Federal Homestead Day
Effective Date: Sunday, May 20th, 2012
WHEREAS, homesteading began with the passage of the Federal Homestead Act on May 20, 1862, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln; and
WHEREAS, homesteaders included over 1.6 million people – men, women, freed slaves, European settlers, and others – from 1862 to 1976, with a special extension for Alaska until 1986; and
WHEREAS, during this time, approximately 270 million acres of federal public land – over one-tenth of all the land in America – were claimed as homesteads in 30 states from Florida to Michigan to Alaska; and
WHEREAS, descendants of homesteaders today are estimated at 93 million Americans, with thousands still living on lands claimed by their ancestors during the homestead era; and
WHEREAS, homesteading began on federal lands in Alaska on May 14, 1898, when President William McKinley signed legislation extending various public land laws to Alaska; and
WHEREAS, in Alaska, 3,277 federal homesteads were successfully patented, including the last homestead patent in America received by a female, Elizabeth M. Smith, in 1984 for her homestead near Big Delta. The final homestead patent in the nation was issued to Kenneth W. Deardorff in 1988 for his claim on the Stony River near Lime Village; and
WHEREAS, these pioneers and other “last homesteaders” in America are Alaskans, many still alive today, and continuing to contribute to the development and economy of the Last Frontier; and
WHEREAS, the federal government should make more federal land available for homesteaders and greater access now and in the future.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sean Parnell, Governor of the State of Alaska, do hereby proclaim May 20, 2012 as:
Federal Homestead Day
in Alaska, and encourage Alaskans to join in the commemoration of our state’s historic past as part of the nation’s 150th anniversary celebration of the 1862 Federal Homestead Act.
Dated: May 14, 2012
