POST ROCK FENCES MADE GOOD NEIGHBORS

hen Congress opened up free land (provided one was willing to make improvements and stay put for five years) on the Great Plains with passage of the 1862 Homestead Act, settlers began to pour into west-central Kansas. But those who chose to make their living as farmers encountered a problem. Cattle ranchers of the era were accustomed to allowing livestock access to what had been open range, a practice that left home-steaders constantly struggling to protect their crops from ruin. The obvious remedy of fencing was not practical