In Little House on the Prairie, Chapter 11, Pa goes hunting, leaving Jack chained to the stable. Pa tells Jack to “guard the place,” but how much guarding can a chained dog do?
Jack had stayed behind many a time when Pa went off, so one can only assume that either the chaining was written as a plot device as part of the Indians-in-the-house story, or Pa had seen Indians and didn’t want Jack to guard the place to such an extent that he could actually cause anyone any harm. Chained, Jack is no better than an early warning device.
Where the heck did I read the story of Ma carrying cornbread out and presenting it to an Indian riding by? If it’s Zochert’s book, it doesn’t count, since he gave no sources.
Once upon a time, I gave a “Little House” presentation as part of a program that involved other presentations about Indians. Actually, most of the presentations were about Indians; I think I was invited to present the opposing viewpoint. I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not to say anything bad about Indians. Not that I was planning to say that the only good Indian was a dead Indian – or that I had anything except good to say about Indians based on my own life experiences, but it was a little weird to be told in this day and age that I had to watch myself.
