Walter and Anna Zion Homestead

The Walter and Anna Zion Homestead is the only known surviving farm complex in eastern Colorado. It still has its original sod buildings. Located midway between Idalia and Vernon in Yuma County, the homestead was settled by the Zions in 1909. The sod buildings were constructed in the 1910s. Zion family members lived at the homestead until 1975. Today the property is owned and maintained by the nonprofit Idalia Vision Foundation.

Early Homesteads in Yuma County

Agricultural activity began in what is now Yuma County in the early 1870s. Cattlemen driving herds north from Texas began establishing ranches in the area. They had noticed that the native grasses in eastern Colorado were ideal for cattle because they were resistant to drought and trampling. By the early 1880s, nearly 500,000 cattle roamed the eastern plains. However, the huge cattle ranches declined sharply in the mid- and late 1880s due to a series of harsh winters and a federal law that banned fencing off grazing land.

As large cattle ranches scaled back their operations, immigrants from the East and the Midwest rushed to homestead in eastern Colorado. They were drawn by advertisements from railroads looking to sell land along their right-of-ways, new plow technology, and a series of unusually wet years on the plains. The height of settlement in what became Yuma County was 1886, when ninety homesteads were filed in the area. That year, William Harvey Zion moved from eastern Nebraska to a plot of land southwest of Vernon, where he grew grains and raised cattle. By 1893 William Zion convinced his brother, Joseph, to join him. Joseph Zion homesteaded about seven miles southwest of Vernon, not far from William. He built a sod house for his wife, Anna, and their seven children.

Joseph Zion picked a bad time to move to Yuma County. The Panic of 1893 and a four-year drought in the middle of the 1890s drove more than 30 percent of the county’s settlers away. Eastern Colorado was littered with ghost towns and abandoned buildings. The Zions managed to survive. Joseph worked odd jobs and traveled to Denver with his oldest son, Walter, to earn money. During these trips to Denver, Walter met a widow named Anna Burk and married her in 1903.

Walter and Anna Zion Homestead

For the first few years of their marriage, Walter and Anna Zion lived in Denver. Anna had two children from her previous marriage. In 1909 they moved to Yuma County, near Walter’s family. By that time eastern Colorado was recovering from the 1890s drought. Settlers were moving into the area again. They were fortified by a new faith that scientific methods could help them be successful farmers on dry land. Migration was also spurred in part by the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. This allowed homesteaders to claim up to 320 acres (twice the previous limit) in places that could not be irrigated. Walter took advantage of the act, homesteading 320 acres on a rise north of the Arikaree River between Vernon and Idalia.

Walter quickly worked to improve his land. In 1910 he completed a three-room sod house. He built the house by cutting sod strips that were three feet long, one foot wide, and four inches thick. He stacked the strips side by side to make walls that were two feet thick. The roots of the grasses grew together to hold the strips in place. Walter used a spade to smooth the interior and exterior walls. The interior walls were covered with plaster and whitewashed. The floor was initially bare earth. Within a few years it was covered with concrete and wooden planks, and finally with linoleum. The roof of the house consisted of wooden planks, tarpaper, and a layer of sod. This was covered with tin around 1915 to prevent leaks.

Similar sod houses were common throughout the treeless high plains between the 1870s and the 1920s. They were cheap to build, used easily accessible materials, and maintained a comfortable interior temperature throughout the year. The main disadvantage of sod houses—and the reason relatively few survive today—was that they generally started to deteriorate after twenty or thirty years. At that time, they either had to be replaced or covered with a protective coating.

By 1913 the Zion family had grown to include six children. Within a few years Walter built a one-room sod bunkhouse nearby as sleeping quarters for the older children. In 1915 he gained title to the land, and in 1920 he added another forty acres to his property. He used the land to raise cattle and chickens and grow wheat, corn, and cane. The family also planted conifers and fruit trees. As the operation grew, Walter added a sod milk house and a root cellar in the 1910s and a cow barn and brooder house in the late 1920s.

Today

Walter and Anna Zion retired in 1944. They passed their property to their oldest son, Joseph A. Zion. He updated the house by adding a phone line in 1945 and electricity in 1952. The house never had indoor plumbing. In 1948 he also covered the sod exterior of the buildings with a coating of concrete mixed with limestone to keep the walls from deteriorating. Joseph Zion lived at the homestead and farmed the land until 1975. He then sold the property to neighbors Clayton and Billie Neil Penisch. Various Zion family descendants continue to farm and ranch other land in Yuma County.

