......so much nice stuff in such a desolate area? That house they lived in looked like it was built by a custom homebuilder. Nice clothes, books, food with no noticeable crops, nice lamps on the walls, clean bright colored linens. Looked like a couple of yuppies that went off and built a Cabin with the husband's $500k bonus from the prior year.
shareI can't speak for *all* the stuff, but Lizzy does tell Emma that her husband made their furniture rather than bring it from St. Louis. It's not inconceivable that they did bring the clothes, lamps, books and linen with them. Maybe the crops weren't noticeable but they were alluded to: Isaac was helping Gideon sow his. I can't imagine anyone who's making $500k bonuses living in those conditions. If I had that income, the first thing I'd invest in would be a solid door.
shareAccording to Wiki, the American government of the day promised citizens up to 160 acres of land if they could move to these desolate areas and make something of the land there (start a farm, or a business). This was called the Homestead act. And the families lived at least half a mile apart, if not more. The extreme isolation led to what's called 'prairie madness' which is the basis of this movie.
shareYes indeed. It was called the Homestead Act of 1860. There were a few conditions that must be met. You had to build at least a temporary shelter, live there at least 6 months of the year, and work the land every year, for a period of 5 years. Most did not meet the requirements, grew frustrated, and went back east. You also had the option to purchase the land at a reasonable cost of pennies on the acre (I believe it was $.25 an acre). Ideally, the homesteaders chose a location that was near a railhead, or near where a railhead was anticipated as going in.
Many of the homesteaders settled in the plains states. There were few trees in this area. The wiser homesteaders built the very well insulated sod homes to start. Then later, after a few successful crops, built stick and frame homes. Many of the early homesteaders that did not shelter in sod homes, did not survive even the first winter of their stay.
With regards to the prairie madness, fans of the little house books will remember that Laura Ingalls, once reaching Dakota territory, and after having started her first teaching job, boarded with a family by the name of “Brewster” (The families real name was Bouchie). While the children’s books were heavily edited for children, and thus largely fictional. The part about Mrs Brewster/Bouchie suffering from prairie madness, was real, as it was among many that were not conditioned to such isolation.
As far as the OP’s mention of the family in this film having such nice things for that time and place, they are right; it wouldn’t have been likely. Only after satisfying the homestead requirements, and having lived there for a period of many years, and having several successful crops, would they have been able to live in such luxurious circumstances. In other words, only a handful of farming families would have been lucky enough to have ever achieved such success. Most went back east in the early years, until the area had been better settled.
In the 1970s my parents moved to a small house in the California desert. No telephone (and before cell phones), barely any tv reception (antenna only, no cable), water from a cistern filled by a truck every two weeks (if the driver wasn't drunk and showed up), nearest neighbor two miles away, nearest store or hospital thirty miles away, no law enforcement presence. At first it was an adventure, but after a few years my mom started to become agoraphobic and wouldn't leave the house. She was severely depressed, and it got worse and worse over the next three decades until her death. Isolation in a desolate environment can be psychologically devastating.
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