On September 29, 1875, Richard McClimans filed a timber claim on the site under the provisions of the Timber Culture Act of 1873. The original act sponsored by Senator Phineas W. Hitchcock of Nebraska, enabled homesteaders to acquire up to a quarter section of additional land by agreeing to cultivate timber on the tract. In 1960, a portion of the McClimans Timber Claim was donated to the Nebraska Conference of the United Church of Christ by the family of Osceola and Laura McClimans Cram, as a memorial in their honor. Named Kamp Kaleo, additional acreage was acquired by the church in 1961, and added to the original donation. Many of the trees on the grounds of Kamp Kaleo are survivors of the original McClimans Timber Claim, and some 32 acres of the forest have been designated a managed nature area by the Soil Conservation Society of America. Although the Timber Culture Act was largely unsuccessful in the promotion of tree planting on the plains, Kamp Kaleo testifies that pioneer farmers often made significant contributions to the natural beauty of Nebraska.
