Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-12-02
CRUDE PRAIRIE DoM1cILEs.
Sod Houses and Dugouts Were Conn m0n i'm the West ThiFty
 Years Ago.

The sod house and dugout were ft- ting settings in the beautiful panoramic prairie pictures 25 to 80 years ago, says Farm and Home. They did not mar the beauty and harmony of the scene and were better adapted to the condi- tions and surroundings than frame house would have been. They not only solved the problem, so far as ease of construction was concerned, but were more comfortable and a better protec- tion against prairie fires, cyclones and blizzards than frame houses. Fuel for lheating and cooking often had to be hauled 40 to 100 miles and it did not take as much to heat the sod house as would have been required for the kind of frame houses usually built in new country. This was quite an item in a sparsely settled country where there were no roads and only great bleak, frackless prairie.
 Had it not been for the sod house and dugout, these extensive belts of prairie natures greatest and best of farming lands-would have laid idle and the country unsettled many years longer. If the land was level the four walls were laid up with good. tough prairie sod from two to three feet thick. The roof was made by putting up strong ridge pole on which lighter poles were laid close together for rafters, then cover ing of small brush and lastly layer of sod. ' If money was not too short and Humber not too far away, boards would be used for the roof, but to-day scantling and tarred or felt paper are within the veach of nearly all.
 Inside walls : were dressed down smooth with a hay knife, then plas- tered with clay or a mixture of clay and lime. The door and windows were made just as elaborate as the means of the settler would allow, If the farm was in hilly country and had stream or draw running through it, the house would often be built in the side hill. After making an excavation In the bank, sod or stone walls were laid up and carried out far enough from the bank to allow for a window or two on each side. With door and two windows in the front the light and ventilation was very good
 Bt of such nature that an excavation can be made of almost any depth or shape without any danger of caving, and the longer the walls stand, the more solid they become Taking advantage of this peculiarity of the soil, many of the shiftless class lived in full bank dugouts. They were simply caves dug in the bank, with door and window in front Sometimes the luxury of win- dow was not indulged in, but the door was made in two sections, the upper part being left open, for light and ventilation
 Not much can be said in favor of the dugout. They were poorly ventilated, unhealthy, and the odor would often compel visitor to hold his nose on en- tering them for the first time. The sod house and dugout have served their day and purpose, and, like the Indian, buff Ralo and prairie dog, will soon be but a dreamy memory of the past
 Tn many localities where a few years ago the sod houses were the only houses and the boundless prairie and wild anil malls their only surroundings, to-day are fine houses and barns Not yes tige of the old buffalo grass sod can be found, but in it's place are some of the finest farms ever seen, with herds of blooded cattle feeding on well-seeded tame pastures. Here and there will be seen pile of sod and a few rotten poles, Ell that is left to mark the location of some early home.