cottage living

The March 2008 Cottage Living magazine features an article called "Pride of Place" - about catalog houses. One of the homes pictured in the article is a "Mitchell" model from Sears, Roebuck, and Co.

Laura and Almanzo Wilder's Rock House in Mansfield, Missouri, is also a Mitchell.
- posted by pioneergirl at 8:09 PM

 
they were poor

State of Minnesota
County of Redwood
C.P. Ingals [sic] having been duly sworn dispose and say that he is a resident of the town of the town of [sic] North Hero county of Redwood and state of Minnesota. That your petitioner is deserving of relief under the provisions of the Act January 26, 1875 that your petitioner is wholly without means.
{Sign} C.P. Ingalls

We approve subscribed and sworn to this 30th day of November 1875 before me G.G. Thompson J.P.
We approve the application B.M. Knight, John Wiggins

Redwood Falls Minn Dec 3rd 1875
Received of Gov. Davis per commissioners of Redwood County the following articles of relief:
2-1/2 bbls x x x Flour $5.25
C P Ingalls {signature}
- posted by pioneergirl at 11:45 PM

 
pa's red and white checked mittens

Ma had blown out the lamp because she did not need its light. On the other side of the hearth she was swaying gently in her rocking chair and her knitting needles flashed in and out above the sock she was knitting. - Little House in the Big Woods, Chapter 13, "The Deer in the Wood"

Mary C. Gildersleeve's soon-to-be-released Great Yarns for the Close-Knit Family (hillsideeducation[dot]com) will contain two knitting projects inspired by Little House in the Big Woods: "Ma's boot socks" and "Pa's red-white checked mittens".

The "Little House" books include a number of knitted items, including collars, coverlet, doily, hood, lace, mittens, mitts, necktie, socks, stockings, and wristlets. In Little House in the Big Woods, there's also the doll Charlotte's hair, which was made of "black yarn that had been knit and raveled, so it was curly." (See Chapter 4, "Christmas") The quote above is the only sock knitting reference in Little House in the Big Woods, so boots and knitted socks are never mentioned together. Are Gildersleeve's "Ma's boot socks" worn by Ma or simply made by Ma? I assume that Pa's mittens were made by Ma, so why call the socks "Ma's" unless they were to be worn by her? I've pre-ordered the book, so I guess I'll see. Yes, things like this niggle at me.

Little House in the Big Woods inspired me to knit both socks and mittens. The following is my grandmother's pattern for Checked Mittens in Fair Isle Knitting. My grandmother, Gladys Langford, lived from 1895-1966. I inherited her treadle sewing machine and some of her knitting needles and patterns. Since I was already a mitten knitter when I received this pattern, I construct my mittens a bit differently, but I use the chart for the squares, which I only place on the back of the hands, not both palm and back of each mitten.

Fair Isle knitting is the name given to designs knitted in several colors. The yarn is carried across the wrong side of the work. When only two colors are used and the spaces between are not more than four stitches wide, the yarn not in use is stranded across the back, keeping about the same tension as knitting.

However when the distance between two colors is more than four stitches wide, as these mittens, the colors are best woven in while knitting. Knit one stitch in the usual manner, and put needle through next stitch, but before catching yarn to knit, place the yarn you are carrying over the needle. Thus you are weaving the color not being knitted into every other stitch.

These mittens are knittied in an attractive diamond pattern; the main color being gray with red and green contrasting. Any other desired color combination may be used [note: use red and white for "Pa's checked mittens"]. For size 4 child's mittens, you need about one ounce baby yarn in main color, and a small amount of each of two contrasting colors is sufficient to make one pair of mittens; use knitting needles size 1 and 2. Three ply fingering yarn and size 1 and 3 knitting needles are best for size 6 mitten. Medium weight sport yarn and sizes 2 and 4 needles are used for size 8 mittens. Use knitting worsted and size 3 and 5 knitting needles for adult mittens.

One ball of main color is sufficient; but each diamond requires a separate strand or small ball of yarn.

Abbreviations: St (stitch); k (knit); P (purl); tog (together).



RIGHT HAND - With the smaller of the two sizes of needles and main color, cast on 48 stitches. K in ribbing of k 2, p 2 for 2-1/2 inches (3 inches or more for larger sizes). Increase 1 st at end of last ribbing row.

