Nature Lover's Journal

Homestead National Monument of America (HOME) is located in the southeast corner of Nebraska (Figure 1). The Monument was established in 1936 to commemorate the Homestead Act of 1862, a law intended to stimulate the agricultural economy through free land deeds. HOME includes the 160 acres once owned by Daniel Freeman, who is credited with filing the first homestead claim in the United States (Hutchinson, 1992). For the settlers of the Great Plains, the prairie initially provided food for livestock and housing by way of sod. A great deal of original prairie has since been converted for agricultural purposes. In 1939 a hundred acres of land at HOME was restored to tallgrass prairie, making it the second oldest prairie restoration in the country. The restored prairie can provide a comprehensive historical view of what the landscape looked like at the time of the early settlers.