This has led some locals to consider a modern version of an old idea, the HomesteadActof1862, which helped to populate the Plains by giving settlers up to 640 acres of land in exchange for a commitment to stay for five years.
The famous HomesteadActof1862, whereby an American could have free title to 160 acres of land in the West if he lived on and developed it, grew out of the fact that countless Americans were already occupying federal lands in violation of federal law.
Congress finally acknowledged defeat in 1862 with the passage of the HomesteadAct, which gave settlers free federal land if they cultivated it for five years.