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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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bastion

A part of a main enclosure which projects toward the exterior.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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rags for paper

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

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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The Missouri Ruralist

Twice monthly Missouri farm periodical.

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Albert Quiner

Laura’s cousin.

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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The House that Jack Built

…for two pieces of money.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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copperplate

Variable-width handwriting script made with a flexible, pointed nib.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

“The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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birds’-nest pudding

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

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photographs

There’s a little birdie in the camera, Rose.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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awl

pokes holes

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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poll

No horns.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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flag

the banner

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picket rope / pin / line

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

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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vanity cakes

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

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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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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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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apron

Garment protector.

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Thomas Huleatt family

Neighbors of Ingalls family in Pepin Co.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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auk

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

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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Mr. Edwards / Edmund Mason

Was he Edmund Mason?

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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le cadeau du cheval

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

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Laura!

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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hoity-toity snip

Thoughtless, giddy, haughty, flighty, gay, and noisy.

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auger

A carpenter’s instrument for boring holes, chiefly in...

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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nubia

A light scarf worn about the head and neck.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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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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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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Roman candle

Flaming stars and balls firework.

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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Henry Hinz

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

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cornice

Roof overhang.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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“Kitty Wells”

1858 Sloan & Atherton song.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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mustache

Hair above the lip.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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New England States

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

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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breast-pin / brooch

Ornament worn on clothing.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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certificate

Written testimony of fact.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Godey’s Lady’s Book

Women’s magazine, 1830-1898.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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Turkey red

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

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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