|
 |
|
Homesteading The area was opened to
homesteading in 1863 with free public land given to people willing
to farm. Some came to buy their land. Others hoped to get it for free
by meeting one of the Homesteading Act's two requirements: planting
trees on 10 acres of a 160 acre claim (called a tree claim) or living
on the claim for five years (you couldn’t be away for more than
three weeks on any claim). Under the Homestead Act, settlers had to
break ten acres the first year. Settlement was slow until
completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad provided dependable transportation.
North Dakota's population was registered at 2,405 in 1870, increasing
to 190,983 in 1890. North Dakota's main attractions
for settlers were the fertile Red River Valley in the east and the
vast grasslands of the west. Huge "Bonanza" farms, farms
of over 3,000 acres, were established in the Valley, and large ranching
operations, including one owned by Theodore Roosevelt were created
in the west. George W. Cass, president
of the Northern Pacific, was persuaded to demonstrate the value of
the land by putting a large tract into production. Cass, together
with Benjamin Cheney, a director of the railroad, set up the first
bonanza farm in the Red River Valley. They brought 13,440 acres of
Northern Pacific land near Casselton. Oliver Dalrymple was hired to
manage the farm. Dalrymple, a Yale Law School graduate, planted his
first crop in 1876. The bonanza farms concentrated
on wheat, working the fields with transient labor. The Cass/Cheney
farm employed 400 men using 400 horses and mules. Dalrymple had charge
of 55,000 acres by 1880 with about half of it under cultivation. Some
of the land he managed was owned by the Grandin brothers. The brothers
eventually owned 63,000 acres. Demand for land caused the decline of Bonanza farming and large-scale ranching as land was divided among more farmers.
|
Farm
Structure