About 70% of black homesteaders settled in clusters or 'colonies' with other families. This family lived in Nicodemus, Graham County, Kansas, a prosperous settlement that attracted formerly enslaved people who had been newly freed, arriving from the South in the fall of 1877. Descendants of the original homesteaders still farm in Nicodemus today.

"They created a new life of freedom and self-government in a place they could call home," said Angela Bates, a local historian and descendant of Nicodemus' early settlers. "I have always known the importance of what they did. Making such a brave move to a place unknown and so far from the borders of Kentucky must have taken pure courage, vision, and a strong faith in God."

Fascinating photos of life for America's early homesteaders