The first real pioneer farmers

I’m Mark Oppold with a minute on the history of American agriculture.

At the end of the Civil War, the government offered Union Army veterans homesteads in Kansas, and more than 100,000 took advantage of this benefit. Most were strong young veterans who had left their families to fight for the Union and actually became the first true pioneer farmers in Kansas.

Most had grown up on farms in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and knew what it took to turn prairie grass into farmable land. Still, a man with a team of oxen could only clear about an acre of land per day and could only begin after April 1, when the ground thawed.

This is today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. We’ll see you next time.

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