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121-640: William Willoby Jenkins was a rancher and gambler who staked a claim of land in Castaic, California in 1875, during the great migration in the West following the Homestead Acts of the late 19th century. He was 16 when he moved from Ohio to the Los Angeles area with his family in 1851. In Castaic, Jenkins ran a successful ranch, an oil company , and a profitable cat business during a rat infestation in

242-447: A crucial role in national expansion. It facilitated expansion into the West by creating an inexpensive, fast, convenient communication system. Letters from early settlers provided information and boosterism to encourage increased migration to the West, helped scattered families stay in touch and provide neutral help, assisted entrepreneurs to find business opportunities, and made possible regular commercial relationships between merchants and

363-543: A few thousand French migrated to Canada; these habitants settled in villages along the St. Lawrence River , building communities that remained stable for long stretches. Although French fur traders ranged widely through the Great Lakes and midwest region, they seldom settled down. French settlement was limited to a few very small villages such as Kaskaskia, Illinois as well as a larger settlement around New Orleans . In what

484-444: A few years, the pioneer added hogs, sheep, and cattle, and perhaps acquired a horse. Homespun clothing replaced the animal skins. The more restless pioneers grew dissatisfied with over civilized life and uprooted themselves again to move 50 or a hundred miles (80 or 160 km) further west. The land policy of the new nation was conservative, paying special attention to the needs of the settled East. The goals sought by both parties in

605-421: A frontier of settlement, but at present the unsettled area has been so broken into by isolated bodies of settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line. In the discussion of its extent, its westward movement, etc., it can not, therefore, any longer have a place in the census reports." Despite this, the later 1900 U.S. census continued to show the westward frontier line, and his successors continued

726-703: A gradual decrease in this indigenous land. Many of these land-grabs occurred during and after treaty negotiations between indigenous tribes and the United States. Native Americans often traded their land in exchange for citizenship and civil rights. Due to the United States' economic power, these tribes had little leverage and millions of acres of land were transferred from their ownership. It was difficult for indigenous people to legally challenge this infringement because they lacked legal rights and legal standing. These treaties were used to naturalize and civilize Native Americans. As an indirect, de facto way to secure

847-524: A low fixed price of $ 1.25 per acre ($ 3.09 per hectare). To qualify, a person had to be either 21 years old or a "head of household" (such as a parent or surviving sibling supporting a family), a citizen or an immigrant declaring to become a citizen, and a resident on that land for a minimum of 14 months. To get permanent title to the land, the person had to accomplish certain actions, such as continue to reside on it or improve it for at least five years; they could not leave or abandon it for more than six months at

968-417: A number of years individual Congressmen put forward bills providing for homesteading, but it was not until 1862 that the first homestead act was passed. The Homestead Act of 1862 opened up millions of acres. Any adult who had never taken up arms against the federal government of the United States could apply. Women and immigrants who had applied for citizenship were eligible. Most homesteading occurred during

1089-468: A one-room log cabin. The main food supply at first came from hunting deer, turkeys, and other abundant game. Clad in typical frontier garb, leather breeches, moccasins, fur cap, and hunting shirt, and girded by a belt from which hung a hunting knife and a shot pouch—all homemade—the pioneer presented a unique appearance. In a short time he opened in the woods a patch, or clearing, on which he grew corn, wheat, flax, tobacco, and other products, even fruit. In

1210-818: A party of 20 soldiers to find the headwaters of the Mississippi. He later explored the Red and Arkansas Rivers in Spanish territory, eventually reaching the Rio Grande . On his return, Pike sighted the peak in Colorado named after him . Major Stephen Harriman Long (1784–1864) led the Yellowstone and Missouri expeditions of 1819–1820, but his categorizing in 1823 of the Great Plains as arid and useless led to

1331-470: A principal trading center for Mississippi River traffic and inland commerce but remained under Spanish control until 1803. Thomas Jefferson thought of himself as a man of the frontier and was keenly interested in expanding and exploring the West. Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase of 1803 doubled the size of the nation at the cost of $ 15 million, or about $ 0.04 per acre ($ 305 million in 2023 dollars, less than 42 cents per acre). Federalists opposed

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1452-542: A profitable monopoly; he left the business as a multi-millionaire in 1834. As the frontier moved west, trappers and hunters moved ahead of settlers, searching out new supplies of beaver and other skins for shipment to Europe. The hunters were the first Europeans in much of the Old West and they formed the first working relationships with the Native Americans in the West. They added extensive knowledge of

1573-402: A salutary restraint upon the tribes, who would feel that any foray by their warriors upon the white settlements would meet with prompt retaliation upon their own homes. There was a debate at the time about the best size for the forts with Jefferson Davis , Winfield Scott , and Thomas Jesup supporting forts that were larger but fewer in number than Floyd. Floyd's plan was more expensive but had

1694-580: A spirit of nationalism and providing a necessary infrastructure. The army early on assumed the mission of protecting settlers along with the Westward Expansion Trails , a policy that was described by U.S. Secretary of War John B. Floyd in 1857: A line of posts running parallel without frontier, but near to the Indians' usual habitations, placed at convenient distances and suitable positions, and occupied by infantry, would exercise

