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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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Belgian horse

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

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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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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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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oyster

A mollusk of the genus Ostrea, having a bivalve shell.

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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zebra

Part of Willie Oleson’s Noah’s Ark toy.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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hatchet

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

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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vanity cakes

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

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition

Destination of the Wilder brothers in the fall of 1884.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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poll

No horns.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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watermelon-rind preserves

sugary jelly

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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Lizzie

the child bride

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls precious family figurine.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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auk

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

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Jerome Bisby

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

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Thomas Huleatt family

Neighbors of Ingalls family in Pepin Co.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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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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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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stockade

Enclosure of posts or sticks.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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pieplant

Rhubarb.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Laura!

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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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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Will Barnes

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

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family 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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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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Lewis Sasse

De Smet druggist

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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Kingsbury County, D.T.

County in eastern South Dakota, organized in 1879.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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button

who’s got one?

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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“Oh! Susanna”

Stephen Foster song.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

A large nut, the fruit of a species of Æsculus.

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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President George Washington

First President of the U.S.A.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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forfeits

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

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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“Haste to the Wedding”

Traditional Irish fiddle tune.

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

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

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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“Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess”

Nursery rhyme wordplay on the name Elizabeth.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

“The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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grippe

influenza

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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fichu

Light pointed cape worn by ladies, usually made of lace.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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