Little House on the Prairie

[TARNATION !!!]

Here ya go David. Even has two chimneys for added warmth to ease the transition.

[Dean Romig]

Pictures of deserted homes on the praries of the U.S. and Canada evoke a feeling of emptiness and despair and my thoughts are only "broken dreams".

[TARNATION !!!]

Next door to some abandoned houses you find nice modern homes. The abandoned structures are from the '20s to '40s. Some definitely went under. Others took over that land and added to theirs, which saw them abandon a house to build a better place. Youngsters headed to cities. Viable family farms got larger and larger. In the early days a quarter section was a big job for a family. While hunting an area, I have watched a quarter section of grain gobbled up by a group of combines and spewed into waiting semis in just a few hours. Equipment kept getting better and bigger, which also reduced the number of humans needed to farm the land. So, yes there was some despair but also some tremendous success stories. I have hunted on "family grain farms" that are 10 sections of land. However, I agree the abandoned structures can evoke a feeling of emptiness, despair and "broken dreams". When I gaze upon them, I think of the kids running around and playing and "doing chores" learning responsibility and self-reliance. I think about the warmth of the wood stove and the smells of bread, pies and fresh venison prepared for a winter's meal. And then the camera shutter clicks. There is no doubt that those who broke this land were hardy folk.

Cheers,
Jack

Near this abandoned home

is this modern home


This type of equipment makes short work of a 1/4 section

[charlie cleveland]

nice pictures.. i wish some of the old homes could tell there stories of happier days..as i look at the land and the equipment used now and the few that still strugle to feed all of us my hats off to them...i have set on a tractor breaking 6 foot of ground at a time as i done this i would get to seeingpeople of by gone days using mules and only plowing 6 inches at a time...makes me break out in a cold sweat thinking about following that ole mule...indeed our ancesters were a hardy lot my hats off to them to... keep them old homes a coming..... charlie

[Drew Hause]

The failures were frequently outside a man's control

http://www.kansashistory.us/dustbowl.html



"Black Sunday" in Dodge City April 11, 1935

[Richard Flanders]

I see a fair number of houses like have been shown here while hunting in Montana, some in very nice settings amongst large cottonwoods in little river valleys. You can't help as you wander through them and see the kids toys and household goods imagining kids playing in the yard and the dogs and chickens running around. Many of these old places remind me of the house I grew up in, a 100+ yr old structure that had poplar poles for roof rafters, soybean stalks in the walls for insulation, and the old wrinkly glass in all the windows. The last two houses Jack showed would have been a pretty upscale house in their day, far nicer than what we had I can tell you. In many places both those houses would be gutted and restored. I helped restore a similar house in Michigan that had full-dimension rough cut oak for all the studs, some of which went from ground level to the roof on the second floor. I'm sure that young folks today who look at a house like that have no clue just how recently it was filled with a family and life.

[TARNATION !!!]

A little less upscale

[charlie cleveland]

this is the type house i seen growing up even it might be better than most houses espically the ones in the delta...but i did see some nice houses like the ones first pictured growing up too...was even a few mansions but they were few and far in between... the hose i was raised up till i was 6 years old was a dog trot style house only 2 big rooms with a little lean too on the back called the kitchen...one time it snowed and my dad shoveled snow out of the kitchen... on a starry night you could see the stars through the holes in the tin....the old house was ok too me i could let up a board in the floor and let our bird dog queenie in too sleep by the fire place... yep most of us here could tell about them old homes...when you dont know your not living in a mansion its still a home.... charlie

[StubTwist]

Thanks for sharing your story Charlie.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Blind Dog]

Kids can handle anything as long as the grownups aren't complaining, but are leading.