The First Migrants

June 12, 2023
Economist Edwards and historian Friefeld (coauthors, Homesteading the Plains) deliver a meticulously researched account of Black homesteading on the Great Plains in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, framing these early migrants as a precursor of the Great Migration. While the authors spotlight all-Black homesteader communities like Nicodemus, Kans., they mainly focus on homesteaders who lived on remote farms, highlighting the financial risk involved and the emotional turmoil caused by such isolation. Henry Burden, formerly enslaved in Virginia, claimed a tract of land in Saline County, Neb., in 1870; facing calamities like fire and locusts, he struggled to make ends meet. On the other hand, Robert Anderson, born into slavery in Kentucky, made enough money on the tract he acquired in 1891 in Box Butte County, Neb., that he could afford to travel abroad. Agricultural scientist George Washington Carver was raised by his white Missouri enslavers as though he were their own child; in his 20s, he homesteaded alone in Beeler, Kans., where he developed a profound sense of loneliness that stayed with him long after he abandoned the homesteading life. Utilizing a wealth of primary sources and accounts from descendants, the authors make palpable the homesteaders’ relentless drive toward freedom through self-reliance. It’s a revealing look at an underrepresented chapter in American history. Photos.