, 1888-03-03
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.
Il was at the house of an old Scotch
mar n year or two ago" said AN old Da-
kotan. Several of us young people were
sitting at the table in the living room
playing cards. Outside n blizzard was
bowling. The old man said:
81 think l will go out to the sheds and
See how the stock are
"'Don't you 60, I replied.
81 guess I will
Il looked over my shoulder and said:
Sec here, old man, don't you try that;
you stay right here You may think this
was considerable fuss to make, as the
sheds were not over four rods from the
house; but had become acquainted with
winter weather on the prairies. We went
on with u game and nothing more was
said. about ten minutes later l looked
up and the old man was gone. Did your
father go out?' l asked one of the girls.
Yes she replied, and l don't see what
keeps hin. l wish you would go out and
find him.
81 wrapped up and started out, first
taking the p]recaution to take n end of
n 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 nave fin
isIied him. l picked him up and car
ried him TO the house, where with snow,
ice water, and whisky, supplemented
with an hour Oh two of hard work, we
managed to save his life"
How do people manage TO live in
such n climate2'
''Livel Why, they prepare for it.
Tho carly corners generally put up sod
houses, and there is nothing in the world
80 warm as a 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
Tor 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, l assure you"
"liow are they built?'
'In the first place a frame of boards,
the size theh house is 10 be, is put up so as
to give the house n nice appearance in
size; the roof also is boarded over. Then
the sod is cut with Il plow, and a bank
three or four feet thick is raised all
around this frame. Every sod is laid as
carefully as n mason lays a 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 will contain sometimes three win
lRstrE for ,V.tNtnr p1v,-,,4r tr~l NNlAr
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
arc as thick as my finger, and extend
down from from ten to fourteen feet"
':Whatl''
ITS a fact, l assure you. 1 have fol-
lowed them down myself when digging
wells in that blue joint grass. land. Why,
n man in blowing has to stop and sharpen
his plow 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 l sayTsharpened
every eighty rods. But to return to the
sod house. After the outside is com
pletcd the inside is finished up to suit the
taste and pocket of the proprietor. Some
have only the earthen floor, and others
have n board floor, and are divided up
into two or three rooms. And, l tell
you, for winter comfort in Dakota n sod
house beats them all. Besides these,
there are dugouts on the side of a hill,
and occasionally you will meet one on the
prairie. The class of settlers that come
in there us n rule have to put up with al
most everything the first year or two."-
Milwaukee Cor. Chicago Times.