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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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locust

Buy this book.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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cranberry

Good ones bounce!

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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grippe

influenza

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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emigrant car

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

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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James McKee family

Homesteader north of Manchester D.T.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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honey

Bee-made sweetness.

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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Mary Amelia Ingalls

First child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls, 1865-1928; she lost her sight at age 15.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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“Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-Ay”

1891 Henry J. Sayers song.

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Belgian horse

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

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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Big Tracy Cut

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

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls 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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Stories of the Moorland

1869 book by Lizzie Bates about a young boy growing up in Scotland.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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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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starch

cloth stiffener

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America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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mud hen / mudhen

American coot.

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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Docia Ingalls / Hiram Forbes

Sister of Charles Ingalls married to railroad contractor.

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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auger

A carpenter’s instrument for boring holes, chiefly in...

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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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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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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birds’-nest pudding

Dessert made of apples baked in syrup and served with cream.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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hardtack

Unleavened hard bread made from flour and water.

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“I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land”

1860 Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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apprentice

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

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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fichu

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

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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flag

the banner

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black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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parsnip

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

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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oyster

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

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hatchet

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

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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jewel box / jewel-box

Nice place to keep a breast-pin.

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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rags for paper

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

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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surveyors’ house

railroad section house occupied by the Ingallses in 1879-1880

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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breast-pin / brooch

Ornament worn on clothing.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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Laura Speaks

Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo

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poor man’s fertilizer

Snow plowed into a field.

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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tattoo

Sounds like beating drums!

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copperplate

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

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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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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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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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dictionary

The words of a language.

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lantern

A light meant to be carried.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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Bloody Benders

Serial killers in 1870s Kansas.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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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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“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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Jerome Bisby

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

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New England States

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

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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