Many homesteaders built themselves sod houses, like this one, until the railroads brought in more lumber and house-building supplies

CREDIT: McCarthy, John, photographer. "John Bakken Sod House, Milton, North Dakota." Circa 1895. The Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920: Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F.A. Pazandak Photograph Collections, American Memory collections, Library of Congress.