For about twenty-five years, the Penisch family used the Zion property as an extension of their own farm and ranch. In 2001 they donated the land containing the Zion Homestead buildings to the Idalia Vision Foundation, a nonprofit established in 1992 to promote local historic preservation and community projects. In 2005 the Zion Homestead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Idalia Vision maintains and preserves the homestead. In 2011 the organization repaired the roofs of the sod buildings with the help of two grants from the State Historical Fund.

The Walter and Anna Zion Homestead is the only known homestead complex still standing in eastern Colorado. The homestead is located midway between Idalia and Vernon in Yuma County, and it still has its original sod buildings. Walter and Anna Zion and their family settled the homestead in 1909. The sod buildings were constructed in the 1910s. Zion family members lived there until 1975. Today the property is owned by the nonprofit Idalia Vision Foundation.

Early Homesteads in Yuma County

Agricultural activity started in northeastern Colorado during the early 1870s. Owners driving herds north from Texas established ranches in the area that is now Yuma County. They noticed that the native grasses were ideal for cattle because they resisted drought and trampling. By the early 1880s, nearly 500,000 cattle roamed the eastern plains. However, the huge cattle ranches declined sharply in the mid- and late 1880s, as an 1885 federal law prohibited fencing off public land and a string of harsh winters killed enormous numbers of cattle.

As large cattle ranches declined, immigrants arrived to homestead in eastern Colorado. The immigrants were drawn by new plow technology and several wet years on the plains. The height of settlement in what became Yuma County was 1886. Ninety homesteads were filed. That year, William Harvey Zion moved from eastern Nebraska to a plot of land southwest of Vernon. He grew grains and raised cattle. By 1893 William Zion convinced his brother, Joseph, to join him. Joseph Zion homesteaded about seven miles southwest of Vernon, not far from William. He built a sod house for his wife, Anna, and their seven children.

Joseph Zion picked a bad time to move to Yuma County. A severe depression known as the Panic of 1893 caused huge unemployment. There was also a four-year drought in the middle of the 1890s. Together, these events drove away more than 30 percent of the county’s settlers. Buildings were abandoned. Eastern Colorado was littered with ghost towns, but the Zions managed to survive. Joseph worked odd jobs, traveling to Denver with his oldest son, Walter, to earn money. During these trips to Denver, Walter met a widow named Anna Burk. They married in 1903.

Walter and Anna Zion Homestead

For the first few years of their marriage, Walter and Anna Zion lived in Denver. Anna had two children from her previous marriage. In 1909 they moved to Yuma County, near Walter’s family. By that time eastern Colorado was recovering from the 1890s drought. Settlers were moving into the area again. They believed that scientific methods could help them make dry land farming successful. Migration was spurred in part by the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. Homesteaders could claim up to 320 acres in places that could not be irrigated. This was twice the previous limit. Walter took advantage of the act. He homesteaded 320 acres on a rise north of the Arikaree River between Vernon and Idalia.

Walter quickly worked to improve his land. In 1910 he completed a three-room sod house. He built the house by cutting sod strips that were three feet long, one foot wide, and four inches thick. He stacked the strips side by side to make walls that were two feet thick. The roots of the grasses grew together to hold the strips in place. Walter used a spade to smooth the interior and exterior walls. The interior walls were covered with plaster and whitewashed. The floor was initially bare earth. Within a few years it was covered with concrete and wooden planks, and finally with linoleum. The roof of the house consisted of wooden planks, tarpaper, and a layer of sod. This was covered with tin around 1915 to prevent leaks.

Similar sod houses were common throughout the treeless high plains between the 1870s and the 1920s. They were cheap to build and used easily accessible materials. They maintained a comfortable interior temperature in all seasons. The one main disadvantage of sod houses was that they started to deteriorate after twenty or thirty years. They then had to be either replaced or covered with a protective coating. This is the reason so few survive today.

By 1913 the Zion family had grown to have six children. Within a few years, Walter built a one-room sod bunkhouse nearby. The older children used it as sleeping quarters. In 1915 he gained title to the land. Then in 1920 he added another forty acres to his property. He used the land to raise cattle and chickens. He grew wheat, corn, and cane. The family also planted conifers and fruit trees. As the operation grew, Walter added a sod milk house and a root cellar in the 1910s. In the late 1920s, he added a cow barn and brooder house.

