Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920

Hired Hands

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Search on: Agricultural Laborers | Threshing Crews | Migrant Laborers | Chuckwagons | Women--Employment
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Even with the mechanization of agriculture, labor was still an important factor on a North Dakota farm. It was especially needed during the harvest season. Large families were common during this period, providing additional help in the fields and in the house. Each piece of machinery needed one or more operators to ensure that all went smoothly. Additional workers were needed to tend to the numerous tasks associated with harvesting. They operated the binders to cut the grain, and they stacked the shocks of grain across the field for them to dry. They collected the shocks and fed a constant flow into the running threshing machine. Workers also were needed to operate the steam engine, or tractor, hitched to the threshing machine. In addition, workers were needed to haul the grain away from the threshing to the farm granary or the elevator in town. All these people needed to be fed after a hard days work. One solution was the cook car which followed the threshing crew. Usually young women worked in these kitchen on wheels, preparing the large amounts of food consumed by the workers.

The Pazandak images vividly show the large numbers of people involved in the farming process. During World War I they employed women to operate the binders due to the shortage of men. Other times they employed transient, or migrant, laborers to help during the busy seasons on the farm.

Photo Icons

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Return to the main Pazandak page, or view another Pazandak exhibit:
Steam Engines and Tractors | Hired Hands | Golden Age of Agriculture
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Northern Great Plains: Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F.A. Pazandak Collections