The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged people to take a chance on settling the Great Plains. Any citizen or intended citizen could lay claim to 160 acres. They had to live on the land for five years and make improvements like building a house and planting trees and crops. By 1903, much of that “free” land was already in the hands of settlers and unavailable to new pioneers. Much of the land that was available was in the hands of land speculators.