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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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Timber Culture Act / tree claim

Passed by Congress, March 3, 1873.

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photographs

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

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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pieplant

Rhubarb.

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twisting hay

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

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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forfeits

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

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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parsnip

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

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Mr. Edwards / Edmund Mason

Was he Edmund Mason?

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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Noah’s ark toy

Willie’s toy boat with animals.

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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bacon

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

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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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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galumphing

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

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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bastion

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

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

In the frosty mornings and the chilly evenings when they went...

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starch

cloth stiffener

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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Belgian horse

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

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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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wintergreen

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

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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grippe

influenza

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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Henry Hinz

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

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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button

who’s got one?

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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Roman candle

Flaming stars and balls firework.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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copper

Cu

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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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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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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Turkey red

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

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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dovekie

Arctic aquatic bird, Alle alle.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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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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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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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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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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watermelon-rind preserves

sugary jelly

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

Bayard Taylor poem about Bos Americanus, found in Independent Fifth Reader.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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basket

Woven container.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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The Missouri Ruralist

Twice monthly Missouri farm periodical.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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certificate

Written testimony of fact.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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writ of attachment

Legal document requiring action.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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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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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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flag

the banner

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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Thomas Huleatt family

Neighbors of Ingalls family in Pepin Co.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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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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kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

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Will Barnes

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

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Eleck Nelson family

Neighbors of the Ingalls family when living on their preemption claim north of Walnut Grove.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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auk

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

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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honey

Bee-made sweetness.

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President George Washington

First President of the U.S.A.

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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hatchet

A small ax with a short handle, to be used with one hand.

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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Lewis Sasse

De Smet druggist

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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