The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Homesteader \Home"stead*er\, n.
   One who has entered upon a portion of the public land with
   the purpose of acquiring ownership of it under provisions of
   the homestead law, so called; one who has acquired a
   homestead in this manner. [Local, U.S.]
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

homesteader
    n 1: someone who settles lawfully on government land with the
         intent to acquire title to it [syn: squatter,
         homesteader, nester]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

28 Moby Thesaurus words for "homesteader":
   colonial, colonist, colonizer, hirer, immigrant, incumbent,
   leaseholder, lessee, lodger, nester, occupant, occupier,
   paying guest, pioneer, planter, precursor, renter, resident,
   roomer, settler, sooner, squatter, sublessee, subtenant, tenant,
   tenant at sufferance, tenant for life, underlessee