{"product_id":"great-plains-homesteaders-9781496238948","title":"Great Plains Homesteaders","description":"\u003ci\u003eGreat Plains Homesteaders\u003c\/i\u003e tells the epic story of how millions of people, white and Black, women and men, young and old, and of many different religions, languages, and ethnic groups, moved to the Great Plains to claim land. Most were poor, so the government's offer of \"free\" farms through the Homestead Act of 1862 seemed a godsend. The settlers found harsh growing conditions and many perils--including exploitation by railroads and banks, droughts, prairie fires, and bitter winters--yet they persisted. The settlers successfully \"proved up\" nearly a million claims between the 1860s and the 1920s. They filled up the immense grassland, transforming it into productive farms, the beginning of the region's agriculture. They also created a distinct culture that continues to shape their estimated fifty million descendants living today. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Every homesteader's experience was different, as particular and distinct as the people were themselves. Yet their collective story, with all its hardships and toil, its ambitions and setbacks, its fresh starts and failures and successes, is central to the American experience. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bison Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781496238948\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 198","brand":"Richard Edwards","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44413648961717,"sku":"9781496238948","price":15.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_06af1d3c-1a2f-4693-805a-d89344ebca98.jpg?v=1720538115","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/great-plains-homesteaders-9781496238948","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}