Sod Houses

The title of this post was chosen deliberately to attract the attention of any readers who may be passing through at this trail end of the first Semester in American Studies. There is no suggestion that this mini topic should be considered for inclusion in the Autumn  programme..  It has been placed here to flag up the writer's personal  interest in the much broader topic of  'Writing America.' The pioneer life has been brilliantly evoked in the four volume series by Wilhelm Moberg who traces the lives of a group of Swedish emigrants from Smaland, via Chicago and onto the Great Plains. They had left the barren and difficult terrain of lowland Sweden only to face the near impossible conditions of creating settlement on the plains - driven forward by the promise of  'free land.' 

When settlers first arrived in Southwestern Minnesota, they found a vast prairie. Trees were only located along the banks of rivers, lakes and marshes.

With the scarcity of lumber, pioneers ploughed the heavy dense prairie sod into 2-foot strips, which were then stacked green side down like bricks, to build a house and other outbuildings. Stability was created using the few trees available or parts from their wagons. The roof was covered with the canvas from wagons. Then, more sod was added for insulation.

Sod houses, made mostly of dirt, were fireproof, cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and with walls 2 foot thick, safe from bullets and arrows. Occupants often shared the home with rodents, insects and snakes. Because the roof was not totally waterproof, heavy rains dripped inside and could leak for several days.

It is estimated that at one time, 150,000 sod homes existed throughout the Great Plains area. Eventually, sawmills were started and lumber was hauled in so settlers could erect wood-framed homes.

Reference
http://www.kshs.org/
http://www.vilhelmmoberg.com/english.html