This is a short overview of the choices you'll have to make in "Homesteading Dakota." To be able to make more informed decisions about your choices as a settler, visit the exhibit at the Old Courthouse Museum!
"You must not go to Dakota with the idea that you are going to become suddenly rich and independent of the works, for such is not the case. Such instances are, of course exceptional. Your must go with the intention of working for what you receive, and with the assurance that you will receive what you work for. The demands of the people of Dakota are, of course, equal and similar to the demands of the people elsewhere. They must have homes, food, clothing, and everything else required by others. These things you will, of course, likewise need. The cost of living is much less in Dakota than in the East, for the productiveness of the soil enables a former to supply himself with many things that he would be compelled to buy elsewhere, while the demands of society are less exacting with respect to dress."
From Dakota, The Land of Promise, How to Go, and What to Do When You Get There. 1880.
Early homesteaders arriving in Dakota had to make many choices to be successful. As you travel through this exhibit, you will have to make choices similar to those of pioneer settlers. Gather all the details, and then decide: how you would claim your land, what type of house you would build, which crops you would grow, and what kinds of animals you would raise. Then see if you may have encountered a natural disaster. Mark your decisions on the cards provided, and at the end, see how your decisions compared to those of real settlers in Dakota.
The first step a settler needed to accomplish to claim land was to file his request at the nearest land office. The land agent would then check to see if the land had any previous owners. If the land had not been previously claimed, a filing fee of ten dollars would temporarily claim it.
Location was an important factor in choosing a homestead. Most of the early homesteads in Minnehaha County were located along the Big Sioux River, Split Rock Creek, or Skunk Creek, in close proximity to Sioux Falls. The advantage in homesteading close to the river was the availability of water. The river area was also the only source of timber for building materials. Most of the land along the river was taken prior to the 1870s, so most of the settlement, after that time was centered on the prairie surrounding the river.
Once settlers reached Dakota Territory, they needed to procure some land or "stake a claim", There were many ways that a settler could claim land from the government. The most popular were the Preemption Law (1841), the Homestead Act (1862), and the Timber Culture Act (1873). Settlers could also purchase land already claimed. Other requirements of a homesteader claiming land included being 21, being a citizen of the United States (or at least having the intention of becoming one), and never having taken up arms against the United States.
After a settler found a suitable parcel of land, he went about building a home for himself and his family. The four most common dwelling types were dugouts, "soddies" or sod houses, log cabins, and tarpaper houses. While a family was building their new home, they often lived in their wagon or in a canvas tent on the land.
Once a piece of land had been claimed and a homestead had been begun, the next task was breaking the tough prairie soil. The breaking season lasted from early June until the end of July. During the first summer on a homestead, little was grown, except for a few potatoes, vegetables, and some sod corn (corn that was planted in un-tilled ground) to keep the family sustained during the winter. In the fall, the sod was either turned over (back-set) or plowed in the opposite direction of the spring plowing (cross-plowed) in perparation for the next season's planting. Sometimes the soil was further worked with a disk plow after the soil was initially broken. Sod-busting, which used a work team (of horses or oxen) to pull the plow, was back-breaking work, because the roots of the prairie grasses were extremely tough. In any event, not much true farming could be done in the first year because building an adequate shelter was a homesteading family's first priority.
Another obstacle facing a homesteader was that many successful farmin methods used in the eastern United States did not work in Dakota Territory. The settlers who came to Dakota Territory. The settlers who came to Dakota were used to a humid climate and heavy soils. The kinds of seeds they needed to plant, the time to plant them, and the methods of cultivation all had to be adapted to the drier, lighter soils of Dakota Territory. For instance, back East, farmers planted crops on top of small ridges so water could drain away from the roots. In Dakota, it was neccessary to plant the seeds in a flat field so all available moisture could be utilized. As time went on, farmers learned to plant in furrows (small trenches made by the plow) so that water was directed to the root of the plant. It was through this type of trial-and-error system that farmers learned ways to conquer the tough prairie soil.
Settlers relied heavily on their livestock not only for food, but also for labor and transportation. One of the first decisions for a settler was what kind of animal would be best for the heavy work of pulling wagons, plowing new soil, or harvesting crops. The two main choices were a team of oxen or a team of horses.
Locusts were a threat to crops in Minnehaha County, especially during the 1870s. Although most referred to the insects as grasshoppers, their proper name was the Rocky Mountain locust. Infestations of the area occurred in 1864, 1865, 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876, though the summer of 1874 was the worst locust infestation that Minnehaha County had ever suffered. The locusts almost always came from the northwest in swarms so thick they looked like clouds of smoke. Many people lost their entire crop, and along with it, their earnings for the year when the "hoppers" ate everything in sight. In addition to crops, they ate leather harnesses, clothing, the paint off houses, and even others locusts. The sound they made while eating was described as being similar to cattle grazing in a cornfield. Dead locusts polluted the water, turning it dark brown, and making it unfit for humans or animals to drink. Homesteaders fought the "hoppers" with almost any weapon they could find, including reakes, hoes, hammers, and even their feet and fists. Chickens and pigs would eat them but didn't even make a dent in the population.
Blizzards were always a danger for homesteaders, and were often the most deadly in early fall or late spring, when they occurred without warning. Without the advanced warning of today's technology-equipped weather forecasters, people were often unprepared and poorly supplied for many feet of sudden snow. Major blizzards hit the territory in 1873, 1880, 1881, and 1888.
"We could see the blizzard coming across Spirit Lake. It was just a still as could be. We saw it cut off the trees like it was a white roll coming. It hit with a 60 mile an hour wind. It had snowed the night before about two or three inches. It just sucked up that snow into the air and nearly smothered you."
