Fifty Million Acres: Conflicts over Kansas Land Policy, ... (ISBN 0806129913)

What to do with all that land:
Definitive look at Kansas land policy in the nineteenth century. Paul Gates examines the selling of Indian lands (the Osage reserve alone consisted of almost 9 million acres), trust lands, and public lands (which were subject to different laws than the Indian lands). He also investigates the virtual land grab conducted by the railroads (Congress's generosity helped); some railroads were "given" up to 50 miles of land on either side of their tracks. Finally he reviews the Homestead Act, "one of the most important land acts in the history of the world," which, by offering free land in 160-acre sections under certain conditions and responsibilities, was supposed to eliminate the land speculators and grand estate builders. Unfortunately, much of the land made available under this act was far from desirable and was distant from main transportation routes and just about all the railroads. Because of the nature of the book it is filled with policy decisions, economic details, tables of available acreage and prices, etc. But Gates writes with authority and flair, and the book is far from dull. A classic of its kind, and a must-read for anyone interested in how land policies effected settlement in Kansas and all the West.