Under the Homestead Act of 1862, squatters took possession of millions of free acres of land in the West, but now there is not much worthwhile public land available. A few years ago, a Louisiana contractor named Louis Ray tried to establish himself as a homesteader on one of the last frontiers. Ray made a claim to several acres of coral reef that lay barely submerged five miles off the Florida coast.
Acting for a group of investors—and without Government permission—Ray started building a small island on the reefs off Elliot Key. He...
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