Near Beatrice in Gage County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
A Legacy of Change
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., May 30, 2011
1. A Legacy of Change Marker
Across this footbridge you can walk through 100 acres of restored tallgrass prairie. As each year passes, this piece of ground will look more and more like what Daniel Freeman saw when he laid claim to a 160-acre homestead here in 1863.
As you explore ahead, keep in mind the brutal challenges of this prairie. How could simple tools and hard work overcome blizzards, prairie fires, tornadoes, plagues of grasshoppers, and a host of other calamities?
Yet despite these harsh realities, millions of people flooded the land in 30 states to carve out a better life. Through the Homestead Act families, immigrants, single women, ex-soldiers, freed slaves, and fortune seekers settled ten percent of all the land in the United States. Their hard work changed America forever.
Gaze across all that tall grass and ask yourself, "What would I have done first?"
Erected by National Park Service.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Environment • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1863.
Location. 40° 17.459′ N, 96° 50.09′ W. Marker is near Beatrice, Nebraska, in Gage County. Marker is at the west approach to the bridge over Cub Creek leading to the Farm Loop Trail, easily accessed
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Deep Roots in the Earth (within shouting distance of this marker); Roads to Success (approx. half a mile away); Daniel and Agnes Freeman (approx. half a mile away); Success Was Only Natural (approx. half a mile away); Homesteading's Legacy is Written on the Land (approx. 0.6 miles away); A Prairie Reborn (approx. 0.6 miles away); The Homestead Heritage Center (approx. 0.6 miles away); Is All Barbed Wire the Same? (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Beatrice.
Also see . . . Homestead National Monument of America. (Submitted on September 25, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.)
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., May 30, 2011
2. A Legacy of Change Marker
Looking east toward bridge
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., May 30, 2011
3. A Legacy of Change Marker
Looking west from marker toward Education Center
Photographed By Unknown, 1887
4. Photo on A Legacy of Change Marker
[Caption reads] Freeman family, 1887
Photographed By Unknown, 1869
5. Photo on A Legacy of Change Marker
[Caption reads] Freeman homestead, 1869. Today the Freemans' wheat fields, cornfields, family orchards, and livestock are gone from their claim.
Credits. This page was last revised on August 13, 2020. It was originally submitted on September 25, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 579 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 25, 2011, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
