Hurry Honyocker Hurry! Historical Marker
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“Honyocker, scissorbill, nester … He was the Joad of a quarter-century ago, swarming into hostile land; duped when he started, robbed when he arrived; hopeful, courageous, ambitious: he sought independence or adventure, comfort, and security. Or perhaps he sought wealth; for there were some who did not share the Joad’s love of the soil, whose interest was speculative….
“The honyocker was farmer, spinster, deep-sea diver; fiddler, physician, bartender, cook. He lived in Minnesota or Wisconsin, Massachusetts or Maine. There the news sought him out—Jim Hill’s news of free land in the Treasure State:
“‘More Free Homesteads; Another Big Land Opening; 1,400,000 Acres Comprising Rocky Boy Indian Lands Open to Settlers; MONTANA….
“‘By order of the secretary of the interior, the lands shown on the map herein will be opened to homestead settlement March 10, 1910, and to entry at the Glasgow, Montana, land office”’
Thus Joseph Kinsey Howard described Montana’s last frontier of settlement in Montana High, Wide and Handsome. Promoted by railway, by the government, and by the American dream, trainloads of newcomers rolled in and filed homestead entries. They
Hurry Honyocker Hurry! Historical Marker