Read more

Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

Read more

Read more

mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

Read more

Read more

President George Washington

First President of the U.S.A.

Read more

Read more

sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

Read more

Read more

surveyors’ house

railroad section house occupied by the Ingallses in 1879-1880

Read more

Read more

pen / pen-wiper

An instrument used for writing. / Material used to clean it after writing.

Read more

Read more

popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

Read more

Read more

Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

Read more

Read more

cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

Read more

Read more

S

Sabbath – sycamore

Read more

Read more

Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

Read more

Read more

stockade

Enclosure of posts or sticks.

Read more

Read more

Tennyson’s Poems

Christmas present for Laura

Read more

Read more

bureau

A dresser / chest of drawers.

Read more

Read more

lemon

The citrus fruit

Read more

Read more

“Miller Boy”

“Grab!”

Read more

Read more

primer

Used to teach someone to read.

Read more

Read more

saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

Read more

Read more

H. W. Cooledge

De Smet photographer.

Read more

Read more

Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

Read more

Read more

butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

Read more

Read more

slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

Read more

Read more

The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

Read more

Read more

buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

Read more

Read more

Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

Read more

Read more

welcome!

who we are

Read more

Read more

By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

Read more

Read more

Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

Read more

Read more

kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

Read more

Read more

starch

cloth stiffener

Read more

Read more

April Fool’s Day

Sticking with salt in the sugar bowl from now on.

Read more

Read more

dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

Read more

Read more

Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

Read more

Read more

velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

Read more

Read more

R

rabbit – rye

Read more

Read more

Laura & Almanzo Wilder house in De Smet

Home of Almanzo, Laura, & Rose 1892-1894

Read more

Read more

isinglass

mica for stove windows

Read more

Read more

Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

Read more

Read more

pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

Read more

Read more

ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

Read more

Read more

Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

Read more

Read more

“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

Read more

Read more

Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

Read more

Read more

“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Read more

Read more

August Hanson

The Ingallses’ next door neighbor in De Smet.

Read more

Read more

“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

Read more

Read more

windrow

Line of hay raked together.

Read more

Read more

“When I Can Read My Title Clear”

1700s Isaac Watts hymn.

Read more

Read more

railroad camp / Silver Lake camp

Temporary dwellings for workers during surveying or construction.

Read more

Read more

Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

Read more

Read more

census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

Read more

Read more

“Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess”

Nursery rhyme wordplay on the name Elizabeth.

Read more

Read more

zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

Read more

Read more

catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

Read more

Read more

On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

Read more

Read more

blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

Read more

Read more

Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

Read more

Read more

“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

Read more

Read more

Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

Read more

Read more

beet

Succulent root vegetable.

Read more

Read more

Volga, Dakota Territory

Town on the Dakota Central R.R. between Brookings and Arlington, platted in 1879.

Read more

Read more

Home Missionary Society

Group organized to raise money to start churches and Sunday schools in the west where there were none.

Read more

Read more

A

aboveboard – axle

Read more

Read more

George George

1874 Minnesota traveling companion of the Ingallses

Read more

Read more

locust

Buy this book.

Read more

Read more

Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

Read more

Read more

geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

Read more

Read more

churn

Cream agitator.

Read more

Read more

icicle

Conical mass of ice, formed by water freezing as it flows downward.

Read more

Read more

leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

Read more

Read more

oyster

A mollusk of the genus Ostrea, having a bivalve shell.

Read more

Read more

carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

Read more

Read more

“The Lotos Eaters”

Tennyson poem.

Read more

Read more

These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

De Smet, D.T., 1883-1885.

Read more

Read more

World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition

Destination of the Wilder brothers in the fall of 1884.

Read more

Read more

poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

Read more

Read more

ticket

All aboard!

Read more

Read more

Carrie Ingalls, Homesteader

W-NW & W-SW 9-4N-20E of Black Hills Meridian

Read more

Read more

Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

Read more

Read more

“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

Read more

Read more

Protected: George C. Westervelt

Renter of the Ingalls building in De Smet, winter 1884-1885.

Read more

Read more

Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

Read more

Read more

“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

Read more

Read more

The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

Read more

Read more

Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

Read more

Read more

C

cabbage – cyclone

Read more

Read more

“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

Read more

Read more

legal cap

legal document paper

Read more

Read more

literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

Read more

Read more

“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

Read more

Read more

blueing bag

Whiter whites.