Change to larger needles and continue in stockinette st adding the various colors of yarn on next row.
Row 1: K 6 in main color, 1 green, 11 main color, 1 red, 1 main, 1 green, 11 main, 1 red, 6 main.

Continue from chart for one complete diamond (11 rows)-- be sure to p the row after each k row using the same sequence of sts and colors; the 12th row and each row between diamond patterns is worked in main color.

THUMB ROW - (Row 13) K 6 main, 1 red, 11 main, 1 green, 4 mian. With a small piece of contrasting yarn (about 12 inches), k the next 7 sts. Then slip these 7 sts just knitted back onto left hand needle and k them again with main color. FInish row with 1 red, 11 main, 1 green, 6 main.

Continue from chart until 3-1/2 complete diamonds have been knitted from ribbing (42 rows).

Row 43: K 2 main, 9 green, 3 main, 8 red, (k 2 tog, k 1, k 2 tog) in main, 8 green, 3 main, 9 red, 2 main.

Row 44: (P 2 tog, p 1) in main, 7 red, 5 main, 6 green, (p 2 tog, p 1, p 2 tog) in main, 6 red, 5 main, 7 green, (p 1, p 2 tog) in main.

Row 45: (K 2 tog, k 1) in main, 5 green, 7 main, 4 red, (k 2 tog, k 1, k 2 tog) in main, 4 green, 7 main, 5 red, (k 1, k 2 tog) in main.

Row 46: (P 2 tog, p 1) in main, p 3 red, 9 main, 2 green, (p 2 tog, p 1, p 2 tog) in main, 2 red, 9 main, 3 green (p 1, p 2 tog) in main.

Row 47: K 2 tog, k 1) in main, 1 green, 11 main, 1 red, k 3 tog in main, 1 green, 11 main, 1 red, (k 1, K 2 tog) in main.

Row 48: Divide the sts onto needles and weave together; or bind off with main color and seam across the top.

THUMB - Pull out length of contrasting yarn which you used to knit the 7 sts on thumb row. This will release 14 sts. Pick up on 3 needles and knit for desired length of thumb.

K 2 tog around for last row. Pull out needle and pull end of yarn through all sts and fasten securely.

LEFT HAND - Work as for right hand to thumb row.

Thumb row: K 6 main, 1 red, 11 main, 1 green. With a small piece of contrasting yarn, k next 7 sts. Slip the sts you have just knitted back onto left hand needle and knit them with main color, k 4 mian, 1 red, 11 main, 1 green, 6 main.

Finish remainder of mitten as for right hand; also the thumb.


Remember that in Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls (at age four) is knitting a little pair of mittens for Baby Carrie. Go ahead and knit some mittens. You'll never learn any younger.
- posted by pioneergirl at 1:59 AM

 
shaped like a feather

Last week's De Smet News included a photograph of a local fifth grader writing with a quill (feather) pen. The caption indicated that he was using "an old-fashioned quill and a bottle of ink... in honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday."

I am really hoping that teachers aren't telling students that Laura Ingalls wrote with a feather pen, or maybe they know something that I don't. Or possibly the confusion is that LIW described Ma's pen as having a handle "shaped like a feather" (see The Long Winter, Chapter 16, "Fair Weather").

While quill pens were common at the beginning of the nineteenth century, inventors were always trying to come up with a more reliable and permanent tool for writing. Nibs for quills or pen holders were made of tortoise shell, bone, gold, and even precious stones. While these lasted longer than quills, ink tended to dry upon them and handwriting suffered due to their lack of elasticity. The boy in the De Smet photograph seems to have been using a whole feather to write with, and his penmanship suffered accordingly.

The use of the steel pen didn't spring immediately from that of the quill pen; there were several intermediate stages before the steel pen was widely accepted in the mid-1800s, or perhaps a bit later by the more old-fashioned.

In 1830, a steel pen cost about $2.00; in 1832, $1.50, and by 1861, the cost was down to 12 cents, with a common variety selling for a penny or less. Note that "pen" refers to the nib itself; the holder was sold separately.

Ma's red mother-of-pearl pen with the handle in the shape of a feather is on display at the Laura Ingalls Wilder / Rose Wilder Lane Home & Museum in Mansfield, Missouri.
- posted by pioneergirl at 1:59 AM

 
the muscial

The musical production of Little House on the Prairie was announced a while back, to be performed on the McGuire Proscenium State of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, guthrietheater[dot]org.

