Homestead National Monument

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Homestead National Monument lies just west of Beatrice, Nebraska.  It is an educational monument to the the Homestead Act, the Great Land Rush, and the life of those who chose to chase their dreams.
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The visitor center shows a 20 minute movie about the Homestead Act signed by President Lincoln, the Great Land Rush, and shows some of the homesteads and what they look like today.  Some are in ruins while others have become a legacy still owned by the children of the origional homesteaders. 
The Homestead Act gave 160 acres of land to a person who was required to build a home and make improvements on the land for 5 years.  If they were successful, the land became theirs at the end of the 5 years.  The first homes were very small cabins, some only 14 feet by 16 feet, that the entire family lived in.  That's smaller than most kitchens today!  (You can click on the pictures below to enlarge them.)
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There is a short trail behind the visitor center where you can see a homesteader cabin and some of the farming equipment that was used.
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The visitor center also houses a small museum where you can discover more about the homesteaders and their lives.
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A cook stove.  As hot as it is today, I can't imagine mom lighting a fire in cookstove like this to prepare a meal in a small cabin.  But that's what had to be done in those days!

Below you can see a replica of an animal powered treadmill that was used to drive small devices such as butter churns.  Cleaver homesteaders created ways to make their hard lives easier!
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There were so many things to see and explore that I can't possibly fit them all on this web page or you would be here reading all day!  Suffice it to say, mom and I both thought is was very interesting!

After all the excitement today, I was one "pooped puppy."
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