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Sun River Homestead

The neglected story of Esther Strasburger, a single, woman homesteader in 1909 Montana, is juxtaposed with that of Strasburger's great-granddaughter who is still inextricably tied to the land today.

Premiere Date

May 2, 2002

Length

30 minutes

Funding Type

Co-Production

With the lure of land ownership, the Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged over 600,000 people to migrate West. Among its new inhabitants were Esther Strasburger and her two sisters who settled in Simms, Montana in 1909. These women accepted the challenges of homesteading and staked a claim to the West for generations to come.