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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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twine

A strong twisted thread.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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Missouri Ruralist

The Missouri Ruralist. A twice-monthly Missouri farm periodical...

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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coal / coal hod

Carbonized plant matter mined and used as fuel.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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writ of attachment

Legal document requiring action.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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How well do you know the Little House books?

a quiz for you!

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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cornice

Molded roof or window projection.

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hardtack

Unleavened hard bread made from flour and water.

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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Orion E. Stearns

Caught by blizzard of ’88.

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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Caroline Ingalls

Mother of Laura Ingalls. She lived 1839-1924.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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mustache

Hair above the lip.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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Reverend Edward Brown

Minister of the First Congregational Church of De Smet, 1880-1884.

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove laborer

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auk

Extinct sea bird used to describe dovekie found by Charles Ingalls.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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shoe pegs

A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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N

nailer – nutmeg

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Mr. Edwards / Edmund Mason

Was he Edmund Mason?

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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depot / station

Railway station.

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milk pan / milk-pan / milkpan

Where cream rises.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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Spookendyke

Rose’s stubborn donkey

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Mrs. Jarley’s Wax Works

Rise! Come forward!

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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U

udder – upland

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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Charlotte Quiner Holbrook

Caroline Ingalls’ mother

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“Down in Alabam'” / “The Old Gray Mare”

1858 J. Warner song.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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flag

the banner

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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basket

Woven container.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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windlass

Device to move water or dirt from the bottom of a well to ground level.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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grippe

influenza

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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H

hack – hypocrite

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“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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“My Old Kentucky Home”

1853 Stephen Foster song.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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Protected: George C. Westervelt

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

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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bureau

A dresser / chest of drawers.

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buck / buckskin

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

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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satchel

Small, soft-sided handled luggage.

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

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Mary Amelia Ingalls

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

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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lemon

The citrus fruit

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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oyster

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

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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Charles Mead

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

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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Charles & Martha Harrison / Patterson

Charles and Elizabeth May Rundle.

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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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Home Missionary Society

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

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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Kingsbury County, D.T.

County in eastern South Dakota, organized in 1879.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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“Song of the Grass”

Song from Leslie and Randall’s The Conqueror, page 16.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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handkerchief

Face and hand wiping cloth.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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Eleck Nelson family

Neighbors of the Ingalls family when living on their preemption claim north of Walnut Grove.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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F

Fair Grounds – furrow

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I

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

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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gloves / mittens / mitts

fingerless hand and wrist cover

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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Mr. Hanson

Walnut Grove land trader.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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hatchet

A small ax with a short handle, to be used with one hand.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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Christmas

Christian observation of the birth of Christ

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