The Desert Land Act is a

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as ...

which was passed by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

on March 3, 1877, to encourage and promote the economic development of the

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

and

semiarid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

public lands within certain states of the Western states. Through the Act, United States citizens, or those declaring an intent to become a citizen, over the age of 21 may apply for a desert-land entry to

irrigate Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develo ...

and reclaim the land. This act amended the

Homestead Act of 1862 The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of ...

. Originally the act offered , although currently only 320 acres may be claimed. A precursor act in 1875, called the Lassen County Act, was pushed by Representative

John K. Luttrell John King Luttrell (June 27, 1831 – October 4, 1893) was an American miner, lawyer and politician who served three terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1873 to 1879. Early life and career Born near Knoxville, Tennessee, Lutt ...

l of the northeastern district of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, who wanted to speed up privatization of land east of the Sierra. This act enlarged the maximum allowable purchase for settlers from 160 acres to 640 acres. With the backing of Land Commissioner J. A. Williamson, Luttrell and Senator Aaron A. Sargent co-sponsored the Desert act which extended the Lassen County Act to cover several arid states and other regions of California.

Intentions

The original intent of the Desert Land Act was to instigate growth in the West by incentivizing people to move out West in the late 19th century and develop irrigation systems that would transform the land into usable space. While it encouraged growth, it also played a large role in water rights of the era. While settlers decided to move West to spread irrigation, rather than use the land solely for farming or cattle, it created a new dilemma for settlers as to how to use and share the water, be it on a communal or an individual basis. While many irrigation systems were set up communally, that eventually led to private water companies that owned large irrigation systems, which were built independently without consulting proper engineers.

Outcomes

Although the Desert Land Act was partly based on the Homestead Act and the Preemption Act (1841), it did not contain a key provision of those acts, the residence requirement. While the claimant had to improve the land, the claimant did not need to live on the land while the improvements were made. In the end, that led to a significant amount of fraud, and

land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many ...

companies acquired tens of thousands of acres of California land by hiring "dummy entrymen" to make false claims of settlement. Well known areas that began as land patented under the Desert Land Act include the Salt River in Arizona, the

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

in California, the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

in Idaho, Gallatin, Montana, and Yakima, Washington. Many of these communities facilitated further growth through the help of the

Reclamation Act of 1902 The Reclamation Act (also known as the Lowlands Reclamation Act or National Reclamation Act) of 1902 () is a United States federal law that funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of 20 states in the American West. The act at first covere ...

. The peak of growth of these areas can be tracked by three separate eras prior to the current era: 1877–1887, 1888–1893, and 1893–1910.

1877–1887

The first decade after the Desert Land Act was passed was well known for fraudulent activity, especially by cattle producers. The era saw its end after a decline in the cattle industry.

1888–1893

The second era of the Desert Land Act saw a significant drop in fraudulent activity after an amendment to the Act that included stricter regulations and checks for irrigation systems, however was not entirely absent of fraudulent land ownership. The settlers were then required to submit maps and plans of irrigation to prevent violation of the act. Other amendatory acts to the law included encouraging communal placement of irrigation systems, and defined the progress of reclamation in the amount spent on the systems.{{Cite web, url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/43/327, title=43 U.S. Code § 327 – Filing irrigation plan; association of entrymen, website=LII / Legal Information Institute, language=en, access-date=2017-11-30 The time period ended with the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

1893–1910

The last era of the Desert Land Act began as the interest in irrigation and migration increased following the prosperity after the Depression of 1893. The last year of the era marks the peak of Desert Land Act original entries, over 15,000 in one year.

After 1910

By 1920, nearly all present irrigation systems had been in place in all lands grown in the West from the act.

References

* 1877 in American law 44th United States Congress United States federal public land legislation Settlement schemes History of the American West