Open Session: What Readers Think

(Page 2 of 2)

May 2008
By Capper's Readers 
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RELATED CONTENT

Gone Fishin' - Spring is in the air, and with it comes outdoor activities. This photograph shows great-grandsons Garrison and Korbin Smith plotting to catch a big fish at Nelson Park in Lebanon, Mo. The boys are the sons of Jeremy Smith and Stacie Danrell, both of Lebanon.

Norma Woosley
Lebanon, Mo.

 

Enjoyed pioneer fiction - I have been reading your monthly stories, and The Agreement by Jo Maseberg, which concluded in December 2007, kept me guessing. I figured that Caroline's father would find her. I liked the way the story ended.

I would like some more information on soddie homes. How big could they be built?

Merle Bowers
Forsyth, Ill.

Editor's note: We didn't know the answer to your question, Merle, so we sent it along to Fred Juenemann, who lives with his wife, Lesa, in the Minor Sod House, located near Brewster, Kan.

Juenemann wrote back to tell us that most sod h­ouses were one-room buildings that measured about 14 feet by 16 feet.

'Walls were made of strips of native sod 4 inches thick,' he wrote. These were laid horizontally, 'in courses like bricks, with the grass (top) side down, making 2-foot-thick walls. The roofs were usually thatched or covered with sod.'

The Juenemann's house is larger than most soddies. It measures 48 feet by 19 feet, with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. Its sod exterior has been protected with a cement covering since about 1918. However, the sod can still be seen through a window inside one of the house's walls.

We asked Juenemann if he would recommend any books about sod houses, and he suggested readers seek out Sod Walls, by Roger Welsch. The 208-page book includes more than 100 photos and drawings, and sells for $12.95 (plus sales tax in Nebraska). You may order it by writing to Lee Booksellers, P.O. Box 5575, Lincoln NE 68505. The publisher can also be reached at 1 (888) 665-0999, or by sending an e-mail to info@leebooksellers.com.

You may also be pleased to know that The Agreement is now available in book form. For ordering information, click on the following link: www.Cappers.com/shopping/detail.aspx?ItemNumber=58.

Open Session

We welcome letters from readers. If you have an opinion or comment on an article you saw in CAPPER'S that you'd like to share, send it to Open Session, CAPPER'S, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609-1265.

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