The Montana Homesteading project was initiated by the Montana Historical Society in cooperation with the Homestead National Monument of America in 2004 as a means to document family stories relating to homesteading experiences in Montana. The project focused on living descendants of homesteaders in Montana in an effort to gather written stories and/or names for potential oral history interviewees--23 interviews were conducted for this project. The historical information submission form, arranged alphabetically by family name, contains background information on families who homesteaded in Montana, primarily between 1909-1930. Some files contain additional information including reminiscences, photographs, and official homesteading documentation. The historical information submission form, arranged alphabetically by family name, contain minimal background information on families who homesteaded in Montana. Some files contain additional information including reminiscences, photographs, and paper documentation. It is valuable because it contains family stories relating to homesteading experiences in Montana. Participation in this project was completely voluntary. The historical information submission forms ask the participant a series of questions, including: When and how did your family/ancestors arrive in Montana? Do you know how they heard about homesteaded opportunities in Montana? Where did your family/ancestors homestead? Do you know the legal land description(s) of the homestead(s) in question? Were they able to "prove-up" on the homestead? The form then asked to add any family stories or first-hand experiences you would like to share relating to homesteading/farm life in Montana. There is a wide variety of material, based on the time each respondent took to reply. Thus some files are very rich in information, and others are quite scant. (Manuscript Collection 340)
