{"id":73,"ordinal":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:34","content_modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:34","featured":1,"title":"Homesteads","creator":null,"description":"<p>The federal government’s strategy for populating a newly claimed territory and limiting land use by Native Americans led to a series of Homestead Acts passed between 1862 and 1912. Under these acts the government promised hundreds of acres of free land per homesteader if a settler could “prove up” a homestead claim within a certain time period. Thousands of people took advantage of this opportunity and many formed creative partnerships to acquire even more land.\r\n\r\nRailroad companies recognized the opportunities to expand their market and soon joined the homesteading frenzy. The Northern Pacific Railroad sold thousands of acres of land to eager buyers while the Milwaukee Road aggressively marketed its properties in the “Treasure State.”\r\n\r\nHomesteaders cobbled together barns, cabins, and shacks using readily available materials such as wood, stone, and sod. If their agricultural efforts were successful they built more permanent structures. Farmhouses and agricultural boomtowns boasted buildings not only in utilitarian folk styles but also in the Neoclassical Revival, Queen Anne, and Rustic styles. \r\n\r\nSome farms prospered despite the difficulties of dry-land farming; however, prosperity was short-lived. A major 1920s drought and post-WWI economic disaster ultimately signaled the end of the Homestead Boom. To this day homesteads pepper Montana’s rural landscape, reminders of a time filled with optimism and bravery. </p>","postscript_text":"","tour_img":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/95f8ddafa794d48715d1dcf28d1a4342.jpg","items":[{"id":219,"title":"J. C. Adams Stone Barn","latitude":47.5403400000000004865796654485166072845458984375,"longitude":-111.687083000000029642251320183277130126953125,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/95f8ddafa794d48715d1dcf28d1a4342.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/95f8ddafa794d48715d1dcf28d1a4342.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"Northeast of Sun River off U.S. Highway 81, 1¼ miles West of town, Sun River, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":242,"title":"Lonetree","latitude":47.54323937832800339720051852054893970489501953125,"longitude":-110.2899561381100284052081406116485595703125,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/86889d97269c0669cf133a84ee8cb280.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/86889d97269c0669cf133a84ee8cb280.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"Three miles West of Montana Highway 80 between Geraldine and Square Butte, Square Butte, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":381,"title":"Abraham and Mary Walton Hogeland House","latitude":47.0652783000000027868736651726067066192626953125,"longitude":-109.4333450000000311774783767759799957275390625,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/f2a999da37a2a9bb9604bd19953c488b.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/f2a999da37a2a9bb9604bd19953c488b.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"620 West Montana Street, Lewistown, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":532,"title":"Crail Ranch Buildings","latitude":45.26968699999999756755642010830342769622802734375,"longitude":-111.29582299999998440398485399782657623291015625,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/e52b632f310381034f5c890d08825351.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/e52b632f310381034f5c890d08825351.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"2110 Spotted Elk Road, Big Sky, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":614,"title":"Watkins Creek Ranch Historic District (Firehole Ranch)","latitude":44.81286089999999688870957470498979091644287109375,"longitude":-111.2900932999999668027157895267009735107421875,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/d4d08846589ce7a405cb61aa85e4b2ac.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/d4d08846589ce7a405cb61aa85e4b2ac.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"1207 Firehole Ranch Road, West Yellowstone, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":666,"title":"Meadowbrook Stock Farm","latitude":47.02709681322640022926862002350389957427978515625,"longitude":-109.85020062499961568391881883144378662109375,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/f5911f8ee63bd6b66d42b2400e1f0616.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/f5911f8ee63bd6b66d42b2400e1f0616.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"U.S. Highway 87, Hobson, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":674,"title":"Child Ranch","latitude":46.56881866928785029813298024237155914306640625,"longitude":-111.912853717803955078125,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/85ad82ad15f6d5cadc15ddc01e4c01d9.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/85ad82ad15f6d5cadc15ddc01e4c01d9.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"305 Highway 518, East Helena, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":828,"title":"The Silver King Ranch","latitude":47.074578000000002475644578225910663604736328125,"longitude":-112.55655380000001741791493259370326995849609375,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/263e449fce85530d736d3bc1bea41d0c.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/263e449fce85530d736d3bc1bea41d0c.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"Northeast of Lincoln, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":846,"title":"Ferris / Hermsmeyer / Fenton 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