October 1940. Mr. Leatherman, homesteader, tying up cauliflower in his vegetable garden. Rabbit fence made of juniper stakes. Pie Town, New Mexico. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee.

September 1940. Barbecue dinner at the Catron County Fair at Pie Town, New Mexico. View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee.

September 1940. Crops and vegetables at Catron County Fair at Pie Town, New Mexico. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee, one of hundreds of photos he made of Pie Town for the Farm Security Administration.

October 1940. Dugout house of homesteaders Faro and Doris Caudill with Mount Allegro in the background. Pie Town, New Mexico. The Caudills at dinner. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee. View full size.

October 1940. "General Merchandise store, Main Street, Pie Town, New Mexico." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee.

September 1940. "Saying grace before the barbeque dinner at the Pie Town, New Mexico Fair." View full size. 35mm Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee.

A group portrait with children waving taken on July 24, 1922. The circumstances of the gathering and the location were not recorded, but it was likely taken in the Washington, D.C. area. National Photo Company collection. View full size.

A clown band plays at a children's hospital in the Washington, D.C. area on May 1, 1923. From the National Photo Company collection. View full size.

Clowns and animals entertain kids at a children's hospital in the Washington, D.C. area on May 1, 1923. From the National Photo Company collection. View full size.

The circus visits a children's hospital in the Washington, D.C. area on May 1, 1923. From the National Photo Company collection. View full size.

A "society circus" held on April 4, 1923, most likely in the vicinity of Washington, D.C. From the National Photo Company collection. View full size.

A 1905 ad for Coca-Cola, which we need hardly remind you is a registered trademark of the Coca-Cola Company. Credit: NewspaperArchive.com

January 13, 1920. Washington, D.C. "Children of Roger Nielsen, Danish Legation; Rita & Ruth." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Brazilian advisor Manuel Coelho Rodrigues with his children in Washington, D.C., 1920. From the National Photo Company. View full size.

October 1940. "Mr. Leatherman, homesteader, coming out of his dugout home at Pie Town, New Mexico." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Russell Lee. Another example of the dugout-style structure used for the homesteader dwellings and church in the Dead Ox Flat photos. Before industry and technology gave us sawmills and frame houses, this is how the average person lived in much of the world. The dugout or pit house, with sod roof, log walls and earthen floor, is among the most ancient of human dwellings -- at some point in history your ancestors lived in one. Especially popular among 19th-century settlers in the Great Plains and deserts of the West and Southwest, where trees and other building materials were scarce, dugouts were warmer in winter and cooler in summer than above-ground structures; just about anywhere in North America the ground temperature three feet down is 55 degrees regardless of the season. [Addendum: This picture was taken using Kodachrome sheet film (5 inches by 4 inches) and (probably) a Graflex Speed Graphic press camera. The image you see here was scanned from the positive transparency itself, not a print.]