1815-688: A storekeeper, a minister, and perhaps a doctor; and there were several landless laborers. All the rest were farmers. In the South, frontier areas that lacked transportation, such as the Appalachian Mountains region, remained based on subsistence farming and resembled the egalitarianism of their northern counterparts, although they had a larger upper-class of slaveowners. North Carolina was representative. However, frontier areas of 1700 that had good river connections were increasingly transformed into plantation agriculture. Rich men came in, bought up

1936-498: A time. The Donation Land Claim Act allowed settlers to claim land in the Oregon Territory , then including the modern states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and parts of Wyoming. The Oregon Donation Land Claim Act was passed in 1850 and allowed white settlers to claim 320 acres or 640 to married couples between 1850 and 1855 when the act was repealed. Before it was repealed in 1855, the land was sold for $ 1.25 per acre. After

2057-477: A total of 320 acres to a settler. The 1862 Homestead Act did not include indigenous peoples, so Congress passed the Indian Homestead Act to give Native family heads the opportunity to purchase homesteads from unclaimed public lands. This was under the condition that the individual relinquished their tribal identity and relations, along with the land improvement requirements. The federal land title

2178-481: A total of seven gunshot wounds. Chormicle died of chronic kidney disease on March 25, 1919. In total, the Castaic Range War claimed the lives of 21 to 40 people. Today, much of the disputed land, near what is now the intersection of Lake Hughes Road and Castaic Road, is submerged under Castaic Lake behind Castaic Dam . In 1998, workers at a housing development site unearthed the pine boxes containing

2299-661: A young girl was killed in a crossfire. Later, forest ranger Robert Emmett Clark, appointed in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt , was sent to end the feud. Clark succeeded in keeping the peace until 1913, when he left Castaic. That year, Jenkins was shot in the chest at his Lazy Z home by a man working for Chormicle, but survived. The feud continued, and a group of men working for Jenkins burned down William Gardner's house, killing him and some members of his family. Chormicle retaliated by having his rival's son, David Jenkins, lynched in Bouquet Canyon. On March 8, 1913, Jenkins

2420-518: Is famous for classifying and painting in minute details 500 species of birds, published in Birds of America . The most famous of the explorers was John Charles Frémont (1813–1890), an Army officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. He displayed a talent for exploration and a genius at self-promotion that gave him the sobriquet of "Pathmarker of the West" and led him to the presidential nomination of

2541-533: Is now New York state the Dutch set up fur trading posts in the Hudson River valley, followed by large grants of land to rich landowning patroons who brought in tenant farmers who created compact, permanent villages. They created a dense rural settlement in upstate New York, but they did not push westward. Areas in the north that were in the frontier stage by 1700 generally had poor transportation facilities, so

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2662-583: Is possible for any citizen to obtain certain lands from the Federal Government for residence, recreation, or business purposes. These tracts may not usually be larger than 5 acres. A 5-acre tract would be one which is 660 feet long and 330 feet wide, or its equivalent. The property was to be improved with a building. Starting July 1955, improvement was required to be minimum of 400 sq. feet of space. 4,000 previously classified Small Tracts were offered at public auction at fair market value, circa 1958, by

2783-516: The 1890 U.S. Census . His successors however continued the practice until the 1920 Census . Others, including the Library of Congress and University of Oxford , often cite differing points reaching into the early 1900s; typically within the first two decades before American entry into World War I . A period known as "The Western Civil War of Incorporation" lasted from the 1850s to 1919. This period includes historical events synonymous with

2904-700: The Dust Bowl of the 1930s. In 1916, the Stock-Raising Homestead Act was passed for settlers seeking 640 acres (260 ha) of public land for ranching purposes. Renewed interest in homesteading was brought about by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's program of Subsistence Homesteading implemented in the 1930s under the New Deal . In 1938 Congress passed a law, called the Small Tract Act (STA) of 1938, by which it

3025-713: The Midwest and American South , though no longer considered "western", have a frontier heritage along with the modern western states. Richard W. Slatta, in his view of the frontier, writes that "historians sometimes define the American West as lands west of the 98th meridian or 98° west longitude ," and that other definitions of the region "include all lands west of the Mississippi or Missouri rivers." Key:      States        Territories        Disputed areas        Other countries In

3146-675: The Mississippi River . These acts were the first sovereign decisions of post-war North–South capitalist cooperation in the United States. An extension of the homestead principle in law, the Homestead Acts were an expression of the Free Soil policy of Northerners who wanted individual farmers to own and operate their own farms, as opposed to Southern slave owners who wanted to buy up large tracts of land and use slave labor, thereby shutting out free white farmers. For

3267-523: The Old West , and popularly known as the Wild West , encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial settlements in the early 17th century and ended with the admission of the last few contiguous western territories as states in 1912. This era of massive migration and settlement

3388-699: The Province of Canada in The Public Lands Act of 1860. It was extended to include settlement in the Rainy River District under The Rainy River Free Grants and Homestead Act, 1886 , These Acts were consolidated in 1913 in The Public Lands Act , which was further extended in 1948 to provide for free grants to former members of the Canadian Forces . The original free grant provisions for settlers were repealed in 1951, and

3509-675: The Sandhills of north-central Nebraska required more than 160 acres for a claimant to support a family, Congress passed the Kinkaid Act, which granted larger homestead tracts, up to 640 acres, to homesteaders in Nebraska. This act allowed homesteads within Forest Reserves (created from 1891 on) and National Forests (from 1905? on), responding to opponents of the nation's Forest Reserves who felt land suited for agriculture

