Proving Up, A Novella by Carla Olson Gade, © 2015

I love the texture of the collection books with the rippled page edges!

The Homestead Brides Collection: Nine Pioneering Couples Risk all for Love and Land by authors Mary Connealy, Darlene Franklin, Carla Olson Gade, Ruth Logan Herne, Pam Hillman, DiAnn Mills, Erica Vetsch, Becca Whitham, Kathleen Y'Barbo.

Through nine historical romance adventures, readers will journey along with individuals who are ready to stake a claim and plant their dreams on a piece of the great American plains. While fighting land disputes, helping neighbors, and tackling the challenges of nature the homesteaders are placed in the path of other dreamers with whom romance sparks. And God has His hand in orchestrating each unique meeting.

Timber Culture Act
March 3, 1873

"An Act to encourage the Growth of Timber on the Western Prairie"

Many hoped that giving settlers deed to public lands in return for growing trees would reshape the environment of the West, giving the claimant possession of 160 acres of public land for no cost in exchange for making improvements to the land if a person planted and nurtured the growth of trees on forty of their 160 acres for ten years, they could claim the land.

   In 1878, the Timber Culture Act was amended again. This time, the amount of land that had to be covered in trees was reduced from forty acres to ten and also made exceptions for trees that had been destroyed by harsh climate or grasshopper plagues. --statistics reference

~* Review of Carla Olson Gade's Proving Up *~

Swedeburg, Nebraska, April 1885.

Cottonwood grove 1880's - Timber Culture Act

"I'm read to prove up, Nettie." Nils Svensson spoke out loud, his only audience his grove of trees...and God. The hearty cottonwoods, with their leafy branches, reached into the sky above in agreement.

    --Proving Up, 107

With trees on 30 acres, triple the claim requirement for his 160-acre section, Nils has been hard at work beneath the Nebraska skies.

This is a sweet story of hope and love beyond all that could be imagined! Join these homesteaders as their hearts blend into all that is waiting for them.

~*~

Native New Englander Carla Olson Gade writes adventures of the heart with historical roots from her home amid the rustic landscapes of Maine. With seven books in print, she is always imagining more stories and enjoys bringing her tales to life with historically authentic settings and characters. An avid reader, amateur genealogist, photographer, and house plan hobbyist, Carla’s great love (next to her family) is historical research. Though you might find her tromping around an abandoned homestead, an old fort, or interviewing a docent at a historical museum, it’s easier to connect with her here online.

***Thank you to author Carla Olson Gade for sending me a copy of The Homestead Brides Collection for review of her novella, Proving Up. This review was written in my own words. No other compensation was received.***

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

--Isaiah 55:12

This verse was the recessional song for our wedding almost 31 years ago ~ The Trees of the Field.