The 8’x10′ wooden claim shanty, shown was constructed by Gabriel Mydland, a Norwegian ship-carpenter, on his homestead near Lake Preston, SD, in 1882. Mydland returned to Norway and returned with his wife (Bette), five children and his sister (Anna) in 1883. Shortly after the family emigrated to South Dakota, a sixth child was born. All nine family members lived in the claim shanty and an adjoining covered dugout for one year until a more permanent structure could be constructed.
The Mydland family was part of the “land boom” of the 1880’s which allowed thousands of immigrant families to settle the Dakota Prairies under guidelines established by The Homestead Act. This Act originally known as an “Act to Secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public Domain,” was passed on May 20, 1862, and went into effect at midnight on January 1863. That Act allowed settlers to claim, inhabit, and work one-quarter section of land (160 acres) at a preemption rate of $1.25 (or less) per acre or 80 acres or less at $2.50 per acre. Qualified applicants were required to file an affidavit, swearing to his or her eligibility to homestead, and pay a $10.00 fee to the register of the land office. The homesteader then had to reside upon or cultivate the land for five years to obtain clear title to the land specified in the original claim.
During the 1880’s, the Dakota Prairies were dotted with small “claim shanties” as homesteads were claimed, four to a section in some areas was not uncommon. These small, crude homes were replaced with more permanent structures when the families could afford to build them or were abandoned when families moved off their claims. The shanties qualified as 2 “habitable” structure and that requirement in the process to “prove-up” on a claim.
The design and construction of claim shanties were as many and varied as the people who built them. Many settlers used whatever materials that were available to construct the one-room wooden structures. Lumber often had to be hauled considerable distances from distant sawmills, often at a great expense. A well built shanty had four heavy corner posts set into the ground. A 2×4 framework was attached to these anchors and covered with one-inch thick boards for the exterior walls. Most shanties were covered with tar paper to keep the wind, rain, and snow from entering the structure. In the case of the Mydland’s shanty, wood siding was added over the tar paper, and cedar shingles were used to cover the roof.
The Mydland claim shanty was donated to the W. H. Over Museum by Gordon Mydland of Lake Preston SD, Gabriel Mydland’s grandson. The structure is part of the “South Dakota Landseekers” exhibit and will remain as an appropriate tribute to all the immigrants who endured the hardships and uncertainties of the Dakota Prairies during the homestead boom of the 1880s.
This information sheet was written by Bart H. Wilsey.