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"",., u -. ~ ,- Railroads Stimulated Settlement and Commerce In and Across the Basin the maiar economic regions still (end to be a series of east-west strips across the basin, each with a gateway city at its eastern edge. Many of the railroad companies were the recipients of large public land grants. and to generate markets. it was essential for them (0 populate the mea. Their Iiferature and advertisements were printed in mJny languages and distributed over the Eastern States and Ellfope. Agencies were establi...hed in Europe and in [he tastern Slnlt"s., and their representatives carried on propaganda wherever the field seemed promising. The Homeslead Act, the coming of the railroads along with the invention oi barbed wire. the mass production of windmills, the lnl.\o"''a\~Oi'l of the sod house, and the acceptance of the steel plow and drill Windmills and Wells Provided a Oependable Supply of Water opened the way for the physical occupation of the plains. By J890, the frontier was considered closed, and within another 20 years much of the basin achieved its highest settlement denSIty. I! [Ook almost two centuncs to setlle the area east of the Great Plains, but less than 30 years to close the frontier within Ihe Miswuri Basin. A considerable amount of public land renl.1ined, composed largely of arid grazing areas and forests. Instead of adopting a well-defined policy of seltlement which recognized western conditions, a general policy continued which recognized only farming. By using the Timber Culture Act, the Desert Land Act, and the Timber and Stone Act, together with the Homestead A.cts, the settlers and ranchers continued to select the. best lands which contro!lcd the water supply Jnd thereby tht:y established free use of Ihe hinterlands. Not until the Kincaid A.ct of 1904. the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, and the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 19 J 6 was gra7.ing recognized in public land policy. lhe painful experimentation and bitter fi:lilure of thousands of high-hearted settlers finally cOn\'inced the general public thai many plains areas were not physically suited for agricultural settlement under then-current cost Jnd price conditions. This. coupled with a concern over exploitation of the natural resources, res.ulted in demands thai some of fhe Federal lands remain in publit.: ownership. Thus begtln a gradual reorientation of publi~ land policy from a lemporary caretaker basis to a policy of development and (ong-term management. Yellow- stone National Park. established in J 872, WaS the first major Federal l:lrld reservation in the basin. Beginning in 1891 with establishment of the first perm,ment national forest reserve, much additional land was withdrawn from that olherwi5e available for private ownership. The 2\