Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-02-17
WINTER LIFE IN DAKOTA.
Description of the Method of Construct
ing Sod Houses on the Prairie.

Description of the Method of Construct
ing Sod Houses on the Prairie.
II was at the house of an old Scotch
man year or two ago, J." said an old Da-
kotan. Several of us young people were
sitting at the table in the living room
playing cards. Outside a blizzard was
bowling. The old man said:
:" i think | will go out to the sheds and
see how the stock are
Don't you CO. replied.
4" Il guess l will
81 looked over my shoulder and said:
See here, old man, don't you try that;
you stay right here You may think this
was considerable fuss to make, as the
sheds We're not over four rods from the
house; but / had become acquainted with
winter weather on the prairies. We went
on with our game and nothing more was
said. About ten minutes later l looked
up and the old man was gone. Did your
father go out| / asked one of the girls.
Yes she replied, and don't see what
keeps him. l wish you would go out and
find him.
II wrapped up and started out. first
taking the precaution to take one end of
a rope which l trailed after me. About
half way between the sheds and the
house l found the old man on his hands
and knees in the snow. which was seven
feet deep, crawling about, trying to find
the house. He was then nearly dead,
and ten minutes more would have fin
ished him. l picked him up, and car
ried him to the house, where with snow,
ice water, and whisky, supplemented
with an hour or two of hard work, we
managed to save his life"
How do people manage to live in
such clmate9"
"Live9 Why, they prepare for it.
The early corners generally put up sod
houses, and there is nothing in the world
so warm as sod house. You can walk
around barefoot on the floor of one if
properly constructed, in the coolest
weather. After they have been there long
enough settlers generally build log
houses, hauling logs thirty or forty miles
for the purpose. These houses are warm
and comfortable. So long as you don't
have to go out you don't know what
winter is. But the sod house is not to
be treated with disdain, assure you"
How are they built?''
SIN the first place frame of boards.
the size the house is to be, is put up so as
to give the house a nice appearance in
side; the roof also is boarded over. Then
the sod is cut with plow and bank
three or four feet thick is raised all
around this frame. Every sod is laid as
carefully as mason lays brick, the
roots up, and all openings are filled in
with fine dirt. Openings are made for
the windows and doors, which have
frames extending from inside to outside.
These viii contain sometimes three win
dows for winter-always two. When
the sod rampant is raised to the height of
the roof, poles are laid on and then sod
put over those. THE roots hold every
thing firm. You would be surprised to
see the roots. Some of those grass roots
are as thick as my finger, and extend
down from from ten to fourteen feet"
"What?'
cts fact, | assure you. l have fol-
lowed them down myself when digging
wells in that blue joint grass land. Why,
a man in blowing has to stop and sharpen
his pillow every eighty rods if he cares
anything for his team. The blacksmith
draws out the point, but that and the
edge both have to be filed down as sharp
as possible, and then. as say, sharpened
every eighty rods. But to return to the
sod house. After the outside is COM
pleted the inside is finished up to suit the
taste and pocket of the proprietor. Some
have only the earthen floor, and others
have board floor, and are divided up
into two or three rooms. And, | tell
you, for winter comfort in Dakota a sod
house beats them all. Besides these,
there are dugouts on the side of hill,
and occasionally you will meet one on the
prairie. The class of settlers that come
in there as a rule have to put up with al
most everything the first year or two."-
Milwaukee Cor Chicago Times.