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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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wintergreen

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

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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vanity cakes

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

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Farmer Boy – the fictional story

Almanzo Wilder’s childhood in Burke NY.

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pieplant

Rhubarb.

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“Song of the Grass”

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

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hoity-toity snip

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

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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Dr. E. Gomer Davies

First doctor in De Smet.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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udder

Where the milk is before milking.

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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auk

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

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gloves / mittens / mitts

fingerless hand and wrist cover

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“A Motto for Every Man”

1868 Harry Clifton song.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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Kitty

the Ingallses’ cat in Dakota Territory

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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birthday

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

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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Johnny Johnson

“Wake up and watch the cattle!”

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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“Don’t Leave the Farm, Boys”

Song from The Conqueror.

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Turkey red

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

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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President George Washington

First President of the U.S.A.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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orthography

The art of spelling words correctly.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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zebra

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

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black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

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New England Supper

Fund-raising communal pot-luck meal.

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Mary Power & Edwin Sanford

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

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birds’-nest pudding

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

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Yankton, Dakota Territory

1879 land office town.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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Little House on the Prairie – the fictional story

The Ingallses in Indian Territory.

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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Albert Quiner

Laura’s cousin.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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spring tonic

Bitter purifying medicine.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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J

jabot – Justice of the Peace

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A

aboveboard – axle

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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lantern

A light meant to be carried.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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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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water alcove

Railroad car water for drinking.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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“The Gum-Tree Canoe”

1847 Steele & Winnemore song.

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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Brownsville, Texas 1906

Did Eliza Jane sell fruit to these soldiers?

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“Yankee Doodle”

Early song brought to America from Britain.

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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Hiram Ingalls

Pa’s brother.

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Spookendyke

Rose’s stubborn donkey

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emigrant car

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

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handcar

Don’t be left behind!

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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homestead

Free land! [sic]

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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T

tableland – two-faced

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“yell like a Comanche”

Imitated Indian battle cry.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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Young Pioneers

David and Molly Beaton.

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buttonhook

Curved metal tool for fastening shoes.

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carved wooden bracket

Place for a china shepherdess.

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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Mr. and Mrs. Scott

Indian Territory neighbors of the Ingallses.

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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De Smet bird’s-eye view

1883 Henry Wellge drawing of De Smet

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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Dolly Varden

NIckname of Edith Ingalls, Laura’s cousin.

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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“Keep the Horse Shoe Over the Door”

1880 Joseph Skelley song.

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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“Haste to the Wedding”

Traditional Irish fiddle tune.

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Marvin Hughitt

Officer and President of the Chicago & NorthWestern Railway Company.

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition

Destination of the Wilder brothers in the fall of 1884.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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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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accordion

musical instrument

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James McKee family

Homesteader north of Manchester D.T.

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Frogs at School

“Twenty froggies went to school…”

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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“Kitty Wells”

1858 Sloan & Atherton song.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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“Sing a Song of Sixpence”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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John Armstrong

Kingsbury Co. courthouse caretaker

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lemon

The citrus fruit

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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spider

Legged cooking vessel.

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roller towel

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

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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Mrs. Jarley’s Wax Works

Rise! Come forward!

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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“Mary of the Wild Moor”

1845 song by Joseph W. Turner.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Protected: bell

The noise-maker, not the milliner.

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parsnip

Pastinaca edulis, a white, spindle-shaped root vegetable.

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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jewel box / jewel-box

Nice place to keep a breast-pin.

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blizzard

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

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“Buy a Broom”

O Du Leiber Augustin.

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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Protected: Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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John Anderson

Walnut Grove store clerk & more

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barber

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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“The Gypsy King”

Young Laura and Mary’s favorite song!

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awl

pokes holes

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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Laura & Lansford Ingalls

Grandpa & Grandma Ingalls

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Peter Riley Ingalls family

Uncle Peter & Aunt Eliza.

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Carrie Ingalls, Homesteader

W-NW & W-SW 9-4N-20E of Black Hills Meridian

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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elephant

A very large quadruped.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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welcome!

who we are

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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The Square in Malone

Where the band played.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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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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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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“The Girl I Left Behind Me”

17th century Irish tune.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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G

gable – “Gypsy’s Warning”

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