Since the end of the Civil War the area to the west of the Santa Rosa River has seen a growing number of homestead families setting up claims to 160-acre portions of the federal land there. About half of the farms are over 5 years old, and so the homesteaders have gotten full title. Because of the dry climate, cotton is the main crop grown in the farms (lettuce and broccoli grow well but it is too difficult to ship those things out). There are some homesteaders who think that maybe sheep would be profitable, but this makes all of the cattlemen, large and small, furious.