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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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milk pan / milk-pan / milkpan

Where cream rises.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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Alice Maria Wilder

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

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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parsnip

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

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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grippe

influenza

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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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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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

“The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

Pa would play some of the old songs, ‘to go to sleep...

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory”

From The Conqueror, page 144.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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icicle

Conical mass of ice, formed by water freezing as it flows downward.

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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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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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apprentice

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

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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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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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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mustache

Hair above the lip.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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twilight

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

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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buck / buckskin

Male of the fallow deer, and leather made from its skin.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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Mr. Edwards

Was he Edmund Mason?

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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Have you seen the comet?

Tebbutt’s Great Comet of 1881.

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jewel box / jewel-box

Nice place to keep a breast-pin.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Noah’s ark toy

Willie’s toy boat with animals.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Pa’s red & white checked mittens

Fair Isle pattern.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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Timber Culture Act / tree claim

Passed by Congress, March 3, 1873.

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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Will Barnes

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

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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“Song of the Grass”

Song from Leslie and Randall’s The Conqueror, page 16.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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writ of attachment

Legal document requiring action.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

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

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Jerome Bisby

Resident of Burr Oak, Iowa, during the Ingallses’ stay...

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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hatchet

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

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

Away Down the RIver on the O-hi-o.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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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 American Desert

Varying area of North America, believed at times to be uninhabitable by civilized man.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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breast-pin / brooch

Ornament worn on clothing.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls precious family figurine.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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copper

Cu

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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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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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James McKee family

Early homesteader north of Manchester D.T. Laura Ingalls stayed with them during the spring of 1883.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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cornice

Roof overhang.

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udder

Where the milk is before milking.

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New England States

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

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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awl

pokes holes

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cream of tartar / baking powder

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

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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