3630-777: The West Coast . Enormous popular attention was focused on the Western United States (especially the Southwest ) in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, from the 1850s to the 1910s. Such media typically exaggerated the romance, anarchy, and chaotic violence of the period for greater dramatic effect. This inspired the Western genre of film, along with television shows , novels , comic books , video games , children's toys, and costumes. As defined by Hine and Faragher, "frontier history tells

3751-631: The colonial era , before 1776, the west was of high priority for settlers and politicians. The American frontier began when Jamestown , Virginia, was settled by the English in 1607. In the earliest days of European settlement on the Atlantic coast, until about 1680, the frontier was essentially any part of the interior of the continent beyond the fringe of existing settlements along the Atlantic coast. English , French , Spanish , and Dutch patterns of expansion and settlement were quite different. Only

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3872-445: The 1600s to the 1900s (decades) with occasional movements north into Maine and New Hampshire, south into Florida, and east from California into Nevada. Pockets of settlements would also appear far past the established frontier line, particularly on the West Coast and the deep interior, with settlements such as Los Angeles and Salt Lake City respectively. The " West " was the recently settled area near that boundary. Thus, parts of

3993-466: The 1790–1820 era were to grow the economy, avoid draining away the skilled workers needed in the East, distribute the land wisely, sell it at prices that were reasonable to settlers yet high enough to pay off the national debt, clear legal titles, and create a diversified Western economy that would be closely interconnected with the settled areas with minimal risk of a breakaway movement. By the 1830s, however,

4114-581: The 1840s called for low-cost land for free white farmers, a position enacted into law by the new Republican Party in 1862, offering free 160 acres (65 ha) homesteads to all adults, male and female, black and white, native-born or immigrant. After winning the Revolutionary War (1783), American settlers in large numbers poured into the west. In 1788, American pioneers to the Northwest Territory established Marietta, Ohio , as

4235-529: The 1866 law was part of the reason that within a generation after its passage, by 1900, one quarter of all Southern Black farmers were farm owners. Later Homestead acts only marginally benefited African Americans. Similar laws were passed in Canada: The Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed The Free Grants and Homestead Act in 1868, which introduced a conditional scheme to an existing free grant plan previously authorized by

4356-581: The 1880s and 90s. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ended homesteading; by that time, federal government policy had shifted to retaining control of western public lands. The only exception to this new policy was in Alaska , for which the law allowed homesteading until 1986. The last claim under this Act was made by Ken Deardorff for 80 acres (32 ha) of land on the Stony River in southwestern Alaska. He fulfilled all requirements of

4477-475: The 5 years of residence or cultivation and that "no part of said land has been alienated [transferred or mortgaged], and that he [the homesteader] has borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States". If both parents died and all the children were under 21, an executor under state law could sell (for the benefit of the children, and not the estate) an absolute title to the land within two years of

4598-613: The Appalachian Mountains included the Connecticut River valley, and northern New England (which was a move to the north, not the west). Settlers on the frontier often connected isolated incidents to indicate Indian conspiracies to attack them, but these lacked a French diplomatic dimension after 1763, or a Spanish connection after 1820. Most of the frontiers experienced numerous conflicts. The French and Indian War broke out between Britain and France, with

4719-531: The British plan to set up a Native state in U.S. territory south of the Great Lakes. They explained the American policy toward the acquisition of Native lands: The United States, while intending never to acquire lands from the Indians otherwise than peaceably, and with their free consent, are fully determined, in that manner, progressively, and in proportion as their growing population may require, to reclaim from

4840-556: The French making up for their small colonial population base by enlisting Native war parties as allies. The series of large wars spilling over from European wars ended in a complete victory for the British in the worldwide Seven Years' War . In the peace treaty of 1763 , France ceded practically everything, as the lands west of the Mississippi River, in addition to Florida and New Orleans, went to Spain. Otherwise, lands east of

4961-639: The Homestead Act of 1862 was to reduce the cost of homesteading under the Preemption Act; after the South seceded and their delegates left Congress in 1861, the Republicans and supporters from the upper South passed a homestead act signed by Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, which went into effect on Jan. 1st, 1863. Its leading advocates were Andrew Johnson George Henry Evans and Horace Greeley . George Henry Evans famously coined

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5082-405: The Homestead Act of 1866 due to the ineligibility of Black citizens from applying. The " yeoman farmer " ideal of Jeffersonian democracy was still a powerful influence in American politics during the 1840–1850s, with many politicians believing a homestead act would help increase the number of "virtuous yeomen". The Free Soil Party of 1848–52, and the new Republican Party after 1854, demanded that

5203-633: The Homestead Law of 1862, with a moderated pace that gave settlers 160 acres free after they worked on it for five years. The private profit motive dominated the movement westward, but the federal government played a supporting role in securing the land through treaties and setting up territorial governments, with governors appointed by the President. The federal government first acquired western territory through treaties with other nations or native tribes. Then it sent surveyors to map and document

5324-538: The Los Angeles Office of BLM. Settlers found land and filed their claims at the regional land office, usually in individual family units, although others formed closer-knit communities. Often, the homestead consisted of several buildings or structures besides the main house. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave rise later to a new phenomenon, large land rushes , such as the Oklahoma Land Runs of

