railroad camp / Silver Lake camp

camp. 1. The ground or spot on which tents, huts, &c. are erected for shelter, as of an army of lumbermen, &c. 2. A collection of tents huts, &c., for shelter, commonly arranged in an orderly manner. 3. The whole company or bldy of persons encamped in the same spot, as of soldiers, of surveyors, of lumbermen, &c. — Webster, 1882

“At De Smet, all was wild and still. Save the railroad camp at the lake, there was no sign of civilization anywhere…” – letter from J.B. Hall to Carter Sherwood, 1904.

     
West of Brookings, South Dakota, and heading towards Volga to the west on Highway 14, just before you cross the Big Sioux River you’ll drive pass the site of the 1879 railroad graders’ camp from By the Shores of Silver Lake (see Chapter 5, “Railroad Camp,” and Chapter 6, “The Black Ponies”). Look for the red barn on the north side of the highway. This was where the Ingallses spent a couple of days before they moved on to Silver Lake camp; the camp was on the SW Sec. 18 – T110N – R50W of the 5th Principal Meridian. There usually isn’t a sign at the Big Sioux crossing, so you might miss it if you’re not paying attention. The camp would have been on the east side of 466th Avenue, which runs north of Highway 14 / 211th Street. The graders’ camp is where Laura and her cousin Lena left from when going for the washing, supposedly 3 miles from camp. Here they heard the story of the child-bride, Lizzie, who married herself a good man at age 13.

When the surveyors were doing their thing earlier in the year, they camped farther south, on Halver Egberg’s farm, about two miles south in Section 30. The area was much more crowded than Wilder made it out to be; Egberg had been there since 1874. The Dakota Central’s railroad right-of-way (100 feet on each side of the tracks) was granted by the Right of Way Act of 1875 and was approved separately for each section the railroad crossed in 1879-1880.

Location of 1879 Graders’ Camp and Surveyors’ Camp in Brookings County.

Silver Lake Camp. (From my facebook.com/pioneergirl post dated January 9, 2020.) I’m convinced that the layout of the Silver Lake railroad graders’ camp is best left to our imaginations, because we’re probably never going to know where all the buildings were located when the Ingallses lived there. I never picture as many buildings as Garth Williams drew or the neat arrangement in The World of Little House (1996), where the railroad grade itself is ignored completely. Laura included a sketch of the area in the SSL manuscript. In the typescript, there’s this note: “Proportions may not be exactly right. My memory is vague of the north and east shore. The camp was gone when De Smet was built. In my dreams I sometimes yet ride around the livery stable and take the road home.”

Here’s how Wilder describes the Silver Lake railroad camp:

Handwritten Pioneer Girl manuscript: The shantys [sic] were in a scattered group on the north bank of a lake.

By the Shores of Silver Lake manuscript: The camp lay before them scattered along the west and north shore of the lake. The surveyors house, a real house, was farthest away on the low bank that was the north shore. The long boarding-shanty was next and much nearer on the western shore end with the long bunkhouse near it. Not far from the bunk-house was the stable for the work teams. It was a long stable built against a swell in the prairie and covered with the long slough grass. At some distance from that following the curve of the lake shore was Pa’s office and store, with the feed store at the back and then their own shanty. Several other small shanties were scattered here and there around the campsite.

By the Shores of Silver Lake typescript: The camp lay before them scattered along the west and north shores of the lake. The surveyors house, a real house, was farthest away on the low bank that was the north shore. The long boarding shanty was next and much nearer on the western shore. Near it was the long bunk-house for the men and a little way from that was the stable for the work teams. It was a long stable built against a swell in the prairie and covered with long, slough grass. At some distance from that, following the cure of the lake was Pa’s office and store with the feed store at the back. Just a little way from the store was their own shanty. Several other small shanties were scattered around the campsite.

Published By the Shores of Silver Lake: They could see the whole camp, scattered along the lake shore north of the shanty. First was the store where Pa was working with the big feed store behind it. Then the stable for the work teams. The stable was built into a swell of the prairie, and its roof was thatched with slough grass. Beyond it was the long, low bunkhouse where the men slept, and still farther away was Cousin Louisa’s long boardinghouse shanty, with supper smoke already rising from its stovepipe. Then for the first time Laura saw a house, a real house, standing all by itself on the lake’s northern shore.

     

railroad camp (SSL 1, 3, 5-11, 13-14; PG); see also surveyors’ house
     breaking camp (SSL 13; PG)
     graders’ camp (SSL 8}
     riot at railroad camp (SSL 11)