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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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churn

Cream agitator.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

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

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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justice / Justice of the Peace

Limited jurisdiction magistrate.

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Alice Maria Wilder

Older sister and playmate of Almanzo Wilder. She lived 1853-1892.

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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Charles H. Tinkham

Early undertaker and owner of the first furniture store in De Smet.

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bell

The noise-maker, not the milliner.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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barber

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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Protected: Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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cannon

Military engine used for throwing balls and other instruments of death by the force of gunpowder.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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trundle bed

Low bed stored under higher bed.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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apron

Garment protector.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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buck / buckskin

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

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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ash withe / ash-withe

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

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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Manchester, Dakota Territory

Railroad town west of De Smet

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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George George

1874 Minnesota traveling companion of the Ingallses

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awl

pokes holes

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latch / latch-string

It’s always out!

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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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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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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Verdigris River

River that runs through Montgomery County, Kansas.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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April Fool’s Day

Sticking with salt in the sugar bowl from now on.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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Big Tracy Cut

“100 feet deep & tapering off for 1/4 mile”

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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X

xanthophyll

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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K

Kansas – knothole

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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gloves / mittens / mitts

fingerless hand and wrist cover

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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Bloody Benders

Serial killers in 1870s Kansas.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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Turkey red

Durable red color, dyed with madder upon calico or woolen cloth.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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cranberry

Good ones bounce!

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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Carrie Ingalls

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

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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De Smet bird’s-eye view

1883 Henry Wellge drawing of De Smet

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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Q

quaker meeting – quinine

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mother-of-pearl

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

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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buffalo / bison

bison

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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equinoctial storm

Severe wind and heavy rain that occurs at or near the time of an equinox.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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B

bachelor – “by the pale, silver light…”

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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H

hack – hypocrite

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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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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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Caroline Ingalls

Mother of Laura Ingalls. She lived 1839-1924.

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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Kitty

the Ingallses’ cat in Dakota Territory

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shoe pegs

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

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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Charles Mead

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

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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vanity cakes

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

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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forfeits

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

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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grippe

influenza

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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