The Gilded Age Review

Gilded Age Review

(late 1800s)​

By Adriana Castro

​People move West

• Jobs

• Opportunities

• LAND!

​- National Parks Service, www.nps.gov

A homesteader had only to be the head of a household or at least 21 years of age to claim a 160-acre parcel of land. Settlers from all walks of life including newly arrived immigrants, farmers without land of their own from the East, single women and former slaves came to meet the challenge of "proving up" and keeping this "free land." Each homesteader had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements, and farm for 5 years before they were eligible to "prove up". A total filing fee of $18 was the only money required...