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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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“Haste to the Wedding”

Traditional Irish fiddle tune.

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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James McKee family

Homesteader north of Manchester D.T.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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udder

Where the milk is before milking.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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awl

pokes holes

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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copper

Cu

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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Docia Ingalls / Hiram Forbes

Sister of Charles Ingalls married to railroad contractor.

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pen / pen-wiper

An instrument used for writing. / Material used to clean it after writing.

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parsnip

Pastinaca edulis, a white, spindle-shaped root vegetable.

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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name card / name-card

Pasteboard identification.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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Belgian horse

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

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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Turkey red

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

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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locust

Buy this book.

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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birds’-nest pudding

Dessert made of apples baked in syrup and served with cream.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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auk

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

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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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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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Will Barnes

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

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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“Song of the Grass”

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

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“When I Can Read My Title Clear”

1700s Isaac Watts hymn.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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blizzard

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

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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Bloody Benders

Serial killers in 1870s Kansas.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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honey

Bee-made sweetness.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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apprentice

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

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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depot / station

Railway station.

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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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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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

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

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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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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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le cadeau du cheval

2008 horse mural composed of smaller paintings of horses,...

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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bobolink

On Mary Power’s name card.

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candy hearts

Mary’s had a candy poem on it!

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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milk pan / milk-pan / milkpan

Where cream rises.

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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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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton 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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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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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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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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Perry School

April 28 – June 27, 1884

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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cannon

Military engine used for throwing balls and other instruments of death by the force of gunpowder.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Milking the cash cow.

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biscuits

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

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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churn

Cream agitator.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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Timber Culture Act / tree claim

Passed by Congress, March 3, 1873.

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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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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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New England States

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

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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