We hit the road early for the 2.5 hour drive to Homestead National Monument of America. The NM is located just outside Beatrice Nebraska, on the land that was the first application for a homestead. The application was submitted by Daniel Freeman on 1 Jan 1863. The story told is that he convinced the county clerk to open the office at Midnight on 1 Jan 1863 so he could submit his claim. The Homestead Act was passed in 1862. Under the act, an applicant could receive the Patent (deed) to 160 acres after they occupied the land for 5 years, farmed the land for that period and built a house on the land. Over 270 million acres of public lands were applied for under the act. Applicants included single women, immigrants from many countries, former slaves and many soldiers following the Civil War. Roughly %60 of the applicants lasted the five years to receive their land patient. The last application for homestead land was in 1974. The Homestead act was repealed in 1976 for the lower 48 states and in 1986 for Alaska. The visitor center was open and we were able to take turns viewing the exhibits and watching the movie (while the other stayed in the truck with Etta). David got our passport stamp and Leslie bought her post cards. Beyond the visitor center, there is a research center where you can look up ancestors that might have homestead. But neither one of us have ancestors that homesteaded. Those folks lived a very hard life. Roughly a third of the homesteads are still in the hands of the original families that received their Homestead Patient. Many have grown into large family owned/run farms across the Midwest. On the way back we stopped off in St. Joseph at a brewery that would accept dogs, The Angry Swede. We also ordered some dinner from a nearby restaurant, Marco Polo, that delivered to the brewery. The beer was good, but the food was not. So a bit of a mixed bag.
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| Entrance Sign |
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Visitor Center
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