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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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twine

A strong twisted thread.

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“Haste to the Wedding”

Traditional Irish fiddle tune.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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satchel

Small, soft-sided handled luggage.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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bacon

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

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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De Smet today

Where I would like to be right now.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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auk

Extinct sea bird used to describe dovekie found by Charles Ingalls.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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Kingsbury County, D.T.

County in eastern South Dakota, organized in 1879.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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Carrie Ingalls, Homesteader

W-NW & W-SW 9-4N-20E of Black Hills Meridian

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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accordion

musical instrument

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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emigrant car

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

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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Caroline Ingalls

Mother of Laura Ingalls. She lived 1839-1924.

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Carrie Ingalls

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

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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Charles Mead

Proprietor of the Exchange Hotel in De Smet, 1880-1882.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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legal cap

legal document paper

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President George Washington

First President of the U.S.A.

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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S

Sabbath – sycamore

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Roman candle

Flaming stars and balls firework.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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cream of tartar / baking powder

Byproduct of wine-making process, used in baking as leavening agent.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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U

udder – upland

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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E

ear flap – expelled

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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Visscher Barnes

Probate Judge, VP of Temperance Society, and first director of De Smet school board.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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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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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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Henry Hinz

Owner of first saloon in De Smet and boarder at the Ingallses’.

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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Spookendyke

Rose’s stubborn donkey

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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V

vain – vote

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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churn

Cream agitator.

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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Big Tracy Cut

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

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homestead

Free land! [sic]

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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Alice Maria Wilder

Older sister and playmate of Almanzo Wilder. She lived 1853-1892.

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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A

aboveboard – axle

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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John Armstrong

Kingsbury Co. courthouse caretaker

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“Oh! Susanna”

Stephen Foster song.

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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beef

tough! juicy!

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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rags for paper

scrap cloth purchased for paper making

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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fichu

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

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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oyster

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

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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lemon

The citrus fruit

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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gloves / mittens / mitts

fingerless hand and wrist cover

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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beard / whiskers

Facial hair.

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“Kitty Wells”

1858 Sloan & Atherton song.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

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

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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Thanksgiving

Public celebration of divine goodness.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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writ of attachment

Legal document requiring action.

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twilight

Light when the sun is 0-18 degrees below the horizon.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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latch / latch-string

It’s always out!

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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