My understanding is that as tracts of formerly indigenous land was opened to white settlers, governments instituted requirements to deter speculation. Things like 'within 5 years settlers must improve X acres of land, build a house Y' by Z', clear a road allowance, etc'.
I've heard of these sort of requirements in Canada and the United States, but never seen an actual example.
As an aside, did these sort of requirements exist in Australia, New Zealand, and various African colonies?
An interesting example in New Zealand are the Fencibles (which is where my family came from!). In 1846, New Zealand's Governor, George Grey, was concerned about the growing unrest with the Maori. He was a rather unpopular figure amongst Maori, as he replaced the more sympathetic Governor Fitzroy, who actually gave out the first "treaty settlement" and returned some land to Maori that was confiscated by white settlers. Settlers were furious about this, and demanded Fitzroy be turfed out in favour of a more pro-settler governor.
Grey put in a request to the Crown to have military troops to defend the settlers; instead, the British Parliament allowed retired soldiers with 15 years of service, good character, and being under the age of 48 to settle in New Zealand with their families on an acre of land. This was largely concentrated in Auckland, and led to a large number of veterans of war in Afghanistan and India relocating to New Zealand, particularly Irish families affected by the potato famine. In total around 2,500 people relocated under this scheme. They were required to continue drilling, particularly on Sundays, and defend against "aggression" from the local Maori. Many of these pensioners, along with their sons, were involved in the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863.
Sources:
http://www.nzfenciblesociety.org.nz/
Cowan, James (1955), "The Royal New Zealand Fencibles", The New Zealand Wars: A History of the Maori Campaigns and the Pioneering Period, New Zealand Wars (1845–1872), I: 1845–1864, Wellington: R. E. Owen
https://www.fencible.org.nz/en/about/our-village-fencible-story