FortWhyte Alive

Sod House 10th Anniversary

The FortWhyte Alive Pioneers recently had a great tenth anniversary celebration of the Sod House, situated at the Peoples of the Prairies trailhead. It was built in 2001 under the watchful eye of Harv Klassen, a master in the art of heritage construction, using sod ‘bricks’ carefully stacked to form walls and locked together by the intact and intricate root mass that eventually grows into the adjacent ‘bricks’. A wooden super-structure of tamarack rails, chinked together with filler such as mud and moss, is what holds the weight of the sod roof, a roof that has needed to be mowed from time to time! This exhibit, affectionately known as the “Soddie”, has been transformed over the years from a house to a home thanks to the time, energy, skills and donations of volunteers.

It all began with a FortWhyte Alive volunteer, Judy Stewart, retired from a career as the Period Costume and Textile Curator for Parks Canada. She agreed to research and design patterns, sew costumes for an 1870’s pioneer couple and before she knew it, was in costume herself doing third person interpretation. As the number of visitors to this novel exhibit grew, she was joined by other volunteer interpreters: her husband, Bob, Gary Bond, Verna Hare, and most recently, Deanne Coombs and Gary Franzmann. Interestingly, a common thread tying these pioneers to each other and to their Sod House role are the deep pioneer roots in each of their families. Each of these individuals brings unique stories and talents that make the “Soddie” come ALIVE for visitors!

The Pioneers have in their hands a treasure trove of artifacts and replicas, including a two-handled walking plough, kerosene lanterns, government recruitment posters for settlers (circa 1884), trundle bed, chamber pot, stocking stretchers, hair crimper, sickle, scythe and bucksaw, all generously donated by FWA volunteers and the community at large. Various artifacts are put into action on Sunday afternoons to the thrill of visitors of all ages who are drawn into pioneer life without a moment’s hesitation. They wash clothes in a metal tub using a wooden washboard, touch frozen underwear tied to the clothesline, taste heritage molasses drop cookies and bannock, play a children’s game like skittles, strip bark off a tamarack log with a draw knife, spin wool with a drop spindle, hand-grind wheat and barley into flour or acorns into ‘coffee’ and hear the crackling welcome of an old woodstove on a cold winter’s day.

Visit often to experience it all, post anniversary.  Each pioneer brings something different and special to your Sod House experience.