Master's Theses

Department

History

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to show the importance of the sod house in the settlement of the High Plains Region of Western Kansas and how the early settlers adapted themselves to a changed environment and used the materials at hand to supply their everyday needs. Some of the events concerning the settlement of the country exist, mostly, in the memories of the old settlers. Among these are the construction of the sod buildings, and the purposes for which they were used. It is important that the knowledge of this form of architecture should be written down while men who helped in the construction are still living. The sod house was so common that in the literature of the period, although a sod house might be mentioned, in general, it was not considered necessary to describe the building or tell how it was constructed. The early settlers, who remember how the old sod house was built, are becoming very scarce. Today, in the far western sections of the state, there now lives a younger group of men who helped to build, what might be called, a modern version of the old soddie. These were built in the present century, using much more lumber than was generally used in the early sod buildings.

Keywords

Kansas--History, Homesteading, Frontier & pioneer life, Sod buildings, Dugout houses, Building materials

Advisor

Dr. Raymond L. Welty

Date of Award

Summer 1950

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Rights

© The Author(s)

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