The Economic Times

In 1974, a Vietnam veteran moved to Alaska for a new life. 14 years later, he became the last person in US history to get a homestead patent

Kenneth Deardorff, a Vietnam veteran from California, moved to remote Alaska in 1974 and filed a homestead claim along the Stony River. After years of living and working on the land, he completed the legal requirements in 1979 but did not receive the official patent until 1988, making him the last person in US history to receive a homestead title under the Homestead Act.