| In 1862 the U.S. Congress passed the first of many homestead laws that opened settlement of the West. The law provided that anyone who was either the head of a family, 21 years old, or a veteran of 14 days of active service in the U.S. armed forces and who was a citizen or had filed a declaration of intent to become a citizen could acquire a tract of land in the public domain not exceeding 65 hectares (160 acres). It included federally owned land in all states except the original 13 and Maine, Vermont, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Texas. The land was often desolate, without trees for wood or adequate water. Many homesteaders’ homes were made of sod bricks cut from their land. |
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