all things considered
On NPR (National Public Radio) today, Andrea Seabrook mentioned Laura Ingalls Wilder in her "The Federal Touch in South Dakota" piece for All Things Considered. The story mentioned government laws and young drivers, cattle and feed lots, and homesteading and the Ingalls homestead in De Smet. The five standing cottonwood trees were mentioned as being planted while the Ingallses were there.

A snippet:
...even for pioneer Charles Ingalls, Laura's dad, government was part of life. Though he took his family west, looking for an independent, rural life, he had to follow certain rules. The Ingalls had to live on this land for five years, till and sow at least ten acres every season, and plant the required number of trees for that windbreak. Only then, was this 160 acre homestead in Dakota Territory, awarded to them by the government.

no! No! NO!

There was NO tree-planting requirement for a homestead, period. No windbreak requirement, period. Charles Ingalls didn't have to plant any trees on his homestead if he didn't want to.

As for having to "live there for five years," that's incorrect as well. It was six months' continuous residency for five consecutive years, and it was perfectly legal for your spouse or children to live there while you were living and working elsewhere. Otherwise, Charles Ingalls and family couldn't have moved to town for those winters, and Laura wouldn't have been writing about her friends living on claims while the father was clearly still in town working - Tom Power, for example.

I don't think that Charles Ingalls was necessarily looking for an independent, rural life. He - and others - took advantage of the Homestead Act because it was a way to obtain "free land" from the government. Which wasn't exactly "free" after all.

Every time I see a misinterpretation of the Homestead Act of 1862, the Timber Culture Act of 1873, and/or the Preemption Act of 1841 today, I try to think of something in today's society to compare this kind of disregard for the facts to -- some way I can help people see that in the 1880s, most of society would know about homestead laws just the same way that you and I know about _____ today.

In "The Federal Touch in South Dakota," learning to drive was mentioned (in the context that a father wondered how urban children learned to drive when his son had 40 acres to learn on). Maybe that's it? The driver's license system? That in this day and age, people know or can easily find out what the laws are when their own children are learning to drive. These laws affect a lot of people, and there is a lot of interest in making sure they are interpreted and followed correctly.
- posted by pioneergirl at 12:11 AM