The last of the pioneers: Incredible pictures capture life on the 100th Meridian, where thousands of homesteaders realized their American Dream in the 19th Century and relics still remain today
(source: Daily Mail)
The Yellow Porch, Sheridan County, Nebraska,
It is a land steeped in history, home to the descendants of pioneering homesteaders who built their lives from scratch as they tried to realize their own American Dream.
The 100th Meridian divides the fertile lands of the east from the arid plains of the west in the United States and was where droves of families set up home during the 19th Century following the passing of the Homestead Act.
Still standing: This barn in Nebraska still stands more than 100 years later on land originally claimed under the Homestead Act
The 1862 legislation allowed citizens to make unclaimed land across much of the country their own, and saw settlers claim 160 acres each on the condition they improved the land and lived on it for five years.
The longitudinal line runs through swathes of barren land in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico, where relics of the homesteaders' exploits still remain today.
Community: A group of women - including diner owner Dixie Brown - play cards in Dixie's Café in McKenzie County, North Dakota
Many of them - including grocery stores unchanged by time, sod houses made from earth as opposed to bricks and mortar, and abandoned schoolhouses last used half a century ago - were captured by photographer Andrew Moore.
Mr Moore has traversed the 100th Meridian, uncovering remarkable stories on the ground as well as using a low-flying plane to take incredible pictures of the land from on high.
His work, pictured below, can be seen in his new book, Dirt Meridian, as well as at exhibitions at Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, in February, and in Amsterdam from the end of November to January.
A sod house in Sioux Country, Nebraska, made from earth and soil lies in ruin and appears to have been home to a now dead coyote
This is believed to be one of the first Sears Roebuck homes - houses that were built according to kit that could be bought in a catalog - and was built in the early 20th Century in Jones County, South Dakota
Susie Fehr Grossenbacher's homestead in Sheridan County was known for its raucous parties and dances, but now looks more than a little worse for wear
Simon's Schoolhouse Museum in Pennington County, South Dakota, contains everything its owner Edgar Simon takes an interest in
Owner of the museum Mr Simon - a fifth generation farmer and rancher - has had around 1,000 visitors since he opened it in 1972
Fawn Moreland feeds a calf who was abandoned by its mother with a bottle as the young girl helps out on a farm in Nebraska
Homesteader's tree: A tree stands in the yard of a log house once owned by a man called Del Hatten in Cherry County, Nebraska
Landscape: Workers dig up material used to build new access roads to fracking site in Dunn County, North Dakota
Long history: The site of The Yellow Porch, Sheridan County, Nebraska, was first built on in 1890 by homesteader John Butler and was used to sell alcohol during Prohibition. It is now a relic of the pioneering homesteaders who set up their lives on the 100th Meridian
Old flames: Flares are used to burn off excess natural gas from oil wells as areas of North Dakota lack the infrastructure to store it
Solitary: A two-storey stone house (top left) built with local red sandstone in 1893 stands next to the Cheyenne River in Fall River County, South Dakota
Cowboys at the Hepper Ranch near Keene, North Dakota, round up a herd of 300 pairs of cows and calves in a lush McKenzie County field
Cattle potter over to watering hole in Cherry County, Nebraska as dawn breaks through the morning fog as it rolls over small hills
Desolate: Wildfires have torn through this section of woodland in Dawes County, Nebraska, destroying most of the trees for miles
This abandoned concrete-block home south of Rushville, Nebraska, was home to T.P. Murray and was built in the 1911 according to a sign above the doorway
A schoolhouse (bottom right) which was last used in 1966 by local ranching families is left abandoned in Cherry County, Nebraska