According to a fellow blogger, auditions were held last month, and it looks like Little House on the Prairie will hit the stage in August 2008. It will feature music by Rachel Portman, lyrics by Donna di Novelli, book by Rachel Sheinkin, under the direction of Francesca Zambello.

Di Novelli writes: Set on the vast plains of the American West, Little House on the Prairie is the story of one girl's struggle with the wildness in her soul. Both girl and land fight against the forces that seek to tame them in this epic story of Western migration. Adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories of growing up during the Homesteading frenzy of 1880s, Little House on the Prairie is scheduled to premiere in August 2008 at the esteemed Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis.

What are the chances that homesteading and "Little House" will be presented with any historical accuracy whatsoever?
- posted by pioneergirl at 1:40 AM

 
almanzo wilder had a horse

What happened to Governor of Orleans, the Morgan stallion that Almanzo Wilder purchased after 1915 to breed with Ozark mares? There is little known about Governor of Orleans' life in Mansfield, and only a few photos exist. Did Almanzo sell him? Was he one of the Morgan horses Almanzo supplied to the army during World War I?

Governor of Orleans was foaled in 1914, and he is linked to "Justin Morgan" as follows: Ben Lomond (1908), General Gates (1894), Denning Allen (1874), Honest Allen (1855), Ethan Allen (1849), Black Hawk (1833), Sherman Morgan (1808), Justin Morgan (1789).

It doesn't seem that any of the Wilder Morgan horses in Malone were registered, although a dark bay stallion named Smith's Veto, foaled in 1852 in Franklin County, New York, may have sired the Wilder Morgans.

The "Little House" books are the only source of information about Bess and Beauty, Prince and Lady, Starlight, and others. Some of what Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote was indeed fictionalized; for example, Lady belonged to Royal, not Almanzo. It's a shame that Rose didn't ask her father to write to her in detail about his horses.
- posted by pioneergirl at 1:39 AM

 
quick
Who was President when Laura Ingalls Wilder was born? When she died?

If you don't know, you should.
- posted by pioneergirl at 12:02 AM

 
the heating stove

The heating stove was set in the wall between the dining room and parlor. It was smooth with the wall in the parlor and all trimmed up on that side. The other side set out into the dining room and the door for the wood was on that side. At the top of the stove was a large oven where Mother baked pork and beans and the bread made of rye flour and corn meal that she called "rye and Injun." Anything that should bake a long time with a steady heat, Mother baked in the oven in the heater and the great stove warmed both parlor and dining room. -Farmer Boy manuscript

The above photo shows the current "heating stove" at the Wilder farm. Today, a fellow researcher questioned the large opening around the existing stove, which I assumed would have been there because of the danger of fire from having exposed and possibly red-hot iron close to the walls and trim. From the passage above, though, it seems as if the parlor side of the stove wall was "trimmed out" with decorative iron pieces so that the opening wasn't quite as obvious as it is today. I know that when I read Farmer Boy, I never picture the family as being able to see so much of the parlor through the stove opening. The parlor, to me, is always closed off, both in terms of accessibility and sight.

It does appear that the Wilder home was added onto more than once. Perhaps the space between the parlor and dining room originally contained a two-sided open fireplace, or even a single fireplace on an exterior wall at some point.

In Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder does mention a chimney above the stove - one that went through the room above and out through the roof. There is a chimney on the house today. It's hard to imagine a brick chimney starting above a stove; what was it resting on? What held it up? It would make more sense for the chimney to have been above a masonry surround and continue to wrap around a hearth and down into the foundation below.

It would be interesting to know what was found in that area when the house was being renovated.
- posted by pioneergirl at 12:32 AM

 
bad 4 u

It turns out that conversation hearts are bad for the environment, even ones with a poem on them. The main ingredients of conversation hearts have always been sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin.

Sugar production damages national treasures and typically grown using pesticides that create toxic runoff. It also takes 1,500 to 3,000 libers of water to produce each kilogram of sugar, not to mention the soot, ash, and ammonia released during production. Corn syrup is produced from corn, which demands huge applications of fertilizers. Fertilizer runoff into the Mississippi River creates a giant algae bloom that kills fish and marine plants. Gelatin is made from the boiled down collagen from the connective tissue, bones, and skin of cattle and pigs. Ick.

