Homesteaders were people who left their homes. They were people like you or me, not cowboys like movies make them out to be. They could be bankers, farmers, or anyone else who wanted to leave their homes for the west. It didn't matter if they were rich or

poor. Everyone had a reason to be on the wagon train heading for the West.

Homesteaders left for many reasons. These could be personal or physical. It may be something like the person had a sick aunt in the west and they were going to live with her. Or a person may have went bankrupt and went to the west to seek a fortune. Many people left because the west had good farmlands. Or blacks left to escape the laws of the south.

The next two pages describe two major reasons people left.

One of the main reasons many homesteaders left was because of the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act said that th

A log cabin was a basic house. It was made of lumber that was chopped. Have you ever played with Lincoln Logs? These houses were built in the same way you might build a Lincoln Log cabin. They were larger than a soddy and took much more time. It took weeks alone to cut the lumber!

Homesteaders did not take many things on their journey. Only things that could keep them alive were brought with them. Things likes stoves and tables were the greatest luxury they usually had. They filled their wagons with food, clothes, weapons, and cattle feed. It was not comfortable in a wagon train, and people usually preferred walking next to the wagon train due to the bumps the wagons went over.

Homesteaders who made it to the west of course had to make a house. They had many different types of houses to choose from. In the next 3 pages I will talk about 3 commonly used houses. These are the sod house, dugout, and log cabin.

You may be wondering, when the homesteaders had a house what did they do? Well, they settled down and found a job. Many became farmers, some went back to the job they had before they left. Some became blacksmiths, bankers, chefs, conductors for a train, or anything else.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Homestead Act, , Lincoln Log, West Homesteaders, Jim Crow, Jim Bridger, Fort Bridger, Lincoln Logs, people left, left homes, log cabin, homesteaders left, wagon train, jim crow laws, homes west, sod house, jim bridger, jim crow, crow laws,
Approximate Word count = 843
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)