How many homesteaders turned back after failing to make a new life out west?

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. On January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman made the first claim under the Act, which gave citizens or future citizens up to 160 acres of public land provided they live on it, improve it, and pay a small registration fee.

Explanation:

The Homestead Act of 1862 parceled out millions of acres of land to settlers ... while Southern Democrats sought to make the lands of the west available only to ... The reality of life for the exodusters in Kansas was difficult, however, and many of ... of local governments to provide relief to the new arrivals frequently failed.