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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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birthday

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

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Charles Mead

Proprietor of the Exchange Hotel in De Smet, 1880-1882.

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railroad camp / Silver Lake camp

Temporary dwellings for workers during surveying or construction.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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Bloody Benders

Serial killers in 1870s Kansas.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls today

Little town along the Zumbro River.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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F

Fair Grounds – furrow

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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blizzard

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

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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slate

Stone used as tablet for writing upon.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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“The Star-Spangled Banner”

Our National Anthem; words by Francis Scott Key.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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Women’s Christian Temperance Union

W.C.T.U.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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rags for paper

scrap cloth purchased for paper making

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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twin lakes

Lake Henry & Lake Thompson

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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H

hack – hypocrite

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grippe

influenza

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bureau

A dresser / chest of drawers.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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justice / Justice of the Peace

Limited jurisdiction magistrate.

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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Henry O. Quiner family

Ma’s brother, married to Pa’s sister Polly.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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hatchet

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

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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bison / “The Bison Track”

Bayard Taylor poem about Bos Americanus, found in Independent Fifth Reader.

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dictionary

The words of a language.

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batten / lath

Thin, narrow board for fastening or joining.

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O

oak – oyster

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U

udder – upland

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pieplant

Rhubarb.

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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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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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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Visscher Barnes

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

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Becky Newhall / Rebecca Stewart

Classmate of Laura Ingalls in De Smet.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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Dr. Robert Hoyt

Husband of Mattie Masters.

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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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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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“Love’s Old Sweet Song”

1884 song by Bingham & Malloy.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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“Home of the Soul”

1865 E.M.H. Gates hymn.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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These Happy Golden Years – historical perspective

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

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove laborer

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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Christmas

Christian observation of the birth of Christ

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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oyster

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

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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blueberry

a kind of whortleberry

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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Arthur Sherwood

Brother of Carter Sherwood.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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cannon

Military engine used for throwing balls and other instruments of death by the force of gunpowder.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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“The Good Old Way”

Hymn 18, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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“Irish Washerwoman”

Traditional Scottish and Irish song/dance song.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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“The Blue Juniata”

1841 Marion Dix Sullivan song.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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Laura & Almanzo Wilder house in De Smet

Home of Almanzo, Laura, & Rose 1892-1894

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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awl

pokes holes

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X

xanthophyll

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Charlotte Quiner Holbrook

Caroline Ingalls’ mother

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John Anderson

Walnut Grove store clerk & more

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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Singing School

Choral music classes

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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biscuits

A kind of un-fermented bread, formed into flat cakes, and baked.

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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“Come In and Shut the Door”

Circa 1862 song by J.P.H.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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“The Treadmill Song”

Oliver Wendell Holmes poem set to music.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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isinglass

mica for stove windows

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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Protected: Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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cornice

Molded roof or window projection.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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“Song of the Grass”

Song from Leslie and Randall’s The Conqueror, page 16.

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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icicle

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

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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George A. Williams

Superintendent of Schools, 1883.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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birds in their little nests agree

Miss Wilder knew nothing about birds.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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copper

Cu

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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Dr. William H. York

Bender victim

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Laura Speaks

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

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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oranges

Citrus fruit.

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canvas

Coarse hemp or flax cloth.

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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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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churn

Cream agitator.

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zebra

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

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S

Sabbath – sycamore

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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August Hanson

The Ingallses’ next door neighbor in De Smet.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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fichu

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

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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“nervous as a witch”

restless

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willow-ware

Blue-and-white tableware with Chinese story paintings.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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buck / buckskin

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

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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legal cap

legal document paper

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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accordion

musical instrument

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cosy / cozy

snug and comfortable

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