“I do declare…”
Nearly 150 years ago Hans Peter Hansen paid a filing fee of $. In return he received this receipt for his payment and proof that he had made a declaration to claim the land located at the Southeast corner of section 20, township 103N, of range 71W. He intended to lay claim to 160 acres of land, which was in Brule County, roughly two miles east of the Missouri River. The declaratory statement was filed in Springfield, Dakota Territory, about 130 miles from the claimed land. At a rate of three miles per hour on foot, it would take over 43 hours to travel that distance, in the best conditions. By the average horse, it would take 32.5 hours! To file a claim and then move out to it was no small feat. Bear in mind, the claim was filed 15 years before statehood! Homesteaders invested in the land and worked hard to get it “free”.