Hannah and I stopped at the Blaine County Museum in Chinook, Montana. This also happens to be the "Visitors Center" for the Bear Paw National Historic Sight. Glad we stopped because it's not listed in our National Park Passport book and we like collecting passport cancellation stamps.
There we learned about homesteading in Montana and tried to incorporate into all we have observed about small town Montana and visualize what it must have been like for new arrivals. As we follow Highway 2 and stop in some of the small towns, it is obvious that they came about because of the railroad with the highway following the track and the station right in the middle of town. Amtrak still runs these rails and brings visitors to Glacier National Park and to and from points beyond.
Apparently the railroad companies were quite active in marketing Montana homesteading in Europe promising "potatoes as large as your head". Apparently there were many who purchased their railroad ticket and headed to the land of plenty. Because of Lincoln's homestead act, you could register your plot of land for the high price of $18. The only requirement for the land to become officially yours? Work the land for five years. Only 20% of those who attempted to homestead land in Montana were successful.
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