THE PRAIRIE 1 LIFE ON THE PRAIRIE In the 1860s life on the US prairie was a new adventure for waves of settlers They came to live and farm in this midwestern region of the United States They came from all over the world but especially Europe Immigrants by the tens of thousands arrived from places such as Norway Sweden Germany and Russia They left behind their homes A family in Loup Valley Nebraska journeys to their homestead 4
They wanted a fresh start in a different place The Great Plains were flat and fertile Land stretched as far as the eye could see Life on the prairie was difficult And settlers continued to fight American Indians who were being forced to give up their ancestral lands In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act For an 18 fee any adult US or foreign born black or white who was a US citizen or filing to become one could own land Each person could get 160 acres 65 hectares of land All they had to do was live on the land and farm it for five years 5
This 1962 postage stamp commemorated the Homestead Act of 1862 It shows a typical pioneer home For many the lure of free land was too strong to pass up In the 1880s the population of the Dakota Territory present-day North Dakota and South Dakota soared The number of people living in the region skyrocketed from about 135,000 to more than 500,000 The number of farms grew from about 17,000 to roughly 95,000 6
Teams of oxen rest in the growing town of Sturgis in the Dakota Territory They were used to pull settlers wagons In many areas towns sprouted up near train stops For the most part however farms were spread far apart Communication was poor in these rural areas The telephone was recently invented and only used in large cities Telegraph lines followed the routes of train tracks But they were often many miles from homes and settlements 7
