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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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churn

Cream agitator.

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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mother-of-pearl

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

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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“Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess”

Nursery rhyme wordplay on the name Elizabeth.

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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hair receiver / hair-receiver

Container to save strands of hair in.

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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U

udder – upland

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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coal / coal hod

Carbonized plant matter mined and used as fuel.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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copperplate

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

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mustache

Hair above the lip.

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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Q

quaker meeting – quinine

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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Roman candle

Flaming stars and balls firework.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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L

lace – lynx

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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Docia Ingalls / Hiram Forbes

Sister of Charles Ingalls married to railroad contractor.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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accordion

musical instrument

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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hatchet

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

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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bastion

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

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starch

cloth stiffener

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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pieplant

Rhubarb.

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Uncle Sam

Figure symbolizing the United States.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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herd

A number of large beasts assembled together.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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H

hack – hypocrite

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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A

aboveboard – axle

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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blizzard

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

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G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

…last night she died

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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Walter Ogden

Surveyors’ House housemate 1879-80

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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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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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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T

tableland – two-faced

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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F

Fair Grounds – furrow

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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stone fences

Rock wall enclosure.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Big Tracy Cut

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

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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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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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Charles & Martha Harrison / Patterson

Charles and Elizabeth May Rundle.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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Henry Hinz

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

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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I

“I am Mrs. Jinks…” – “I wouldn’t marry a farmer”

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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emigrant car

Railroad car used to move a settler and/or a settler’s goods.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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New England States

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

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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ash withe / ash-withe

A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band for tying.

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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certificate

Written testimony of fact.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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welcome!

who we are

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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parsnip

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

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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shoe pegs

A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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Charles Mead

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

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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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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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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Turkey red

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

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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