Discover Charming Small County Seat Towns in the Western US | Historic Main Streets & Scenic Getaways | Perfect for Road Trips & Weekend Escapes

One of the greatest emigrations in the world took place when people looking for a better life headed to the United States in large droves in the late 1800’s and into the 1900’s. Not all came because of the opening of free land for homesteading in the Western United States, although the Homestead Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in1862, beginning the world’s largest land giveaway, was surely a factor. The empty grasslands of the west were contributing very little to the nation’s economy. They were empty because of the annihilation of the buffalo and other wildlife which hastened the defeat of the Indians who were rulers of this domain. Populating and bringing prosperity to this massive area would require an increasing number of people as new lands were surveyed and approved for settlement. The immense surge of people entering the US from 1880 to 1920 coincided with the largest number of homestead applications. Not all homesteaders were newly arrived though as many were from the more settled and crowded lands to the east looking for a new opportunity. Along with this movement to the new and empty part of the United States was the need of setting up a government to bring law to the dealings of the people. A civilization is run by rules that are to keep everyone working together for the good of all. Without laws there would be nothing stable to hold people together in a workable manner. The beginning step of setting up a government in the newly opened areas was by forming territories, then states, to begin shaping the rules to operate by, and bring continuity to the building of a new society. After the state government was in place, county governments had to be formed to bring the rules of governance directly to the people. This culminated in the appointment or election of county commissioners who then organized an election to select a town for the county seat. With the county government in place the connection between the duties of the county and the people was complete. Every step of forming a new government, with multiple groups vying for power, is a battle to come out on top with control of the process. This continued from the state down to the counties, which is on a more personal level and brings out the best and worst in people. This book is about the challenges of forming a county, with the newcomers increasing the population and the subsequent decrease in numbers that had such a drastic effect on the survival of the seat of government towns that had sprung up, and then withered away when adversity, drought and depression forced a reality that had to be reckoned.