State of South Dakota  
EIGHTY-SEVENTH SESSION
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 2012  

793T0762   HOUSE COMMEMORATION   NO.  1019  

Introduced by:    Representatives Scott, Abdallah, Bolin, Carson, Conzet, Cronin, Deelstra, Dryden, Haggar, Kloucek, Moser, Romkema, Schaefer, Solum, Stricherz, Van Gerpen, Vanneman, White, Willadsen, and Wink and Senators Juhnke and Putnam
 

        A LEGISLATIVE COMMEMORATION, Recognizing and remembering the Homestead Act.

    WHEREAS, four pages that make up the Homestead Act of 1862 will be on display at Homestead National Monument; and

    WHEREAS, the Homestead Act of 1862 is considered one of the most one hundred important documents in the National Archives; and

    WHEREAS, this document influenced the course of United States history by shaping South Dakota landscape, history, and culture for future generations; and

    WHEREAS, America gave away two hundred and seventy million acres to four million people; and

    WHEREAS, today it is estimated that as many as 93 million Americans are descendants of homesteaders:

    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT COMMEMORATED, by the Eighty-seventh Legislature of the State of South Dakota, that the Homestead Act of 1862, that changed South Dakota forever, be held in a place of honor.