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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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candle / tallow

Used to furnish light.

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

De Smet, D.T., 1883-1885.

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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cannon

Military engine used for throwing balls and other instruments of death by the force of gunpowder.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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honey

Bee-made sweetness.

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Mr. Hanson

Walnut Grove land trader.

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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James McKee family

Homesteader north of Manchester D.T.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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P

Pa – pussy-in-the-corner

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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April Fool’s Day

Sticking with salt in the sugar bowl from now on.

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justice / Justice of the Peace

Limited jurisdiction magistrate.

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E

ear flap – expelled

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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Verdigris River

River that runs through Montgomery County, Kansas.

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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Godey’s Lady’s Book

Women’s magazine, 1830-1898.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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threshing

Beating to separate.

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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stone fences

Rock wall enclosure.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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accordion

musical instrument

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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Noah’s ark toy

Willie’s toy boat with animals.

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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spelling / speller

The order of letters in a word. / A book of exercises on the order of letters.

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Missouri Ruralist

The Missouri Ruralist. A twice-monthly Missouri farm periodical...

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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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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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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rubber

Used for waterproofing.

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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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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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Charlotte Quiner Holbrook

Caroline Ingalls’ mother

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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Father Pierre Jean De Smet

Missionary for whom the town of De Smet was named

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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R

rabbit – rye

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candy hearts

Mary’s had a candy poem on it!

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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Charles & Martha Harrison / Patterson

Charles and Elizabeth May Rundle.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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Kingsbury County, D.T.

County in eastern South Dakota, organized in 1879.

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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vanity cakes

Egg and flour batter fried in oil into golden brown puffs.

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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ostrich tips / feathers

Short bobbing feather used for hat decoration.

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Perry School

April 28 – June 27, 1884

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

Now is now. It can never be a long time ago.

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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Have you seen the comet?

Tebbutt’s Great Comet of 1881.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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bacon

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

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depot / station

Railway station.

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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le cadeau du cheval

mosaic painting featuring Almanzo’s Morgan horses

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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picket rope / pin / line

animal tether

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mother-of-pearl

Hard, silvery, brilliant, internal layer of several kinds of shells, particularly oysters.

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Uncle Sam

Figure symbolizing the United States.

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Not by LIW, but kindred publications.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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nine-patch / Laura’s double nine-patch Irish chain quilt

Quilt block pattern.

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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Pittsburgh Courier

Widely-circulated black newspaper, which Rose Wilder Lane wrote a column for in the 1940s.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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poll

No horns.

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Carrie Ingalls

Younger sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1870-1946.

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churn

Cream agitator.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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S

Sabbath – sycamore

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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wintergreen

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

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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“I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land”

1860 Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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flag

the banner

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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Samuel O. Masters / William J. Masters families

Walnut Grove, Burr Oak, and De Smet family known by the Ingallses.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition

Destination of the Wilder brothers in the fall of 1884.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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Dr. William H. York

Bender victim

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