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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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turnip

Cruciferous plant grown for root and greens.

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prairie danglers

seventhwinter whimsey’s glass slide pendants!

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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Spat them Out

Clapping (and kissing) game.

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starch

cloth stiffener

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geranium

Winter windowsill flowers.

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Jacob Hopp

Printer and De Smet newspaper owner.

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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barber

Shave and a haircut, two bits!

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Margaret Garland family / Cap Garland

Family living behind the Ingallses in De Smet.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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anvil

Iron block to hammer upon.

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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William H. Steadman family

Proprietor of hotel in Burr Oak.

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“My Sabbath Home”

Hymn #7, Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

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Little House in the Big Woods – the fictional story

Once upon a time, 60 years ago…

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X

xanthophyll

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Timothy Johnson family

De Smet Wagon Shop.

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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grippe

influenza

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jumping jack / jumping-jack

Jointed acrobat toy.

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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“Rock Me to Sleep”

Elizabeth Allen poem.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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morning-glory

Climbing plant of the genus Ipomœa.

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Chicago Inter-Ocean / Inter-Ocean

Republican political newspaper.

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The Athenians

Hartville, Mo. study club.

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Bloody Benders

Serial killers in 1870s Kansas.

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“The Polish Boy”

Poem by Ann S. Stephens

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dove-in-the-window / bear’s tracks

Patchwork pattern variations.

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De Smet Cemetery

Ma & Pa’s final resting place.

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Charles Ely

Early lumber man in De Smet.

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Noah’s ark toy

Willie’s toy boat with animals.

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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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consumption

A wasting disease, pulmonary tuberculosis.

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custard / ice-cream

Sweetened milk and eggs, cooked.

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“Oft in the Stilly Night”

Song from Lalla Rookh.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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biscuits

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

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wintergreen

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

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Big Sioux River / Sioux River

SD-IA tributary of Missouri River.

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roller towel

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

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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“America”

1832 Reverend Samuel F. Smith song.

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freeze drying

sublimation!

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emigrant car

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

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“My Jenny Jerusha Jane”

1868 A.G. Chase song.

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dipper / ladle / skimmer

Used to remove foam when boiling maple sap.

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chewing gum

Long white sticks of chewiness.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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starry papers

Hand-made shelf edging.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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tax

A certainty, as is death.

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hatchet

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

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le cadeau du cheval

mosaic painting featuring Almanzo’s Morgan horses

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mud hen / mudhen

American coot.

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Robbins children

“froze stark stiff”

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“Little Annie Rooney”

1889 song by Michael Nolan.

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blacking / stove-blacking / boot blacking

Preparation used to make things black.

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axle grease

Lubricant for wagon wheels and other machinery.

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Old Military Tract

Franklin Co. NY map reference

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copyright / permissions

Please do not plagiarize.

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yoke

Frame worn on the neck for lifting or drawing.

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Not by LIW, but kindred publications.

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Malone Hotels

Where the horse-buyer spent the night.

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“Ben Bolt”

1842 Thomas Dunn English song.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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button

who’s got one?

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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candy hearts

Mary’s had a candy poem on it!

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How well do you know the Little House books?

a quiz for you!

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“On Jordan’s Stormy Banks”

Long Winter song

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“To a Girl”

Poem used to describe Beatrice Sorchan.

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“There is a Happy Land”

Whoop! How those eggs do smell!

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silver castor

Rotating condiment set.

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swan

Cygnus Americanus

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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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xanthophyll

I bet you can spell this word.

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hulled corn

Hominy.

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claim

The land to which one has a right.

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dried-raspberry sauce

Dried sauce good on biscuits.

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forfeits

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

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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claim jumper / Mr. Hunter / Jack Hunt

One who ousts another from their land.

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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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copperplate

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

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Eliza Jane Wilder

Almanzo’s sister.

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muff

A warm covering for receiving the hands.

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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bank

financial institution

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mummy

Put. that. back.

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auger

hand drill

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yeast / yeast cakes

Bread-leavening organism.

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Christmas

Christian observation of the birth of Christ

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turntable

Revolving railroad platform.

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Osage Indian Treaty

Legal agreement between nations or sovereigns.

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“Jesus Holds My Hand”

Hymn #85, Pure Gold for the Sunday Schools

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The Advance

Weekly family newspaper of the Congregational church.

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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bison / “The Bison Track”

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

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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“De Boatmen’s Dance”

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

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“The Swan’s Nest”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem.

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Mansfield history

Town in Wright County, Missouri.

