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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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herd

A number of large beasts assembled together.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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Dr. William H. York

Bender victim

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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birthday

As near as I can figure, E.J. was right.

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H

hack – hypocrite

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beef

tough! juicy!

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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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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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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bell

The noise-maker, not the milliner.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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Thanksgiving

Public celebration of divine goodness.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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U

udder – upland

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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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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove laborer

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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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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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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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fichu

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

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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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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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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icicle

Conical mass of ice, formed by water freezing as it flows downward.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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wonderful house / frame house

Wooden house built on Charles Ingalls’ Plum Creek preemption claim.

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G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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telegraph

Don’t let Jimmie shock you with it!

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Laura!

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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bacon

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

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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Charlotte Quiner Holbrook

Caroline Ingalls’ mother

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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Laura & Lansford Ingalls

Grandpa & Grandma Ingalls

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Not by LIW, but kindred publications.

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James McKee family

Homesteader north of Manchester D.T.

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locust

Buy this book.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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copperplate

Variable-width handwriting script made with a flexible, pointed nib.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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ticket

All aboard!

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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hatchet

A small ax with a short handle, to be used with one hand.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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W

wage – writ of attachment

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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Stories of the Moorland

1869 book by Lizzie Bates about a young boy growing up in Scotland.

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apron

Garment protector.

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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Laura Speaks

Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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Reverend Stewart Sheldon

American Home Missionary Society Superintendent 1874-1886.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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blizzard

In 1880-1881, a long, severe, blinding, and bitterly cold snowstorm.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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T

tableland – two-faced

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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L

lace – lynx

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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ostrich tips / feathers

Short bobbing feather used for hat decoration.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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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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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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hoity-toity snip

Thoughtless, giddy, haughty, flighty, gay, and noisy.

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P

Pa – pussy-in-the-corner

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auk

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

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