5445-697: The Mississippi River and what is now Canada went to Britain. Regardless of wars, Americans were moving across the Appalachians into western Pennsylvania, what is now West Virginia, and areas of the Ohio Country , Kentucky, and Tennessee. In the southern settlements via the Cumberland Gap , their most famous leader was Daniel Boone . Young George Washington promoted settlements in West Virginia on lands awarded to him and his soldiers by

5566-722: The Missouri River, and such principal stream of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean; whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river may offer the most direct and practicable communication across the continent for commerce". Jefferson also instructed the expedition to study the region's native tribes (including their morals, language, and culture), weather, soil, rivers, commercial trading, and animal and plant life. Entrepreneurs, most notably John Jacob Astor quickly seized

5687-605: The Northeast, there was little competition on the western frontier for Transylvania University , founded in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1780. It boasted of a law school in addition to its undergraduate and medical programs. Transylvania attracted politically ambitious young men from across the Southwest, including 50 who became United States senators, 101 representatives, 36 governors, and 34 ambassadors, as well as Jefferson Davis,

5808-461: The Northwest terrain, including the important South Pass through the central Rocky Mountains. Discovered about 1812, it later became a major route for settlers to Oregon and Washington. By 1820, however, a new "brigade-rendezvous" system sent company men in "brigades" cross-country on long expeditions, bypassing many tribes. It also encouraged "free trappers" to explore new regions on their own. At

5929-464: The Oregon territory. This act followed the passing of the 1848 territorial organic act which allowed any white settler to claim a maximum of six hundred and forty acres. The Land Donation Act, however, also acknowledged women's property rights due to Congress allowing the donation of four hundred acres to settlers—land that could be claimed by heads of households—including women. This act differed from

6050-640: The Royal government in payment for their wartime service in Virginia's militia. Settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains were curtailed briefly by the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , forbidding settlement in this area. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768) re-opened most of the western lands for frontiersmen to settle. The nation was at peace after 1783. The states gave Congress control of the western lands and an effective system for population expansion

6171-465: The Union in 1861 (and their representatives had left Congress), the bill passed and was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln (May 20, 1862). Daniel Freeman became the first person to file a claim under the new act. Between 1862 and 1934, the federal government granted 1.6 million homesteads and distributed 270,000,000 acres (420,000 sq mi) of federal land for private ownership. This

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6292-418: The United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain , typically called a homestead . In all, more than 160 million acres (650 thousand km ; 250 thousand sq mi) of public land, or nearly 10 percent of the total area of the United States, were given away free to 1.6 million homesteaders; most of the homesteads were west of

6413-533: The West and wholesalers and factories back east. The postal service likewise assisted the Army in expanding control over the vast western territories. The widespread circulation of important newspapers by mail, such as the New York Weekly Tribune , facilitated coordination among politicians in different states. The postal service helped to integrate already established areas with the frontier, creating

6534-517: The West was filling up with squatters who had no legal deed, although they may have paid money to previous settlers. The Jacksonian Democrats favored the squatters by promising rapid access to cheap land. By contrast, Henry Clay was alarmed at the "lawless rabble" heading West who were undermining the utopian concept of a law-abiding, stable middle-class republican community. Rich southerners, meanwhile, looked for opportunities to buy high-quality land to set up slave plantations. The Free Soil movement of

6655-476: The Wilderness Road. Kentucky at this time had been depopulated—it was "empty of Indian villages." However raiding parties sometimes came through. One of those intercepted was Abraham Lincoln 's grandfather, who was scalped in 1784 near Louisville. The War of 1812 marked the final confrontation involving major British and Native forces fighting to stop American expansion. The British war goal included

6776-415: The acts were Buffalo soldiers , African-American soldiers who were key in building the American frontier in the West. They often engaged in wars with Native Americans, led by the government, to take over indigenous land. The Preemption Act of 1841 allowed settlers to claim up to 160 acres of federal land for themselves and prevent its sale to others including large landowners or corporations; they paid only

6897-430: The advance of American settlement westward, explain American development." Through treaties with foreign nations and native tribes , political compromise, military conquest, the establishment of law and order, the building of farms, ranches, and towns, the marking of trails and digging of mines, combined with successive waves of immigrants moving into the region, the United States expanded from coast to coast, fulfilling

7018-527: The archetypical Old West or "Wild West" such as violent conflict arising from encroaching settlement into frontier land, the removal and assimilation of natives, consolidation of property to large corporations and government, vigilantism, and the attempted enforcement of laws upon outlaws. In 1890, the Superintendent of the Census, William Rush Merriam stated: "Up to and including 1880 the country had

7139-748: The coalition of hostile Native tribes. Meanwhile, General Andrew Jackson ended the Native military threat in the Southeast at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 in Alabama. In general, the frontiersmen battled the Natives with little help from the U.S. Army or the federal government. To end the war, American diplomats negotiated the Treaty of Ghent , signed towards the end of 1814, with Britain. They rejected

7260-403: The county. He later developed a reputation as a gambler and gunman . At one time Jenkins was deputized as a Los Angeles County constable. In one incident, he was sent to repossess a guitar from a locally popular Mexican man named Antonio Ruiz. A fight broke out during which Jenkins shot and killed Ruiz. Jenkins was jailed to await trial for murder. A mob of about 200 Mexicans formed to lynch him;

7381-433: The creation of an Indian barrier state under British auspices in the Midwest which would halt American expansion westward. American frontier militiamen under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creeks and opened the Southwest, while militia under Governor William Henry Harrison defeated the Native-British alliance at the Battle of the Thames in Canada in 1813. The death in battle of the Native leader Tecumseh dissolved

