Free land and an opportunity to thrive and survive is what drew many Germans to move to Russia in the early 1800s.  Czar Alexander I of Russia gave this invitation to the Germans for a chance to start a new life.  However, during Czar Nicholas II’s reign, the life in Russia for the Germans turned out to not be what was promised.  German men were forced to be in the Russian Army and were not treated well.  Families began losing everything they had including all their livestock, religious freedoms, and many were even burdened with debt and death.  This forced many Germans to want to leave Russia.
      The Homestead Act of 1862, signed by Abraham Lincoln, made 270 million acres of public land available to citizens for settlement in the west.  To be eligible to acquire this “free land” a person only had to be twenty-one years of age and the head of their household.  They had to live on the land, build a home, and make improvements on the land by farming it for five years.  After these five years they were eligible to “prove up” the land and become the legal owner of 160 acres.  If the person interested in taking advantage of this act was not a U.S. citizen, they had to declare their intentions of becoming one in order to acquire the land.
      People from all walks of life came to the west to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity for free land.  Immigrants from many different countries, easterners looking for adventure, and even single women and widowed women with children arrived looking for second chances or just an opportunity to control their own destiny.  Many who came were part of a supportive group of family and friends.
      Rosina Raszler, a widow from Klöstitz, Bessarabia, South Russia, was one of many women who came to North Dakota to homestead.  Her husband Jacob died while serving in the Russian Army.  Russians experienced bad living conditions and many people were forced from their land and deprived of their religious beliefs. Rosina was faced with the decision of whether or not to leave and take advantage of the free land in America.  This was probably a tough decision to make when her ancestors were promised the same thing when they made the decision to leave Germany and move to Russia.  However, on March 24, 1905, at the age of thirty-nine, Rosina made the decision to come to America.  She and her four sons Gottfried, fifteen; Adolf, eleven; John, nine; and David, three; arrived at New York, aboard the ship Victoria, in May 1905.
      After arriving in New York, Rosina and her boys took a train to New Salem, North Dakota.  It was common for families to rent an entire rail car, called the “immigrant car,” to make their journey west.  They would fill it with their possessions, supplies, and some would even bring animals.  When the train could take them no further, they would complete their journey by wagon, buggy, or foot.  Rosina’s brother, Gottfreid Heine, came to New Salem to take her and her family to his homestead near Krem, North Dakota.  She lived with her brother and his family until she could get settled on her own homestead.  To help earn some money for the family Rosina hired out her two oldest sons.  Adolf was sent to work for a family that lived South of Jamestown.
      On June 26, 1905, Rosina went to Stanton, North Dakota to acquire 160 acres to call her own.  The land she homesteaded was about five miles southeast of Beulah on the southeast quarter of Section 34 in Township 144 of Range 87.
      Houses on the homestead were often very small.  A home could be a dugout, sod shack, or a frame shack. Rosina’s house was made of stone and cement with a wood roof.  This building would later be turned into a chicken coop, but not for quite some time.  The house was located close to the Otter Creek.  Because water was such a necessity it was important for people to live near water.  The well for their water also had to be dug by hand, so this was another reason it was important to be located near water.
     Sod homes were popular because they were cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  To provide heat in other homes however they needed to find something to burn.  Western North Dakota had a very limited supply of trees, so other sources of energy were needed.  Coal, being very plentiful in Mercer County, was one source that many people used.  Shallow coal was visible in the rugged hills and easy for people to access.  Other sources were corncobs that pigs had ate the corn off and dried up cow pies.  With these, one was able to control the heat from the fire more so than with coal.
     With the help of her brother and her sons, Rosina broke the sod to begin improvements and cultivation of the land. Two horses pulled the hand plow to break the sod.  Only a few acres were cultivated each year because of how hard this was to do.
     Horses were very important to the homesteading family.  They were used for doing the farm work and were also the family’s source of transportation.  In addition to the horses, Rosina also had some cows, chickens, and possibly some pigs.
      Most of the food used by the family was supplied by them.  Grain could be taken into Beulah to be ground at the flour mill.  German-Russians are known for their foods made of dough, largely because of it being a cheap and plentiful source of food.  Rosina also gardened and would can a lot.  All vegetables, and even some meats, were canned.  Since they lived so close to the creek they ate a lot of fish.  For the most part, the only supplies they needed to buy were kerosene, sugar, coffee, and cloth to make clothing.
      After a few years the amount of land that was cultivated grew and Rosina was able to prove up her land.  On February 23, 1912, President William H. Taft signed Rosina’s land patent and her 160 acres were now officially in her name. Over the years Rosina purchased more land and eventually more buildings were built on the homestead.  Her three oldest sons left home to take up their own claims.  David, however, remained on Rosina’s claim and raised his family there.  Rosina lived with David until she died of cancer in 1930 at the age of sixty-five.
      The stories of the women who homesteaded in North Dakota are all unique.  Many women, unlike Rosina, had jobs off the claim such as teaching, cooking, nursing, and housekeeping.  The majority of women were responsible for basic domestic duties, paid labor, and management of their claim.  Some rented out their land, hired men to do the work, or even traded domestic duties for labor.
     Women as well as men showed strength, courage, and initiative.  They also experienced fear and disappointment along the way.  Women, despite their stereotypical gender roles, achieved levels of success comparable to what men achieved.  Homesteading women left a legacy of being “capable, independent, strong, and courageous."  Rosina was remembered as being “strong, determined, and having the ability to endure the hardships that life had in store fore her.”