African American Homesteaders in the Great Plains

Nicodemus is the longest-lasting black homesteader colony in America. In 1877 six black entrepreneurs in Topeka joined with a local white developer to form the Nicodemus Town Company. They located their town in the Solomon River valley in north-central Kansas. Most who stayed filed homestead claims. By 1899 they had received 114 homestead patents, making them owners of 18,126 acres. Nicodemus still stands as a small village and is designated as a National Historic Site.

Dearfield, in Weld County, about 70 miles northeast of Denver, was the largest black homesteading settlement in Colorado. At its peak between 1917 to 1921, Dearfield may have housed as many as 300 residents.

Empire was the most important community of African American homesteaders in Wyoming. Although small, it was closely linked to similar communities in other states. The founders of Empire arrived with substantial financial resources and farming experience. Ten claimants proved up homesteads, supporting a population of approximately forty.

Sully County’s black homesteader community prized education as well as owning land. Soon the “Sully County Colored Colony” numbered as many as one hundred residents. Members of the colony successfully claimed 22 homesteads, and with purchased lands, became owners of perhaps 7,000 to 8,000 acres. The Sully County black homesteader community remains a powerful reminder of generations of African Americans who sought opportunity in the Great Plains.

Blackdom, New Mexico was the most important black homesteader colony in New Mexico. Located fifteen miles south of Roswell, Blackdom was incorporated by thirteen African Americans from Roswell, New Mexico, in 1903.

DeWitty began forming in 1904 with the Kinkaid Act. This act expanded the Homestead Act allowing individuals to claim 640 acres of land in Nebraska's sand hills. It grew to be the most populous, long-lived, and successful settlement of black homesteaders in Nebraska.

As an early settler, Zachariah T. Fletcher was instrumental in the development of Nicodemus. He opened a general store, the town’s first business, in the fall of 1877 and opened Nicodemus’s first post office, operating as its first postmaster. Z. T. Fletcher and his family were heavily involved in several aspects of the community including education, businesses, and local politics.

Kirtley arrived in Nicodemus in November 1878. He believed that owning land encouraged self-sufficiency. His passion, however, was education. As a child denied the chance to learn to read and write, he arrived in Nicodemus carrying books. He worked with other community members to organize the community's first school and permitted the students to use the books that he had brought with him.

Woodson’s greatest passion was education. During the school year she taught the children of DeWitty’s black homesteaders in the community’s one-room schoolhouse. During the summer months she furthered her own education by attending “normal school,” what today we would call a state college. Woodson also homesteaded, receiving patent to her land in 1918. She must have understood the poor quality of the Sandhills soil, because she mainly used her land for grazing.

Francis (Frank) Marion Boyer was a community leader in Blackdom, New Mexico. Boyer and his family moved to New Mexico Territory in 1896 to escape the instability of Southern life. Boyer, a former Buffalo Soldier, arrived in the Pecos River Valley near the community of Roswell in 1898, where he worked in the courts. In partnership with thirteen original homesteaders, Boyer established and became president of the land speculation venture, the Blackdom Townsite Company.

Charles Speese used public land programs to build better lives for himself and his family. They moved to join what would become Empire, Wyoming in 1908. Speese homesteaded 320 acres under the Enlarged Homestead Act. Speese filed for 80 acres of land in DeWitty in 1920. Unlike their spacious home in Empire, the family’s dwelling in DeWitty was a soddy. In 1925, Charles Speese continued his quest for better land by moving with his family to Sully County, South Dakota.

Mattie Moore Wilson was one of the most notable entrepreneurs of Chaves County, New Mexico, during the early 20th century. She followed two quite different careers in the Chaves County. She was known as in Roswell as the owner of a brothel and in the homesteader community of Blackdom, she owned 640 acres of land.

Russel Taylor was an African American Presbyterian minister and homesteader in Empire, Wyoming. He was educated at Bellevue College in Nebraska. He brought to Empire enthusiasm and a vision for what the community could and should be. Taylor assumed leadership of the school shortly after he arrived. He believed that children had the right to learn from a role model belonging to their race.

Oliver Toussaint (“O.T.”) Jackson was a serial entrepreneur and founder of Dearfield. In 1910 Jackson had formed the Negro Townsite and Land Company with the help of political connections and drawing inspiration from Booker T. Washington’s work on self-help. But Jackson faced resistance from black leaders because of his close ties to Democrats, whom many still associated with slavery and post-bellum repression. The company failed, but Jackson persisted, founding Dearfield.

James Monroe Thomas was one of the first homesteaders in Dearfield. Thomas arrived in Dearfield from Denver in 1910. He was attracted to the colony by the opportunity to own land and a chance meeting with O.T. Jackson. Thomas and his family endured numerous hardships during the first few years, but his tenacity and hard work paid off.

Norvel Blair founded the African American homesteader community in Sully County, South Dakota. Blair arrived in Fairbank Township of Sully County in 1884. He previously sent his sons Benjamin and Patrick to scout the area. Norvel and his sons also became known in the region for raising racehorses. One of their horses, Johnny Bee, held the record for the fastest horse in the state from 1907-1909.