They were truly pioneers of the Wild West. The day after their arrival, Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead in a Black Hills Saloon at the end of the railroad line in Deadwood to the west. His killer, Jack McCall, would be tried twice and hung in Yankton the following January.

The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that after five years (and not longer than seven) of occupancy and substantial improvement to the land value the settler could patent his land insuring permanent ownership. Friends or neighbors were required to witness that the requirements had been met. Settlers were not restricted to a single homestead. They could obtain additional "timber" land by the promise to plant and maintain trees there. They also could buy land, as some were able to do when they first arrived. Some made good advantage of these opportunities.

Dakota Territory was laid out (platted) into townships that consisted of 36 square mile (640 acre) sections. Each section within a township was numbered from one to 36. The usual homestead was a quarter section, but other smaller sizes were common. This arrangement was very different from their homes in Russia where neighbors lived close to one another on small lots with their large fields some distance away.