USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In the frontier days on the Great Plains, most settlers either lived in a log cabin or a soddy, which was made of grass turf. A soddy, or sod house, was an alternative shelter when wood or stone was scarce. Settlers who lived in sturdier homes might still have built soddies to house their animals.

Detailed explanation-2: -The sod house, or “soddy, ” was one of the most common dwellings in the frontier west. The long, tough grasses of the plains had tight, intricate root systems, and the earth in which they were contained could be cut into flexible, yet strong, bricks.

Detailed explanation-3: -On the Great Plains, sod houses, called “soddies, ” were the most common abodes. (There were some wealthier settlers who brought pre-cut timber cabin kits with them offered through the Sears & Roebuck catalog, but these types of homes were more rare on the early prairie.)

Detailed explanation-4: -Most farmers cut sod from the area where they planned to build their house. Doing so provided a flat surface on which to build and helped protect the house from prairie fires. Removing the grass from the area also helped keep insects, snakes, and vermin from burrowing into the house.

Detailed explanation-5: -Noun. soddie (plural soddies) (US, Canada, informal) A house constructed from blocks of sod, once common in the prairies of the United States and Canada.