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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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photographs

There’s a little birdie in the camera, Rose.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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bushel / peck

Dry quart measurements.

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“Bo-peep has lost her sheep”

Game of hiding and surprise to amuse a small child.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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awl

pokes holes

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Uncle Sam

Figure symbolizing the United States.

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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“My Old Kentucky Home”

1853 Stephen Foster song.

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braid / plait

Entwined strands.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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twilight

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

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copperplate

Variable-width handwriting script made with a flexible, pointed nib.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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whiffle-tree / whiffletree

Bar to attach traces to.

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“It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”

1912 Judge & Williams song.

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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apple pie / dried apple pie

Just like Ma used to make.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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“Great is the Lord”

Singing school song from The Conqueror.

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literary society

Instructional and entertaining gathering.

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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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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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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Charlotte Holbrook

Laura’s “Aunt Lotty”

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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cameo

Aunt Docia’s pretty collar pin.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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rags for paper

rag. A piece of cloth torn off; a tattered fragment; a shred; a...

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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the Cameron gang

fiat justitia, ruat caelum…

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Mrs. Jarley’s Wax Works

Rise! Come forward!

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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Orion E. Stearns

Caught by blizzard of ’88.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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“Oh Boys, Carry Me Along”

Stephen Foster song.

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depot / station

Railway station.

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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sheep sorrel

Tastes like lemon… or springtime?

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primer

Used to teach someone to read.

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shoe pegs

A small, pointed piece of wood, used in fastening.

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lime / whitewash

Oxide of calcium mixed with water and used for whitening.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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zebra

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

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Charles H. Tinkham

Early undertaker and owner of the first furniture store in De Smet.

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Chicago Inter-Ocean / Inter-Ocean

Republican political newspaper.

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velocipede

Carriage propelled by pedals or feet.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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milk pan / milk-pan / milkpan

Where cream rises.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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button

who’s got one?

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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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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“Hail Columbia”

1789 Philip Phile march.

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stone fences

Rock wall enclosure.

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candy hearts

Mary’s had a candy poem on it!

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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Congress

Legislative body of a country.

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Marshall, Minnesota

Almanzo Wilder farmed here in 1879-1880.

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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Little Georgie Dwight

He could not learn his letters!

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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Mr. Edwards / Edmund Mason

Was he Edmund Mason?

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“nervous as a witch”

restless

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John D. Peirson

Early De Smet liveryman.

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“Jerusalem the Golden”

Hymn from Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

      The Ingalls and Quiner families...

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storm apron

Rain protection for buggy.

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“Bean Porridge Hot”

Bean porridge cold…

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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bastion

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

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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“Polly Wolly Doodle”

Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Alice Maria Wilder

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

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quinine

Medicine used to treat malaria, made from cinchona bark.

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Waverly Novels

Sir Walter Scott books.

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Frank M. Cooley family

On the Way home travelers.

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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cream of tartar / baking powder

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

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osage orange

no good to eat or for anything else

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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birthday

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

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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President James Madison

4th President of the U.S.

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Farmer Boy – historical perspective

1860s Burke / Malone NY.

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Silliman Gilbert family

Kingsbury County farmer.

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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gosh!

that wicked word

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scour / scouring brick

To rub hard for the purpose of cleaning.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – historical perspective

Walnut Grove in the 1870s.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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the children’s blizzard

January 12, 1888, blizzard.

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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Millbank

1871 novel by Mary Jane Holmes.

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apron

Garment protector.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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clove apple / clove-apple

Spice-preserved fruit decoration.

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“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

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Hamlin Garland

…and his first Christmas tree!

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Laura, the Prairie Girl

1975-76 animated series.

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spoon holder / spoon-holder / spoonholder

Any vessel used to hold and display spoons.

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lantern

A light meant to be carried.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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Old English letters

Variety of printing type.

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Henry J. Stebbins

Railroad contractor who inspired a song.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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pen / pen-wiper

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

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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checkers

Game played on a board of 64 squares.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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“The Big Sunflower”

Pa’s trouble song.

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

1793 Robert Burns poem.

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auk

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

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parsnip

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

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A Tribute to the Early Day Teachers

Neva Whaley Harding tribute.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – the fictional story

The railroad comes to Dakota.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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“all’s well that ends well”

A proverb.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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“Three Blind Mice”

Popular nursery song, sung in rounds.

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Milking the cash cow.

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Alfred N. Waters

Attorney and land agent in De Smet.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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galumphing

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

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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bake oven / bake-oven

Coals on top and below.

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John James Ingalls

Senator from Kansas.

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winnow

Drive off chaff by wind.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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alley / alleyway

Narrow passageway, distinct from public street.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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wintergreen

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

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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Peytona & Fashion

Currier & Ives print at Rocky Ridge Farm.

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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oyster

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

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The Long Winter – the fictional story

Winter for seven months!

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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hardtack

Unleavened hard bread made from flour and water.

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bandana

Large handkerchief with white pattern on red or blue background.

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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“Barbary Allen”

Old Scotch tune.

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pumpkin

The plant and fruit of Curcubita pepo

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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Carrie Ingalls

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

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thunder-pumps

American bittern, a member of the heron family.

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composition

The act of forming a written piece.

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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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Christopher Columbus

A native of Genoa, in Italy.

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flag

the banner

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forfeits

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

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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