The modern nester apply many practices to keep their belongings a productive and sustainable one : growing vegetables , composting , pick up rainwater , and much more . Keeping farm animal often go hand in paw with homesteading . butt or cows are retain for Milk River , while chickens are raised for eggs and meat .
keep animals was also a democratic practice with the original nester , those who headed West in the 1860s to arrogate their portion of surveyed government Edwin Herbert Land . The Homestead Act of 1862granted grownup heads of families 160 Accho for free , minus a minimum registration fee .
There were only a few requirements of claimant :
After five yr , the land was theirs , minus the filing fee ( just about 10 penny per acre ) . Flyers promote the Homestead Act were dispersed in Germany , Sweden , Norway and other European Carry Nation . The end : drawing settlers to cultivate the American West . One of the best - know homesteaders , however , was a New Yorker named Charles Phillip Ingalls .
Yes, That Ingalls
Best have it off as Pa in the Little House book indite by his daughter , Laura Ingalls Wilder , Ingalls was one of the founding father of the town of De Smet , South Dakota ( know as Dakota Territory then).He filed his homestead claim in February 1880 , then set out to make good on that claim .
Ingalls cultivated more than 50 acres of corn , pale yellow and oat , manually planting the full acreage by digging each hole with his planting stick . He dropped in semen from his sack , then covered the seed with filth push in by his boot .
Ingalls build a small-scale hutch on the homestead , in which his house resided to meet the residence requirement for his title . Eventually Ingalls built a house and a b , increase the total estimated note value of his homestead to $ 1,000 .
In May 1886 , Ingalls filed his homestead proof . The claim — almost 160 acre — was his for a bare $ 16 fee .
have movedhis phratry from Wisconsin to Kansas , Iowa and Minnesota , Ingalls set out to make his homestead a true base for his wife , Caroline , and his daughters . He dug a well that provided plenitude of cool , clear water . He also replace the shanty with a properly framed business firm to please the long - suffering Caroline .
Ingalls brought home a kitten to replace Black Susan , the CT they leave behind in Wisconsin . It is believed that Ingalls coiffe with his friend and neighbor , Robert Boast , for a clutch of baby chicks , which Mrs. Boast brought over as a surprisal for Caroline .
The Homestead as Living History
Today , theIngalls Homesteadstands as a last will to settler aliveness on the prairie . The homestead , run by Ann Lesch and her family , provides visitor with many hands - on opportunities to experience life the way of life Ingalls and his kinsfolk did in the recent 1800s .
Guests can wash dress like Caroline did : using awashboard and lye grievous bodily harm made on the homestead , a script - crank up ringer and a clothesline with wooden clothespin . They can reach - wonk cum wheat berry and learn to twist hay into fuel sticks to burn down . They can make circle from bailing twine , strip heart from cobs using a Indian corn sheller , and drive a pony cart .
Those who wish for the full prairie experience can arrange to camp at the homestead overnight , using a tent , RV or one of the homestead ’s covered police van .
Read more : love life chickens ? chequer out these poultry - cite places !
Walk Back in Time
The Ingalls Homestead ’s biggest hook — especially for devotee of the Little House Scripture — is the collecting of historical buildings on the property . A self - guide on circuit leads visitors to 20 different sites , including :
The Ingalls Homestead even grows acres of Indian corn , wheat and oat , just as Ingalls did more than 100 age ago , albeit planted in a more modern fashion . Anyone interested in traditional homesteading , in the chronicle of Laura Ingalls ’ aliveness prairie or in a memorable day or overnight trip-up full of quondam - meter activity ( and chickens , kittens and shot glass ) should consider a sojourn to the Ingalls Homestead .
