It took about 40 years and two sets of current descendants to make the wish of a "homestead baby" come true. Joe Havlovick's grandfather, Anton, and Joe's father, Paul, homesteaded on two contiguous 320 acre tracts "north of Dodson" on the Big Flat in 1917. Anton Havlovick's great grandchildren believe the two homesteaders were drawn to America by the prospect of "free land" touted in the newspaper ads they likely saw back home in Czechoslovakia. Like many prairie homesteaders, Anton and Paul failed in the 1930's. Four years old at the time, Joe's family resettled in Ronan where he finished hi...