page_879 < previous page page_879 next page > Page 879 were too small for successful farming or ranching in such an environment. In 1909 Congress passed the Enlarged Homestead Act, which authorized 320-acre homesteads in several western states. In 1916, 640-acre stock-raising homesteads were permitted in some parts of the West. Except for the Homestead Act of 1862, none of these laws did much to help actual settlers. Large ranchers were the main beneficiaries of the Desert Land Act, and timber and mining companies profited most from the Timber and Stone Act. A great deal of graft and corruption surrounded disposal of the public domain in the late nineteenth century. The goal of assisting settlers was compromised by poorly drawn laws, inefficient administration of the land offices, and outright fraud. Nevertheless, in some western states the Homestead Act was a major factor in farm building; between 1868 and 1904 final homestead entries totaled 718,819. Although helping farmers acquire land was a primary objective of national land policy, the federal government disposed of millions of acres for other purposes. During the nineteenth century, Congress granted land to the states for canal and road construction, for river improvements, and for public buildings. To encourage enlistments and reward soldiers for their war-time service, veterans of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War received bounty warrants redeemable in land. The states were also awarded land to help fund schools and colleges. Many states received sections 16 and 36 in each township for the support of common schools. The Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 gave the states 30,000 acres of land for each of their congressmen and senators to endow agricultural and mechanical colleges. The largest grants went to railroads to encourage construction of the transcontinental lines. Altogether, between 1850 and 1871, when the railroad land grant policy ended, railroads received 175,350,000 acres from the public domain, although they later had to forfeit some 35 million acres for failure to meet construction agreements. During the rapid occupation of the public lands in the nineteenth century, American Indians were pushed into ever smaller areas. Although the federal government recognized some Indian rights to the lands they occupied, there were strong efforts to acquire the lands by agreement, treaty, or force. Removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" from the Southeast to Oklahoma in the 1830s illustrates that policy at its worst. During the late nineteenth century, Indians were forced onto reservations and their surplus lands opened to white settlement. In 1887 Congress passed the Dawes Act, which provided for individual allotments to Indians of most tribes. Around 1890, national land policy, which had focused on getting public land into private hands quickly, easily, and cheaply, began to change, and by World War I it had become national policy to maintain permanent federal control over some lands. The shift was toward conservation. The Forest Reservation Act of 1891 permitted setting apart timberland from private entry. Even earlier Congress had begun to turn areas of unusual natural beauty into national parks  Yellowstone National Park had been established in 1872. President Theodore Roosevelt was an ardent conservationist, and by the end of his administration in 1909 forest reserves totaled some 194,505,000 acres. He also set aside land for parks, dam sites, and other public purposes, and the federal government reserved oil, coal, and grazing lands. By the 1930s there was general acceptance that the national government would reserve and administer millions of acres in a permanent public domain. The Taylor Act of 1934 provided for improved administration and conservation of some 80 million acres of federally held grazing land. This law reflected a desire for more careful and efficient administration of the public domain in order to preserve valuable natural resources. Executive orders in November 1934 and February 1935 withdrew all public lands from private entry. These actions ended homesteading, although a few exceptions were subsequently approved. Most of the public lands were administered by agencies within the Departments of Interior and Agriculture. Private individuals and companies were not denied use of resources on the public domain, but users had to operate under rules laid down by Congress and administrative agencies. By the middle of the twentieth century more ardent conservationists were demanding that some parts of the public domain be permanently set  < previous page page_879 next page >