THE FARM LAND 43 



ment decided that some rules would have to be made for land 

 on which there were some especially valuable natural resources. 

 For this reason the Timber and Stone Act was passed. This 

 law provided for the sale to any one person of 160 acres of 

 land from which the timber and stone could be taken for per- 

 sonal use, at a minimum of $2.50 an acre. 35 Based on the same 

 idea of charging a premium for special lands, laws were passed 

 to sell coal lands, petroleum lands, phosphate lands, and water- 

 power sites at higher prices than other land. In most cases it 

 became necessary to repeal or amend these acts. Unfortunately, 

 they were not repealed until after many millions of acres had 

 been drained of their riches by dishonest or greedy land 

 grabbers. 



THE LIFE OF THE PIONEER 



What happened to the people who settled on this govern' 

 ment land? In his J\[ew Guide for Emigrants to the West writ 

 ten in 1837, Mr. J. M. Peck describes the living conditions of 

 the early settlers thus: 



"Many persons, on moving into the loac\ woods, who have 

 been accustomed to the decencies of life, think it little matter 

 how they live, because no one sees them. Thus we have known 

 a family of some opulence to reside for years in a cabin unfit 

 for the abode of any human being, because they could not find 

 time to build a house! and whenever it rained hard, the fe' 

 males were necessarily engaged in rolling the beds from one 

 corner of the room to another, in order to save them from the 

 water that poured in through the roof." 86 



The men wore hunting shirts, "a kind of loose, open frock, 

 reaching half way down the thighs, with large sleeves, the 

 body open in front, lapped over and belted with a leathern 

 girdle, held together by a buckle. The cape is large, and usually 



35 Hibbard, op. cit., p. 465. 

 36 p. 99. 