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South Troy / Zumbro Falls during the Little House years

Ingallses lived here with Uncle Peter.

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bangs / lunatic fringe

hair across the forehead

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cornmeal mush / hasty pudding

Cornmeal and water, cooked.

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Docia Ingalls / Hiram Forbes

Sister of Charles Ingalls married to railroad contractor.

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huckleberry

Let’s have some pie!

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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“The Ninety and Nine”

Elizabeth Clephane poem.

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Mother Goose

Fictionalized compiler of ancient nursery rhymes.

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Braille / New York Point

Used by Mary Ingalls.

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dickcissel / dickie-bird

A semi-nomadic finch, Spiza americana.

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“For the Sake o’ Somebody”

1794 Robert Burns poem.

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poll

No horns.

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cream of tartar / baking powder

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

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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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perforated paper embroidery

Stitched designs.

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bobolink

On Mary Power’s name card.

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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“Merry, Merry Christmas”

Hymn Number 150 in Pure Gold for Sunday Schools.

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“Paddle Your Own Canoe”

1850s Harry Clifton song.

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Thomas H. Ruth

President of Kingsbury County Bank in De Smet.

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“Nobody Ask’d You”

“Where are you going, my pretty maid?”

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New England States

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

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Little Town on the Prairie – the fictional story

Homesteading and town life.

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Charles Lamson

Almanzo’s cousin.

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“I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land”

1860 Daniel Decatur Emmett song.

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vanity cakes

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

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“The Tides” / The moon is at its full

1860 William Cullen Bryant poem.

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Royal Wilder

Almanzo’s older brother.

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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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Bibliography

LIW / RWL books & articles

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove laborer

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building paper / tar paper

Crude building paper used for covering.

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Ella & Robert Boast

Friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet.

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reindeer

Why didn’t they fly over the creek?

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Mr. Clancy / Chauncey Clayson

Drygoods store owner, Chauncey Clayson

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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Burr Oak during the Little House years

Town in Winneshiek County, Iowa.

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Walnut Grove during the Little House years

Village in Redwood County, Minnesota

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“The May Queen”

Poem in three parts by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

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cranberry

Good ones bounce!

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Godey’s Lady’s Book

Women’s magazine, 1830-1898.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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fascinator

Pretty, light head covering.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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ice cream / ice-cream

Sweetened cream, congealed by freezing.

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name card / name-card

Pasteboard identification.

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Charles Philip Ingalls

Father of Laura Ingalls. He lived 1836-1902.

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leap frog / leap-frog

Run and jump game.

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bale

Specific bundle of goods packaged for transport.

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gable

Triangular end of a building under the roof.

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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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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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Henry Ford’s Own Story

Industrialist and founder of Ford Motor Company.

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mosquito bar / netting

Woven cloth bug barrier.

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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The New York Ledger

Weekly story paper, published 1855-1898.

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threshing

Beating to separate.

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Doxology

Old Hundred.

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Good Templars Lodge

International temperance fraternal organization.

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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P A T

one seven seven ought

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“Uncle Sam’s Farm”

1848 Jesse Hutchinson, Jr. song.

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“The New Year’s Come”

1842 “Why chime the bells so merrily?”

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“The Evergreen Shore”

1861 William Hunter song.

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“The Mulligan Guard” / “The Skidmore Guard”

Harrigan & Hart minstrel show.

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Pioneer Girl

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s memoir.

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By the Shores of Silver Lake – historical perspective

Dakota Central comes to De Smet.

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Wilder feed store

Shhh. There’s wheat in the wall!

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Carrie Ingalls, Homesteader

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

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George C. Bradley

Early De Smet druggist.

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Julia & Amasa Tower

Walnut Grove church friends.

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Governor of Orleans / The American Remount Association

Registered stallion leased to Almanzo Wilder 1923-1925.

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china shepherdess / little china woman

Ingalls family figurine.

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“Miller Boy”

“Grab!”

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Silver Lake

Kingsbury County prairie pothole lake.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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zebra

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

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engine / locomotive / iron horse

Vehicle powered by steam and run on tracks.

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N

nailer – nutmeg

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“Coming Through the Rye”

Robert Burns tune.

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button lamp

Improvised grease lamp.

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windlass

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

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chilblain

Cold sores on hands and feet.

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David Thorp

Walnut Grove teacher 1877-78.

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needle grass

Ouch! Something bit me!

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“Tubal Cain”

Charles McKay poem.

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Amos Whiting family

Superintendent of Schools, De Smet.

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welcome!

who we are

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Peter Pfeiffer family

John May’s son-in-law.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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