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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“All the Blue Bonnets are Over the Border”

1829 Sir Walter Scott air.

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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drop the handkerchief / drop-the-handkerchief

Circle game.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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snow-fort

“Holler ’nuff!”

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wristlets

Knitted bands worn around the wrists for warmth.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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locust

Buy this book.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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cream of tartar / baking powder

Byproduct of wine-making process, used in baking as leavening agent.

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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Pioneer Press

St. Paul newspaper read by Charles Ingalls in De Smet

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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Alice Maria Wilder

Older sister and playmate of Almanzo Wilder. She lived 1853-1892.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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Have you seen the comet?

Tebbutt’s Great Comet of 1881.

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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literature

Knowledge and fancy preserved in writing.

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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mantel-shelf

Shelf above a fireplace.

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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velvet

Silk or blend fabric with short shag surface.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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antelope

Antilocapra cervicapra of North America.

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buffalo / bison

bison

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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ice-house

Stores ice blocks in warm weather.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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The Floweret

1842 book of verse by Anna Maria Wells.

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stockade

Enclosure of posts or sticks.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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catechism

Question & answer book of religious doctrine.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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“Lend a Helping Hand”

Hymn #22, Pure Gold for Sunday School.

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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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Carrie Ingalls

Younger sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1870-1946.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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Mr. Anderson / Niels Kopperud

Hard Winter wheat settler

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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basque

Jacket-like part of a lady’s dress.

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Missouri Pool

Smoked a pipe & grew pretty flowers.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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grippe

influenza

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poll

No horns.

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R

rabbit – rye

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“Captain Jinks”

1868 comedic opera song.

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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Q

quaker meeting – quinine

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“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

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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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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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crow

Large black bird of genus Corvus.

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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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Visscher Barnes

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

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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mother-of-pearl

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

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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Indian camps

Look! Beads!

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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mud hen / mudhen

American coot.

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Chariton County, Missouri

Location of land purchased in 1868 by Charles Ingalls, Henry Quiner, and Tom Quiner.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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“Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess”

Nursery rhyme wordplay on the name Elizabeth.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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New England States

ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, & CT.

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twilight

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

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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apron

Garment protector.

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Introspections of an Individualist

Norma Lee Browning article about Rose Wilder Lane.

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Joseph Bouchie family

Fictional Brewster family in THGY.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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harvest moon

Full moon nearest autumnal equinox

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breast-pin / brooch

Ornament worn on clothing.

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hair receiver / hair-receiver

Container to save strands of hair in.

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Syndicate Hotel

Laura & Almanzo stayed there!

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S

Sabbath – sycamore

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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jewel box / jewel-box

Nice place to keep a breast-pin.

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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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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Pure Gold for the Sunday School

Hymnal owned by the Ingalls family.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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George Whiting Ingalls

Bugle-blowing, jigging uncle.

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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galumphing

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

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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blueing bag

Whiter whites.

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last

Mold of a foot, used in making shoes.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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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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Pa’s “big green book”

George Hartwig’s The Polar and Tropical Worlds: A Description of Man and Nature.

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W

wage – writ of attachment

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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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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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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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U

udder – upland

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William H. Reed

Teacher in Burr Oak school, 1876-1877.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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Horace Woodworth family

Family of first depot agent in De Smet.

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls

Heather Williams book.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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door knob

Grab to open a door.

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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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butter tester

Instrument used to remove core sample from a vat of butter, for the sake of testing.

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Missouri Ruralist

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

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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Frank Schaub

Early harness maker in De Smet.

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starch

cloth stiffener

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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“Home, Sweet Home”

1823 Payne & Bishop song.

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“Dakota Land”

1876 hymn, Beulah Land.

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Pa’s red & white checked mittens

Fair Isle pattern.

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album

Blank booklet for collecting autographs or photos.

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fichu

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

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nubia

A light scarf worn about the head and neck.

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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satchel

Small, soft-sided handled luggage.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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apprentice

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

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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The Youth’s Companion

Weekly instructional magazine for children, first published in 1827.

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

1858 J. Warner song.

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elevator

Warehouse for seed and grain.

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Adam / adam’s apple

The first man, the progenitor of the human race.

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windlass

Device to move water or dirt from the bottom of a well to ground level.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Not by LIW, but kindred publications.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

Youngest sister of Laura Ingalls; she lived 1877-1941.

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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“Miller Boy”

“Grab!”

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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Dr. Alfred Starr

His wife wanted Laura.

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whiskey

Spirits distilled from grain.

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