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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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C

cabbage – cyclone

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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auk

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

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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picket rope / pin / line

animal tether

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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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cosy / cozy

snug and comfortable

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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Charles Mead

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

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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Tennyson’s Poems

Christmas present for Laura

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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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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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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Henry Hinz

Owner of first saloon in De Smet and boarder at the Ingallses’.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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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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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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galumphing

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

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P

Pa – pussy-in-the-corner

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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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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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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awl

pokes holes

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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F

Fair Grounds – furrow

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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churn

Cream agitator.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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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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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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bobolink

On Mary Power’s name card.

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W

wage – writ of attachment

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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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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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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biscuits

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

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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wonderful house / frame house

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

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

…last night she died

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Laura!

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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apprentice

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

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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“Miller Boy”

“Grab!”

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surveyors’ house

railroad section house occupied by the Ingallses in 1879-1880

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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canvas

Coarse hemp or flax cloth.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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twilight

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

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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Big Tracy Cut

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

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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cornice

Molded roof or window projection.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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De Smet bird’s-eye view

1883 Henry Wellge drawing of De Smet

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“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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U

udder – upland

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The House that Jack Built

…for two pieces of money.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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oyster

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

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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