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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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twisting hay

Pioneer method by which dried grass is formed into compact...

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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President George Washington

First President of the U.S.A.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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Tennyson’s Poems

Collection of works by Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson,...

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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photographs

There’s a little birdie in the camera, Rose.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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apron

Garment protector.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

      The Ingalls and Quiner families...

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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hatchet

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

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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picket rope / pin / line

n. A stake sharpened or pointed, used in fortification and...

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

Pa would play some of the old songs, ‘to go to sleep...

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove acquaintance of the Ingallses’ in the 1870s....

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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flag

the banner

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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forfeits

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

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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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Lizzie

the child bride

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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auk

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

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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quarter section / quarter-section

One-fourth of a square mile, consisting of 160 acres.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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minstrel show

songs, dances, and skits usually performed in blackface

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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James McKee family

Early homesteader north of Manchester D.T. Laura Ingalls stayed with them during the spring of 1883.

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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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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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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vanity cakes

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

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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The Missouri Ruralist

Twice monthly Missouri farm periodical.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

“The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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“The Lotos Eaters”

Tennyson poem.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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depot / station

Railway station.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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Turkey red

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

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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butter tester

Instrument used to remove core sample from a vat of butter, for the sake of testing.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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Jerome Bisby

Resident of Burr Oak, Iowa, during the Ingallses’ stay...

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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buck / buckskin

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

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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cream of tartar / baking powder

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

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Big Green Animal Book

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

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The Modern Musketeer

How Rose became a great actress.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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“Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-Ay”

1891 Henry J. Sayers song.

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blizzard

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

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory”

From The Conqueror, page 144.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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icicle

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

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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Timber Culture Act / tree claim

Passed by Congress, March 3, 1873.

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