"You could hardly see your hand before you or draw your breath and that with the intense cold roaring wind and darkness it would appall the stoutest heart." excerpts from The Children's Blizzard
Although rare, the most feared prairie disaster, was the prairie fire. Fires were usually caused by a lightning strike or sparks from a passing train. They would destroy buildings, livestock, and crops, and people risked their lives to save their homestead from fires. Sometimes the fires could be seen coming across the prairie days before they would reach a claim; others gave no warning at all.
Homesteaders tried to protect their claims by plowing a firebreak around their home and sometimes also around their fields. The firebreak was a burned strip of land in front of a plowed strip of land. These firebreaks were usually very effective, since they removed the fuel from the ground that the fire needed to advance.
Alice Pickler, a homesteader in 1883 recounted the following incident: "Our one great terror, day or night was the prairie fires, started perhaps by some settler to make a fire guard around his place by burning and extinguishing the fire. When started in the dry grass, it would start out in so many directions and burn so fast that he could not master it. It would sweep on with added pace fanned by the breeze it created in the air, and grain, hay, and often houses were burned before it was spent. It was a terribly beautiful sight, if I may use those two adjectives together, the long line of fire reminding one of the day of judgement one of the old preachers used to picture to us." - Daughters of Dakota
Homesteaders had many things to worry about on the Plains. Large blizzards hit in 1873, 1880, 1881, and 1888. Drought was a problem beginning in 1886 and continuing through 1897. The most severe years were 1889-1894, with each year becoming successively worse.
Locust infestations came in 1864, 1865, 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876. The absolute worst year was 1875, when a swarm crossed the Plains that was estimated to be 110 miles wide and 1,800 miles long! Dr. Childs, of the U.S. Signal Corps, estimated the swarm's size by telegraphing surrounding towns and judging the speed that the swarm moved overhead for five days.
Prairie fires were a constant threat. They could occur at any time, some being set off accidentally by homesteaders, but more likely they were caused by lightning strikes or by sparks given off by passing trains. The fires were random, and could completely destroy your neighbor's property but miss you completely. Substantial fires occurred in 1879 and 1883.
Choosing how to claim land: Between 1888-1889, the way most settlers signed up to claim land was split evenly between the three main methods: the Pre-Emption Act, the Timber Culture Act, and the Homestead Act. People saw that, the advantages and disadvantages of the different ways to claim land were not too dissimilar, and chose land claims according to wealth, location, and willingness to put in time, among other things.
In 1888 and 1889, 14,250 claims were filed, allowing homesteaders to begin working for their land. Here are the claim types chosen:
Preemption Act 35.7%
Timer Culture Act 36.7%
Homestead Act 27.5%
"Proving Up" However, by comparing how many people successfully completed claims which started in the early 1880s, there is a big difference. Those who signed up for land through the Homestead Act had the most completions, followed by the Preemption Act, and finally the Timber Culture Act.
Of the 13,500 pieces of land that were successfully "proved up," in 1888 and 1889, this is how the types of land claims ranked:
Homestead Act 65-70%
Preemption 26%
Timber Culture 3%
Knowing the type of shelter a homesteader built on his claim is a harder fact to track down. But, by using records of 180 settlers whose descendants wrote their family history and included the choice of shelter, this is how the following four styles of houses ranked in popularity:
1. "Soddie" or Sod House 55%
2. Dugout 17.3%
3. Log Cabin 15.1%
4. Tar Paper House 12.3%
The following crops are listed in order of their value and total yield according to territorial records from 1888.
1. Wheat 1,680,000 acres grown
2. Oats 640,000 acres grown
3. Corn 630,000 acres grown
4. Barley 96,000 acres grown
What did those acres yield? Here are some old and new average statistics:
| 1888 | 1889 | Current | |
| Wheat | 10 bushels/acre | 8.6 bushels/acre | 41 bushels/acres |
| Oats | 23.3 bushels/acre | 17.3 bushels/acres | 75 bushels/acres |
| Corn | 20.4 bushels/acre | 27.8 bushels/acres | 124 bushels/acres |
| Barley | 19 bushels/acre | 13.3 bushels/acres | 61 bushels/acres |
| Hay | 1.5 million tons harvested | 3 million tons harvested |
Teams:
Horses were valued at $43.30 a head.
Oxen (which were cattle) were valued at $11.69 a head.
Oxen were very well suited for breaking the land, working well in the tough prairie soil. However, they were slower animals and less versatile than horses for other uses around the homestead. As people became established, most changed over to owning a team of horses. Manufactures began to adapt their farm machinery more and more to use horse power rather than oxen power. Some families later bought multiple teams of horses so they could get more work done.
Farm Animals:
The best choice for homesteaders, and later, farmers, was to have many different animals. That way, they had many sources of food and products for themselves as well as a variety of ways to make a profit. Early settlers used, sold, or traded products such as milk, eggs, feathers, meat, wool lard, and tallow from their animals.
Here are what animals were valued at in 1889:
Milk Cow $11.69
Beef Cow $11.69
Hog $2.37
Sheep $1.36
Chicken $"low cost"
For comparison, today, livestock is mainly sold by weight.
| Milk Cow | $.48 - .57 a pound | or averaging around $575-800 a head |
| Beef Cow | $.86 - .87 a pound | or averaging around $1117-1300 a head |
| Hog | $.50 a pound | or averaging around $66 a head |
| Sheep | $1.17 - 1.40 a pound | or averaging around $175-350 a head |
| Chicken | $.83 a pound | or averaging around $3-6 each |
© Siouxland Heritage Museums 2007