Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-291) and index.
Contents
Creating a "new frontier of opportunity" : World War II veterans and the campaign for Western homesteads -- "Ah, for the life of a farmer" : the chimera of free land -- Proving up and proving themselves -- "Gold mine in the sky" : the farmers' dreams for themselves and their land -- The best year of their lives? : women on Western homesteads -- "The firm foundation of our community" : opportunity and its limits on the Bureau of Reclamation's Riverton Project -- A conflict of interests : the battle over reclamation homesteads -- Repeal of the Homestead Act -- "Our dream was changed into a nightmare" : the homesteaders at homesteaders at the dawn of the twenty-first century.
