Abstract
Between 1869 and 1918, 845 people were able to prove up a homestead claim in Brown County, Minnesota. Among these successful homesteaders were 42 women, and among those women were 9 Norwegian immigrants. At the juncture of significant US policy change, including the passage of the Homestead Act (1862) and the Minnesota Women’s Property Act (1869), and the forceful dispossession of the Dakota people from Minnesota after the US-Dakota War of 1862, these Norwegian women were disproportionately taking advantage of land-taking through the form of homesteading. Through an exploration of Norwegian land practices, Norwegian immigration and settlement, and Norwegian women’s homestead claims in Brown County, this research investigates the intersection of gender, farm labor, and land rights to understand what motivated Norwegian immigrant women to homestead, prove up their claims, and create long-lasting family farm legacies in southcentral Minnesota.