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emigrant car

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

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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Lansford James Ingalls family

Pa’s brother and Laura’s uncle.

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Albert Quiner

Laura’s cousin.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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certificate

Written testimony of fact.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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“Down in Alabam'” / “The Old Gray Mare”

1858 J. Warner song.

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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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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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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Ernest & Minnie Green

This is not Mary & Edwin Sanford!

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locust

Buy this book.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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nubia

A light scarf worn about the head and neck.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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snowplow

Clears the tracks.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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bastion

A part of a main enclosure which projects toward the exterior.

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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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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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hair receiver / hair-receiver

Container to save strands of hair in.

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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basket

Woven container.

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“The Old Time”

Mr. Boast’s favorite song.

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

…last night she died

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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Kingsbury County, D.T.

County in eastern South Dakota, organized in 1879.

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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Pre-1906 and 1912 De Smet Panoramic Photos

A view in every direction.

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black-berry / blackberry

The berry of the bramble, Rubus fruticosous.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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Visscher Barnes

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

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F

Fair Grounds – furrow

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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Kitty

the Ingallses’ cat in Dakota Territory

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vanity cakes

Egg and flour batter fried in oil into golden brown puffs.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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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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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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homestead

Free land! [sic]

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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bacon

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

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forfeits

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

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Laura!

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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August Hanson

The Ingallses’ next door neighbor in De Smet.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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oyster

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

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lantern

A light meant to be carried.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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threshing

Beating to separate.

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

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accordion

musical instrument

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Big Tracy Cut

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

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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carpet-bag / carpetbag

Traveling-bag

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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Will Bennett

One of the younger De Smet schoolboys.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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bobolink

On Mary Power’s name card.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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stone fences

Rock wall enclosure.

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“Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-Ay”

1891 Henry J. Sayers song.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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“The Lotos Eaters”

Tennyson poem.

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Protected: Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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apprentice

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

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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Caroline Ingalls

Mother of Laura Ingalls. She lived 1839-1924.

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galumphing

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

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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Laura Remington

Mrs. Phillip Aubrey Lawrence

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Protected: James H. Clewett

De Smet teacher, January-March 1883

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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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ash withe / ash-withe

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

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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satchel

Small, soft-sided handled luggage.

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R

rabbit – rye

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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mud hen / mudhen

American coot.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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wonderful house / frame house

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

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John Ensign family

Quit crying, Howard.

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America / American

Pertaining to the United States of America.

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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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hatchet

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

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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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Dr. E. Gomer Davies

First doctor in De Smet.

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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udder

Where the milk is before milking.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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A

aboveboard – axle

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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H. W. Cooledge

De Smet photographer.

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