VISUAL ACTIVITY Norwegian Immigrant and Sod House Norwegian immigrant Beret Olesdater sits in front of her sod house in Lac qui Parle, Minnesota, in 1896. On the plains, where trees were scarce, settlers carved dugouts into a hillside or built huts like the one here, carved from blocks of sod. © Minnesota Historical Society/Corbis. READING THE IMAGE: What do the woman’s dress and the expression on her face tell us about the life of women on the plains? CONNECTIONS: What expectations did homesteaders have for their lives on the plains, and how did this compare to the realities they faced?