When you hear the phrase “Go West, young man,” you might picture white settlers, cowboys, and gold miners driven by the doctrine of white Manifest Destiny. But before the Great Migration of the 20th century, many Black Americans also ventured west. They were spurred by the 1862 Homestead Act, which granted federal land to U.S. citizens—men as well as widows and single women—plus immigrants who pledged to become citizens. When the 1866 Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, in 1868, extended this opportunity to newly freed slaves, many formerly enslaved people took this as an opportunity to escape post-Reconstruction racism and start a new life for themselves and their families, a push that became known as the “Exoduster” movement.
You might not have heard of places like Dearfield, Colorado; Nicodemus, Kansas; DeWitty, Nebraska; Empire, Wyoming; Blackdom, New Mexico; and the Sully County colony in South Dakota. All of them were once thriving frontier communities—and majority Black. These settlements, except Nicodemus, are gone and unmarked save for a few historic plaques. But the stories of these Black pioneers are gradually being unearthed, thanks to the efforts of their descendants and museums working to preserve history at risk of being lost, as well as an ongoing study by the National Park Service (NPS) that explores the social and political impact of Black homesteaders west of the Mississippi.
Most textbooks gloss over Black homesteaders’ impact in the country’s westward expansion, but Kalenda Eaton, director for the NPS-funded Oklahoma Black Homesteader Project, feels these Black communities are important to understanding U.S. history. “African American homesteaders were part of a larger movement for political autonomy and social mobility,” says Eaton, also a professor in the Clara Luper Department of African and African American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. “Their presence in the American West was driven by American ideals of freedom and self-determination, and a desire to create spaces where people could succeed without the restrictions of discrimination.” Learning these histories, she says, provides new perspectives on federal land policies, organized social movements, and “trailblazers in U.S. history who played a part in shaping the landscape of the western United States.”
Interested in incorporating Black history into your next road trip through the Great Plains or Mountain West? Here are five museums and sites where you can learn more about the plight and perseverance of the Black homesteaders who helped shape the region.
Nicodemus National Historic Site in Kansas
The Nicodemus A.M.E. Church, one of the oldest structures in town, reopened after an extensive restoration in 2021.
Photo by SveKo/Shutterstock
Nicodemus is one of the last Black homesteader communities that remains standing and populated. Founded in 1877 by six Black entrepreneurs, most of them from Kentucky, Nicodemus was created as a haven for those fleeing racial violence in the South, offering a place where they could own land and prosper. Cassie Branstetter, superintendent of the Nicodemus National Historic Site, says that places like this “portray African American perseverance and the struggle of African American emigrants as they journeyed west.” The earliest residents of Nicodemus, she explains, had set out “into an unknown and often difficult physical environment to homestead and participate in the American Dream.”
While wandering this historic settlement, visitors can see well-preserved homes and buildings like the A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) Church, built in 1885, and the 1930s-era Township Hall—now housing a visitor center with exhibits and films featuring the settlers’ descendants. If one is available, be sure to request a walking tour by a park ranger to make your visit more informative.
Great Plains Black History Museum in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha’s Great Plains Black History Museum was founded in 1976 by historian and local activist Bertha Calloway.
Photo by Randy Duchaine/Alamy
Celebrating 50 years in 2026, the Great Plains Black History Museum in historically Black North Omaha is dedicated to preserving the achievements and experiences of African Americans in a region where they are often overlooked. It’s the only museum in Nebraska that focuses on the history of the state’s African American population, with an archive that includes more than 100,000 periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, and research materials. While admission is free, visitors are encouraged to book an appointment for either a staff-led tour or a self-guided visit. Current exhibitions include a celebration of local Black women trailblazers and a closer look at The Green Book’s guide to Nebraskan travel.
Black American West Museum & Heritage Center in Denver, Colorado
The Black American West Museum & Heritage Center, founded in 1971 by historian Paul Stewart, is located in the former home of Dr. Justina Ford, the first Black woman in Colorado to become a licensed physician. Today, the cozy space is full of artifacts, clothing, and photographs that illustrate the lives and legacy of Black Americans who helped settle and develop this rugged part of the West. The museum is also the home base of the Jane Taylor Reenactor Guild, whose performances bring Colorado’s Black history to life. Guided tour options include a walk through the surrounding Five Points area, a historic Black neighborhood sometimes referred to as the “Harlem of the West.”
The ghost town at Dearfield, Colorado
The Black American West Museum is also part of an effort to preserve and restore the ghost town of Dearfield, about 70 miles northeast of Denver. Once the largest Black homestead community in Colorado, Dearfield was founded by Oliver Toussaint Jackson in 1910 and grew into a thriving cultural hub, until the Great Depression and the severe drought of the Dust Bowl forced the citizens to leave the up-and-coming town for the city.
Today, Dearfield is abandoned, with a few desolate buildings and a plaque serving as a reminder. The town was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 to protect what was left. The museum now owns much of the former town land and has collaborated with the University of Northern Colorado and other preservation partners—with the support of NPS grants—to restore Dearfield’s historic buildings in order to turn the town into an educational site.
The region around Empire, Wyoming
The Goshen County Homesteaders Museum has artifacts from various homestead communities in Wyoming.
Courtesy of Wyoming Office of Tourism (L); photo by Gina Rodgers/Alamy (R)
Empire was at one point the most important Black American homesteader town in Wyoming, due to its strong links to other Black settlements in the region, such as DeWitty, Nebraska. Founded by Charles Speese in 1908 and populated by members of the Speese and Taylor families, Empire was short-lived due to racist violence in the surrounding areas and droughts that made farming difficult; by the 1920s, the town had vanished.
Two historical markers celebrate the brave Black homesteaders of Empire. One is near Wheatland, Wyoming, in the Dwyer Junction Rest Area on I-25. The other is next to the Goshen County Homesteaders Museum in Torrington, closer to the original townsite, which you can visit to learn about homesteaders in the county, including the people of Empire. You can also visit the Sheep Creek Cemetery, which served Empire residents, just across the state line in Nebraska.
