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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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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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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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le cadeau du cheval

2008 horse mural composed of smaller paintings of horses,...

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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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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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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shoe pegs

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

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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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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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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honey

Bee-made sweetness.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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“Oh! Susanna”

Stephen Foster song.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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copperplate

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

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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flag

the banner

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Mr. Edwards / Edmund Mason

Was he Edmund Mason?

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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twine

A strong twisted thread.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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coal / coal hod

Carbonized plant matter mined and used as fuel.

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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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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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equinoctial storm

Severe wind and heavy rain that occurs at or near the time of an equinox.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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hoity-toity snip

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

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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depot / station

Railway station.

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buck / buckskin

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

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Godey’s Lady’s Book

Women’s magazine, 1830-1898.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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wintergreen

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

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

Laura’s friend and the new clerk at Ruth’s bank.

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Lizzie

the child bride

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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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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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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Albert Quiner

Laura’s cousin.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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herd

A number of large beasts assembled together.

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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rags for paper

rag. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered fragment; a shred; a...

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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auk

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

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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Big Tracy Cut

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

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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Thomas Huleatt family

Neighbors of Ingalls family in Pepin Co.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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Caroline Ingalls

Mother of Laura Ingalls. She lived 1839-1924.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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Visscher Barnes

Probate Judge, VP of Temperance Society, and first director of De Smet school board.

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“When I Can Read My Title Clear”

1700s Isaac Watts hymn.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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picket rope / pin / line

n. A stake sharpened or pointed, used in fortification and...

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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Will Barnes

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

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certificate

Written testimony of fact.

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dovekie

Arctic aquatic bird, Alle alle.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

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

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

“The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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nubia

A light scarf worn about the head and neck.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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bacon

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

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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hardtack

Unleavened hard bread made from flour and water.

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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watermelon-rind preserves

sugary jelly

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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blizzard

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

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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Charles H. Tinkham

Early undertaker and owner of the first furniture store in De Smet.

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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twilight

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

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