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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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Dr. William H. York

Bender victim

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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cranberry

Good ones bounce!

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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shoe pegs

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

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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John Armstrong

Kingsbury Co. courthouse caretaker

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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galumphing

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

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P

Pa – pussy-in-the-corner

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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Pre-1906 and 1912 De Smet Panoramic Photos

A view in every direction.

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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Kingsbury County, D.T.

County in eastern South Dakota, organized in 1879.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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basket

Woven container.

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badger

Don’t poke it with a stick!

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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Sam Owen

De Smet boot & shoe maker… and horseman!

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bull dog / bulldog

All of him rested, except his ears.

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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Singing School

Choral music classes

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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wintergreen

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

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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“Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-Ay”

1891 Henry J. Sayers song.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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barber

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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Pittsburgh Courier

Widely-circulated black newspaper, which Rose Wilder Lane wrote a column for in the 1940s.

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T

tableland – two-faced

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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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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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Laura’s Bible references

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s hand-written list of Bible verses to be read in times of trouble or stress.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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Protected: James H. Clewett

De Smet teacher, January-March 1883

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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“My Old Kentucky Home”

1853 Stephen Foster song.

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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buffalo / bison

bison

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Missouri Ruralist

The Missouri Ruralist. A twice-monthly Missouri farm periodical...

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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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hatchet

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

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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Pa’s red & white checked mittens

Fair Isle pattern.

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churn

Cream agitator.

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“When I Can Read My Title Clear”

1700s Isaac Watts hymn.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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wonderful house / frame house

Wooden house built on Charles Ingalls’ Plum Creek preemption claim.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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cosy / cozy

snug and comfortable

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Reverend Stewart Sheldon

American Home Missionary Society Superintendent 1874-1886.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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twilight

Light when the sun is 0-18 degrees below the horizon.

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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tattoo

Sounds like beating drums!

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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Carrie Ingalls

Younger sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1870-1946.

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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copper

Cu

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forfeits

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

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emigrant car

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

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latch / latch-string

It’s always out!

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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“The Whip-Poor-Will’s Song”

1865 Harrison Millard song.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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Rocky Ridge Farm

The Wilders’ Missouri farm east of Mansfield

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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Charlotte Quiner Holbrook

Caroline Ingalls’ mother

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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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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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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cream of tartar / baking powder

Byproduct of wine-making process, used in baking as leavening agent.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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rags for paper

scrap cloth purchased for paper making

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F

Fair Grounds – furrow

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“The Gypsy King”

Young Laura and Mary’s favorite song!

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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Chariton County, Missouri

Location of land purchased in 1868 by Charles Ingalls, Henry Quiner, and Tom Quiner.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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“Kitty Wells”

1858 Sloan & Atherton song.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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ash withe / ash-withe

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

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vanity cakes

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

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Have you seen the comet?

Tebbutt’s Great Comet of 1881.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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nine-patch / Laura’s double nine-patch Irish chain quilt

Quilt block pattern.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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hoity-toity snip

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

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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auk

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

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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