Today

In 1944 Walter and Anna Zion retired. They passed their property to their oldest son, Joseph A. Zion. He added a phone line in 1945 and electricity in 1952. The house never had indoor plumbing. In 1948 he covered the sod exterior of the buildings with a coating of concrete mixed with limestone. This kept the walls from deteriorating. Joseph Zion lived at the homestead and farmed the land until 1975. He then sold the property to neighbors Clayton and Billie Neil Penisch. Today, some Zion family descendants remain in Yuma County. They continue to farm and ranch on other land.

For about twenty-five years, the Penisch family used the Zion property as an extension of their own farm and ranch. In 2001 they donated the land containing the Zion Homestead buildings to the Idalia Vision Foundation. This foundation was established in 1992. It promotes historic preservation and community welfare projects in the area. In 2005 the Zion Homestead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Idalia Vision maintains and preserves the homestead. In 2011 the organization repaired the roofs of the sod buildings with the help of two  State Historical Fund grants.

Many of Colorado’s original homesteads are now gone, but there is one homesteading farm complex left in eastern Colorado. It is called the Zion Homestead, and it still has its original sod buildings. They were built in the 1910s. Walter and Anna Zion were the homesteaders. The homesteads are between Idalia and Vernon in Yuma County. Today the nonprofit Idalia Vision Foundation owns the property.

Early Homesteads in Yuma County

In the early 1870s, ranching started in northeastern Colorado. Cattlemen had driven herds north from Texas. They saw that the native grasses were ideal for cattle. Drought and trampling did not seem to bother these grasses. By the early 1880s, nearly 500,000 cattle roamed Colorado’s plains. Then the numbers dropped. Ranchers had been fencing off land that belonged to the public. An 1885 law stopped ranchers from fencing off public land. Next, the area had a string of harsh winters. The freezing temperatures and snowstorms killed huge numbers of cattle.

As large ranches declined, immigrants arrived to set up homesteads. Joseph Zion came in 1893. He picked a bad time to move to Yuma County. There was a depression known as the Panic of 1893. Many people lost their jobs. Then there was a four-year drought. Almost a third of the county’s settlers left. Eastern Colorado was full of ghost towns. Joseph Zion worked odd jobs with his son, Walter. They traveled to Denver. There, Walter met a widow named Anna Burk. They married in 1903.

Walter and Anna Zion Homestead

For the first few years, the Zions lived in Denver. Anna had two children from an earlier marriage. In 1909 they moved to Yuma County. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 aided settlement. If the land was dry and had no irrigation, homesteaders could get more land. They could claim up to 320 acres. This was twice the previous limit. Walter took advantage of this. He homesteaded 320 acres.

Walter quickly improved his land. It was between Vernon and Idalia. In 1910 he built a three-room sod house. Sod is strips of dirt with grass growing in it. He cut strips that were three feet long. They were one foot wide, and four inches thick. He stacked the strips side by side. The walls were two feet thick. The roots of the grasses grew together and held the strips in place.

Walter smoothed the walls with a spade and covered the insides of the walls with plaster. At first, the floor was dirt. Later it had concrete and wooden planks. Eventually it was covered with linoleum. The roof was wooden planks. On top were tarpaper and a layer of sod. The roof leaked until Walter added a tin roof around 1915.

Sod houses were common on the high, treeless plains. Many were built between the 1870s and the 1920s. They were cheap. They used local materials. Best of all, they kept the house comfortable. They were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. But there was one big problem: after twenty or thirty years, they fell apart. Few survive today.

By 1913 the Zion family had six children. Walter built a sod bunkhouse. The older children used it as their bedroom. Then in 1920 he got another forty acres. He raised cattle and chickens. He grew wheat, corn, and cane. The family planted conifers and fruit trees. Walter added a sod milk house and a root cellar. In the late 1920s, he added a barn for the cows. He also built a brooder house for the chickens.

Today

In 1944 Walter and Anna Zion retired. They gave the homestead to their oldest son, Joseph A. Zion. He added a phone line the next year. In 1952 the house got electricity. It never had indoor plumbing. Joseph had to use an outhouse. In 1948 Joseph coated the sod exterior of the buildings with concrete and limestone. This kept the walls from falling apart. Joseph farmed the land until 1975. Then he sold it to neighbors.

In 2001 the neighbors donated the homestead to the Idalia Vision Foundation. This foundation was established in 1992 to promote historic preservation. In 2005 the Zion Homestead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.