In the immigration measure guaranteeing a continuous and adequate labor supply, the manufacturers saw an offset to the Homestead Act of 1862 granting free lands to settlers.
By the time we got all the way to the West, the lands that were usable for agriculture, which is what we were using them for, had been homesteaded or sold and were occupied by private individuals.
As this country was settled from east to west, And you had programs like the Homestead Act, and the government was selling land to raise money, mostly at a dollar or a dollar and a quarter an acre.
Years later, he reflected, We were regular soldiers, and we had to make the West safe for the soldiers of the Civil War to get homesteads in and $72 per month pensions, while we poor regulars got nothing.