This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Homesteading Act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in May 1862. If sheer land mass was America’s greatest natural resource, the Homesteading Act proved to be the most important federal decision regarding distribution of that land to the people. In combination with the Railroad Act of the same year, the Homesteading Act and its subsequent modifications substantially impacted the development of Montana and eventually, Bozeman.

Discussions regarding land allocation occurred at the Federal level through the first half of the 19th century and were fraught with divisions in opinion reflecting the growing rift between the northern and southern states. With the start of the Civil War and subsequent to secession of the southern states and their legislators from congress, the Homestead Act of 1862 sailed through Congress.
The legislation laid out a three step process through which a head of household over the age of 21 who had never taken up arms against the US government could claim 160 acres of land. The claimant had to file an application with the Land Office and live on and improve the property for five years after which they could file for deed of title. To expedite the process, settlers could live on the property for six months, make trivial improvements and pay the government $1.25 per acre.
Throughout most of the arid west 160 acres did not provide sufficient resources for successful agricultural endeavors. By 1909 most of the arable land along river bottoms and with access to irrigation had been claimed, leaving vast expanses uncultivated. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 increased the homestead claim to 320 acres in order to enable “dryland” farming. A 1912 amendment shortened the time to “prove up” from five to three years.

As an agricultural production technique, dryland farming was promoted by Agricultural Extension Offices linked to academic research institutions like Montana State College in Bozeman. Through the Ag Extension Office in Taylor Hall, Montana farmers could be kept up to date on advances in farming methods and technology which increased crop production. Dryland farming depended on natural precipitation to irrigate crops and recommended moisture conservation methods like deep and frequent plowing to store water in the soil for plant use. Agricultural production theory has evolved 180 degrees in the opposite direction over the last 100 years, but at the time land development promoters seized the information and spun it into half-truths to attract settlers.

The combination of free land, advertisements claiming “Rain Follows the Plow!” and the completion of the last transcontinental railroad in the Milwaukee Road across eastern Montana proved too big a temptation for many who wanted to try their hand at farming. The homestead boom in central and eastern Montana began in 1909, drawing an estimated 80,000 homesteaders. The boom coincided with a period of unusually high precipitation that lasted until 1917, which aided farmers in raising bumper crops highly valued in a market inflated by World War I.

Agricultural production began in the Bozeman area in the 1860’s, when disaffected miners saw the opportunity to exploit the rich, well-watered soil of the Gallatin Valley for financial gain by raising wheat, barley and other grain crops and selling the commodities in area mining camps. Bozeman, as the commercial center of southwest Montana, felt the impacts of the land rush. Commercial buildings on Bozeman’s Main Street grew another entire block to the west between 1904 and 1927; from Tracy to Central Avenues (Central Avenue was later renamed Willson Avenue). Existing buildings were remodeled during this time period and new, more permanent construction replaced earlier retail storefronts constructed of wood.

The National Bank of the Gallatin Valley, located on the corner of West Main Street and Tracy Avenue at 1 West Main Street, represents the business development cycle during the Homesteading boom. Constructed in 1906 of molded concrete blocks, the Main Street façade is dominated by a pair of nearly two story high, fluted Roman Doric columns intended to symbolize financial stability in the banking institution.

Banks played an important role in the Homestead Era, as land-rich but capital-poor farmers often leveraged their land for bank loans to purchase farming implements or additional land to expand production. When crop prices plummeted in 1918 and a decades-long drought struck, many banks found themselves financially vulnerable to the vagrancies of the agricultural economy. As the drought deepened into the 1920’s the National Bank of the Gallatin Valley finally folded in 1926.
Of the 80,000 estimated homesteaders, about 60,000 abandoned their farm by the mid 1920’s, flooding commercial centers like Bozeman in a search to find a new way to make a living. Despite the drought and agricultural depression, Bozeman grew by 2,500 people in the 1920’s and for the first time the population of Bozeman surpassed that of the residents in Gallatin County. Industries based on agriculture, including the seed pea canneries and flour milling operations, offered work. Enrollment at Montana State College also grew, though tightened budgets forced a staff reduction of eleven instructors.

Business development on Main Street reflected the town’s growth. The Ellen Theatre, constructed in 1919 at 17 W. Main, and Rialto Theatres, established in 1925 at 10 W. Main, drew audiences to Bozeman from town and the surrounding county. F.W. Woolworth Company opened in the ground floor of the Fechter Hotel, built at 128-130 E. Main, in 1918. A decade later, local architect Fred Willson designed the Montgomery Ward Building at 201 W. Main Street. As disaffected homesteaders melded into Bozeman residents, residential construction both north and south of Main Street shifted towards modest, unadorned bungalows and cottages.

Bozeman does not owe its existence to the Homestead Act, but the effects of modifying the federal legislation a century ago can be seen in the town’s commercial and residential districts.

Courtney Kramer is a proud graduate of MSU’s History Department and serves as the City of Bozeman’s Historic Preservation Officer. She may be contacted at the City Planning Office, 406-582-2260 or via email at ckramer@bozeman.net. More information about Bozeman’s historic districts is available at www.preservebozeman.org.    photo Angie Ripple