THE KINKAID ACT
THE KINKAID ACT
The Kinkaid Act of 1904 is a U.S. statute that amended the 1862 Homestead Act, so that one section of a township of undeveloped land could be claimed in 37 northern and western Nebraska counties. The act was introduced by Moses Kinkaid, Nebraska's sixth congressional representative and was signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on April 28, 1904 and went into effect on June 28 of that year.
The Kinkaid Act was intended to stimulate settlement in Nebraska's
Sand Hills and panhandle, where farming was impossible on the 160 acres allowed
by the original Homestead Act. The Kinkaid Act, like the Homestead Act, required
the homesteader to live on the land for five years and make $800 worth of
improvements. Although even the Kinkaid Act failed to provide enough land for
farming in the Sand Hills, it did help bring settlers into western Nebraska.
Moses Kinkaid also had a part in preventing the abandonment of Fort Niobrara in
1904 and of Fort Robinson in 1906. KINKAID FAIR AND PICNIC
transcribed by: Melody
Beery
Source: Wikipedia
In the fall of 1908, the
homesteaders of the lower Calamus Valley in Loup County decided to hold a
festival celebrating the Sandhills, the Kinkaid Act, and promoting the area for
further settlement. On September 24, 1908, a reported 300 persons gathered
at Hartford's Grove. (This cottonwood grove was planted in 1886 by
Reverend Jesse Hartford and sons, Jim and Doane.) A basket dinner was
served by the matrons of the vicinity, and a large array of homegrown vegetables
were exhibited that September day. According to a newspaper account, there
were:
"watermelons that weighed 48 lbs, potatoes that weighed 3 lbs.,
cucumbers 14 inches long, turnips that would not slide into a 12 quart pail,
carrots 9 inches long, double jointed radishes where you can eat the top joint
and the bottom will stay soft and sweet indefinitely, and corn of every variety
from Mexican to popcorn, beets, beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts, muskmelons,
pumpkins, squashes, onions, milo-maize and farm products of so many descriptions
and so numerous that the benches provided for the audience were converted into
show racks."
Mr. Robert Williams of Gracie called the audience to order,
and John G. Fisher, a Gracie Creek homesteader and Princeton University
graduate, delivered a "poem-eulogy" on the Sandhills.
The Honorable
Judge Moses P. Kinkaid of O;Neill then spoke for two hours on the "past, present
and future of the one-section homesteader without political color." He
prophesized a brilliant future for the homesteaders and closed by explaining the
Kinkaid Acts and their achievements. Captain George J. Crane then made a
motion that the Kinkaiders hold an annual picnic on or about September 20 which
passed unanimously.
The Fair continued to grow and was sucessful for
several years.
The Fair had sufficiently grown and merited enough
attention that people from many miles around attended the event. A well
was put down in the grove to accommodate the crowds. A small item in the
want ads of the Tribune advised people not to "brew or bake for the Kinkaid
Fair. We'll have baked beans, roast beef and spuds to spare. The
Kinkaid Eating Joint." By 1911, however, the growing success of the Fair also
had begun to cause some problems. An advertisement was placed in the
Burwell paper by the Association stating it had "no connection with any program
advertising scheme that is being promoted by persons not a member of the
organization." Despite this, the Tribune proclaimed 2000 were at the grove
for the second day of the 1911 extravaganza. The Madison Square Band was
an added attraction; these musicians furnished tunes each day of the Fair and in
the evening for the dances.
A treasury report published in the
Tribune in 1913 showed the Kinkaid Fair Association had a balance of
$340.68. Due to the drinking, gambling, and dancing that went on in
conjuntion with the fair (all of which Hartford Grove owner, Rev. E. harford
thoroughly disapproved of), the 1913 celebration was moved down the Calamus two
miles south of Hartford Grove. Prizes were set at $1.00 or 50 cents for
first places; 50 cents or 25 cents were established for second place
finishes.
Walter Hesselgesser was elected president of the Association
for 1914, and once again the Fair moved locations. This time the site was
Mike R. Burg's grove at Nunda. A fund drive for premium money saw members
solicit Burwell merchants, with 10 businesses contributing. Bad weather
almost completely wiped out the Fair, its program, and the
attendance.
The organization apparently never recovered from these
problems as 1914 was the last Kinkaid Fair and Picnic ever held. A few old
timers and faded press reports still recall the magic and magnitutde of these
affairs.
Hartford Grove has continued as a landmark and popular gathering
spot. Starting in the 1960's when canoeing the Calamus became the vogue,
the Grove was known as a noted overnight camping spot. The Grove remained
in the Hartford family until 1960 when H.M. and Lela (Hartford) Reed sold the
land to the Robert Schrup's. The Schrup's had to sell the property to the
government for the Calamus Dam Project in 1982. The Harford Grove contains
a wild blue heron rookery.
transcribed by: Melody
Beery
Source: excerpts from the Loup County Centenial Book
1883-1983
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