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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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Z

zebra – Zion City

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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M

Ma – “My Sabbath Home”

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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wonderful house / frame house

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

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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“The Gypsy King”

Young Laura and Mary’s favorite song!

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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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K

Kansas – knothole

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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Mr. Hanson

Walnut Grove land trader.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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blizzard

In 1880-1881, a long, severe, blinding, and bitterly cold snowstorm.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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Protected: bell

The noise-maker, not the milliner.

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

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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Perry School

April 28 – June 27, 1884

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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L

lace – lynx

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Thanksgiving

Public celebration of divine goodness.

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

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starch

cloth stiffener

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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Lewis Sasse

De Smet druggist

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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George George

1874 Minnesota traveling companion of the Ingallses

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handkerchief

Face and hand wiping cloth.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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bacon

Hog’s flesh salted or pickled and dried, usually in smoke.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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C

cabbage – cyclone

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove laborer

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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bank

financial institution

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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basket

Woven container.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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name card / name-card

Pasteboard identification.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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H

hack – hypocrite

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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W

wage – writ of attachment

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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emigrant car

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

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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Malone Hotels

Where the horse-buyer spent the night.

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auk

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

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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Rocky Ridge Farm

The Wilders’ Missouri farm east of Mansfield

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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twilight

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

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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Pa’s “big green book”

George Hartwig’s The Polar and Tropical Worlds: A Description of Man and Nature.

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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E

ear flap – expelled

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button

who’s got one?

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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birthday

As near as I can figure, E.J. was right.

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homestead

Free land! [sic]

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buck / buckskin

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

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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beef

tough! juicy!

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A

aboveboard – axle

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R

rabbit – rye

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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Laura’s Bible references

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s hand-written list of Bible verses to be read in times of trouble or stress.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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Western Reserve

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

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I

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

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World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition

Destination of the Wilder brothers in the fall of 1884.

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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Pre-1906 and 1912 De Smet Panoramic Photos

A view in every direction.

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picket rope / pin / line

animal tether

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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Samuel O. Masters / William J. Masters families

Walnut Grove, Burr Oak, and De Smet family known by the Ingallses.

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Volga, Dakota Territory

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

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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Missouri Ruralist

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

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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Spookendyke

Rose’s stubborn donkey

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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bull dog / bulldog

All of him rested, except his ears.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

Youngest sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1877-1941.

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Q

quaker meeting – quinine

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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Pittsburgh Courier

Widely-circulated black newspaper, which Rose Wilder Lane wrote a column for in the 1940s.

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Henry O. Quiner family

Ma’s brother, married to Pa’s sister Polly.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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locust

Buy this book.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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candy hearts

Mary’s had a candy poem on it!

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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jewel box / jewel-box

Nice place to keep a breast-pin.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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telegraph

Don’t let Jimmie shock you with it!

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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