Who Owns My Land?

The Federal government's land surveys lagged behind the settling of the Western lands.  The settlers had little or no patience with Federal bureaucracy assigning lands.  Only gradually did Federal laws begin to take into account the needs and life of the new residents out West.

One of those who championed the rights and interest of the settlers was Thomas Hart Benton during his 30 years in the Senate, 1821-1851.  He argued for a fixed minimum price for all Western lands, and urged that the price be based on the quality of the land.  Benton secured changes in the laws to protect the settlers who had cultivated land on public domain without prior formalities.  The law was slowly changed to save the "squatters" rights.

Even so, these changes were incredibly slow to materialize.  In 1830, but not made permanent until 1841, the settlers was give some temporary legal protection against purchase by a non-resident.  Now a settlers had the first bid on a tract of land up to 160 acres at minimum price, but acreage over 160 acres usually went up for public auction.

The Homestead Act of 1862 enabled a settler to secure Federal title of 160 acres free of any charge except the registration fee.  The settler had to have lived continuously on the land for five years at the time of application.  By that time though most of the best land had been settled and a Western lifestyle established.

Next time...Protection Unions

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Today in Pioneer History: "On June 18, 1983,  Dr. Sally Ride becomes the American women in space aboard the space shuttle Challenger on its second mission.  

John Charles Fremont

We have discussed John Charles Fremont before in this blog but we will go into a bit more detail this time in context.  Fremont was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1813.  In 1818 his mother, brother and sister moved to Charleston, South Carolina where he grew up in genteel poverty

Fremont developed into a handsome young man who had a real love of danger, a flair for self-dramatization and a talent for attracting influential friends.  One of these friends paid for much of Fremont's education.  At the age of 25, Charles became a second lieutenant in the US Topographical Corps where he gained a reputation as a wilderness surveyor and mapmaker. 

As a young officer, Fremont attracted the attention of Thomas Hart Benton, one of the most powerful men in American politics at that time.  Fremont met Benton's 15 year old daughter, Jesse and the two fell in love.  Despite the parents very impassioned objections, they were married secretly in the fall of 1846. 
Benton forgave his new son-in-law and became his patron and protector, getting him an appointment as chief of an expedition map the new Oregon Trail.

Fremont had two main objectives in 1842.  One was to make the first accurate map of the Oregon Trail.  The second was to promote westward emigration.  He was joined on his expedition by a famous legendary frontiersman, Kit Carson.

Next time...on the trail with Carson and Fremont
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Today in Pioneer History:  On March 23, 1839, the initials "O.K." are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for "oll korrect," a popular slang misspelling of "all correct" at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.