Work in America Most of the Czechs from our region emgirated in the 1870 - 1890 in search of a better life. They came in time to fully profit from the Homestead Act and get free land (about 20 - 30 hectares) in the Midwest States. Many Czechs took that opportunity and started farming. Farming was very hard and lonely work. The original prairy grassland had to be broken and made ready for farming. The first harvest was mostly small and poor; it took time before the new fields really started to produce properly. The whole family was invovled in the farming; there was no money for farmhands. Neighbors often lived far apart, but still tried to help each other; exchanging work for work profiting both. The new farmers also had to deal with natural aspects unknown to them from the old country. Snowstorms, blizzards, and long cold winters made life on the prairies very difficult. Occasional very dry and hot summers and tornados could wipe out a promising looking harvest completely. A few grasshopper plagues completely stripped areas from any greenery standing and forced many farmers to give up their dreams and go back East. Others faced with such disasters walked hundred of miles in search of temporary work elsewhere to survive these hardships, leaving wife and children behind to deal with the dauily routine of keeping the farm alive. Other Czechs started their new life as factory workers, to earn some money before going west. For example, virtually all of the workers in the large meat factories in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were Czechs. Not all made it out to the West. But those who did helped settle and develop those states, and their heritage is still cherised and remembered today in the many Czech heritage festivals.