he Homestead Act of 1862 was the culmination of decades of work to organize and distribute government lands. Every 160-acre parcel largely went to new settlers, but fraudulent schemes placed much of the land in corporate hands. Homesteaders struggled to settle their land grants and many abandoned the land before receiving ownership. But overall, the Homestead Act was instrumental in settling the frontier, providing land for family farms and creating the legacy of the American West.