Railroad companies were similarly courted by the government, and they were offered more land than they needed to lay down the track. How much were they given either side of the rails?

Cattle-ranching spread into the Great Plains, just as Homesteaders were moving there to set up small defined farms. The scene was set for conflict between the two groups. There was little enforcement of law and order in these areas until the end of the century, when state boundaries were established.