Homestead Acts
In 1878, Dollard traded parcels with another landowner and later that year he visited the one he had acquired in the Dakota Territory. Deciding to relocate to Dakota in 1879, Dollard filed for five claims under the Homestead Acts in what is now Douglas County, South Dakota, where he began to farm. According to the records of the U.S. Land Office, Dollard was the first permanent settler in the county. While farming most of the year, Dollard resided in Scotland, South Dakota during the winter and practiced law, including travel to the territorial capital of Yankton for trials.