Editing Daniel Freeman (section)

==Homesteader==
[[Image:Grave of Daniel Freeman.jpg|thumb|right|The grave of Daniel and Agnes Freeman at the Homestead National Monument of America.]]
On May 20, 1862, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed the Homestead Act, which gave adults {{convert|160|acre|km2}} of land if they filed paperwork and paid a small fee. The homesteader was required to build a 12x14-foot dwelling and farm the land for five years or plant trees.

Although the land was cheap or free, many homesteaders did not last five years because of the blizzards, drought, disease, plagues of locusts, and loneliness on the open prairies.<ref>Badlands Homestead, South Dakota</ref> January 1, 1863, was the day the Homestead Act went into effect. Freeman may have been a scouter for the Union Army, and he said that he was leaving for St. Louis that morning for military duty. Freeman persuaded a clerk to open the land office just after midnight so he could file his claim.

When five years was up, the homesteader had to have two or three witnesses sign a document called "Proof Required Under Homestead Acts May 20, 1862 . . . "  Freeman had his neighbors, Joseph Graff and Samuel Kilpatrick, sign this first document.