| description: | Log House With Sod Roof. Mennonites In 1874 In Steinbach Used Poplar Trees, Soil, Grass And Sod To Build Their First Homes. They Used The Same Design The Mennonites Had Used 100 Years Earlier When They Emigrated To Russia From Prussia. They Built "Semlins", Or Sod Houses. The Men First Dug Holes In The Prairie 1 Meter Deep And 4 Meters Wide And So Many Meters Long. Then A Natural Insulator Of Sod 1/2 Meter Thick Was Piled 1 Meter High Around The Cavity. A Roof Was Created From Poplar Logs Smeared With Clay And Covered With More Sod. The House Resembled Nothing More Than A Bump In The Flatness Of The Prairie. Winter Blizzards And Even Prairie Fires Raged Over The Cramped But Secure Quarters |