The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1891-07-17
EARLY HOMESTEAD CLAIMANTS
How The Pioneers of The West Begin
Life-The Dug-out.

To begin with, the habitation of the
homesteader is either a dugOut or a
house built of squares of sod taken
from the prairie-Nebraska OF Kansas
brick, as they are facetiously termed.
The dugout consists of hole dug in
the side of a canon or any sort of
depression on the prairie which will
serve as a wind-break. This hole is
rooted across, about on a level with
the prairie, wi h inch boards, and
these are covered with sod. A foot or
so of stove-pipe protruding from the
roof is the sole Indication of a human,
habitatiOn. One room generally servei
all the purposes of the homesteader
and his family. If he prospers for 9.
season, he adds to the front of his
abode by erecting walls of sod on the
side and putting in a new front, the old
one serving as partition between the
two rooms. This is considered COM
modious dwelling. After riding over
quarter section looking for an owner,
espying such an abode, and guiding
your team carefully down a break-neck
descent to the front door, would it sur
prise you, upon entering this hole in
the ground, to find, for instance, IL
modern organ with an imposing cathe-
dral back towering high in one corner
of the room? But this is no cause for
astonishment-very frequently organs
and ornate designs in furniture are to
be found i'll the dugouts. Or, if the
lady of the house should invite you to
remain for the meeting of the literary
club there in the evening, would you
stare at that? Not at all. Literary
clubs, which the members ride all the
way from five to twenty miles to at
tend, and where they discuss every
thing from the latest political problem
to the most abstruse point in meta
physics, are quite the regular thing
with our homesteadcrs. But to behold
this life SO full of paradoXes in the
height of its incongruousness you
should be Il spectator in the dugout
when a neighbOrhOOd dance is in full
blast. The earthen walls have been
skilfUlly tapestried for the occasion
with calico, and when the fun begins
the clay floor speedily responds to the
capering Of the many twinkling feet,
and there arises I; cloud of dust that
would Stille an Indian. But, bless you,
they don't mind Il bit of dust. A pol
ished floor and the most perfect system
of ventilation attainable could not add
to their enjoyment.
The homesteaders are very honest
You can leave house unlocked at all
times and your stores are perfectly
safe-with the exception of what liquor
you may have on hand for medicinal
purposes. In other words, the home
steader will steal whisky every time.
AS class they are neighborly, kind to
one in distress, and exceedingly hos
pitable.
But it must not be supposed that all
homesteaders live in dugouts or sleep
six or seven in a room; such experience
es attach to the first year or two of
frontier life more than to any later pc
riod. Many slightly, commodious, and
comfortable sod houses have been
built. The walls are usually two feet
in thickness, the roof shingled. doors
and windows set into the walls, and
the house plastered inside, sometimes
outside, altogether making very neat
and desirable residence. These struc-
lures; too, are free from the annoyan-
ces of dugouts, in which are found all
manner of insects and rodents. Occa-
sionally rattlesnake will burrow
through the earthen sides, and@coil |
himself snugly in the bedclothes, where
you will find him on cool morning.
Such intruders are rare, but there are
some people who strenuously object to
even rare visits of this sort; such are
usually energetic enough to get out of
the old house and into a new one be- |
fore spending many months in an
abode so uncomfortably near to ma
ture's heart.-Fr0nE II. Spe0rnad7a, in |
Harper'S Mdgazi7e.