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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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“The Whip-Poor-Will’s Song”

1865 Harrison Millard song.

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dovekie

Arctic aquatic bird, Alle alle.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Laura loved singing school. It began with singing scales to...

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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Poverty Flat

Early De Smet residential area.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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writ of attachment

Legal document requiring action.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

      The Ingalls and Quiner families...

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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Perry School

April 28 – June 27, 1884

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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Turkey red

Durable red color, dyed with madder upon calico or woolen cloth.

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“The Sleighing Glee”

Singing school song.

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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twisting hay

Pioneer method by which dried grass is formed into compact...

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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poll

No horns.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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Rev. Royal Gould Wilder

Almanzo’s uncle.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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Thomas Power family

De Smet tailor.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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apprentice

One who is legally bound to another to learn a trade or art.

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grippe

influenza

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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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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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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De Smet bird’s-eye view

1883 Henry Wellge drawing of De Smet

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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le cadeau du cheval

2008 horse mural composed of smaller paintings of horses,...

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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ash withe / ash-withe

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

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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Jerome Bisby

Resident of Burr Oak, Iowa, during the Ingallses’ stay...

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

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

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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quarter section / quarter-section

One-fourth of a square mile, consisting of 160 acres.

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ostrich tips / feathers

Short bobbing feather used for hat decoration.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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

Quilt block pattern.

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birthday

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

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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fichu

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

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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zebra

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

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“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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wintergreen

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

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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Daniel Loftus

Early drygoods store owner in De Smet.

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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auk

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

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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Declaration of Independence

Document renouncing U.S. subjection to Great Britain.

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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butter tester

Instrument used to remove core sample from a vat of butter, for the sake of testing.

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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Will Barnes

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

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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“The Gypsy King”

Young Laura and Mary’s favorite song!

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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Charles Barker

Early De Smet grocer.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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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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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Lizzie

the child bride

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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legal cap

legal document paper

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rags for paper

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

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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“Kitty Wells”

1858 Sloan & Atherton song.

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Have you seen the comet?

Tebbutt’s Great Comet of 1881.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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