1 In the spring of 1879, Jerry Shores, a former enslaved person,
moved his family westward. They joined one of the first emigrant
wagon trains to Nebraska.
Sod-The Homesteader's Treasure
2 The Shoreses settled on a claim in Nebraska. Since Nebraska was
mostly treeless prairie land, it was impossible to build a wooden
structure. But good, cheap material was available. In fact, it was
all around them. It was sod, the earth and grass beneath their feet.
They used it to build a sod house, or soddy. For most families on
the prairie, building a soddy was the first thing they did. It kept
the family safe and protected from the weather.
3 The first step was to find a flat section of land. Space was cleared
of grass. Then it was smoothed out with a spade and packed down
to make a hard earth floor.
4 It was important to use the right kind of grass for a sod house.
Grass with dense roots held the soil together. Buffalo grass, wheat
grass, and Indian grass worked well. Builders cut the sod into
"bricks," strips 18 inches wide by 24 inches long and 4 to 6 inches
deep. Each brick weighed about 50 pounds. The average sod house
required about 3,000 bricks and weighed almost 90 tons.
Making a Sod House-Walls and Roof
the Shoreses established the
Read the text, and
complete the activity
on page 3.
emigrant: a person who
leaves one country or place
to live in another
prairie: a large area of flat
land with grass and few
trees
BY
Livin