The eco-friendly hearts shown above were made with the ACME Heart Maker. Sweets to the sweet!
- posted by pioneergirl at 9:17 PM

 
almanzo wilder: life before laura

- posted by pioneergirl at 1:59 AM

 
happy birthday
In honor of Almanzo Wilder's birthday today, I made Neta Seal's "swiss steak" for dinner. The recipe is in The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook (1995), page 10. In the margin of the recipe in my cookbook, Neta wrote, "Dear Nancy, I love you. Neta S., friend to Laura." Reading that again was like getting a Valentine a day early.

I used to visit Neta every year until her death, and in 1993, she told a group of us how to make swiss steak. Her verbal recipe was similar to the one in the cookbook, only she didn't mention using garlic, or using milk with the with cream of mushroom soup. She simply said you pounded flour into round steak and browned it on both sides, then simmered the meat in cream of mushroom soup and water until tender, adding salt and pepper to taste.

The Campbell Soup Company introduced Cream of Mushroom Soup in 1934, several years before the Wilders and Seals traveled together by car to California and the Pacific Northwest. I always wondered if Neta originally made swiss steak the traditional way, with tomatoes.
- posted by pioneergirl at 10:45 PM

 
do old people really do that?
I was asked again recently if I ever considered the possibility that Perley Day Wilder was the out-of-wedlock son of Laura Ann Wilder or Eliza Jane Wilder (or even Alice Wilder), not the biological son of James and Angeline Wilder, but raised by them as their own son. After all, Perley was born twelve years after his brother Almanzo, and Angeline would have been 48 at the time of his birth.

Men at age 56 with wives at age 48 quite possibly have had sex; they might even have worried about pregnancy; and there have actually been babies born to mothers of that age.

But, if there were male descendants of both Perley Wilder and Laura Howard living today, is it possible that they could be y-chromosome DNA tested for a common male ancestor, and would this determine if they had the same father, or possibly didn't?

It's not exactly the Jefferson-Hemmings case, but I'd watch an episode of The Maury Show if there was a "Little House Who's Your Daddy" segment.
- posted by pioneergirl at 11:18 PM

 
ben's father
In Little Town on the Prairie (Chapter 20, "The Birthday Party"), Laura Ingalls Wilder writes much about her first "grownup" party, celebrating Ben Woodworth's (15th) birthday on January 28, 1882. Have you ever wondered where Ben's father was during this party? He's not mentioned; he's nowhere to be found.

Horace Woodworth wasn't in De Smet for most of January to March, 1882. He had been appointed one of twenty-eight delegates from Dakota Territory who traveled by train to Washington, D.C. to present "A Bill to enable the People of the Territory of Dakota to form a Constitution and State Government, and for the Admission of the State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States." The group spent planning time in Chicago before going on to Washington. Rev. Woodworth regularly sent letters home to tell about his travels and experiences.

Surely, Rev. Brown and Charles Ingalls not only went to the Depot that evening to escort their daughters home from the party, but to ask Mrs. Woodworth and family, "What's the latest word from Washington?"

In one of his letters home, Rev. Woodworth wrote: "Washington is a splendid city, of which everyone may justly be proud. It may be Boss Shepherd is not so bad after all. He certainly has redeemed the Capitol of the Nation, from mud to cleanliness. Men, women, children, and horses, move about strictly in parlor style. No one hurries. No one is rude. The prospect of the admission and division of Dakota is flattering. Both the Committees on Territories for the Senate and House are favorable. David Davis, Pres. of the Senate, says he will vote for it. We have a committee, who will put into pamphlet form a statistical showing of the facts. After that three to five will be all that need to stay longer, unless they choose. We shall certainly be admitted unless discord amongst Dakotaians beats us, which I think is not likely. The great advantage of admission is, that capital will lose its shyness, and come to our young communities more freely."

South Dakota become a state in 1889.
- posted by pioneergirl at 8:41 PM

 
ho for dakota!
Circa 1879, the following was published in newspapers "back east" to entice men and women to take a homestead in Dakota Territory. It is a variation on "Go west, young man":

A few statements which can not be refuted.

Come west out of the grinding dependence of the shoe town and factory village, from behind the dry goods counter, and the entry clerk's desk; from the barren hill farms of the eastern states, and the winter storms and sleet of the Great Banks, "Come to Dakota, young man."

