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Daniel Freeman, the
"First Homesteader." |
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MARCH 19 |
| 1936 The Homestead National Monument of America is established as a unit of the National Park System. It commemorates the Homestead Act of 1862, one of the most significant events in the westward expansion of the United States. The act declared that any citizen or intended citizen could claim 160 acres -- one quarter square mile -- of surveyed government land. Claimants must "improve" the plot with a dwelling and grow crops. After five years, if the original filer was still on the land, it was his property, free and clear. Daniel
Freeman, a Union scout from Iowa, is credited as being the first
person in the nation to file a homestead claim. He persuaded a Brownville,
Nebraska land agent to let him sign up shortly after midnight on January
1, 1863, the day the Homestead Act took effect, allowing Freeman to rejoin
his Union Army regiment. The Homestead National Monument is located on the
site of Freeman's original land claim. |
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