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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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Visscher Barnes

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

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blizzard

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

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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oyster

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

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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The Modern Musketeer

How Rose became a great actress.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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biscuits

A kind of un-fermented bread, formed into flat cakes, and baked.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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hair receiver / hair-receiver

Container to save strands of hair in.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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ostrich tips / feathers

Short bobbing feather used for hat decoration.

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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“When I Can Read My Title Clear”

1700s Isaac Watts hymn.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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vanity cakes

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

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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button

who’s got one?

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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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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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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Tennyson’s Poems

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

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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apprentice

One who is legally bound to another to learn a trade or art.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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nubia

A light scarf worn about the head and neck.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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mustache

Hair above the lip.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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twine

A strong twisted thread.

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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breast-pin / brooch

Ornament worn on clothing.

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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ash withe / ash-withe

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

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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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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starch

cloth stiffener

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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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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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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shoe pegs

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

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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“The Whip-Poor-Will’s Song”

1865 Harrison Millard song.

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Turkey red

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

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Belgian horse

A heavy draft horse originally from the Brabant region of...

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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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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Orion E. Stearns

Caught by blizzard of ’88.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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twisting hay

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

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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The Missouri Ruralist

Twice monthly Missouri farm periodical.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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galumphing

To move in a clumsy, ponderous, or noisy manner.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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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 Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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