History

Homesteading History articles collected over two decades from experienced homesteaders who know what they’re talking about.

Latest History News

Peboan and Seegwun (Winter and Spring)

Peboan and Seegwun is a Chippewa allegory.  This is another example of…

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft Jane Johnston Schoolcraft

How the Ancients Farmed

Mrs. Cro-Magnon just got home with a basket of berries and tubers;…

Catherine Lugo Catherine Lugo

How Sears Roebuck Helped Homesteading Happen

The year was 1886. Sears Roebuck helped homesteading happen quite by accident,…

Barbara Bamberger-Scott Barbara Bamberger-Scott

Grandma Moses: A Primitive Freshness 

She was an octogenarian, an artist, a naturalist, a visionary, a farm…

Catherine Lugo Catherine Lugo

How to Do Things – 1919 Style

A thoughtful young person in 2019 might ask, “What did people do…

Barbara Bamberger-Scott Barbara Bamberger-Scott

Johnny Appleseed: The Myth and the Man

There are still those who think he was a myth, which is…

Barbara Bamberger-Scott Barbara Bamberger-Scott

From Starvation to Frozen Dinners in a Few Thousand Years: The History of Refrigeration

It was strawberry season again.  Strawberries are so good and so inexpensive…

Barbara Bamberger-Scott Barbara Bamberger-Scott

The Corn Story (The Origin of Corn)

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft (1800-1842) also known by her Objibwa name, which is…

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft Jane Johnston Schoolcraft

Covered Wagons Heading West: Life on the Oregon Trail

Amelia Stewart Knight knew the cross-country journey west would be a rough…

Catherine Lugo Catherine Lugo

The Origin of the Robin

Publisher's Note: The Origin of the Robin is a Chippewa story.  Jane…

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft Jane Johnston Schoolcraft

Mollie Dorsey Sanford: Frontier Wife, Frontier Life

An intrepid, independent soul, Mollie Dorsey was a homesteader in her teens,…

Barbara Bamberger-Scott Barbara Bamberger-Scott

Homesteading in Appalachia

Rugged, self-sufficient, fiercely loyal – despite stereotypes to the contrary, the Appalachian…

Karyn Sweet Karyn Sweet