Artifact Interest Meter: Where’s the Sod House?

Confabulations by M.A.Tucker, January 2026

Where’s the sod house? Image by M.A.Tucker

Artifacts can come in many shapes & sizes. Some artifacts you can hold in your hands. Some artifacts such as homes, school houses or places of worship may have been large but now may exist only in fragments or shattered remnants of their original form. These artifacts may reveal otherwise forgotten stories & perhaps lead to unexpected discoveries.

The Story

• Why live in a sod house?
• What is a sod house?
• Who built the sod house?
• Where would you build your sod house?
• What might be left after ~150 years?
• How might you find clues?
• Where’s the Sod House?
• References

Sources:

o Nebraska State Historical Society — an astonishing source of knowledge!

• history.nebraska.gov/
• homestead records, tract books, plat books, land entry records, AG schedules
• newspaper stories, letters, occasional photos

o onsite explorations — special thanks to the local Nebraska Experts!

o private family repositories — letters, legal estate probate, wills, deeds

Why live in a sod house?

This letter by Mrs. Belle Lovenburg from Madrid, NE describes homesteading in 1886.

“A pioneer family lived in a soddy” Letter from Mrs. Belle Lovenburg https://nebraska.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_481a293d-6feb-4741-a31a-5dcbd93d2df2/

We came from Iowa in 1886 in a covered wagon — took three weeks to make the trip my father filed on a homestead built a one roomed sod house, we lived there for a long time, endured droughts prairie fires sand storms and blizzards

“A pioneer family lived in a soddy” Letter from Mrs. Belle Lovenburg https://nebraska.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_481a293d-6feb-4741-a31a-5dcbd93d2df2/

when we came here, prairie dogs and rattlesnakes were plentiful, we could also see droves of antelopes pass the door at times, there were lots of coyotes, grey wolves and also bob cats in the early days, but they were the good old days, many a box social and dances we had, the neighbors would all gather together for a good time, the soddys were warm in winter and cool in summer… we drawed water with a bucket for a long time before there were any wind mills. I have lived in Nebraska for 72 years and still think it is the most beautiful place.

What is a sod house?

Sod houses, soddys, dugouts, turf houses are all names for a type of traditional home in Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the American prairie from Viking days to the modern era. They were particularly adaptive to harsh environments with plentiful grass but little forest. Building a log cabin would have entailed dragging lumber vast distances. Prairie sod is plentiful & has very deep, tangled root systems that allow sod “bricks” to be cut & stacked. Sod is also a natural insulator as Mrs. Belle Lovenburg mentions, “the soddys were warm in winter and cool in summer”.

Examples of sod “bricks” exposed and as part of a sod house.

While cutting & hauling the sod bricks would be backbreaking labor, the roof would be the tricky part. A few precious wooden ridge poles would be required to support a layer of brush overlaid with a layer of inverted sod (grass side down). If the roof was not well made, it would leak making a damp & uncomfortable interior. Many photos show wooden doors as well.

https://history.nebraska.gov/collection_section/solomon-d-butcher-collection/

Who built the sod house?

In the 1880s, Hans O. Olson & Annie M. Olson, one of his younger daughters homesteaded the NW ¼ section (Annie) and SW ¼ section (Hans) about 5 miles northwest of Eustis, Nebraska. Their claims were granted in 1889 and 1890 (respectively). In order to qualify for a grant, the person(s) had to live in a house on the land “each winter” & “improve” the land, often by building farm structures, fencing areas for grazing cattle & growing crops often to feed livestock.

Patents showing Hans O. Olson & Annie M. Olson NW ¼ section (Annie) and SW ¼ section (Hans) https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent|st=NE|cty=|twp_nr=8|rng_nr=24|rng_dir=W|sec=6|sp=true|sw=true|sadv=false

U.S. Land Grant from Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of America to Annie M. Olson, 1889. U.S.Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Land Office Records. https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=NE1930__.288&docClass=STA&sid=izhxjzaf.xzm#patentDetailsTabIndex=1

There is strong evidence a sod house was built somewhere on the NW1/4 quarter section (~160 acres). While a “frame” (wood) barn, a grainary & other small farm structures were listed as improvements on the homestead patent application, the application also notes a “new sod house 8x14ft” worth $10 as well.

Fragment of homestead application courtesy Nebraska State Historical Society archives.

As told by Tina S. Brooks (another daughter of Hans Olson), Hans encouraged his youngest daughters (Annie, Tina and Lissa) & their husbands to settle in Nebraska. The following is excerpted from “Pioneering in Frontier County” by Tina Brooks in the Eustis News (full article in reference section below):

In 1883 the broad prairies southwest of Plum Creek, now Lexington, were being absorbed by homesteaders, much to the disappointment of the ranchers who had been using the land under the law of free range. At that time my father, Hans O. Olson, having sold his land in Iowa, took a homestead, timber claim, and also purchased a section of land five miles northwest of where Eustis is now located. In 1885, my father, being so well impressed with the possibilities of the country, wrote my husband, Hansford Brooks, urging us to come out and settle in Frontier County. My husband went out, arranged filing, returned to Iowa, and in August of that year I preceded my husband to the new country.

