The Sod House

There were hundreds of Sod Houses in Murray County during the Pioneer Days. they were cheap and afforded some protection from the blasts of Winter and the hot summer winds


        The bitter cold winds during the blizzards seeped into many a sod shanty. Mrs. John G. Johnson, told of one of the many incidents that accompany pioneer life. During one storm the cold was so intense that they took the bed clothes from the bed, wrapped them around themselves and huddled around the

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stove, trying to keep warm. The father was busy poking wisps of hay into the little stove. The howling wind would take the wisps of hay up the chimney in a flash. The roof of the sod shanty caught on fire and the boys crawled on the roof in the storm and put out the fire with water and snow. Some of the water went down the chimney and the fire in the stove went out. These were the days or rather nights that tried their souls. "How did you ever stand it?" we asked Mrs. Johnson. She answered, "We just had to."

        The late Tom Gunderson of Leeds, when a young man, went to the pineries to make a little money during the winter months. Four of the young men started for home early to get their crops in. They got as far as St. Paul, held a council and decided to build a big hand sled. On it they put their blankets, cooking utensils and groceries. They wanted to save all the money they could. They got about 75 miles from St. Paul tugging their sled along when they heard a train whistle. They ran for their lives. The snow plow tossed everything they had into the air and the only thing saved was the pancake griddle, which is a real relic on the old Gunderson place today.


FARMERS HAD ASSORTED POWER

        Oxen and horses did not furnish all the power on the farm. Even when they were on their way to Murray County, the settlers were forced to yoke up the milk cows when the oxen had sore feet or were played out. Mules were used also. There were not many of them here. It was no unusual sight to see an ox, a horse and a mule hitched to the plow or other implement.


SETTLERS PAID A HIGH PRICE FOR MONEY
        The inability to get money to sustain life and buy machinery and livestock was almost as much of a handicap to the newcomers as the blizzards and the grasshoppers. Some of the banks took advantage of the almost penniless conditions of some of the settlers. Twenty per cent interest was the common everyday rate and often thirty per cent. Settlers, in need of small amounts, would sometimes walk to a farmer who lived near Tracy.

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