On the Fact that (According to Historian, Paul Gates) a Large Number of Settlers Who Acquired Their land Under the Homestead Act Ultimately Sold it Off to Timber Companies, Mining Firms, and Cattlemen

This is how free-market capitalism is SUPPOSED to work. The fact of the matter is that a lot of this land was totally unsuitable for farming and the government was stupid to misallocate resources like this.............................................................................................P.S. And, yes, the matter got significantly worse when politicians from states like Nevada and Colorado were able to get the government to irrigate areas that were essentially deserts simply to boost their population and increase their power in Congress - an act that led to tons of bankruptcies, copious graft, rampant speculation, waste on a massive scale, a screwing of eastern and midwestern farmers, etc..