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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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legal cap

legal document paper

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trundle bed

Low bed stored under higher bed.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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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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tattoo

Sounds like beating drums!

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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Q

quaker meeting – quinine

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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V

vain – vote

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name card / name-card

Pasteboard identification.

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lemon

The citrus fruit

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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Protected: Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane 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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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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locust

Buy this book.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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Visscher Barnes

Probate Judge, VP of Temperance Society, and first director of De Smet school board.

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homestead

Free land! [sic]

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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Turkey red

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

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Carrie Ingalls, Homesteader

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

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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Singing School

Choral music classes

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Rocky Ridge Farm

The Wilders’ Missouri farm east of Mansfield

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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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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Big Tracy Cut

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

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

A large nut, the fruit of a species of Æsculus.

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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birthday

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

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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B

bachelor – “by the pale, silver light…”

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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New England States

ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, & CT.

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starch

cloth stiffener

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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cosy / cozy

snug and comfortable

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“Oh! Susanna”

Stephen Foster song.

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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bell

The noise-maker, not the milliner.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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Stories of the Moorland

1869 book by Lizzie Bates about a young boy growing up in Scotland.

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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Reverend Stewart Sheldon

American Home Missionary Society Superintendent 1874-1886.

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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Carrie Ingalls

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

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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George George

1874 Minnesota traveling companion of the Ingallses

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rags for paper

scrap cloth purchased for paper making

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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T

tableland – two-faced

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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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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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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railroad camp / Silver Lake camp

Temporary dwellings for workers during surveying or construction.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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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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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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How well do you know the Little House books?

a quiz for you!

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Pre-1906 and 1912 De Smet Panoramic Photos

A view in every direction.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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Charles Mead

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

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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O

oak – oyster

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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“Song of the Grass”

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

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory”

From The Conqueror, page 144.

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“The Gypsy King”

Young Laura and Mary’s favorite song!

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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Have you seen the comet?

Tebbutt’s Great Comet of 1881.

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oyster

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

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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“Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-Ay”

1891 Henry J. Sayers song.

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Pa’s red & white checked mittens

Fair Isle pattern.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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A

aboveboard – axle

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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Orion E. Stearns

Caught by blizzard of ’88.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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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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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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coal / coal hod

Carbonized plant matter mined and used as fuel.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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Tennyson’s Poems

Christmas present for Laura

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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bureau

A dresser / chest of drawers.

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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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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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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organ

musical instrument

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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