Archival Anecdotes: Finding home, on or off the homestead

The Pioneer Histories that we have on file at the museum do a wonderful job of helping us imagine what life must have been like not all that long ago. If you’ve never taken time to browse them in our online catalog, then I encourage you to spend a snowy afternoon doing just that. Visit eddycounty.catalogaccess.com and navigate to the Library tab to find the 39 transcribed histories ready to be read.

One of the reasons that they are so fascinating was because they tell of the cultural phenomenon surrounding the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act of 1862 sought to stimulate economic development by opening federal lands for settlement. Any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the nation could claim 160 acres of land. Those who claimed land were required to “prove” their land through cultivation.

There weren’t many exclusions when it came to the Homestead Act. A homesteader had to be the head of a household, or at least 21 years of age. Otherwise it included immigrants, towns people, single women, widows and formerly enslaved people. In total 11,842 homesteads were proved up in North Dakota. The total acreage of homestead land was 17,417,466, which calculates to be 39% of the land in the state.

According to the National Archives, nearly four million homesteaders settled land across 30 states in over 123 years.

A filing fee was the only money required, but commitment was a price of its own. Only after five years of homestead life – which included making improvements, building a home and establishing farmland – could a claimant consider the land their own. While some homesteads found a happily ever after, there were many that just didn’t prove up to what they ought to have.

Hazel Healy Pfau was just two years old when her parents left lowa in 1883 and settled on a claim 12 miles northeast of modern day New Rockford. At that time, the Northern Pacific had not extended the branch line between Jamestown and Leeds. New Rockford was nearly non-existent, and the nearest post office was located in Tiffany.

Hazel told of severe winters claiming, “One winter was so severe and so much snow that 14 steps had to be dug down to the back door of our house. Just the chimney could be seen and holes were cut in the roofs of barns so that hay and water could be lowered to the animals.” After spending eight years with poor crops on the homestead, the family moved into New Rockford where they resided for many years.

After reading Hazel’s story, I had to check in with Board Member Sandy (Pfau) O’Connor to see she had familial ties. Within minutes Sandy was referencing a book that had been compiled by a family friend for the Pfau family years ago. Just like that, I was provided a background to the other half of the story behind Hazel’s life after leaving the homestead.

Hazel Healy married William Pfau in Fruita, Colo., in 1910. William was born to Michael and Helena Pfau in Odessa, Russian (now Ukraine), and would have been a great-uncle to Sandy as he was a brother to her grandfather, Leonard. William’s family first moved to Canada and lived there from 1893 to 1896. They moved to Carrington and eventually began farming along the James River near New Rockford. William worked as a grain buyer and managed a grain elevator in Minnewaukan.

I suppose sometimes you gotta leave the homestead to find your home.