myth #1
...Charles Ingalls traded his horses and wagon cover for the land on Plum Creek.

FALSE. (Well, fictional Charles Ingalls did; historical Charles Ingalls did not.) The Plum Creek property was a preemption claim. It had been filed on twice prior to Pa's filing an intent to preempt in 1874, and the last man to live there had relinquished it years before the Ingallses got there. There was no Mr. Hanson; there was only the agent at the land office in New Ulm.

Preemption meant paying cash for a claim - provided you met the requirements for doing so under the Preemption Act.

According to Pa's preemption papers filed in 1876, he had built a frame house with multiple doors and windows one month after moving to the claim in May 1874.

Because the "Little House" books are so believable, readers tend to take them at their word. It doesn't help that both Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane remained adamant until their deaths that the books were entirely factual. Still, both Wilder and Lane knew that the books were fictional and accuracy was often sacrificed for the sake of a good story.

Great stories, yes. Historically accurate, no.
- posted by pioneergirl at 11:25 AM