Episode 5 - The Perspective of Stuff
(This week’s episode is the first part in a series following a sod house autopsy from start to finish.)
Sod houses used to be a staple of the Great Plains in the 1800s, when settlers from the east started making their way west. There are a handful of sod houses still standing today, but it’s only a small percentage out of the hundreds and hundreds there used to be. Most of them, like the one in Larry Estes’ backyard, are not in the best condition. But ecologists, archaeologists, and historians can still learn a lot from it - once they get it into their labs.
Listen in to find out how to to get a sod house from the field into the lab!
Edited to add: Our photos from the day are now up! Check them out here.
Extras:
Read more about sod houses on the National Register of Historic Places: Waterman Sod House and Dowse Sod House.
Learn more about sod houses on NebraskaStudies.org
Photos and letters from the Library of Congress on prairie settlement in 1862-1912.
Read about Sod Houses or the Development of the Great Plains and Pioneer History of Custer County, both by Solomon Butcher
