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116 adobe c a b in s c o u ld be made a b o u t a s q u ic k ly I n m o st p la c e s and w ere much p r e f e r r e d o v e r th e d u g o u t. Lack o f e v id e n c e d o es n o t p e rm it a d e f i n i t i v e s t a t e ­ ment on th e o r i g i n o f th e Mormon d u g o u t. P e rh a p s th e dugout d e r iv e d from th e fa m ily r o o t c e l l a r once common i n p a r t s o f th e M idw est. T hese s t r u c t u r e s were s i m i l a r t o t h e dugout i n form and may have b e e n u se d o c c a s io n a l l y a s s le e p i n g q u a rte rs . N e v e r th e le s s , th e d u g o u t (o r c e l l a r ) a s a te m p o ra ry fa m ily s h e l t e r was n o t new to th e f i r s t co m p an ies o f Mormons e n t e r i n g th e F a r W est. Even w h ile en r o u t e t o t h e West i n 1846, th e Mormons, se e m in g ly a s a m a tte r o f c o u r s e , b u i l t many d u g o u ts i n t h e i r s e v e r a l way s t a t i o n s on th e G re a t P l a i n s . Andrew Je n s o n , th e C hurch h i s t o r i a n , d e s c r ib e d Mormon d u g o u ts a t W in te r Q u a r te r s ( n e a r w hat i s now Omaha) (Shumway, 1 1 6 ): T here w ere two ty p e s o f d w e llin g s t h a t p re d o m in a te d [ a t W inter Q u a r t e r s ] : th e lo g house and th e d u g o u t. . . . The d u g o u ts w ere s i t u a t e d on th e s i d e h i l l s and w ere c o n s tr u c te d by th e m ethod th e name im p lie s . U sing th e e a r t h a s much a s p o s s i b l e t o p e rfo rm th e f u n c tio n o f th e w a l l s , t h e s e d u g o u ts w ere u s u a l l y r o o f e d w ith s tra w and d i r t s u p p o rte d b y a r id g e p o le h e ld up by tw o u p r ig h t s i n th e c e n t e r . The s t r u c t u r e w ould b e v e ry s i m i l a r i n c o n s t r u c t i o n t o our p r e s e n t [2 0 th c e n tu ry ] p o ta to b i n s . l C ab in Forms To most A m ericans th e te rm " c a b in " i n t h e c o n te x t o f f r o n t i e r s e tt le m e n t c o n n o te s a s m a ll, r a t h e r c r u d e ly con­ s t r u c t e d lo g s t r u c t u r e b u i l t f o r t h e te m p o ra ry n e e d s o f a iT he p o t a t o b in ( o r c e l l a r ) t o w hich J e n s o n r e f e r s i s s t i l l common, e s p e c i a l l y i n Id a h o , and v i r t u a l l y w ith o u t e x c e p tio n h a s a g a b le - e n d e n tr a n c e and g a b le r o o f c o v e re d w ith e a r t h . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.