Special medallions will be given away at the 150th anniversary celebration of the Homestead Act.

The medallions will be handed out to the first 1,000 people visiting the Homestead National Monument's Heritage Center on Sunday.

The original four-page Homestead Act document will be on display, and there will be a special forum, speakers and a performance by a U.S. Air Force band from Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha.

The Homestead Act is considered one of the 100 most important documents in the National Archives.

Four million people filed for free land under the act.

America gave away 270 million acres between January 1863 and 1976.

The monument sits four miles west of Beatrice, in Gage County.