VFW Magazine May 2012 : Page 28HOMESTEAD ACT ALLOWS VETS TO LIVE OFF LAND The Homestead Act of 1862 ultimately gave preference to Civil War veterans, offering them the opportunity to own farms and settle the West. On the 150th anniversary of its passage, it is instructive to revisit this landmark law. B Y R ICHARD K. K OLB That same desire lives on even today. In Nebraska—the original epicenter of the Homestead Act—programs are currently assisting Afghanistan and Iraq vets to till the soil. (See the story on pages 24). A 28 • VFW fter WWII, polls among veter-ans showed that the desire to own and farm land outranked near-ly all other ambitions. “This is in the best American tradition,” Richard L. Neuberger wrote on the pages of VFW magazine in 1946. “The fi ghting men of the United States have always looked to the land for a livelihood.” Though that tradition dates back to Revolutionary War veterans settling in the Ohio River Valley, it really took root after the Civil War. “Veterans of the Civil War— troopers in Union blue and Confederate gray—moved across the Plains and broke the sod in timbered upland valleys beyond the Continental Divide,” Neuberger wrote. “The Far West owes much of its progress and development to the troopers who have fought their country’s battles.” • MAY 2012 HOW IT ALL STARTED Indeed, the fi rst farm under the Homestead Act of 1862 was established near Beatrice, Neb. It came about when that momentous legislation was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862—150 years ago. It was the fi rst of 104,260 home-steads in the Cornhusker State. To claim 160 acres of non-occupied, sur-Daniel Freeman was the fi rst homesteader and reportedly the fi rst Civil War vet to claim land under the Homestead Act. NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Homestead Act Allows Vets To Live Off LandRichard K. KolbRead the full article at http://digitaledition.qwinc.com/article/Homestead+Act+Allows+Vets+To+Live+Off+Land/1022411/106420/article.html. Publication List |
