Sodbuster Days

Step back in time and experience life on the prairie during Sodbuster Days, an annual tradition at Fort Ransom State Park! This immersive, family-friendly event offers a hands-on glimpse into North Dakota’s homesteading and pioneer days.

The public is invited to experience the fall Sodbuster Days, Sept. 12-13 at Fort Ransom State Park. The Fort Ransom Sodbuster Association, a group dedicated to preserving the farm life heritage of the early 1900s, coordinates the two-day event. The weekend will be packed with activities for the whole family to experience what homesteading and pioneer life were like in North Dakota.

Saturday, September 12: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, September 13: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission: $10 per person ages 13 and older. Children 12 and under are free.

Demonstrations throughout the day

• Ice cream
• Pies
• Lefse
• Rommegrot
• Homemaking demonstrations
• Sodbuster building
• Cook car
• Summer kitchen
• Sunne House
• Log cabin
• Music building
• Small engines
• Blacksmith shops
• Sawmill

ATM available in the Sodbuster building

Schedule

7–9 a.m.
Breakfast available for purchase in Sodbuster building

9 a.m.
Teamster meeting

9 a.m.
Church in music building (Sunday only)

9:15 a.m.
Clean barn

9:30 a.m.
People movers start for the day

10 a.m.
Sawmill and homemaking demonstrations start and run throughout the day

10 a.m.
Dig potatoes, pick your own spuds

10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Food available for purchase in Sodbuster building

11 a.m.
Corn chopper

11:15 a.m.
Horsepower threshing

11:30 a.m.
Rake hay

11:45 a.m.
Wheelwright demo

1 p.m.
Horsepower threshing

1:30 p.m.
Dig potatoes, pick your own spuds

1:30 p.m.
Hay loading (onto hay rack)

2 p.m.
Hay demo (loading into barn)

2:30 p.m.
Corn grinder

2:30 p.m.
Stationary baler

2:30 p.m.
Tractor threshing

2:45 p.m.
Auction (Saturday only)

4 p.m.
Clean barn (Sunday)