Around 1900, a homesteader and his family are pictured standing proudly in front of their sod house in Cherry County, Nebraska. This photograph, taken by the renowned photographer Solomon D. Butcher, captures a moment of early pioneer life on the Great Plains. The family, dressed in practical clothing, stands in front of the modest sod house that they built themselves, a symbol of their hard work and determination. The sod house, constructed from the earth itself, reflects the resourcefulness of homesteaders in this harsh, treeless region, where timber was scarce and sod became a practical building material.
The homesteader and his family are depicted with a sense of pride, having transformed the challenging landscape into a home. The sod house, though simple in appearance, was a testament to their resilience and ability to adapt to the environment. The harsh conditions of the Nebraska plains meant that homesteaders often had to rely on ingenuity to survive, and building homes out of the earth was a necessity. The photograph emphasizes the pioneering spirit that defined much of rural America at the time, where families took on the tough task of creating a life from the land.
Solomon D. Butcher, known for his iconic images of Nebraska's homesteaders, captured not only the physical structures but also the personalities of those who built them. His photographs provide a lasting glimpse into the lives of families like this one, who faced immense challenges but persevered in their quest for a better life. The image of this homesteader family in front of their sod house stands as a powerful reminder of the hardships and triumphs of pioneer life at the turn of the century in the American West.

Hard times back then.

Interesting.
But what is that wooded structure behind them?

Looks like a happy family doing the best they can in hard times. What is on the boys shoulder?

So whose hand is on the boys shoulder? Doesn't look like it's the dad's.

Don't take this wrong, I love these old pics, but a lot of things about this one doesn't add up. The building looks to be made of COB and it doesn't look like a house at all, including the area around it that does not look lived in. There's a wooden building right behind it and the man's left arm is 4 feet long.

I agree with bernie, something not right????

The guy has long arms, maybe early cameras weren’t the best with perspective? Don’t know. I took from it that may be the first cabin when they started out, the back structure represents current upgrade.
My great grandparents had a similar picture done. They had been using the original sod house as storage of some sort but stood in front of that for a picture. Western Minnesota.

Osky

They certainly are well dressed and well fed for a family that supposedly lives in a 8' x 8' sod house with no door. I know it was common for photographers of the time to have props but those clothes fit very well for props. It looks more like the local doctor and his family on their ranch standing in front of a shed of some kind.

Bernie smell out the "red herring" and I add on " hay rake on the roof "?
the sod huts that I have seen are actual cut blocks of sod laid one on top of each other with 16 inch walls going up 5.5 feet
that one looks like a doby plastered hut

Every Old photo I post BernieB....ol 99.999 0f them You rip ...

Scroll past, keep walking....go critique one of your Bear videos

tired of it.

You might want to go back and re count. I think there are maybe two others out of 311 that I have called out. And it has nothing to do with you personally, it's the photos. Not sure why you have a burr under your saddle against me.

Keep ‘em coming, they’re some of my favorite threads and I look forward to them like Photo Phridays and Mountain Man Mondays and Sharon and Tatiana’s art

They built their sod house in the yard of someone's wooden house?

every picture has a story in it, it may be the shelter they started with before the new buildings were built and this is not absolute but my tooth pick says his arms on the girl and boy are about same length,guy got long arms. and happy new year to you all.

I enjoy these old pictures as much as anyone and appreciate them being posted. But this one does have some issues IMO. No disrespect intended to you 330 but these are my observations.

The hut immediately behind the people looks nothing like pictures of sod houses I have seen. The wooden structure behind the hut clearly has a tin roof. But that type building and tin roofs were possible around 1900.

But more out of place is the man. His right arm angles out from his shoulder, behind the girls head to where his wrist appears to rest on the girls shoulder. But his left arm appears to be straight down from his shoulder but there is clearly a hand on the boys shoulder. It can't be the womans left hand because her left arm is clearly visible. For the mans hand to be on the boys shoulder, his arm would have to be near horizontal from his shoulder but it is not outstretched but straight down.

The mans hands do not look natural. Look closely at the left hand, especially the thumb.

The womans hand and wrist do not look right either. Her index finger is the longest with each other finger being progressively shorter. Never seen a hand like that.

Just appears to me to be AI manipulated.

I agree. Sorry 330 but a fake AI generated photo is what I see

Enjoy your old hystory photos.
Your just the messenger, you have no control over the intent of the photographer or publisher of the photos.
Keep on posting. Like.

I agree. And any discussion of the photos is interesting.

This photo reminds me of when I was a youth in west-central WI during the 50's and early 60's. When walking the woods there were several small homes or cabins that were homes to famlies or batchlers from the late 1800s and prior to WW1. Most were not log homes but boards made from pine mostly that were cut with saw mills. Elders talked about community saw mills and other wood cutting equipment back in those days, much like thrashing machines etc. later in the 1930's 40's and 50's. Most were Scandinavian homesteads in our area.

Bryce