1 The Carpenter family lived in a small house on a small farm in Tennessee. Mr. Carpenter worked in the fields and Mrs. Carpenter worked in the house, cooking and cleaning for the family. Althea watched over her two younger brothers while their parents worked. She knew her parents were working hard to save enough money to move to Kansas. President Lincoln had recently signed the Homestead Act into law, which offered free land in Kansas and other western states.
2 Years before the Civil War, Althea’s parents married, bought a house and plot of land, and had children. Now, the soil on the Carpenters’ farmland was overworked and thin. Land in Tennessee was expensive. Althea’s parents wanted better lives for their children. They knew that it would take lots of hard work to make this dream come true, and they saved every penny they could.
3 Late at night, Althea sat as quiet as she could while her parents talked about moving. She had heard of the open land west of the Mississippi River. The government was giving this land to anyone who was twenty-one years old and who had never fought against the United States government. In order to keep this land, the person had to live on the land for five years and improve it. This meant that houses and barns had to be built and the land had to be farmed. After five years, the person could apply for the land deed, a paper that gave the land to the person who improved it.
4 One night, Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter brought their children together and told them that they had finally saved enough money to move to Kansas. The family hugged and cheered as they began planning the trip west, although Althea had mixed feelings about moving because she had to say goodbye to her friends.
5 A few weeks later, when Althea did say goodbye to her friends, she had to refrain from crying because she knew she might never see her friends again. She hugged each one and told them that she would write letters. Althea’s friend Dorothy gave her a doll made from scraps of fabric. Dorothy was worried Althea would forget their friendship. Althea held the doll tightly as she and her family set off in the jerky wagon.
6 The trip to Kansas was long and difficult, but nobody complained. The family did their best to forge on and travel as far as they could each day in order to reach Kansas before winter. Sometimes, they had to stop for a few days because of bad weather, and Althea’s father was quoted many times as saying, “I never said this trip would be a walk in the park. I want to thank you kids for showing some grit and not bellyaching like you could be doing. You all are being good sports.”
7 After months of traveling, the family finally reached their new home, Kansas. A big job lay ahead of them, and they needed “all hands on deck,” as Althea’s father said. Whenever Althea took a break to chat to her brothers, her father would call out, “Quit your jawing and get back to work!” Many trees had to be cut down so a house could be built before winter, and Althea and her brothers spent many days helping their father hack down the trees and cut them into boards. Finally, a small house was built and, at last, the Carpenter family had a new home.
