The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1903-11-28
CRUDE PRAIRIE DOMICILES'
ga uou.ex and Dugouts Were COM
mon In the West Thirty
Years Ago.

The sod mouse d.lu NuSOHN
ting settings in the beautiful panoran'i'
prairie pictures % to 80 years ago says
Farm and Home They did not MAJ
the beauty and harmony OF the scene
and were better adapted TO the coi"'-
tions and surroundings than frame
house would have been. They not oAl!
solved the problem, so far as ease VI
construction was concerned, Dut were
more comfortable and better prolec-
ton against prairie fires, cyclones anu
blizzards than frame houses, Fuei lo'
heating and cooking often had 10 DC
hauled 40 TO 100 miles and it did not
take as much to heat the sod house aS
would have been required for the KIM
of frame houses usually built IN a he"
country. This was quite an item III d
sparsely settled country where lne.e
were no roads and only great O!ea"'
trackess prairie.
Had il not been for the SOD house anu
dugout these extensive belts OF pralrIe
natures greatest and best OF farming
lands-would have laid idle and the
country unsettled many years longer
II the land was level the four walls were
laid up with good, tough prairie sou
from two to three feet thick Inc rooL
was made by putting up strong ridge
pole. on which lighter poles were lalu
close together for rafters. then cover
ing of small brush and lastly layer OF
sod. If money was not too short anu
lumber not too far away, boards "ou!u
be used for the roof, but to-day scantllng
and tarred or felt paper are within the
reach of nearly all.
Inside walls were dressed down
smooth with a hay knife, then pas
tered with clay or mixture Of clay ana
lime. The door and windows were
made Just as elaborate as the means OF
the settler would allow. If the farm
was in a billy country and had a stream
or draw running through il, the house
would often be built in the side NIL
After making an excavation in the BANK,
sod or stone walls were laid up ana
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.
In some parts of the west the soil is
of such a 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 popularity of the soil, many of
the shiftless class lived in full bank
dugouts. They were simply caves dug
in the bank, with a door and window IN
front Sometimes the luxury of win
dow was not INDUCED 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 a 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
falo and prairie dog. will soon be but a
dreamy memory Of the past
In many localities where few years
ago the sod houses were the only houses
and the boundless prairie and Wild ami
mails their only surroundings, to-day
are fine houses and barns Not a YES,
tge of the old buffalo grass sod can be
found, but in its place are some Of the
finest farms ever seen, with herds OF
blooded cattle feeding on wel-seeded
tame pastures, Here and there will be
seen pile Of sod and a few rotten poles
all that is left TO mark the location Of
some early home