The Homestead Act of 1862 was one of the most significant events in the westward expansion of the United States. By granting free land, it allowed nearly any man or woman a chance to live the American dream of owning his or her own land. Signed into law in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln after the secession of southern states, this Act turned over vast amounts of the public domain to private citizens. Each homesteader had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements and farm for five years before they were eligible to “prove up�. Many of the initial settlers of southern Colorado were Hispanics from northern New Mexico, along with a minority of Anglo-Americans from the eastern, midwestern, and southern sections of the United States or northern European immigrants. They acquired their land under the provisions of the Homestead Act, although many squatters were also present. The early residents resided primarily along the Purgatoire River and its tributaries. Severe drought and blizzard conditions forced many of the early settlers out of the area in the mid- to-late 1880s. Most of the semi-arid land in the area was not suitable for the 160-acre farms established in the first Homestead Act. In the late 19th and early 20th century large Anglo-American and European interests controlled and dominated the land, running large livestock operations. Settlement was sparse. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 and the Stock Raising Act of 1916 would end the open range. The Enlarged Homestead Act increased the number of acres per homesteader to 320 in areas where the land could not be irrigated. This followed the growing popularity of dryland farming techniques. Scientific moisture management methods, including deep seeding, contour furrowing, and soil aeration were widely promoted as the key to farming lands formerly thought barren. The Stock Raising Act promoted ranching by allowing homesteads of 640 acres on lands determined suitable only for grazing. A few years of rainfall on the Plains, rising agriculture prices, the popularity of the Dry Farming Movement, and revised homestead laws combined to stimulate a land rush to this region. Then came the drought and Depression of the 1930s. Crops withered, leaving nothing to hold the fine topsoil in place, and resulting in severe erosion and dust storms. Many of the new homesteaders were forced off their land, losing their property for back taxes or selling out to their more successful neighbors. A series of New Deal programs were designed to help, from providing immediate jobs to long-term changes in land use patterns. In many dryland areas, including southern Otero County, the government decided ranching was the more environmentally suitable, as well as economically viable, land use. Larger land parcels were needed for ranching than for farming, so the federal government began purchasing small farms located on marginal lands. Owners were offered assistance in purchasing more suitable lands elsewhere. The new federal lands were taken out of cultivation and jobs were created to restore the prairie through contour furrowing, reseeding, and planting shelterbelts. Once prairie grasses were restored, lands were leased for grazing. These lands were eventually turned into the Comanche National Grasslands and they continue to be used for governmentmanaged cattle ranching today. The 1930s marked the decline of farming in the area and the rise of large cattle ranches, formed from unsuccessful, abandoned homesteads.
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