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7502-513: The creation of the Oregon territory in 1848, the US government had passed the most generous land distribution bill in US history. The Oregon Land Donation Act of 1850 had many negative effects on Indigenous people as well as Black people in the Pacific Northwest . Not only did the act use the land taken away from the Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest, but the act also barred Black citizens from owning land and real estate. The act guaranteed land for White settlers and "half-breed" Indian men to

7623-495: The defining features of American national identity. Historians have debated at length as to when the frontier era began, when it ended, and which were its key sub-periods. For example, the Old West subperiod is sometimes used by historians regarding the time from the end of the American Civil War in 1865 to when the Superintendent of the Census, William Rush Merriam , stated the U.S. Census Bureau would stop recording western frontier settlement as part of its census categories after

7744-504: The dispossessed land, the US government allowed late homesteading during the early twentieth century. This acted as a way to solidify settlements and permanently disrupt tribal land practices in the face of backlash. This Homestead Acts also resulted in tensions between settlers and indigenous people, partly due to settlers moving onto indigenous territory while it was still occupied. Settlements excused Indian removal and culminated in multiple wars waged by settler militia. Also involved in

7865-472: The early 21st century, some land is still being granted in the Yukon Territory under its Agricultural Lands Program. Despite the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi provisions for sale of land, the Māori Land Court decided that all land not cultivated by Māori was 'waste land' and belonged to the Crown without purchase. Most provinces in colonial New Zealand had Waste Lands Acts enacted between 1854 and 1877. The 1874 Waste Lands Act in Auckland Province used

7986-417: The edge of a line of settlement. Theorist Frederick Jackson Turner went deeper, arguing that the frontier was the scene of a defining process of American civilization: "The frontier," he asserted, "promoted the formation of a composite nationality for the American people." He theorized it was a process of development: "This perennial rebirth, this fluidity of American life, this expansion westward...furnish[es]

8107-565: The end of the gathering season, the trappers would "rendezvous" and turn in their goods for pay at river ports along the Green River , Upper Missouri, and the Upper Mississippi. St. Louis was the largest of the rendezvous towns. By 1830, however, fashions changed and beaver hats were replaced by silk hats, ending the demand for expensive American furs. Thus ended the era of the mountain men , trappers, and scouts such as Jedediah Smith , Hugh Glass , Davy Crockett , Jack Omohundro , and others. The trade in beaver fur virtually ceased by 1845. There

8228-421: The established frontier line. The U.S. Census Bureau designated frontier territory as generally unoccupied land with a population density of fewer than 2 people per square mile (0.77 people per square kilometer). The frontier line was the outer boundary of European-American settlement into this land. Beginning with the first permanent European settlements on the East Coast , it has moved steadily westward from

8349-400: The expansion, but Jeffersonians hailed the opportunity to create millions of new farms to expand the domain of land-owning yeomen ; the ownership would strengthen the ideal republican society, based on agriculture (not commerce), governed lightly, and promoting self-reliance and virtue, as well as form the political base for Jeffersonian Democracy . France was paid for its sovereignty over

8470-552: The first permanent American settlement in the Northwest Territory . In 1775, Daniel Boone blazed a trail for the Transylvania Company from Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into central Kentucky. It was later lengthened to reach the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville . The Wilderness Road was steep and rough, and it could only be traversed on foot or horseback, but it was the best route for thousands of settlers moving into Kentucky . In some areas they had to face Native attacks. In 1784 alone, Natives killed over 100 travelers on

8591-411: The forces dominating American character." Turner's ideas since 1893 have inspired generations of historians (and critics) to explore multiple individual American frontiers, but the popular folk frontier concentrates on the conquest and settlement of Native American lands west of the Mississippi River , in what is now the Midwest , Texas , the Great Plains , the Rocky Mountains , the Southwest , and

8712-564: The good land, and worked it with slaves. The area was no longer "frontier". It had a stratified society comprising a powerful upper-class white landowning gentry, a small middle-class, a fairly large group of landless or tenant white farmers, and a growing slave population at the bottom of the social pyramid. Unlike the North, where small towns and even cities were common, the South was overwhelmingly rural. The seaboard colonial settlements gave priority to land ownership for individual farmers, and as

8833-407: The homestead act in 1979 but did not receive his deed until May 1988. He is the last person to receive a title to land claimed under the Homestead Acts. The Homestead Acts were sometimes abused, but historians continue to debate the extent. In the 1950s and 1960s, historians Fred Shannon , Roy Robbins, and Paul Wallace Gates emphasized fraudulent episodes, and historians largely turned away from

8954-519: The ideology of Manifest Destiny. In his "Frontier Thesis" (1893), Turner theorized that the frontier was a process that transformed Europeans into a new people, the Americans, whose values focused on equality, democracy, and optimism, as well as individualism , self-reliance, and even violence. The frontier is the margin of undeveloped territory that would comprise the United States beyond

9075-568: The issue. In recent decades, however, the argument has mostly been that on the whole fraud was a relatively minor element and that strongly positive impacts regarding women and the family have only recently been appreciated. Robert Higgs argues that the Homestead Act induced no long-term misallocation of resources. In 1995, a random survey of 178 members of the Economic History Association found that 70 percent of economists and 84 percent of economic historians disagreed with

