The Sod House
Ash Hollow, Nebraska
American Pioneer Sod Houses, from the earliest days of settlement to the early years of the last century, were commonly used by settelers as homes, and were found in southwestern Minnesota and western Nebraska.
Sod Houses consist of layers of uniformly cut turf that are stacked on top of each other to create walls. The individual “bricks” of sod are held together by the thick network of roots found in the soil. Sod is cut several ways, such as with special plows, by hand, with an ax, or with a shovel. Roofs are made from wood, and covered with more sod. If wood is not available, roofs are built up with twigs, branches, bushes and straw.
"As we approached the Shimerdas' dwelling, I could still see nothing but rough red hillocks, and draws with shelving banks and long roots hanging out where the earth had crumbled away. Presently, against one of those banks, I saw a sort of shed, thatched with the same wine-colored grass that grew everywhere. Near it tilted a shattered windmill-frame, that had no wheel. We drove up to this skeleton to tie our horses, and then I saw a door and window sunk deep into the draw-bank" (My Antonia, 46-47).
When Brandon saw the shack that his relatives live in he was amazed. He was astonished that people could actually survive in such a little house made out of sod. When he went inside he was even more surprised.
"The air in the cave was stifling, and it was very dark, too. A lighted lantern, hung over the stove, threw out a feeble yellow glimmer . . . he led her behind the stove, to the back of the room. In the rear wall was another little cave; a round hole, not much bigger than an oil barrel, scooped out in the black earth. When I got up on one of the stools and peered into it, I saw some quilts and a pile of straw" (My Antonia, 83-84).
Brandon was surprised by how terrible the conditions were that his ancestors lived in. Their house was small and not fit for people to live in.