The Last Homestead

Guest: Mark Engler, National Parks Superintendent, Homestead National Monument The westward expansion of the United States was fueled by the Homestead Act, which gave free land to intrepid settlers willing to claim and tame a plot. The act was passed in 1862. But guess when the last file was claimed under the Homestead Act? 1974—hardly ancient history, right? The Park Service’s Homestead National Monument in Nebraska has a new artifact on display in its lobby to commemorate the lesser-known modern history of homesteading in America—an old tractor that brings the history of homesteading full circle.