by Pam North

For those pioneer settlers planning to file a homestead, the stark prairie offered a major advantage  -  no roots, stumps or seedlings on the land to thwart farming efforts.  But while the lack of trees guaranteed no obstruction of the view for miles, it also meant that building shelter would be difficult without logs and lumber.  The earliest settlers claimed the land along the few wooded rivers and streams, provided themselves with timber for log homes and wood for fuel, but when the land adjacent to water had been snapped up, those who came next had to settle for treeless prairie, and the inherent lack of material with which to build.  Lumber not readily locally available could be brought in by wagon or train, but importing it was very expensive.  The only cheap material on hand was the earth itself, and fortunately the prairie could provide it as an unlimited resource.  Even if a settler did elect to build his own house of logs or boards, he usually would build an earth structure for his animals.

The American pioneer sod house was common from the earliest days of settlement of this country.  Soddies were small houses with walls built of stacked layers of uniformly cut turf.  The individual bricks of turf were held together by the same thick network of roots that made the preparation of the fields for planting so difficult.  The prairie grasses were cut, or hayed, before plowing.  Sod was cut by hand and/or ax, and with a variety of plows.  One type looked like a child's snowsled; two people rode the sled for weight while a horse pulled it along.  Horses were used to cut sod; cattle were simply too slow. There were basic versions of plows
available, as well as fancy wheeled plows.  There were also local variations, some designs resulting from field repairs, and some from innovative blacksmiths and mechanics.  Some plows had curved moldboards that caused the sod to have a more finished rolled edge on one side.  This rounded side was placed facing the interior of the soddy, and provided a nicer effect.  Plowing the grass produced a mat of long grass roots and earth up to four inches thick and eighteen inches wide, a tough and flexible material.  This was cut into manageable lengths of sod, and used in the same manner as bricks to construct a house.  To ensure that the wall of the earth would not be too high and unstable, settlers sometimes dug into the earth and laid the floor four feet below the ground; this type of soddy was called a dugout.

Gaps were left for doors and windows in the same manner as for an ordinary house.  Only a minimal amount of lumber was required for a door and one or more windows.  While building a door into a door frame and constructing window frames was relatively simple, obtaining glass was difficult and expensive, so oiled paper was sometimes substituted for the windows.  The roof was usually made of twigs and thin branches from any available trees, or of rough or planed timber if available; straw was piled on top of these branches, and then finished off with more sod sections on top.

Conditions inside the structure were largely dependent on how well it had been built.  Poor construction would allow rain to seep in through the roof.  Care had to be taken that the walls were straight and that each layer was secure.  It was not unknown for improperly-built sod house walls to collapse.  Inside, the walls could be smoothed with an ax, and a layer of mud and clay could be applied to give a more pleasing finish.  The walls could then be white-washed to lighten them, or covered with newspaper or canvas.  Oilcloth was also used on the walls, and as a ceiling liner to catch loose bits of the roof.  Another alternative was to build a cubic frame inside the house and cover it with paper; in this case care had to be taken not to put a foot through it.  The floor of the home was watered down every week to give it a hard, smooth, clay-like surface, and to keep the dust down. The outside could also be whitewashed to protect it from the weather, which took a toll on such structures; unprotected exteriors would soon allow the sod blocks to start sinking back into the farmstead.  The lime whitewash was also used to paint over smoke deposits and generally freshen up during spring housecleaning.

Soddies were built with several thicknesses of walls.  Prairie turf was literally dirt cheap, and the extra thickness evened out the environment of the little house, and gave it more strength as well.   Some sod houses had mortar laid between the blocks of sod, but most contained no mortar, or else had a basic mixture of sand, clay and vegetable matter applied to seal the inevitable cracks and leaks.  Wood lean-tos were added to the soddies as entry ways or as additional rooms, making the homes grow laterally, and gabled roofs would later become desirable for the extra room.  Furnishings, usually very basic, were moved in as soon as the house was ready for occupancy, and the essential stove was installed.  Wooden barrels served as stovepipes if more expensive metal pipes weren't available or affordable.  Fire wasn't much of a hazard with a dirt roof and walls, but smoke drafts could be troublesome and ventilation difficult, especially in winter.  Fuel varied; wood was preferred, but out on the prairie dried buffalo chips were far more abundant than firewood.  In river bottoms, corncobs were sometimes used, if they weren't used for stuffing mattresses first.

The earth of the sod house would be moist at first, leading to rather damp conditions inside the house.  Heavy rain would cause high humidity inside.  In summer the soddy proved to be excellent cool shade from the fierce sun, and in the winter it retained the heat and resisted the cold.  During  exceptionally severe winters, often the only people to survive were those in sod houses.

Sod houses were practical and tough, but at the same time vulnerable.  When there was nothing else to rub on for miles, the soddies became prime targets for open-range cattle to rub against the corners, inflicting damage and sometimes even knocking the walls over.   The houses also provided wonderful sanctuaries for resident prairie critters.  October was reportedly mouse season.  Rattlers enjoyed sunning themselves on window ledges during the early morning hours.  Bedbugs would settle in, much to the discomfort of the soddy's human occupants.  As soon as most farm families could afford it, they purchased lumber to build a frame house, obtaining more comfort for themselves, but thus banishing a unique part of the pioneer era to eventual near oblivion.

Not only were soddies used as homes, but they were also used as schools, churches, post offices and hotels.  The ingenuity of the pioneers produced a variety of styles, construction techniques and modifications.

Most existing soddies made entirely from turf are modern reconstructions or restorations.  While prairie sod makes an excellent building material, a century of exposure to the elements limits the lifetime of any structure built mainly of organic material, and, unfortunately, few of the originals from the pioneer past have survived.

The qualities that made sodhouses such effective and resourceful dwellings are newly appreciated in current environment-conscious times.  Turf and other renewable materials, such as specially-prepared straw bales, now form an alternative building industry, and earth-based dwellings feature both novelty and practicality.
While the soddy of yesteryear has long met its demise, it has left a legacy that is influencing the future.
 
 
 
 

Photograph to accompany article is at:

http://www.rrcnet.org/~historic/sodhist.htm