The congressmen laughed
The Homestead Act of 1862 was, no pun intended, landmark legislation that changed the course of our nation. Professor Hannah Haksgaard, a Property and Family Law professor at the University of South Dakota, has researched and written about the impact of the Homestead Act. One of her white papers, Including Unmarried Women in the Homestead Act of 1862, […]
Little soddy on the prairie
In her letter to her mother, Anna describes her new home: My home is what they call a “soddy.” It is small, about the same size as your dining room and kitchen, Mamma. Most of the homesteaders live in sod homes like mine. There are few trees on the prairie, so we make do. The sod […]