Read more

Read more

killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

Read more

Read more

cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

Read more

Read more

bull dog / bulldog

All of him rested, except his ears.

Read more

Read more

Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

Read more

Read more

Protected: Manchester, Dakota Territory

Railroad town west of De Smet

Read more

Read more

G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

Read more

Read more

wintergreen

Aromatic, creeping evergreen, Gaultheria procumbens, having bright red berries.

Read more

Read more

threshing

Beating to separate.

Read more

Read more

axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

Read more

Read more

Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

Read more

Read more

harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

Read more

Read more

buck / buckskin

Male of the fallow deer, and leather made from its skin.

Read more

Read more

“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

Read more

Read more

“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

Read more

Read more

F

Fair Grounds – furrow

Read more

Read more

Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

Read more

Read more

“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

Read more

Read more

“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

Read more

Read more

powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

Read more

Read more

cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

Read more

Read more

Father Pierre Jean De Smet

Missionary for whom the town of De Smet was named

Read more

Read more

Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

Read more

Read more

acre

4840 square yards of land.

Read more

Read more

Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

Read more

Read more

bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

Read more

Read more

America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

Read more

Read more

Western Reserve

Land in Ohio, given to Connecticut upon agreement to give up claim to lands in Pennsylvania.

Read more

Read more

mustache

Hair above the lip.

Read more

Read more

Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

Read more

Read more

St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

Read more

Read more

“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

Read more

Read more

forfeits

Game in which items are deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine.

Read more

Read more

Mary Amelia Ingalls

First child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls, 1865-1928; she lost her sight at age 15.

Read more

Read more

brakeman

Person who stops the train.

Read more

Read more

bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

Read more

Read more

Lizzie

the child bride

Read more

Read more

dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

Read more

Read more

“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

Read more

Read more

Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

Read more

Read more

black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

Read more

Read more

“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

Read more

Read more

E

ear flap – expelled

Read more

Read more

“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

Read more

Read more

Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

Read more

Read more

picket rope / pin / line

animal tether

Read more

Read more

nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

Read more

Read more

Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

Read more

Read more

tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

Read more

Read more

copperplate

Variable-width handwriting script made with a flexible, pointed nib.

Read more

Read more

scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

Read more

Read more

The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

Read more

Read more

Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

Read more

Read more

Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

Read more

Read more

H

hack – hypocrite

Read more

Read more

Chariton County, Missouri

Location of land purchased in 1868 by Charles Ingalls, Henry Quiner, and Tom Quiner.

Read more

Read more

Edelbert Harthorn family / Frank Harthorn & Mabel Burd

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

Read more

Read more

twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

Read more

Read more

“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

Read more

Read more

“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

Read more

Read more

“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

Read more

Read more

twilight

Light when the sun is 0-18 degrees below the horizon.

Read more

Read more

whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

Read more

Read more

galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

Read more

Read more

anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

Read more

Read more

William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

Read more

Read more

barber

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

Read more

Read more

John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

Read more

Read more

“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

Read more

Read more

Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

Read more

Read more

telegraph

Don’t let Jimmie shock you with it!

Read more

Read more

pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

Read more

Read more

“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

Read more

Read more

rubber

Used for waterproofing.

Read more

Read more

spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

Read more

Read more

birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

Read more

Read more

Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

Read more

Read more

Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

Read more

Read more

garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

Read more

Read more

South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

Read more

Read more

“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

Read more

Read more

Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

Read more

Read more

“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

Read more

Read more

Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

Read more

Read more

gloves / mittens / mitts

fingerless hand and wrist cover

Read more

Read more

Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

Read more

Read more

“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

Read more

Read more

“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

Read more

Read more

“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

Read more

Read more

“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

Read more

Read more

storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

Read more

Read more

milk pan / milk-pan / milkpan

Where cream rises.

Read more

Read more

“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

Read more

Read more

“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

Read more

Read more

wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

Read more

Read more

Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

Read more

Read more

starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

Read more

Read more

Mr. and Mrs. Scott

Indian Territory neighbors of the Ingallses.

Read more

Read more

candle / tallow

Used to furnish light.

Read more

Read more

“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

Read more

Read more

Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

Read more

Read more

Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

Read more

Read more

whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

Read more

Read more

poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

Read more

Read more

gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

Read more

Read more

By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

Read more

Read more

“Haste to the Wedding”

Traditional Irish fiddle tune.

Read more

Read more

crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

Read more

Read more

“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

Read more

Read more

“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

Read more