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auger

hand drill

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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powder horn / powder-horn

Animal horn in which gunpowder is carried.

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“What Shall the Harvest Be?”

1850 Emily Oakley poem.

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B

bachelor – “by the pale, silver light…”

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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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Uncle Sam

Figure symbolizing the United States.

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kerosene / kerosine

Oil used for lighting.

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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Wilkin School

April 20 – July 10, 1885.

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“Here’s to the Maiden”

1780 R.B. Sheridan drinking song.

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“Old Folks at Home”

Way down upon the Swanee River!

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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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school section

Public land supporting schools.

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nutmeg

Myristica moschata, used as a spice.

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New England States

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

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Quiner graves

Abandoned cemetery off Playhouse Road.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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Dr. E. Gomer Davies

First doctor in De Smet.

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sewing machine

“Such beautiful stitching!”

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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Protected: James H. Clewett

De Smet teacher, January-March 1883

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Ida Belle Wright

Laura’s best friend in De Smet

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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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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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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Laura’s wedding silver

Wm. Rogers’ “Crown” silverplate.

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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Army bugle

Brass military horn.

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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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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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“Uncle Ned”

One of the earliest Stephen Foster songs.

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R

rabbit – rye

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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Sam Owen

De Smet boot & shoe maker… and horseman!

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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beard / whiskers

Facial hair.

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“Am I a Soldier of the Cross”

Isaac Watts hymn.

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New Ulm, Minnesota

Town in Brown Co., MN.

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poll

No horns.

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Thanksgiving

Public celebration of divine goodness.

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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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Charles & Martha Harrison / Patterson

Charles and Elizabeth May Rundle.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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“I Wish I Was Single Again”

1871 J.C. Beckel song.

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N

nailer – nutmeg

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badger

Don’t poke it with a stick!

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gloves / mittens / mitts

fingerless hand and wrist cover

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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Morocco leather

Fine goat leather.

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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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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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windrow

Line of hay raked together.

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“Buffalo Gals”

1844 Virginia Minstrels song.

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tomahawk

War hatchet used by American Indians.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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apron

Garment protector.

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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oyster

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

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Burr Oak today

Only Ingalls home in original location.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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squirrel

Rodent mammal of the genus Sciurus.

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Manchester, Dakota Territory

Railroad town west of De Smet

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“Highland Mary”

1799 Robert Burns songs, favorite of Mary Ingalls.

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telegraph

Don’t let Jimmie shock you with it!

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homestead

Free land! [sic]

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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stockade

Enclosure of posts or sticks.

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barber

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

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zenith

The point of the heavens directly overhead.

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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muskrat

Their houses predict winter weather.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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“A Shelter in the Time of Storm”

Ira Sankey hymn.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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pork-pickle

Salt and sugar pork brine.

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clear, pure green sky

Sunlight separated into colored bands at sunset.

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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buffalo / bison

bison

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Come Into the Garden, Maud

1855 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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twisting hay

makes a hot, quick fire

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lantern

A light meant to be carried.

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pullaway

Outdoor tagging game.

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cornice

Molded roof or window projection.

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Alice & Arthur Whiting

Cousin Alice Ingalls Whiting’s family.

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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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dug out / dugout

Dwelling built into the earth.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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poultice

Applied to sores to help them heal.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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pokeberry

For rosy doll cheeks.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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brakeman

Person who stops the train.

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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Hill-Billy

1926 Rose Wilder Lane book.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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tea

A man’s drink in cold weather.

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“The Gypsy’s Warning”

1864 Henry Coard song.

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stanchion

Support frame.

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fever ‘n’ ague / malaria

malaria

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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“The Star of Bethlehem”

When Marshalled on the Nightly Plane

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black bird / blackbird

Name given to various American birds.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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Lost, between sunrise and sunset…

Horace Mann quotation from his Writings, published in 1872.

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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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“Rock of Ages”

1760s Augustus Toplady hymn.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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H. W. Cooledge

De Smet photographer.

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Little Town on the Prairie – historical perspective

De Smet D.T. in the 1880s.

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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copper-toed shoes

Metal shoe protector.

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Hattie Dorchester

Jake Zickrick’s skating partner.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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Lizzie

the child bride

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Pa’s red & white checked mittens

Fair Isle pattern.

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“The High Tide”

Jean Ingelow poem.

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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Mary & Samuel Ray / Ellen & Amos Leonard

Sisters feuding over a lovely homeplace…and a man.

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church

Place of Christian worship.

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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V

vain – vote

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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hair receiver / hair-receiver

Container to save strands of hair in.

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Carrie Ingalls, Homesteader

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

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Santa Claus / Santa Clause

Ho. Ho. Ho.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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photographs

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

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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carpet-bag / carpetbag

Traveling-bag

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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nine-patch / Laura’s double nine-patch Irish chain quilt

Quilt block pattern.

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Edward H. Couse

Early hardware store owner in De Smet.

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copperplate

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

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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“Bonny Doon”

1792 Robert Burns song.

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Charles Mead

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

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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land office

Where sales of public lands are registered.

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scones

“Mamabess is growing fat.”

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picket rope / pin / line

animal tether

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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railroad cut / fill

How you level a railroad grade.

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“The Floating Scow of Old Virginia”

1847 Charles White song.

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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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willow

Tree of the genus Salix.

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“The Pied Piper”

Robert Browning poem.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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April Fool’s Day

Sticking with salt in the sugar bowl from now on.

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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ambition

Act of obtaining an object of desire.

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Reverend Edward Brown

Minister of the First Congregational Church of De Smet, 1880-1884.

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button

who’s got one?

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“Money Musk”

Traditional American dance tune.

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Laura & Lansford Ingalls

Grandpa & Grandma Ingalls

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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Fred Fields / Big Jerry

Railroad boss and his brother-in-law.

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“Gaily Now Our Boat is Sailing”

Singing school exercise

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mother-of-pearl

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

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railroad camp / Silver Lake camp

Temporary dwellings for workers during surveying or construction.

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milk pan / milk-pan / milkpan

Where cream rises.

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Mrs. Jarley’s Wax Works

Rise! Come forward!

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tiger

Noah’s ark toy piece.

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Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

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Blanche Coday

Rose’s friend.

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“Camptown Races”

1850 Stephen Foster song.

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“Give us this day our daily bread”

The City, a Mc Kee plain glassware pattern.

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awl

pokes holes

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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Mary Blanche Howard

Mary’s roommate in Vinton.

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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chestnut / horse chestnut

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

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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dumpling

Dough cooked in liquid.

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“nervous as a witch”

restless

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Alfred Thomas

He was MARRIED, people!!

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These Happy Golden Years – the fictional story

Laura teaches and falls in love.

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