Quote Originally Posted by Steve Blair View Post
Actually the Homestead Act was a little more complicated that someone just claiming land. They had to prove it up (in other words homestead and start putting in crops), and there were some other requirements as well. And as far as the original settlers being Hippies...that looks cute in retrospect but the reality on the ground was far different and very harsh.

I could go on about Frontier history, but that's diverting the thread as Ken pointed out.
Yes, but the point none the less is they were essentially given free capital and the associated risk with it. And based upon my own real life personal history is wasn't that complicated at all, the size was determined largely by what you could control (homestead) and that was largely based upon the size of your family.....hence the problem that would arise when families grew the land disputes followed. The reality of how harsh it was depended on where that land was and what natural resources were associated with it(game,fish,timber,water,minerals,etc.) as history shows some people,families did very well indeed.