good intentions, but they cut cross grain to
23:01
exploitative enterprise of the frontier.
23:04
Men did not come to the territories to become subsidence
23:07
farmers, but to establish a home and to make a profit.
23:11
Perhaps the Homestead Act can be compared to indentured servitude
23:15
in the colonies. It was a useful system for the
23:18
indentured servant, but less appealing than other procedures
23:22
for making a start in the New World.
23:24
During the first decade of operation, the limited size of
23:27
entries, the restrictions on movement and profiteering, and
23:31
the isolation from credit made the Homestead Act less appealing
23:35
than other methods of acquiring title.
23:37
It is possible that many of the settlers who failed to make
23:40
final entry on their homestead claim were among those who
23:43
purchased or used some other law to obtain farm sites.
23:47
Promoters who boomed Nebraska with local pride and desire for
23:51
personal profit realized the Homestead Act would not
23:55
distinguish their territory from other frontier regions.
23:58
But the passage of the transcontinental railroad bill
24:01
promised to make Nebraska the focus of new settlers.
24:05
One editor, seeing both laws as the pillars upon which
24:08
territorial prosperity would rest, reported with infectious
24:12
delight to his readers, quote. The effect of these two bills
24:16
will be the start of a great tide of immigration for the West
24:20
and especially Nebraska. The immigration will certainly
24:24
be very large even before the war is over, if it was only for
24:29
the homestead law alone. Many of those coming W to secure
24:32
its advantages might prefer some other locality to Nebraska on
24:36
account of the scarcity of timber, but the Pacific Railroad
24:40
will make land in Nebraska more desirable and more valuable than
24:44
in any other territory. End Quote.
24:47
Certainly the Homestead Act lured settlers to the Nebraska
24:51
plains, but it was only one of the statutes that created a
24:55
legal environment in which the federal government encouraged
24:58
enterprise. Congress had authorized other
25:01
legislation complimenting, often complicating, federal assistance
25:05
to territorial settlers. The legislators added the
25:08
Homestead Act and the railroad bill to a system that included
25:13
land sales grants to the States and military script.
25:17
During the 1860s, they passed the Moral Act for agricultural
25:21
and mechanical colleges and another bill that allowed
25:24
individuals and corporations to post the cost of public survey
25:28
in order to claim land not offered to the public, then
25:31
added an amendment that applied the deposit to the cost of
25:35
entry. The success or failure of the
25:38
Homestead Act must be evaluated within the context of the entire
25:42
land alienation system. All of these disposition laws
25:46
affected the growth of the frontier, Yet for many settlers,
25:50
the Homestead Act remained the promise of opportunity in the
25:53
Nebraska Territory. Thank you for listening to the
25:57
Nebraska History Podcast. To learn more about Nebraska
25:59
History Magazine, to listen to more podcast episodes, or to
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support our podcast by becoming a member of the Nebraska State
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Historical Society, go to history.nebraska.gov/podcast.
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And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and get notified
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favorite podcast platform. Until next time, I'm Chris
26:19
Goforth.