9196-402: The land for more than six months at a time, then the land reverted to the government. A homesteader could also pay the $ 1.25 (or the current rate) per acre price after proof of the less-stringent requirements set in the Preemption Act. After filing an affidavit with the government's agent, and paying him a $ 10 fee, the homesteader could begin occupying their claim. The government agent received

9317-786: The land. By the 20th century, Washington bureaucracies managed the federal lands such as the United States General Land Office in the Interior Department, and after 1891, the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture. After 1900, dam building and flood control became major concerns. Transportation was a key issue and the Army (especially the Army Corps of Engineers) was given full responsibility for facilitating navigation on

9438-465: The mountains for the proposed transcontinental railroad, but his expedition ended in near-disaster when it became lost and was trapped by heavy snow. His reports mixed narrative of exciting adventure with scientific data and detailed practical information for travelers. It caught the public imagination and inspired many to head west. Goetzman says it was "monumental in its breadth, a classic of exploring literature". While colleges were springing up across

9559-467: The new Republican Party in 1856. He led a series of expeditions in the 1840s which answered many of the outstanding geographic questions about the little-known region. He crossed through the Rocky Mountains by five different routes and mapped parts of Oregon and California. In 1846–1847, he played a role in conquering California. In 1848–1849, Frémont was assigned to locate a central route through

9680-411: The new lands opening up in the west be made available to independent farmers, rather than wealthy planters who would develop it with the use of slaves forcing the yeomen farmers onto marginal lands . Southern Democrats had continually fought (and defeated) previous homestead law proposals, as they feared free land would attract European immigrants and poor Southern whites to the west. The intent of

9801-707: The opportunity and expanded fur trading operations into the Pacific Northwest . Astor's " Fort Astoria " (later Fort George), at the mouth of the Columbia River, became the first permanent white settlement in that area, although it was not profitable for Astor. He set up the American Fur Company in an attempt to break the hold that the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly had over the region. By 1820, Astor had taken over independent traders to create

9922-432: The opportunity for commercial agriculture was low. These areas remained primarily in subsistence agriculture, and as a result, by the 1760s these societies were highly egalitarian , as explained by historian Jackson Turner Main: The typical frontier society, therefore, was one in which class distinctions were minimized. The wealthy speculator, if one was involved, usually remained at home, so that ordinarily no one of wealth

10043-545: The parent's death. The purchaser would pay office fees for a patent to the land. The act was enacted to allow poor tenant farmers and sharecroppers in the South to become landowners in the Southern United States during Reconstruction . In the South, poor farmers and sharecroppers made up the majority of the population so the act sold land at a lower price to decrease poverty among the working class. It

10164-513: The period 1900–1930. Land-grant laws similar to the Homestead Acts had been proposed by northern Republicans prior to Civil War but they had been repeatedly blocked in Congress by Democrats who wanted western lands open for purchase by slave owners. The Homestead Act of 1860 passed in Congress but was vetoed by President James Buchanan , a Democrat. After the Southern states seceded from

10285-505: The person "has never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies"; unlike the 1848 and 1850 laws, it did not have any provision mentioning race. The act insured adult U.S. citizens 160 acres of land from the government to "improve their plot by cultivating the land". The Homestead act expanded, rather than changed, the 1841 Preemption Act. The claimed homestead could include

10406-434: The phrase "Vote Yourself a Farm" in a bid to garner support for the movement. In addition to the previous requirement in the Preemption Act of being either 21 years old or the head of a family, the 1862 act also allowed for persons under 21 who had served in the regular or volunteer forces of the U.S. army or navy for at least 14 days during "the existence of an actual war domestic or foreign". The new act also required that

10527-553: The population grew they pushed westward for fresh farmland. Unlike Britain, where a small number of landlords owned most of the land, ownership in America was cheap, easy and widespread. Land ownership brought a degree of independence as well as a vote for local and provincial offices. The typical New England settlements were quite compact and small, under a square mile. Conflict with the Native Americans arose out of political issues, namely who would rule. Early frontier areas east of

10648-414: The possession of lands more than they can cultivate, and more than adequate to their subsistence, comfort, and enjoyment, by cultivation. If this is a spirit of aggrandizement, the undersigned are prepared to admit, in that sense, its existence; but they must deny that it affords the slightest proof of an intention not to respect the boundaries between them and European nations, or of a desire to encroach upon

10769-401: The practice. By the 1910 U.S. census however, the frontier had shrunk into divided areas without a singular westward line of settlement. An influx of agricultural homesteaders in the first two decades of the 20th century, taking up more acreage than homestead grants in the entirety of the 19th century, is cited to have significantly reduced open land. A frontier is a zone of contact at

10890-587: The president of the Confederacy. Most frontiersmen showed little commitment to religion until traveling evangelists began to appear and to produce "revivals". The local pioneers responded enthusiastically to these events and, in effect, evolved their populist religions, especially during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840), which featured outdoor camp meetings lasting a week or more and which introduced many people to organized religion for

11011-431: The president. Then when the population reached 100,000 the territory applied for statehood. Frontiersmen typically dropped the legalistic formalities and restrictive franchise favored by eastern upper classes and adopting more democracy and more egalitarianism. In 1810, the western frontier had reached the Mississippi River . St. Louis, Missouri , was the largest town on the frontier, the gateway for travel westward, and

