When the Shimerdas, the Bohemian immigrant family in Willa Cather's My Ántonia first arrived in Nebraska, they lived on the prairie in a sod house. Resourceful prairie residents, lacking access to wood from trees, turned to the use of sod as an early form of shelter. The sod house in My Ántonia was little more than a hole in the ground. But some sod houses built in Nebraska at the end of the last century were fairly elaborate and included multiple floors and glass windows. Many of these sod houses were photographed, along with their inhabitants and their prized possesions, by Solomon D. Butcher. The Nebraska State Historical Society has a remarkable collection of his photographs, The Solomon Butcher Collection.

Books about Solomon D. Butcher and his photographs are also available through the library catalog:

Solomon D. Butcher : photographing the American dream by John Carter

Prairie visions : the life and times of Solomon Butcher by Pam Conrad

- Laura, Sturgeon Bay Library