Leave it to those who prefer it, a life of labor, often granted as a favor, and too often issued as a warning to too independent spirits, or in punishment for boldly asserted manhood; let those who are willing to pay the price, enjoy the cities' pleasures and refinements, at the cost of all true success, and stalwart manhood; let those who lack energy and courage continue to truckle to their fellow men, for God's common boon of the right to live free and happy.

Remember that to this generation is open an inestimable gift; the present of a tract of good land, clear of encumbrances, exempt from attachment, and adequate to the support of all who may now, or will in time to come be dependent upon you. Not in the wilderness, or away from railroad, church and school, but where labor is well paid, food plentiful, and the iron horse preceded and does not follow the footsteps of the pioneer.

Remember that men of every tongue are pouring in, from across the ocean, to seize this gift, which you are so negligent in grasping; that ignorant of our tongue, or laws, or our traditions, leaving home and all its ties; braving the perils of the sea, and the vicissitudes of fortune, they are swarming in by myriads to grasp eagerly at the gift you seem to despise.

Are you an artisan? For carpenter and mason, blacksmith and jeweler, tin-man and boat builder, painter and decorator, printer and binder; aye, for every man that has skill or strength to employ in the development of these new lands, there is room, and labor enough; aye, more of demand than supply.

Are you a professional man? Every village must have its doctors, editors, lawyers, architects, engineers, ministers and teachers, and should you have to take to the plow and harvester at last, you will not do more than hundreds of men have done, who have found the change although not contemplated at first, the road to great gain in health and fortune.

Are you ambitious? Strike out then and seek a new country where all meet on common ground, to show by their deeds who is most worthy of the popular esteem and trust. Let old fogies drag out their little favorites to weaker men; come where you will not have to mould the laws under which you and your children must live, to make richer and stronger the men who grudge you even the right to be men.

Cast away and leave behind you, the apprehension of failure, the dread of disease, the weakness of homesickness, the longings for amusements. You will find health, strength, courage and opportunity to use all the talent you may possess; it will rarely be anything but your own fault if you do not succeed, and rejoice that you came to Dakota.

- posted by pioneergirl at 7:59 PM

 
the ocean

The schooner Ocean, of Mackinac, was visited this morning by the steamer Champion about 6 miles north of St. Joseph, and 2 miles from shore. She is a complete wreck having lost her boat and davits, carried away her mainmast, her sails torn into rags, hatches off and lumber in the hold. There were no persons on board, and it is supposed that the crew were all lost. She had the appearance of having been capsized and righted again. -Detroit Daily Advertiser, November 10, 1845

Alexander McGregor was Captain of the schooner Ocean. His brother-in-law, Henry Newton Quiner, was Second Mate. Also lost were the First Mate, Mr. Russell, and a cabin boy. This was the entire crew.

Henry Newton Quiner was survived by his wife Charlotte, and children Joseph, Henry, Martha, Caroline, Eliza, and Thomas - the grandmother, mother, aunts and uncles of Laura Ingalls of the "Little House" books.

Alexander McGregor was married to the former Margaret E. Quiner; her parents (and Henry's) were William Quiner and Margaret Doer. In most of the Quiner histories, one reads that Margaret Doer Quiner died in 1839 and that Margaret Quiner McGregor died in 1854. Neither could possibly be true. Margaret Doer Quiner was alive at the time of her son's death; she lived with her son and was still living with his widow in 1850.

Margaret McGregor remarried after her husband's death. Following her second husband's death, she lived with her and Captain McGregor's son Alexander, a printer in Delafield, Wisconsin. She was still living in 1870.
- posted by pioneergirl at 10:21 PM

 
"well, that's pepin."
There were over 500 people in the town itself, which spread over two miles long by two and one-half mile wide. There was a blacksmith shop, two hotels, and two banks. During the past ten years, building after building had appeared in rapid succession: two churches, a large brick schoolhouse, a machine shop, wagon shop, grist mill, a warehouse, and store after store. The town had a sheriff, surveyor, coroner, judge, and other officials. There was more than one newspaper. There were farmers, carpenters, riverboat pilots, wheelwrights, cabinet makers, teachers, and almost a dozen drygoods merchants. Almost every quarter section in the township had been settled. Many parcels of land had changed hands more than once.

Laura Ingalls saw nothing but trees, rabbits, and deer for seven miles, and when she got to the town, she saw one store, with houses beyond it.