11132-407: The purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever". The acquired land would not be liable for any debts incurred prior to the issuance of the patent for it. The time requirement for residence or cultivation was set at 5 years; if it was proven "after due notice" that they moved residence or abandoned

11253-681: The rainforest west of Portland, Oregon , was acquired by the Oregon Lumber Company by illegal claims under the Act. Several additional laws were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to address the concerns of African Americans . The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 sought to address land ownership inequalities in the south during Reconstruction . It explicitly included Black Americans and encouraged them to participate, and, although rampant discrimination, systemic barriers, and bureaucratic inertia considerably slowed Black gains,

11374-487: The region getting a bad reputation as the "Great American Desert", which discouraged settlement in that area for several decades. In 1811, naturalists Thomas Nuttall (1786–1859) and John Bradbury (1768–1823) traveled up the Missouri River documenting and drawing plant and animal life. Artist George Catlin (1796–1872) painted accurate paintings of Native American culture. Swiss artist Karl Bodmer made compelling landscapes and portraits. John James Audubon (1785–1851)

11495-648: The remaining provisions were repealed in 1961. The Parliament of Canada passed the Dominion Lands Act in 1872 in order to encourage settlement in the Northwest Territories . Its application was restricted after the passage of the Natural Resources Acts in 1930, and it was finally repealed in 1950. The Legislative Assembly of Quebec did not expand the scope of the 1860 Province of Canada Act (which modern day Quebec

11616-481: The remains of an infant and four adult men. The site was believed to have been the site of the Jenkins family cemetery and the bodies believed to be some of the final victims of the range war. Bouquet Canyon , where William Jenkins's son David was killed, has been nicknamed both "Hangman's Canyon" or "Dead Man's Canyon", in reference to the lynching. Homestead Acts The Homestead Acts were several laws in

11737-609: The rivers. The steamboat, first used on the Ohio River in 1811, made possible inexpensive travel using the river systems, especially the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries. Army expeditions up the Missouri River in 1818–1825 allowed engineers to improve the technology. For example, the Army's steamboat " Western Engineer " of 1819 combined a very shallow draft with one of the earliest stern wheels. In 1819–1825, Colonel Henry Atkinson developed keelboats with hand-powered paddle wheels. The federal postal system played

11858-418: The same fee for homestead land as he would have received if that land was sold for cash, 1/2 from the homesteader's filing fee and the other half from the patent (certificate) fee. The homesteader did not get a certificate or patent until they or their heirs filed, after 5 years (but before 7 years), further affidavits from two neighbors or "credible witnesses" and an additional $ 8 fee. Those affidavits affirmed

11979-430: The same land as Jenkins from railroads. This claim conflicted with that by Jenkins and the two came into conflict. The men failed to resolve the dispute amicably in court and it escalated to violence. The same year, Jenkins sent three men onto the disputed land. Chormicle and William A. Gardner, a friend of his, fired on the intruders, killing two of them, while the third escaped by horse. Chormicle and Gardner surrendered to

12100-405: The same land which they had previously filed a preemption claim (on up to 160 acres at $ 1.25 per acre, or up to 80 acres of subdivided and surveyed land at $ 2.50 per acre), and they could expand their current ownership to contiguous adjacent land up to 160 acres total. The homestead application must be "made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry [onto public land] is made for

12221-614: The sheriff and a trial was set. They pleaded self-defense, saying that they were protecting the property. The trial lasted for 18 days in June 1890, one of the longest trials in Los Angeles County history at the time. Jenkins was infuriated when the jury found Chormicle and Gardner not guilty. The two men began to dispute mining , grazing , and water rights in addition to road building. A number of barns were burned on both sides, and men were killed in gun battles. In one incident,

12342-590: The sheriff was wounded during their failed attempt to swarm the jail. Jenkins later enlisted in the Los Angeles Rangers , a local militia. The group pursued the men who had shot the sheriff, arrested their leader, but later released him. By 1872, Jenkins staked a claim near Castaic Creek , building a ranch he called the Lazy Z. In 1890, another rancher and frontiersman by the name of William C. Chormicle settled nearby, claiming to have bought 1,600 acres of

12463-421: The state of nature, and to bring into cultivation every portion of the territory contained within their acknowledged boundaries. In thus providing for the support of millions of civilized beings, they will not violate any dictate of justice or humanity; for they will not only give to the few thousand savages scattered over that territory an ample equivalent for any right they may surrender, but will always leave them

12584-433: The statement "Nineteenth-century U.S. land policy, which attempted to give away free land, probably represented a net drain on the productive capacity of the country." Some scholars believe the acreage limits were reasonable when the act was written but argue that no one understood the physical conditions of the plains. After a few generations, a family could build up a sizable estate. According to Hugh Nibley , much of

12705-505: The story of the creation and defense of communities, the use of the land, the development of crops and hotels, and the formation of states." They explain, "It is a tale of conquest, but also one of survival, persistence, and the merging of peoples and cultures that gave birth and continuing life to America." Turner himself repeatedly emphasized how the availability of "free land" to start new farms attracted pioneering Americans: "The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and

12826-400: The support of settlers and the general public who preferred that the military remain as close as possible. The frontier area was vast and even Davis conceded that "concentration would have exposed portions of the frontier to Native hostilities without any protection." Government and private enterprise sent many explorers to the West. In 1805–1806, Army lieutenant Zebulon Pike (1779–1813) led

