A lot of the state land around here was property that was foreclosed on during the depression according to the old timers. Lots of old house and barn foundations all over the place out there.
There are even a few abandoned roads out there. The old timers say they just closed them 30 or 40 years back and they became overgrown. I only knew about them because I found a few old road signs standing out in the middle of nowhere.
From what I understood of that era was that some lands were homestead claims that reverted to the State and that I can understand.