for the love of.... this guy

If you've visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, you've no doubt seen the photos, information, and "stuff" belonging to the real Johnny Johnson and donated to the museum by his family. John Halvorson Johnson was born in Norway in 1861 and came to America in 1874, settling first near Tracy, Minnesota. He was the son of Christina and Halvor Johnson.

The Ingalls family lived on their Plum Creek preemption claim (the dugout and "wonderful house" site) from May 1874 until early July 1876 when Charles Ingalls both made final proof and sold the land. Taking the grasshoppers into consideration, the best possible "real-life meets fictional" grazing would have been in the fall of 1874.

Wilder writes that there were twenty-five cattle in the herd, but haven't you ever wondered who all those cattle belonged to? And what their grazing territory was as opposed to what area of the farm was planted in wheat? Note that Wilder never says that they had to herd the cattle across the creek, nor do they have to take Spot across the creek to put her in the barn when they first drive her from the herd.

The only book neighbors were the Nelsons, but the "neighborhood herd" of cattle in the On the Banks of Plum Creek manuscript were said to belong to Mr. Nelson and a Mr. Peterson, who one can guess might have been edited out so as not to make it sound like Swedish Mr. and Mrs. Peterson of Big Woods cookie fame had trailed the Ingallses to Minnesota. There is only brief mention of the herd boy and an "old, spotted cow" that belonged to the Ingallses in Pioneer Girl. There were Plum Creek neighbors on every available quarter section, but fewer than you might imagine since only ever other section was available for homesteading at the time.

Eleck Nelson became a prosperous stock buyer and shipper of cattle, sheep, and hogs, and the herd of cattle most likely belonged to him. Nelson had already been in North Hero Township over four years when the Ingallses arrived. But Johnny Johnson? Where did he live and when might he have worked for Mr. Nelson?

Halvor and Christina Johnson (and Johnny) were living in Redwood Falls at the time of the 1875 Minnesota state census, taken in May. By 1880, they were all living on a farm in Johnsonville Township, about six miles north of the preemption claim site. Johnny married Petra Halverson in 1881, and they moved to Dakota Territory the following year. Were these Johnsons related to Turis Johnson, the un-mentioned closest neighbor to the east?

There's no real proof that this Johnny Johnson was the "Little House" herd boy, but he definitely was a contemporary of Laura's and it's nice that his descendants donated so many interesting items to the Walnut Grove museum. The display is a popular one with tourists, especially those who enjoyed Mitch Vogel's portrayal of Johnny Johnson on television's Little House on the Prairie.

Just remember that Laura's first real crush was Big Jerry.
- posted by pioneergirl at 10:35 PM