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<br /> <br />'''', "'~ <br />~-"J' ~ <br /> <br />Homestead National Monument Commemorates The <br />Early Homesteaders <br /> <br />Taylor Gr;Jzing A~t of 1934 essentially withdrew the <br />remaining publil: domain land from disposal. These land <br />reservation policies, as well as the disposal policies. have <br />had a significant effect upon patterns of (and settlement, <br />and today their impad is most evident in the basin slates <br />of Montana, Wyoming. and Colorado. <br />During this adjustment period there developed a <br />contest between the farmer and the cattleman for the <br />pl:1ins ItHlds of the basin. At stake was the fundnmental <br />social philosophy as well as physic:J] o~cupation of the <br />area. On the one hand was the cattlemen's social and <br />economic way of life tIltH fwd developed on the plains <br />without cities and formal institutions and with little <br />formal civil govrrnment to support it. Cattlemen relied <br />mainly upon their own devices for this way of life and, <br />when these failed, they turned to stockmen's associa. <br />tions rather than civil institutions. <br />On Ihe other hand. the farmer enren'd the plains with <br />the social and economic institutions which had <br />developed in two centuries of pioneermg in the humid <br />and fores.ted East. The farmer selllers from the East had <br />the traditions and support of its cities. institutions. and <br />central government, and it was inevitable IJlJt they <br />would prevail. However. the signifh:ant factor is that by <br />their dominance. the sealers from the humid areas <br />imposed social and economic conditions upon the plains <br />which were not weU suited to this environment. From a <br />great amount l1f unwise use of the land, human misery <br />was the result. <br />The eastern ideas of natiOllJJislll and those of <br />individual erldeavor held by the western settlers tended <br />tI,.1 produce a western blo~k in natil1l1Jl politics. Thjs <br />block has not <llways been unifIed. bur it has been <br />effective in trading its support 10 other politkal blucks <br />for their support 111 Sllch things as lhe minfage of silver. <br />recbmation, and farm Improvement programs for the <br />plains. <br />Along with 3 sense of regionalism, settlement of the <br />plains. also prodw.:ed Sllme rather basic poliliL'aJ philQs- <br /> <br />21 <br /> <br /> <br />-( <br /> <br />Sl. Joseph, Missoun - Que of the Early Gateway <br />Towns of thE" Basin <br /> <br />ophy founu in the basin. There has long been a feeling <br />within the basin that the individual should be able to <br />..::ontrol his destiny to a large extent without interference <br />from the rest of :'.ociety or go....ernment. Yet, it is felt <br />that government shuuld provide assistance in reducing <br />and mastering the problems whkh {he individual faces. <br />Therr long ha~ been a mistrusl of central governmelH, <br />but a very strong emphasis and pride in local govern- <br />mental institutions. Unfortunately. local gQvernmrnts <br />quite often <:allllot pro....ide the Jssist:mc:e deemed <br />necessary. Consequently. there has been a ~oncurrent <br />dri....e {o reduce the influence of central government <br />while agitaung for more aid frolll. its institutions. This <br />is a paradox much in evidence today. <br />In spite of the Illany problems, the lure of new land <br />and the promotions of the railroads brought large <br />numbers of settlers into the basin. In 1870 tlh~ popula- <br />tion of Kansas was 364,39'>, but by 1880 i! approached <br />a million - 3n increase of almos! 300 percent wilhin a <br />de~ade. The population of Nebraska increased more than <br />600.000 between 1880 and 1890_ The Dakotas. a great <br />expanse of almost uninhabited territory. comprised a <br />~ufficiently populolls region wHhin a decade to be <br />ad mitred to the Union in 1889 as two slates. In the <br />shorl sp;w of 50 years from 1870 tn 192.0, the <br />population had increLlsed twelve-fold in the seven plains <br />Slates of the b:..tsin. There was a compkte transition from <br />the open-range GlItte and sheep grazing to fanning and <br />ranching. <br />A phase of the occupation of tht: plains of the basjn <br />was a dispos~ession of the Indians. Until 1861, the basin <br />Indians WNC generally on friendly terms wilh the <br />Federal Government. Later, driven 10 desperation by the <br />obVIOUS fact that the end of their freedom was near, the <br />Indians made their las{ stJnd agaiilst encroa~hing settle. <br />ment by the whites. The Sioux uprising of J862 was <br />followed by that of the Cheyenne and other tribes in the <br />later 1860's. .lJld the .'ilruggle culminated in the Sioux <br />War of 1876. After thi~. the Indians were contained <br />