12947-725: The term Homestead, with allocation administered by a Crown Lands Board. There was similar legislation in Westland . It gave up to 75 acres (30 ha), with settlers just paying the cost of a survey. They had to live there for five years, build a house and cultivate a third of the land, if already open, or a fifth if bush had to be cleared. The land was forfeited if they didn't clear enough bush. Further amendments were made in 1877, 1882 and 1885, adding details such as pastoral and perpetual leases and village and special settlements. This contributed to rapid deforestation . American frontier The American frontier , also known as

13068-406: The territories of Great Britain. [...] They will not suppose that that Government will avow, as the basis of their policy towards the United States a system of arresting their natural growth within their territories, for the sake of preserving a perpetual desert for savages. As settlers poured in, the frontier districts first became territories, with an elected legislature and a governor appointed by

13189-407: The territory in terms of international law. Between 1803 and the 1870s, the federal government purchased the land from the Native tribes then in possession of it. 20th-century accountants and courts have calculated the value of the payments made to the Natives, which included future payments of cash, food, horses, cattle, supplies, buildings, schooling, and medical care. In cash terms, the total paid to

13310-512: The tribes in the area of the Louisiana Purchase amounted to about $ 2.6 billion, or nearly $ 9 billion in 2016 dollars. Additional sums were paid to the Natives living east of the Mississippi for their lands, as well as payments to Natives living in parts of the west outside the Louisiana Purchase. Even before the purchase, Jefferson was planning expeditions to explore and map the lands. He charged Lewis and Clark to "explore

13431-432: Was a resident. The class of landless poor was small. The great majority were landowners, most of whom were also poor because they were starting with little property and had not yet cleared much land nor had they acquired the farm tools and animals which would one day make them prosperous. Few artisans settled on the frontier except for those who practiced a trade to supplement their primary occupation of farming. There might be

13552-613: Was a total of 10% of all land in the United States. Homesteading was discontinued in 1976, except in Alaska, where it continued until 1986. About 40% of the applicants who started the process were able to complete it and obtain title to their homesteaded land after paying a small fee in cash. Homestead laws depleted Native American resources as much of the land they relied on was taken by the federal government and sold to settlers. Native ancestral lands had been limited through history, mainly through land allotments and reservations, causing

13673-479: Was being withheld from private development. Homestead applications were reviewed by the U.S. Forest Service (created in 1905). While at first five years residency was required (per the 1862 Act), in 1913 this act was amended to allow proving up in just three years. Because by the early 1900s much of the prime low-lying alluvial land along rivers had been homesteaded, the Enlarged Homestead Act

13794-545: Was developed. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 abolished slavery in the area north of the Ohio River and promised statehood when a territory reached a threshold population, as Ohio did in 1803 . The first major movement west of the Appalachian mountains originated in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina as soon as the Revolutionary War ended in 1781. Pioneers housed themselves in a rough lean-to or at most

13915-640: Was not officially granted to Native Americans until a period of five years had passed. Because the US government did not issue fee waivers, many poor non-reservation Natives were unable to pay filing fees to claim homesteads. Access to such homesteads was further complicated by delays in resolving border disputes due to distance and discord between the US Land Office and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This made white settlements easier to finalize. Recognizing that

14036-473: Was not very successful, as even the low prices and fees were often too much for the applicants to afford. The land made available was also mostly undeveloped forestry, and only white people had the means to make them productive. The Timber Culture Act granted up to 160 acres of land to a homesteader who would plant at least 40 acres (revised to 10) of trees over a period of several years. This quarter-section could be added to an existing homestead claim, offering

14157-666: Was part of in 1860), but did provide in 1868 that such lands were exempt from seizure, and chattels thereon were also exempt for the first ten years of occupation. Later known as the Settlers Protection Act , it was repealed in 1984. Newfoundland and Labrador provided for free grants of land upon proof of possession for twenty years prior to 1977, with continuous use for agricultural, business or residential purposes during that time. Similar programs continued to operate in Alberta and British Columbia until 1970. In

14278-573: Was particularly encouraged by President Thomas Jefferson following the Louisiana Purchase , giving rise to the expansionist attitude known as " manifest destiny " and historians' " Frontier Thesis ". The legends, historical events and folklore of the American frontier, known as the frontier myth , have embedded themselves into United States culture so much so that the Old West, and the Western genre of media specifically, has become one of

14399-422: Was passed in 1909. To enable dryland farming , it increased the number of acres for a homestead to 320 acres (130 ha) given to farmers who accepted more marginal lands (especially in the Great Plains ), which could not be easily irrigated. A massive influx of these new farmers, combined with inappropriate cultivation techniques and misunderstanding of the ecology, led to immense land erosion and eventually

14520-496: Was shot while herding cattle off the disputed land by a man named William Lewis "Billy" Rose, who also claimed some of the same land as Jenkins and who was an ally of Chormicle. Jenkins again survived, and the feud drew to a close. Rose pleaded self-defense as Jenkins was a known gunfighter. Jenkins eventually died of an illness in October 1916 while visiting relatives in Los Angeles. He was either 84 or 86, and had reportedly survived

14641-425: Was wide agreement on the need to settle the new territories quickly, but the debate polarized over the price the government should charge. The conservatives and Whigs, typified by the president John Quincy Adams , wanted a moderated pace that charged the newcomers enough to pay the costs of the federal government. The Democrats, however, tolerated a wild scramble for land at very low prices. The final resolution came in

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