blackfoot-valley

The next phase of the valley’s settlement and one of a more perma- nent nature, was land taking, from squatting to homesteading, purchasing, and leasing, some of it by those who had abandoned their mining claims, and by others who came from the outside with settlement in mind. The original Homestead Act of 1862, as mentioned earlier, gave claimants clear title to a quarter section of land - 160 acres, a square half mile on a side - after farm- ing the land for five years. But in most of this area, as in most of Montana with its semiarid climate where dry farming was usually necessary, it soon became clear that 160 acres was normally inadequate for a successful farm. Irrigation was practical only in a limited area. Later, although Congress eventually passed supplimentary laws to provide claimants with more land, pioneer homesteaders who were stuck with the original law often had a hard time of it. While proving up their claims with agriculture they could carry on. Many found it necessary to utilize vacant land as well for summer grazing, after all, no one else was using it. Those who had the luck or good judgement to find and claim an exceptionally productive quarter-section did better. “Homesteaders” by Arthur Runquist courtesy of U.S. General Services Adm. 113