Welcome to the Badlands: Stunning black and white pictures give a rare glimpse into the hardships of life on the American frontier


They traveled hundreds of miles west in search of a new life on the frontier.



These images capture the arduous beginnings of homesteaders as they settled across the Great Plains in the early 20th century.



Details of their journeys scrawled on personalised photo postcards give a rare glimpse into early American life on the western prairies of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.

Homesteader: A woman poses with her guitar in front of her shack on the Great Plains in the early 20th century

Black and white photographs taken between 1907 and 1925 show homesteaders posed stoically at the doors of their shacks with their farm animals and pets.

A series of Homestead Acts had granted land to those willing to move on-site and improve upon it over a period of five years.

Pride: A landowner is dressed in his Sunday best for a posed photo next to his 'mansion'

Meager beginnings: Workers begin construction on another home on the Great Plains

Simple life: Two men and their horses stand in front of a frontier home

At work: A man peers out from the door of his homestead

Despite their meager belongings, the frontiersmen who journeyed across the country were a proud group with a shared sense of self-reliance.



'This is my home on the Prairie. What do you think of the picture and the place I call home?' reads a message sent from White River, South Dakota.



Scribbled on the back of photo paper, another postcard goes on in lighthearted detail: 'Here in this little house I have lived almost five years all alone haha. This is a picture of my little homestead house and me on my poney [sic] and also my little colt. But I am sorry to say you cannot see my handsome face. The picture is to [sic] dark you see. I will send you a good picture of myself soon as I can.'



A new life: A woman poses outside of her one-room shack

Temporary post: A couple and their dog set out for their new life on the frontier

Livestock: A woman seems to be getting on well having set up a small farm on the property

In good company: These women no doubt worked hard to start their lives over on the edge of a new settlement

Hard times: Snow covers the ground outside of another man's cabin

It was seemingly a lonely life for most. But even with no one to impress for miles, the homesteaders took pride in their image.



Women wore dresses and head scarves; men, suit jackets and ties, for the portraits.



In one photo, a man leans, arms folded, against a wooden wall of his one-room shack. Staring directly into the lens in dress pants, a white button down shirt, hat and tie, it's as if he has already made his fortune.



'Arthur by his "Mansion" on the plains of Wyo.", reads the photo caption, signed 'H.D.S.'

Man and his horse: A frontiersman on his colt with his pony shows what he has built over the last five years

Correspondence: A lighthearted note to his loved ones back home details his experience

Family on the frontier: A couple poses with their farm animals outside of their small home

All a man needs: A modest shelter shields this young man from the harsh elements