Found a good "Plains Survival" link? Let Us Know!

The Grass Wigwam at Wichita ~ The lodge has two doors, one at the east, where the sun can peep in in the morning to give his blessing, and one in the west where he can look in before night to see that all is well. There also is an opening at the south to serve as a window, where the sun can look in at noon. Just east of the apex is a smoke hole. Under the smoke hole is a circular excavation on the floor of the lodge, which is a fireplace.

The Kansas Prairie Or, Eight Days on the Plains by Isaac Moffat ~ ISAAC MOFFATT, whose record of a visit to Kansas in 1859 is here reproduced, was a resident of Philadelphia. He came to the territory to remove the body of a friend, named only as George in the account, who was a member of a surveying expedition and who died about a month before Moffatt's arrival. Moffatt wrote somewhat extravagantly and a few flights into the upper reaches of his fancy, quite irrelevant to the presentation of a picture of Kansas through the eyes of an Eastern traveler, have been omitted.

MY HOMESTEAD DAYS IN EASTERN COLORADO By Alta Palmer Murray (age 17 in 1907, age 68 when written) ... It only took a few days to put up a tarpaper-covered shack, twelve by fourteen feet, and we moved in. A neighbor and my brother-in-law started digging a well. They got a very good well and we were thankful, as they were hard to get. Folks hauled water from that well for miles around. They would come with barrels in a wagon and fill them pumping all the water by hand. The well never went dry as long as I knew anything about it. Lots of those homesteads never did get water...  [Link updated 4/12/11]

The Universal Language of the Plains by Bob Campbell The babel of the Indian was conquered by simple sign or hand language. Traders, explorers, and scouts found it useful in their contact with the many tribes. It was not as simple or literal as charades, however, and had to be learned. But, once learned, it was very beneficial.  (pdf) [Link recovered 4/12/11 - now hosted on site!]

Catching a Rabbit Down a Hole by William Walls As I was demonstrating a few outdoor survival ideas to a small group, I noticed an older gentleman in the back who appeared skeptical. Later over a picnic lunch, I coaxed him to share with me how he captured cottontail rabbits. Here is his technique. (pdf) [Link recovered 4/12/11 - now hosted on site!]

Buffalo County Pioneers Lacked Creature Comforts by Philip S. Holmgren: Pioneer agriculture in the eastern half of the United States is described as resting on a three-legged stool. The three legs referred to land, water and wood. As the pioneers moved out on to the plains, one and sometimes two of these legs were missing. Wood seemed to disappear, and water was often hard to find... [Link updated 4/12/11]

The Fred Hultstrand History in Pictures Collection & The F.A. Pazandak Photograph Collection These two collections from the Institute for Regional Studies at North Dakota State University contain 900 photographs of rural and small town life at the turn of the century. Highlights include images of sod homes and the people who built them; images of farms and the machinery that made them prosper; and images of one-room schools and the children that were educated in them. See also: North Dakota Historical Overview | Implements Used on the Farm

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center - Site Map HUGE resource covering flora, fauna and weather.

Mrs. Hattie E. Lee's Story of Her Life in Western Kansas ~ Edited by Mrs. Raymond Millbrook: The year of 1881 the settlers began coming in. That summer the Indians left the territory and did a great deal of damage. A man on a horse came riding through telling us that the Indians were out and to get back. I was so frightened I could neither eat or sleep. But the soldiers from Fort Hays put the Indians back. [5] Two newlyweds took claims near the old Texas trail. They built their sod house on each place near their line. The Texas trail was seven miles west of us. [6] They drove Texas cattle from Texas to Montana and other points north. The Indians traveled the trail going north. One day two Indians came to these two houses and asked for something to eat. They gave them lunch and one of the men of the home had a nice looking hat on his head. One old Indian said, "swap," and took the man's nice hat and put it on his head and put his old dirty hat on the man's head and went away...

The Only Soddie in Maine? Naval historian and author James Nelson documents the building of a sod house in an unusual locale. (pdf) [Link recovered 4/12/11 - now hosted on site!]

PIONEER  DUGOUTS  Dugout dwellings are common and utilitarian forms of housing. Archaeological evidence confirms that dugouts were used in many different times and places. Properly excavated dwellings often leave traces of their structures and the cultures that created them. We are fortunate; there are quite a few American Pioneer Dugouts still existing. We also have memories, oral histories and photographic archives. Local historical societies and museums are the places to start digging for the past. (pdf) [Link recovered 4/12/11 - now hosted on site!]

Soddies are small houses with walls built of stacked layers of uniformly cut turf. The individual “bricks” of sod are held together by the thick network of roots that made preparing fields for planting so very difficult. Sod was cut with special plows, or by hand, with an ax and/or shovel. Roofs were made from timber, rough or planed, and covered with more sod. If timber was not available, roofs were built up with twigs, branches, bushes and straw. Soddies are practical and tough, but vulnerable. (pdf) [Link recovered 4/12/11 - now hosted on site!]

Northern Prairie Biological Resources Not the easiest place to find info, but there's alot of it - flora & fauna of the N. American Plains.

Grasslands Animals 

"The Prairie Traveler: A Handbook for Overland Expeditions" by Randolph Barnes Marcy, Capt. US Army – 1859. This is one of the quintessential works on making the passage to California & Oregon during America’s expansion of the "wild west." The entire book is available on line!

