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Glass

2008-04-01 12:10:00

Did the old sod houses have windows?

Question: Were windows installed in sod houses in the 1800’s?

Answer: I believe that we are some of the luckiest people in the entire history of the world! And a lot of why I believe that centers around the fact that we’ve had glass in our lives! Glass of every description…from triple paned windows to French doors, from bullet proof glass to military bomb-proof glass, from skyscraper buildings to space shuttle windows, from jetliner windows to glass for telescopes that look into deep space! Our lives have been truly blessed by glass! Now to the question at hand…did they have windows in the sod houses built out here on the plains back in the 1800’s? The answer is: sometimes they did! Sometimes the pieces of glass survived the trip out to the plains in a covered wagon, and sometimes they didn’t. I imagine that the “soddie”, or even stories handed down from those who actually lived that life, are now pretty much a distant memory for even the oldest living survivors of the lifestyle of the settlers who came to settle this land. Back in the 1800’s, life here was so brutal that only the hardiest souls were able to come to this country and stay. Many folks who tried it, ended up gathering up what little they had left and heading on back east, back to the civilization from whence they came. For those who were able to “tough” it out, life here was certainly no “bowl of cherries.” The weather was one of the first of the brutal facts of life they encountered. From the unbelievable cold, snows, blizzards, and freezing conditions of the long lasting winters, to the nearly unbearable heat and drought, winds, and baking sun of the summers, to stay out here year round took an amazing toll on the spirit, to say nothing of the physical drain on the bodies of those pioneer settlers. The dreams and promises that lured most of them to leave the known for the unknown must have been pretty strong, to cause them to pick up everything they owned, load it into a couple of wagons, and take their families into an uncertain future where marauding Indians could end it all in just a few short and bloody minutes. And when they arrived upon that 160 acres of land that the government promised them the deed to if they would live on that plot of ground for a designated period of time, many of them looked around and said… ‘let’s build the house right over there!” Have you ever seen a sod house? Most likely not in person, although there are still some around that are being preserved by different interested groups. You may not have actually seen one, but you have probably seen a historic photograph of one, with the owners standing or sitting proudly in the foreground, or even read about life in a sod house in the childhood classic, On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She wrote with such word pictures that you could almost see the wildflowers growing and hear the brook running past the old cottonwood grove. You could nearly smell the grassy pastures nearby. In the course of identifying and documenting historic and cultural resources in the state of Kansas, there have been a record number of sod houses, or the remains of old sod houses discovered, with over fifty sod homes found in this state. People turned to the sod house because it was extremely inexpensive to build and took advantage of the materials under foot: the land. One sod builder estimated that his 1872 dugout cost $2.78, which included lumber, $1.79; latches and hinges, $.50; stovepipe, $.30; and nails, $.39. In 1894 a sod house with two windows and a wooden door cost $3.74. Most who had windows in their sod houses brought them with them when they came from the east. Besides low cost, another advantage of the soddie included the fact that it was cool in the summer and easier to heat in the winter. On the Great Plains it also provided protection from cyclones and prairie fires. Due, however, to the disadvantages, the structures were generally intended strictly as temporary quarters until after the farm or ranch could be established and a conventional home, with lots of windows, afforded. Regarded as temporary dwellings when constructed, many “soddies” returned to the earth after their owners either moved into wood-frame houses or left the area and abandoned them. If the owners moved up to a frame house, the soddies were often used for storage or as prairie hay barns. The basic construction of the soddies was simple and relatively consistent from house to house. In most cases, the sod was cut in the bottomland areas where the soil and vegetation were thicker, making for a better packing “brick.” A sod cutter was used to harvest the sod: it flipped over a strip of sod approximately eighteen to twenty-four inches wide which was then cut into “brick” size lengths. The sod bricks were stacked in alternating fashion with the grass side down and laid two bricks thick, flaking the walls up to two feet thick, and more in some areas of the country. Depending on the owner’s resources, the exterior walls were often mud plastered or stuccoed for protection. Inside they were typically covered with a mud or lime plaster and then whitewashed. Just imagine the style of life afforded by this type of construction. A good roof was essential to the life of a sod house, for in addition to protecting the inhabitants, it was also important for keeping rainwater off the exterior walls. Many soddies started out with low pitched sod roofs, difficult to maintain, sure to leak, and home to a variety of creatures, including snakes. When economically possible, the homeowner moved up to wood-shingle roofs. The sod roof, six to eight inches thick, was built on a timber frame of ridge poles laid with thrush rafters. A green, living roof was desirable because the active root system made the roof more water repellent, but this meant replacing it each spring. To minimize outward thrust and concentrate weight equally on the sod walls, the shingle roofs were steeply pitched and hipped; the resulting interior space created by the roof structure was sometimes used as an attic. Compared to their frame house counterparts, soddies had a low, bulky appearance, due in part to the relative shortness of their exterior walls. Within these earthbound structures soddie dwellers described them as feeling very snug and safe. “Warm in winter, cool in summer” was a phrase often used to describe the efficiency of their insulation. Splayed window wells are the one feature of the sod house that might be considered decorative but even they were designed principally for function. The unusual curve of the splayed wall allowed natural light in and gave the plaster a better chance of lasting because rounded corners were less easily chipped. Separated from the roof by an extra thick header of sod bricks, the window sills remained dry in an otherwise moist environment. The window itself was usually set at an angle to encourage water runoff. This construction provided an important place in the house for protecting dry goods, rising bread, and even babies from the rain. In relation to the many that were built, a few sod houses have resisted returning to the earth and are living long lives in this modern age, providing some a place to live and the rest of us a glimpse into another time when things were rough and low- income housing had a different meaning. More next month…