:

As we rode up the river, the next day I thought that I had never seen such a beautiful country, trees and foliage in abundance greeted the eye. But as we emerged onto what was called the “divide”, the scene changed. Nothing but a vast and rolling prairie could be seen as far as the eye could reach. An occasional windmill could be seen and now and then a sod house, more than often deserted. As my father had set up a store, there was an occasional sign which said “Store” and by following these we finally landed at my father’s claim at nightfall.

:

Two sisters followed us into Frontier, Anna, Mrs. Miles McGrew and Lissa, Mrs L.M.O. Tucker. Both girls had graduated with highest honors from Marengo High School, and teachers being needed in the new country, both of them went to work. Anna rode five miles to her school on a pony and side-saddle. She had contracted tuberculosis while teaching in Iowa and a few years later died.

Annie departed this life at about 24 years of age in ~1887. Hans brought out Annie’s husbands share of the claim & passed it on, in turn, when he died in 1896.

Where would you build your sod house?

The real estate mantra is location, location, location! There are several major facets to consider in siting your sod house.

Bitter, winter winds come from the North & West. An ideal location would be to dig into a rise in the natural terrain that would provide some measure of protection from the harsh winter winds. The higher ground to the right of the splash photo is such a natural feature.

You would want to be fairly close to a reliable water source for livestock and farm activities. Behind the photographer in the splash photo is a stream/creek that meanders through the middle of the 160 acres flowing north to south.

What might be left after ~150 years?

The sod house was likely abandoned after Annie’s death in 1887. Hans O. Olson (her father) would “buy out” Miles McGrew (her husband) when Annie’s estate was settled. Hans had his own sod house that he eventually improved with a frame house in front of the old dugout. Annie’s husband had his own claim & habitation (presumably). Sod houses were notoriously high maintenance. If the roof is not well made & maintained, the sod house would become damp & wet, eventually collapsing. Then the walls would slowly cave in or fall outward. Soon, lumps of dirt & grass (indistinguishable from the surrounding prairie) would be all that remained.

The terrain may have changed in~150 years with erosion, over farming or plowing destroying the sod house remnants. A sod house dug into a bank would have been spared destruction from plowing.

How might you find clues to the location?

Magnetometers ($$$$), Lidar ($) & Ground Penetrating Radar ($$$$$$$$$) might each offer evidence of the sod house location.

Magnetometers use distortions in the magnetic field of the earth caused by nearby metal objects to identify possible locations of metal objects in the ground. There might be concentrations of metal objects either lost while in use or left behind after the sod house was abandoned. Cooking implements, door hinges, nails, pins, etc. might indicate the location of the sod house (or other farming structures for that matter). If you were very lucky, you might even find a coin, a buffalo nickel or an Indian Head cent. The “Indian” on the penny is actually a Caucasian Lady Liberty wearing a Native American male’s feathered headdress — a historical inaccuracy that became one of the most beloved designs in U.S. history.

Lidar is a form of radar that allows terrain cover (trees, grasses, etc.) to be penetrated producing a view of the underlying terrain. A lidar drone might discover likely suspects in slight lumps or folds that could have once been walls. This could narrow the search.

Ground Penetrating Radar is very pricey but very useful in archaeological settings. The underlying terrain may be analyzed to understand the underground terrain structure which might lead to evidence of the footprint of a 14x8 foot sod house from ~150 years earlier.

Magnetometers are pretty pricey so a rental could be considered. However, these are bulky hand held wands that one waves over the ground of interest. It is quite impractical to imagine walking 160 acres to find a 8x14 foot sod house! Ground Penetrating Radar are for rich, fully funded operations — not a DIY endeavor. DIY Lidar Drones may be constructed for a reasonable cost.

An approach might be to use your DIY Lidar Drone to narrow the search in areas of interest. Then a rental magnetometer might be used to identify metal objects.

Where’s the Sod House?

Best guess? The sod house is dug into the bank to the right (north) of the 2 larger trees. This would afford some protection from the harsh winter winds. Behind the viewer (toward the east) is a nearby stream that meanders north to south. This location is in harmony with family/local lore . With regard to this question, a companion noted in a more charitable moment, “finding it is gonna be quite a long shot”. Regardless, it’s an intriguing question: where’s the sod house?”

Where’s the sod house? To the right of the trees dug into the bank? Image by M.A.Tucker

Or perhaps, Dear Reader, a better question might be “How to start looking for the sod house?”.

How to start looking for the sod house? Doodle by M.A.Tucker

References

“Pioneering in Frontier County” by Tina S. Brooks in the Eustis News

Eustis, Frontier County, Nebraska The Eustis News Thursday, September 17, 1936

Source: Nebraska State Historical Society Research Department archives of publications.

That’s all folks!