GOVERNMENT HOMESTEADS: 1,500,000 Acres Agricultural and Grazing Lands to be Open to the Public, October 4 to 23, 1909, in Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Indian Reservations
Chicago: The North-Western Line, 1909. Pamphlet. President William Howard Taft’s August 19, 1909 presidential proclamation directed that certain lands in the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations be opened to the public for settlement between October 4 and 23, 1909. This brochure outlines the opportunity for any United States citizen over the age of 21 who does not already own 160 acres of U.S. land to apply and secure a homestead. Married women were not eligible to apply “unless she has been deserted or abandoned by her husband, or unless her husband is incapacitated by disease or otherwise earning support for his family, and she is the head and main support of the family.”
The brochure also provides a description of the lands open to settlement and detailed instructions on the process for registering and selecting the allotted 160-acre tracts. The North-Western Line, a subsidiary of the Chicago and North Western Railway, was a major economic force in South Dakota beginning in 1878.
Federal Indian policy during the period from 1870 to 1910 marked a departure from earlier policies that were dominated by removal, treaties, reservations, and war. The new policy, known as the General Allotment Act of 1887 or Dawes Act, focused specifically on breaking up reservations and tribal lands by granting land allotments to individual Native Americans. Amendments to the General Allotment Act also made it easier for Indian land to pass into non-Indian hands. The Burke Act (1906) contributed to the ongoing fractionation of lands within reservation boundaries by requiring the government to assess whether individuals were “competent and capable” to manage their land. Printed on both sides of a 32” x 9” sheet that folds to 4” x 9 ¼” (16 panels), including a map on one panel by Poole Bros. (Chicago). Light soiling; otherwise very good. Very good. Item #76811
Price: $500.00