"Commerce Of The Prairies" Written & published in 1844 by Josiah Gregg. Excellent resource studied by many of the frontier pioneers discusses many aspects of life on the Great Plains of North America in the 1800’s. Online!

"Went to Kansas" By Mrs. Miriam Davis Colt. Another excellent resource on traveling the plains to get to the "promised land" and all the hardships and day-to-day aspects of survival. Online! Late 1800's era.

Buffalo and the Plains Indians Buffalo skins were used for tipis, also as blankets. From them we also made robes and moccasins, shields, snowshoes, and carrying bags called parfleches. Boats were made by stretching a buffalo hide over bent willow branches. Sinew, from the long muscles from the backbone, served as sewing thread. Shorter tendons used for bow strings. Spoons were made from buffalo horns, and hooves were used to make glue. Nothing was wasted, every part of the buffalo was used. Even the buffalo's skull was used in religious ceremonies as an altar, a reminder of the buffalo's gift. [Link updated 4/12/11]

The Prairie Through New Eyes, is a unique undertaking using art, humanity, and science disciplines to explore the many features and stories to be found in the muliti-dimensional prairie of Kansas. Using the exhibition Taking Root: The Art of Patricia DuBose Duncan and the landscape itself that is found at the Konza Prairie, a curriculum has been created that will enrich and expand the educational possibilities for all schools in the state. This curriculum encourages an examination and exploration of the signature landscape known as Kansas.

The Plains' Fuels of Yesteryear... For Nebraska's early pioneers, sources of fuel and water were essential for survival. Coming from the eastern U.S., settlers were used to relying on wood for fuel and construction materials for building homes. Pioneers settling the vast and mostly treeless prairie had to devise alternatives to compensate for the lack of this resource.

Tipi, Teepee, Tepe The tipi [also spelled tepee, teepee, tepe] of the Plains Indians is a fine dwelling, where poles are available and a permanent camp is in order. It is a roomy structure in which a fire may be built, and is comfortable in extremes of heat or cold. The pattern of the tipi (Plate A) is cut in the shape of a halfcircle (A), twice as long as it is wide, with 2 smoke flaps (B) near the center of the pattern. Fifteen by 30 feet is a good size. If the tipi is smaller, it is difficult to keep it free of smoke. Eight-ounce canvas is satisfactory for the cover.

Kansas Historical Quarterly: KanColl, in partnership with the Kansas State Historical Society, is bringing the issues of the Kansas Historical Quarterly to the World Wide Web. The Society began publishing this amazing collection of articles, studies, and reminiscences in 1931. 

Soldiering on the High Plains: The Diary of Lewis Byram Hull, 1864-1866 - Edited by Myra E. Hull ~ The diary furnishes a glimpse of the flora and fauna of that vast region over which, in the sixties, still roamed millions of buffalo and vast herds of deer, elk, moose, and bear, offering royal sport to the soldier-hunter and food for his commissary. The diary also describes vividly army life on the plains, particularly at Fort Laramie, the most historic spot in the Northwest, and at Fort Halleck, that little-known post which was the center of Indian hostilities on the Overland trail during 1865, "the bloody year on the Plains."

Sketches of Early Days in Kearny County by Virginia Pierce Hicks ~ THE sketches here presented of early days in Kearny county, edited and somewhat condensed, are published through the courtesy of Virginia Pierce Hicks who secured them for publication in The Kansas Historical Quarterly. Comparatively little has been recorded about the early history of the western counties. Possibly the days of first settlement seem too recent to be considered in the light of history. These sketches are stories of the beginnings of settlement, development and community life in Kearny county.

Supplying the Frontier Military Posts by Raymond L. Welty ~ THE efficiency of the frontier army which averaged about 20,000 men in the period 1855-1875 depended on the food, clothing, ammunition, forage, shelter, livestock and other supplies furnished by the government. The frontier military post, usually at some distance from the settled areas, was almost solely dependent upon supplies brought from a great distance.

The Diary of George H. Hildt, June to December, 1857; Pioneer of Johnson County edited by Martha B. Caldwell ~ This record, in diary form, covers the period from June to December, 1857.It was written in pencil in a small leather-bound volume, and was in tended for his family and friends in Ohio. The diary provides an interesting day-by-day account of life on the Kansas frontier, and gives important sidelights on the politics of the time. It came into the possession of the Kansas State Historical Society through Mrs. J. E. Hildt, a daughter-in-law of the author. It is reproduced here without change except for an occasional Word necessary to clarify the text.

Emergency Housing at Lawrence, 1854 by James C. Malin ~ ... thatched tents or houses of the hen-coop type, were made by pinning together poles about 20 feet long, raised to make an "A," and along the sloping sides were nailed horizontal ribs. Tall grass was mowed for thatching and was held in place by wire.

"Holding Down" a Northwest Kansas Claim, 1885-1888 Edited by Kenneth Wiggins Porter ~ The narrative begins immediately upon the arrival of the Wiggins family at their Graham county claim. Catherine was 11 years of age and her brother, Sam, 15. Another brother, David Lincoln, 17, remained behind in Coin, Iowa, to work in a pharmacy.

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