Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

(20 May 1862) Congress allowed any citizen or resident alien to claim 160 acres of his choosing from any surveyed, but unpatented, range of public domain , provided he live on it for five years, improve it for agriculture, and pay modest registration fees. Later amendments permitted Union veterans to subtract their military service from the five years. Homesteaders could also claim another 160 acres free under the T imber C ulture A ct and could buy an additional 160 acres at $1.25 an acre under the P reemption A ct . In all, a settler might acquire 480 acres for just $200. Lax administration allowed large ranchers and corporations to acquire vast tracts by fraud. In 1935 public lands were closed to homesteaders for purposes of conservation following passage of the T aylor G razing A ct . Under the Homestead Act, 1,623,691 land entries were filed. ... log in or subscribe to read full text