I moved some juvenile bios of Laura Ingalls Wilder recently, and I noticed all the bits of paper sticking out of Beatrice Gormley’s “Childhood of Famous Americans” book, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Young Pioneer (New York: Aladdin Paperbacks), 2001. I tend to order anything about LIW sight unseen, and I must say that most of the juvenile biographies are really quite nice; it always amazes me how many there are and that new ones seem to be published all the time! They’re usually taken from William Anderson’s writings, and the most fault I can find with them is that authors sometimes mix apples and oranges, or use bits from Wilder’s fiction and bits from Wilder’s real life, mix at will, and call it “the true story.” I’m guilty of the same thing from time to time; it’s hard not to do it.
But Gormley’s book really, really offended me when I read it. There were just so many pure-T wrong statements! I don’t know if recent editions have been corrected; one can only hope that there aren’t still children (and adults) out there reading that the Ingalls family crossed the Missouri River as they left Pepin.
I’m going to look at the notes I left in the book to see what else jumped out at me. I would never recommend it to anyone, and it feels a little wrong to be writing about it at all.
First of all, it’s quite obvious that Gormley used one of the Pioneer Girl manuscripts as part of her research. But even parts of Pioneer Girl aren’t accurate; the hand-written manuscript is only as accurate as Laura’s memory at the time it was written, and the later typed versions have lots of extras, often courtesy of Rose.
So when Gormley writes that the “high water” episode from Little House on the Prairie really happened as the Ingalls family was leaving Indian Territory, you know that her source for this information was Pioneer Girl, but who’s to say that Laura didn’t realize after Pioneer Girl was written that it happened on the way to Indian Territory? And, of course, there are no footnotes or endnotes in Gormley’s book (or most other juvenile biographies).
I was going to include my list of things Gormley “got wrong” imho, not to generate a debate or to be a nasty person, just because the “historical accuracy” thing has been on my mind as I do my own recent research. But I’ve decided not to do the whole list, just the first ten I flip to.
(1) Pa sold his Big Woods farm to Mr. Peterson.
(2) The Floweret is all verses.
(3) Uncle Peter’s children were Alice, Ella, Peter, and Edith.
(4) The Ingallses arrived in Walnut Grove in the summer of 1874.
(5) Nellie was Laura’s age.
(6) Tommy Steadman was the baby of the Steadman family.
(7) George and Maggie Masters moved in with the Ingalls family in the fall of 1880.
(8) Laura worked for Mrs. Clayson for six weeks.
(9) Mr. Clewett taught the De Smet school after Eliza Jane Wilder.
(10) The Gilbert family was shiftless. (This one is just plain laughable, sorry.)
Ranting aside, I know that that “Little House” books are historical fiction, and as such, they might not always tell the historically accurate story, which is perfectly acceptable. Some LIW biographers (we’re talking juvenile bios, here) do a great job emphasizing where “Laura got it right” while not drawing too much attention to where fiction and history aren’t quite the same story. That’s okay by me, but your mileage may vary.
I’m not a biographer; I’m a researcher (a researcher who hates to write, btw). I research little bits of Laura’s life and history as it interests me. Right now, I’m a researcher desperately in need of a tangent. It’s been a while since I had a research project I could sink my teeth into, and it probably explains why I’m so darned cynical all the time lately. (Okay, I admit that I’m cynical all the time and always have been!)
I realize that not even tens of people read this blog, but I’d be interested in knowing which juvenile biographies you find enjoyable.
