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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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patent / title

official property ownership document

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bacon

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

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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blizzard

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

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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R

rabbit – rye

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America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

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le cadeau du cheval

mosaic painting featuring Almanzo’s Morgan horses

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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“Miller Boy”

“Grab!”

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“Gentle Words and Loving Smiles”

Hymn 139 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“The Rock of Ages”

Painting at Rev. Brown’s.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

A large nut, the fruit of a species of Æsculus.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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Missouri Ruralist

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

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name card / name-card

Pasteboard identification.

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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herd

A number of large beasts assembled together.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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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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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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galumphing

To move in a clumsy, ponderous, or noisy manner.

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cupola

Dome-like vault on a public building.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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gaiters

Cloth ankle covering.

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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

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

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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hoity-toity snip

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

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Silas Rood

Rude by name & nature?

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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canvas

Coarse hemp or flax cloth.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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April Fool’s Day

Sticking with salt in the sugar bowl from now on.

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depot / station

Railway station.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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T

tableland – two-faced

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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button

who’s got one?

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C

cabbage – cyclone

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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N

nailer – nutmeg

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birds’-nest pudding

Dessert made of apples baked in syrup and served with cream.

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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cant-hook / cant-pole

Instrument used by lumbermen to move logs.

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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M

Ma – “My Sabbath Home”

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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Thomas Huleatt family

Neighbors of Ingalls family in Pepin Co.

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churn

Cream agitator.

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“I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land”

1860 Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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Charles H. Tinkham

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

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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copperplate

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

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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Laura Speaks

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

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twilight

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

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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Dr. William H. York

Bender victim

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Walter Ogden

Surveyors’ House housemate 1879-80

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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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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Timber Culture Act / tree claim

Passed by Congress, March 3, 1873.

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The Story of Art Smith

1915 Rose Wilder Lane serial about an aviator.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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Pa’s red & white checked mittens

Fair Isle pattern.

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Singing School

Choral music classes

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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K

Kansas – knothole

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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John Anderson

Walnut Grove store clerk & more

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O

oak – oyster

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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Reverend Edward Brown

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

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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Orion E. Stearns

Caught by blizzard of ’88.

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galluses / suspenders

Straps worn for holding up pants.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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“Mountain of the Lord”

Hymn #52, Pure Gold for the Sunday School

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U

udder – upland

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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Home Missionary Society

Group organized to raise money to start churches and Sunday schools in the west where there were none.

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Western Reserve

Land in Ohio, given to Connecticut upon agreement to give up claim to lands in Pennsylvania.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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H. W. Cooledge

De Smet photographer.

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wonderful house / frame house

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

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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cosy / cozy

snug and comfortable

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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poll

No horns.

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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starch

cloth stiffener

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cabin / log house

A small cottage; a hut or small house.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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Eleck Nelson family

Neighbors of the Ingalls family when living on their preemption claim north of Walnut Grove.

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badger

Don’t poke it with a stick!

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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Roman candle

Flaming stars and balls firework.

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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photographs

There’s a little birdie in the camera, Rose.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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auger

hand drill

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

Away Down the RIver on the O-hi-o.

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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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jewel box / jewel-box

Nice place to keep a breast-pin.

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crocheted rag rug

Crocheted floor covering made of strips of cloth.

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory”

From The Conqueror, page 144.

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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equinoctial storm

Severe wind and heavy rain that occurs at or near the time of an equinox.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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Dr. E. Gomer Davies

First doctor in De Smet.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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Rocky Ridge Farm

The Wilders’ Missouri farm east of Mansfield

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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