Such are the differences in the historical Pepin, Wisconsin (circa 1870), and the one fictionalized by Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House in the Big Woods.

Happy Birthday, Laura. Thanks to you, I can almost believe that "there were no roads. There were no people. There were only trees and the wild animals who had their homes among them."
- posted by pioneergirl at 1:59 AM

 
was ben? was jack?

Since the Michael Vick dog-fighting case and the many blogs and news articles discussing it, I've been reading more and more often that Jack, the brindle bulldog in the "Little House" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was obviously / definitely / emphatically a pit bull. Several times, I've emailed the person who made that statement and asked exactly what are they basing that fact on? I've also emailed people who wrote that Jack was undoubtedly an American bulldog. I've yet to receive a single reply.

For the past forty-plus years, I've thought that Jack was an English bulldog, based entirely on the Helen Sewell and Garth Williams illustrations of him as such. I freely admit that I know nothing about bull dog related breeds. I don't care what kind of dog book Jack was (I'm not worried about dogs who played Jack in the television show or movies); I'm simply curious as to why people are convinced he was one breed or another, and what they are basing this belief on? Yes, I've seen the dog documentary on "Nature." Yes, I've seen old photos showing pit-bull-looking dogs with their owners.

Jack is a main character in only three "Little House" books: Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, and On the Banks of Plum Creek. He is in two chapters of By the Shores of Silver Lake (he dies), and he's remembered once in Little Town on the Prairie.

Of the 80 chapters in the three earlier books, the word "bulldog" is used in only 5 chapters. The most recognizable phrase is to refer to him as "Jack, the brindle bulldog."

Looking at the Garth Williams illustrations only, Jack is pictured 1 time in BW (under the wagon in Chapter 9, "Going to Town," which is interesting, since Jack isn't mentioned as actually going to town in the chapter). He is pictured 13 times in LHOP, 7 in BPC, and once in SSL. Garth Williams may have drawn Jack as an English bulldog simply because Helen Sewell did. Whether Sewell and Wilder communicated about the drawings is unknown. Some of the Williams' illustrations do show a hairier dog and/or a dog with a much longer tail than Jack's supposed "stump of a tail." Look at the Table of Contents illustration in On the Banks of Plum Creek. The recognizable drawings of Jack as an English bulldog certainly must have caused readers (like myself) to picture him as such.

In the Pioneer Girl manuscript, Wilder mentions Jack as a bull dog (two words) only once. Bulldog is used once in the BW manuscript. In the LHP manuscript, it's used twice: "the brindle bulldog ran under the wagon in the shade" and "the brindle bulldog had taken his place lying across the doorway."

There is a dogfight story that was edited out of the series; it appears in both the LHP and BPC manuscripts. In both cases, Jack gets in a fight with another dog who is brought to the Ingalls' home with its owner. In LHP, the dog comes with Mrs. Scott; in BPC, it is Mrs. Nelson's dog. Both times, "the other dog was a bulldog too." I can't imagine that this is bulldog-specific behavior; for example, my Alaskan malamute fought other dogs brought to our home with their owners, including other malamutes.

Again, what are the written clues that suggest that Jack was a pit bull, an American bulldog, or an English bulldog, for that matter. Jack is a guard dog. He has short brown fur. His hackles raise on occasion. His ears perk up. He sniffs in the wind. He is strong and sturdy when Laura leans against him. Wilder does write that his "teeth showed a bit, but that was because he was a bulldog." (Do pit bulls' teeth show?) She mentions Jack's broad back. In the Pioneer Girl manuscript, Pa is said to have put Laura "on Jack's back to ride."

Wilder also wrote that Jack was left with the horses when they were traded leaving Indian Territory, but that's another story.

Laura and Almanzo Wilder did own one documented "bulldog." The photo above shows their bulldog, Ben. The photo was taken circa 1930. I can't believe that the photo is common enough for the "not Wilder people but dog people" to assume that since this dog was a bulldog, Jack was like this dog. We know that Wilder called this dog a bulldog, since she wrote about him in one of her Missouri Ruralist articles.

Until I see some evidence, Jack Ingalls will always be an English bulldog to me. It will be interesting to see what kind of dog readers of the newly un-illustrated "Little House" books will picture in their minds...
- posted by pioneergirl at 10:10 PM