homesteading

     The original homesteading happened in the American West in the middle of the 19th century. The federal government had removed the American Indians from a large territory. The government offered to give a tract of land to anyone (anyone not an Indian ) who would build a house on it and live there. This happened in more than one state. When the government gave away land in Oklahoma, people were lined up at the boundary, ready to run to a piece of land and "claim" it as their own.  People found fascinating ways to cheat--building doll's houses where building a house was required, raising one plant where farming was required, paying other people to stake out claims to land so that they could sell the land later. Many people did start farms, even with all the cheating, and the government goal of settling the territory with non-Indians was accomplished.