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Homes

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Overview

When the settlers first arrived, their top priority was to build a home. The people on the treeless homesteads built sod homes (sometimes called ‘soddies’), and those who lived in a wooded area built log homes. The settlers of Saskatchewan arrived with very little. They only had what they could carry in their trunks and what was on their backs. They had to use their resources in order to survive. They built their homes and many of the items in their homes by hand.

A woman and a man are standing in front of their sod house on their homestead.
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While the sod house has become a symbol for the early prairie settlers, there were many other methods used to seek shelter. The style of shelter ranged from caves and tents to stone houses.

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The outside of the house has a car parked next to it and a group of people sitting on the front porch.

The outside of a 1923 wooden home is shown.

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The outside of the house has a car parked next to it and a group of people sitting on the front porch.

The inside of a 1923 wooden home.

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Fireplace

The fireplace inside the home had many different uses. In the winter, it would be used to keep the house warm, but it would also be used for drying laundry. In the summer the laundry could be hung outside to dry, but in the winter the laundry had to be hung by the warm fireplace to dry.

A fire is lit inside of a fireplace. The fire is used to cook food, heat water in a kettle, and dry clothes that are hanging on a clothes line. A mom is working to cook food, while kids play closeby.

The fireplace was essential to families because it had so many uses.

The settlers would also use their fireplace to dry out food to make it last throughout the winter. Before settlers owned stoves, everything was cooked in the fireplace in iron cooking pots and kettles. Some pots hung from a hook attached to an iron bar called a ‘swing crane’. Some pots had legs so the pots could be placed on the fire and hot coals. Bread was baked in an oven that was built into the side of the fireplace.

Two women are using a separate oven on the side of the fireplace to cook bread inside of it.

There was a separate oven on the side of the fireplace for bread because families baked so much bread.

The fireplace was built of stone and had a large chimney. If there was not enough wood, then twisted straw and corn stalks were burned. Even buffalo and cow dung were gathered for fuel.

Cooking in a fireplace required some important kitchen tools.

Stove

Prairie winters were long and very cold. A lot of wood was needed for the fireplace to keep the home warm. There were not many trees, so settlers had to search for trees near the rivers and sloughs (ponds). Stoves became more popular than the fireplace because less wood was needed to heat a room.

Settlers liked that stoves required less wood than a fireplace to heat up a room.

The first stoves were small and made of cast iron. Stoves were used for cooking and for heating the home. The stoves were rectangular in shape and stood on four legs. There were stoves with two burners on the top and an oven. Some stoves even had a water tank called a ‘reservoir’ that could be heated for hot water.

A rusty iron stove is being used to show what the first stoves looked like.

The first stoves were small and made of cast iron.

Wood or coal was used as fuel for the stove. If wood or coal was hard to find, then twisted straw and corn stalks were burned, just like in a fireplace. A pipe carried the smoke out of the house. The children had to keep the wood box full and fill the reservoir with water. In the winter, snow was melted and the water was used for washing clothes and for baths.

The stove quickly filled with ashes and required cleaning. A metal bucket for ashes was kept near the stove.

An illustration shows a woman standing next to an iron stove, while cooking sausages on a frying pan.

Stoves in settler’s homes were used for cooking and for heating.

An illustration shows the interior of a house with a small iron stove, a sewing machine, a couple cabinets, a dining table with kitchen items on it, and a bed in the corner.
Cabinets
Settlers didn’t have closets, but used cabinets and trunks to store items.

 

Stove
Stoves were used for heating the house, heating water, and for cooking.
Sewing Machine
Settlers used sewing machines to repair and make clothing. They also made blankets, pillow covers, curtains, and other items for the house.
Bed
A few children often had to share one bed.
Furniture
Dining tables are one of the common pieces of furniture that settlers would use. There’s a lantern on top of the dining table which is used to see in the dark because settlers didn’t have electricity.

Furniture

There was not much furniture in a home, but families would often have a table, some chairs or benches made of split logs, and a cupboard for dishes. Most of the furniture was handmade.

A mother and her three children are sitting down by their car to have supper in the field during harvest time.

PHOTO CREDIT: SASKATCHEWAN HISTORY ALBUM

This photo shows some of the furniture that was in this 1920s home.

There were shelves and wooden pegs on the walls for hanging up pots and pans, as well as clothing. Clothing was also kept in chests or trunks. A cradle was made for the baby. The family slept on wooden beds with ropes stretched across the frame to hold the straw mattresses. The beds were covered with homemade feather quilts. Because the houses were very small the children would often all share a bed.

The inside of this settler's home shows four childen sitting on one bed together. Other items in the house include a sewing machine, an iron stove, and a dining table with kitchen items on it.

There were never enough beds in the house so the children would all sleep together.

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