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They Settled in Montana: Homesteading Quiz

Test what you learned about the Homestead Act, Native lands, and John Wesley Powell's ideas about Montana. Choose the best answer for each question, then click Check Answers.

1. What did the Homestead Act of 1862 offer to settlers?

A free house in any eastern city A job working for the railroad 160 acres of public land if they lived on and improved it Free food and tools for ten years

2. Whose lands were often given away under the Homestead Act?

Land that had never been lived on by anyone Traditional and treaty lands of Native nations Land owned only by railroad companies Islands in the Pacific Ocean

3. Why did many U.S. leaders think Native people were not "using" the land?

They looked for fences, plowed fields, and permanent houses as signs of use. They believed only cities counted as real land use. They thought only mining showed that land was valuable. They knew Native people used the land but wanted to ignore it.

4. How did many Native communities in the northern Plains actually use their homelands?

Only by building large factories By covering all the land with paved roads Only by planting huge fields of cotton By hunting, fishing, gathering plants, and sometimes farming

5. What did John Wesley Powell notice about rainfall in much of Montana and the West?

It rained more than 40 inches every year. Many areas received less than about 20 inches of rain a year, which was too little for normal farming. Rain always fell evenly all year long. Montana got more rain than the eastern states.

6. What problems did Powell predict if people farmed and grazed carelessly in dry areas?

Soil erosion, dust storms, and damaged grasslands More rainfall and thicker forests Less wind and no droughts Bigger lakes and rivers everywhere

7. Why did Powell think the usual 160-acre homestead was a bad fit for very dry places?

Because he wanted farms to be as small as possible Because he thought no one should live in the West Because families often needed much larger areas and shared water to support herds and crops Because he only liked city jobs, not farming

8. What did many homesteaders in Montana try in the early 1900s, sometimes with poor results?

Growing rice in deep water Building steamboats on small creeks Raising only tropical fruit trees "Dryland farming" without irrigation on land with very little rain

9. What happened in Montana when droughts returned after a few wet years?

Crops grew even better and more people moved in. Soils dried out, wind blew away topsoil, and many homesteads failed. Rivers flooded every summer. Farmers easily switched to rice and cotton.

10. How are people today using lessons from both Powell and Indigenous knowledge?

By looking for better, more sustainable ways to use land and water in dry regions By ignoring old ideas and only planting more crops By stopping all farming and ranching in Montana By building huge cities in the middle of deserts

Updated: February 4, 2026

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