Curated OER
Bring No Poor Articles with You
Students compare their travel needs to homesteaders from the late 1800's in this multi-lesson unit. Students analyze a historic document, explain modes of transportation of the homesteaders, and articulate the personal and economic...
Curated OER
Surviving the Plains
In this American West worksheet, students solve 10 anagrams to find problems faced by the homesteaders. Students fill out a chart with these problems, descriptions, and solutions.
Curated OER
Homesteaders Push and Pull
For this American West worksheet, learners review the factors that made the homesteaders leave their homes in the East to live in the plains. Students sort the factors into push and pull factor categories.
US National Archives
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library: Pioneer Life With Laura
This site is an integrated teaching unit on pioneer life and Westward Movement of the United States, using books by author Laura Ingalls Wilder. It includes suggested read-alouds, a wealth of large and small group activities, a pioneer...
Virtual Museum of Canada
Virtual Museum of Canada: Community Stories: Arriving at the 6th Siding
This site provides a fascinating historical look at the flood of homesteaders who came to the area of Olds Alberta.
Virtual Museum of Canada
Virtual Museum of Canada: Community Stories: The Roots and Birth of Mirror 1870 to 1930
Looking at the history of the community of Mirror, Alberta, shows how this part of Western Canada gained population.
University of Virginia
Uva Electronic Library: Letters of a Woman Homesteader
This site offers the full text of "Letters of a Woman Homesteader," by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. The work is a compilation of letters written by a young woman who was a homesteader in Wyoming.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Homestead National Monument: History and Culture
An extensive site that covers many aspects of the Homestead Act, including biographies, charts, and the text of the act. From the National Park Service.
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: Reforming Beef
The history of the reformation of beef in Nebraska is detailed in this impressive compilation.
Nebraska Studies
Nebraska Studies: High Falutin' Beef
This is an impressive history of the introduction of beef to the Great Plains region complete with videos, photos, and lesson plans.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Homestead National Monument: Exodusters
Read about the reasons for the extensive black migration to Kansas, especially in the 1870s. These emigrants were called Exodusters. From the National Park Service.
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: The Homestead Act of 1862
A lesson plan about the Homestead Act of 1862 with much background information about previous land grants made by the U.S. government,
PBS
Pbs the West: The Homestead Act May 20, 1862
The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," provides the text of the Homestead Act of 1862.
US National Archives
Laura Ingalls Wilder Teaching Unit: Pioneer Life With Laura
A great lesson using the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder to teach about pioneer life on the plains. Filled with before reading and during reading activities and questions.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: The Homestead Act Went Into Effect
This 4-page article discusses the Homestead Act of 1862 and its effects.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: Uncle Sam Is Rich Enough to Give Us All a Farm
In this companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House, you can see how the Homestead Act opened up the frontier to ordinary citizens, eager for a chance to own their own property.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Getting Started: Packing and Preparing for a New Life
From the PBS series, "Frontier House," learn about how potential homesteaders prepared to move their families and their lives to homesteads in Montana in the late nineteenth century.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: Frontier Education and the One Room Schoolhouse
See how much public education has changed from the one-room schoolhouse days of the frontier. From a companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: Creating a Home on the Frontier
Making a house a home was a struggle on the plains. This companion essay to the PBS series, Frontier House, describes the problems with getting water, outhouses, and furnishing the sod house.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: "The Little Old Shanty on the Claim"
An essay provided as part of the PBS series, Frontier House, describes the housing options of pioneers on the prairies in eastern Montana.
Other
Digital Revolution: Homestead National Monument of America
This information about the Homestead Act and homesteaders has been garnered from the National Park Service. Use the links at the bottom to find out about the history of the Act, the lives of the homesteaders, and what a tall grass...
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: May 20: The Homestead Act
Gives facts about the Homestead Act and quotes from some homesteaders. Includes many links to additional resources within the Library of Congress site.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Frontier Life: Recreation and Leisure Time on the Frontier
Read about how the homesteaders on the American frontier added a little levity to their otherwise harsh frontier life, and in particular how women, how spent much time at home, worked to add variety to their lives. From a companion essay...
Other
Direct Line Software: The Homestead Act of 1862
This resource provides information on the Homesteaders and how to locate Homestead records. Visit to learn about the Homestead Act of 1862.