In the United States, the Homestead Act of 1862 mandated that any adult or intended citizen, who had never carry arms against the U.S. government could possess 160 acres of surveyed government land. However, the requirement to acquire the land completely is for the citizens to develop the land by being a resident and carrying out agricultural activities on the land.
However, the speculators at the time, instead of meeting the requirements honestly, they were involved in fraudulent practices by creating phony claims. This is done by building small structures on the land to meet the requirements
The best strategy was the hit and run tactics. That's called guerilla warefare. When a group/team hides in a natural environment, using their own surroundings as an advantage.
