Jackrabbit Homestead is a published book, exhibit, and web-based multimedia presentation featuring a downloadable car audio tour exploring the cultural legacy of the Small Tract Act in Southern California’s Morongo Basin region near Joshua Tree National Park.
One of the many land acts designed to dispose of “useless” federal lands from the public domain, the Small Tract Act authorized the lease of up to five acres of public land for recreational purposes or use as a home, cabin, camp, health, convalescent, or business site to able-bodied U.S. citizens. When the applicant completed the necessary improvements to their claim by constructing a small dwelling within three years of the lease, the applicant could file for a patent—the federal government’s form of a deed—after purchasing the parcel for the appraised price (on average $10 to $20 an acre) at the regional land office. This highly popular mid-twentieth-century homestead movement reflects the quintessential American desire to claim territory and own a piece of the land even if the property in question is deemed “worthless” from an economic and governmental perspective.
Stories from this underrepresented regional history are told through the voices of local residents, historians, and area artists—many of whom reside in reclaimed historic cabins and use the structures as inspiration for their creative work.