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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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Alice Maria Wilder

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

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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hoity-toity snip

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

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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breast-pin / brooch

Ornament worn on clothing.

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove acquaintance of the Ingallses’ in the 1870s....

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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Docia Ingalls / Hiram Forbes

Sister of Charles Ingalls married to railroad contractor.

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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udder

Where the milk is before milking.

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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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“The Whip-Poor-Will’s Song”

1865 Harrison Millard song.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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buck / buckskin

Male of the fallow deer, and leather made from its skin.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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emigrant car

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

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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Henry Hinz

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

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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dovekie

Arctic aquatic bird, Alle alle.

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zebra

Part of Willie Oleson’s Noah’s Ark toy.

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Perry School

April 28 – June 27, 1884

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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blizzard

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

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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certificate

Written testimony of fact.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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“Kitty Wells”

1858 Sloan & Atherton song.

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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pen / pen-wiper

An instrument used for writing. / Material used to clean it after writing.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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roller towel

Long towel with ends sewn together, hung on a rod.

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bacon

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

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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Roman candle

Flaming stars and balls firework.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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New England States

ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, & CT.

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Edelbert Harthorn family / Frank Harthorn & Mabel Burd

Father and son owners of early drygoods store in De Smet.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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copper

Cu

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Big Green Animal Book

George Hartwig’s The Polar and Tropical Worlds: A Description of Man and Nature.

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rags for paper

rag. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered fragment; a shred; a...

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Delos Perry family

The Perry School was on his homestead.

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watermelon-rind preserves

sugary jelly

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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auk

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

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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cranberry

Good ones bounce!

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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twilight

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

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

Youngest sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1877-1941.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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ash withe / ash-withe

A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band for tying.

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hardtack

Unleavened hard bread made from flour and water.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Bloody Benders

Serial killers in 1870s Kansas.

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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forfeits

Game in which items are deposited and redeemable by a sportive fine.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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Reverend Edward Brown

Minister of the First Congregational Church of De Smet, 1880-1884.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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oyster

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

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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