HomesteadingthePlainsoffersaboldnewlookatthehistoryofhomesteading,overturningwhatfordecadeshasbeentheorthodoxscholarlyview.Theauthorsbeginbynotingthestrikingdisparitybetweenthepublic’sperceptionofhomesteadingasacherishedpartofournationalnarrativeandmostscholars’harshlynegativeanddismissivetreatment.HomesteadingthePlainsreexaminesolddataanddrawsfromnewlyavailabledigitizedrecordstoreassessthecurrentinterpretation’sfourprincipaltenets:Homesteadingwasaminorfactorinfarmformation,withmostwesternfarmerspurchasingtheirland;mosthomesteadersfailedtoprovetheirclaims;thehomesteadingprocesswasrifewithcorruptionandfraud;andhomesteadingcausedIndianlanddispossession.Usingdatainsteadofanecdotesandfocusingmainlyonthenineteenthcentury,HomesteadingthePlainsdemonstratesthatthefirstthreetenetsarewrongandthefourthonlypartiallytrue.Inshort,thepublic’sperceptionofhomesteadingisperhapsmoreaccuratethantheonescholarshaveconstructed.HomesteadingthePlainsprovidesthebasisforanunderstandingofhomesteadingthatisstartlinglydifferentfromthecurrentscholarlyorthodoxy.
