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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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“The Lotos Eaters”

Tennyson poem.

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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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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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Tennyson’s Poems

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

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“I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land”

1860 Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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picket rope / pin / line

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

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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basket

Woven container.

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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apprentice

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

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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New England States

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

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twisting hay

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

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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Orion E. Stearns

Caught by blizzard of ’88.

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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Home Missionary Society

Group organized to raise money to start churches and Sunday schools in the west where there were none.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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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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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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watermelon-rind preserves

sugary jelly

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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poll

No horns.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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bacon

Hog’s flesh salted or pickled and dried, usually in smoke.

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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forfeits

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

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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galumphing

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

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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rags for paper

rag. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered fragment; a shred; a...

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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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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legal cap

legal document paper

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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le cadeau du cheval

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

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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Belgian horse

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

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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Alice Maria Wilder

Older sister and playmate of Almanzo Wilder. She lived 1853-1892.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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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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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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button

who’s got one?

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wintergreen

Aromatic, creeping evergreen, Gaultheria procumbens, having bright red berries.

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“nervous as a witch”

restless

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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blizzard

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

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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“My Old Kentucky Home”

1853 Stephen Foster song.

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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hardtack

Unleavened hard bread made from flour and water.

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Laura!

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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ostrich tips / feathers

Short bobbing feather used for hat decoration.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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auk

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

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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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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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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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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butter tester

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

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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