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在更多建木与盖房子的材料运来之前，许多开垦者为自己建造类似图中这样的稻草屋
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公地放领法案 (Homestead
Act) 于1862年5月20日生效了
北方的生意人认为免费的土地将会降低资产的价值，并且减少廉价的劳工来源。而南方人则担心开垦者会要求废除奴隶制度。趁着南方各州在内战期间无暇置喙，「公地放领法案」正式通过，到了1900年，已经有60万人登记拥有共8千万英亩的土地。有许多拓荒者都搬到西部平原州，例如堪萨斯、内布拉斯加、科罗拉多，以及怀俄明等地。他们希望这些地方能够繁荣起来，但是也知道这个决定是个大赌注。为什么呢？
Northern businessmen thought free land would lower property values and reduce the cheap labor supply. Southerners feared homesteaders would add their voices to the call to stop slavery. With the Civil War silencing the protests of the South, the Homestead Act finally passed. By 1900, homesteaders had filed 600,000 claims for 80 million acres. Most pioneers moved to the Western Plain states such as Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. They hoped for prosperity, but knew the move was a gamble. Why?
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