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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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fichu

Light pointed cape worn by ladies, usually made of lace.

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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candle / tallow

Used to furnish light.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

Now is now. It can never be a long time ago.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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organ

musical instrument

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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Charles & Martha Harrison / Patterson

Charles and Elizabeth May Rundle.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

Laura’s friend and the new clerk at Ruth’s bank.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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Laura & Lansford Ingalls

Grandpa & Grandma Ingalls

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rags for paper

scrap cloth purchased for paper making

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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X

xanthophyll

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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K

Kansas – knothole

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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I

“I am Mrs. Jinks…” – “I wouldn’t marry a farmer”

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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T

tableland – two-faced

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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stockade

Enclosure of posts or sticks.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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C

cabbage – cyclone

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canvas

Coarse hemp or flax cloth.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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W

wage – writ of attachment

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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wonderful house / frame house

Wooden house built on Charles Ingalls’ Plum Creek preemption claim.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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tattoo

Sounds like beating drums!

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cream of tartar / baking powder

Byproduct of wine-making process, used in baking as leavening agent.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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herd

A number of large beasts assembled together.

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Henry Hinz

Owner of first saloon in De Smet and boarder at the Ingallses’.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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Great American Desert

Varying area of North America, believed at times to be uninhabitable by civilized man.

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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candy hearts

Mary’s had a candy poem on it!

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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cornice

Molded roof or window projection.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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ash withe / ash-withe

A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band for tying.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

Away Down the RIver on the O-hi-o.

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buffalo / bison

bison

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

Bayard Taylor poem about Bos Americanus, found in Independent Fifth Reader.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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Charles Mead

Proprietor of the Exchange Hotel in De Smet, 1880-1882.

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emigrant car

Railroad car used to move a settler and/or a settler’s goods.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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mother-of-pearl

Hard, silvery, brilliant, internal layer of several kinds of shells, particularly oysters.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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Carrie Ingalls

Younger sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1870-1946.

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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locust

Buy this book.

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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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bastion

A part of a main enclosure which projects toward the exterior.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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Edelbert Harthorn family / Frank Harthorn & Mabel Burd

Father and son owners of early drygoods store in De Smet.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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George George

1874 Minnesota traveling companion of the Ingallses

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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mud hen / mudhen

American coot.

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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L

lace – lynx

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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“Miller Boy”

“Grab!”

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New England States

ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, & CT.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory”

From The Conqueror, page 144.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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vanity cakes

Egg and flour batter fried in oil into golden brown puffs.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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spelling / speller

The order of letters in a word. / A book of exercises on the order of letters.

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Uncle Sam

Figure symbolizing the United States.

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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B

bachelor – “by the pale, silver light…”

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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Mr. Hanson

Walnut Grove land trader.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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handkerchief

Face and hand wiping cloth.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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coal / coal hod

Carbonized plant matter mined and used as fuel.

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beard / whiskers

Facial hair.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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threshing

Beating to separate.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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poll

No horns.

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“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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Charlotte Quiner Holbrook

Caroline Ingalls’ mother

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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twine

A strong twisted thread.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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