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stockade

Enclosure of posts or sticks.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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The Long Winter – historical perspective

The Hard Winter of 1880-1881.

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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hogshead

100-140 gallon cask.

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geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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wintergreen

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

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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vanity cakes

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

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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ticket

All aboard!

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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Protected: James H. Clewett

De Smet teacher, January-March 1883

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E

ear flap – expelled

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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sundogs

Bright spots on either side of the sun.

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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How well do you know the Little House books?

a quiz for you!

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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R

rabbit – rye

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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Old Settler’s Day

De Smet annual reunion.

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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copper

Cu

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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Pre-1906 and 1912 De Smet Panoramic Photos

A view in every direction.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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galumphing

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

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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“Auld Lang Syne”

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

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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trough

Stock-watering vessel.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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surveyors’ house

railroad section house occupied by the Ingallses in 1879-1880

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“The Lotos Eaters”

Tennyson poem.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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lemon

The citrus fruit

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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Laura’s Bible references

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s hand-written list of Bible verses to be read in times of trouble or stress.

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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nubia

A light scarf worn about the head and neck.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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satchel

Small, soft-sided handled luggage.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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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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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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Mary Amelia Ingalls

First child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls, 1865-1928; she lost her sight at age 15.

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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George Wilmarth family

Owner of early grocery store in De Smet.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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Almanzo Wilder

The Man of the Place

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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Ven Owen

Teacher and principal of the first graded school in De Smet

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Spookendyke

Rose’s stubborn donkey

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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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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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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Christmas

Christian observation of the birth of Christ

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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roller towel

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

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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P

Pa – pussy-in-the-corner

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wheelwright

One who makes wheels and carriages.

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grippe

influenza

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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Father Pierre Jean De Smet

Missionary for whom the town of De Smet was named

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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John Armstrong

Kingsbury Co. courthouse caretaker

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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Walter Ogden

Surveyors’ House housemate 1879-80

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“Oh! Susanna”

Stephen Foster song.

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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Protected: Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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icicle

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

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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tattoo

Sounds like beating drums!

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“The Burial of Sir John Moore”

1817 poem by Charles Wolfe.

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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Tennyson’s Poems

Christmas present for Laura

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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“Ta-ra-ra-Boom-de-Ay”

1891 Henry J. Sayers song.

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hoity-toity snip

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

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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cosy / cozy

snug and comfortable

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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poll

No horns.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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popcorn

Heat makes it burst & it’s tasty.

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“Marching Through Georgia”

Union song from American Civil War.

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twilight

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

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

…last night she died

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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Caroline Ingalls

Mother of Laura Ingalls. She lived 1839-1924.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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