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Charles Mead

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

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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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locust

Buy this book.

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what-not / whatnot

An étagère for books & ornaments.

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William O’Connell

Fictional Bill O’Dowd.

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Visscher Barnes

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

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Z

zebra – Zion City

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stanchion

Support frame.

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“Golden Years are Passing By”

1879 Will Thompson song.

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mercury / thermometer

Used to measure air temperature.

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Henry Burvee

One of the first settlers in Kingsbury Co.

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Oscar Rhuel / Röhl

A romantic figure…

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“Darling Nellie Gray”

1856 Benjamin Hamby song.

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le cadeau du cheval

mosaic painting featuring Almanzo’s Morgan horses

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Ingalls office / store in De Smet

NW and SE corners of Calumet and Second.

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fanning-mill

Machine for winnowing.

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whip

A lash tied to a handle.

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Baby Boy Wilder

Son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder

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cottonwood tree

Wetland plains tree, Populus fremontii.

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wall-paper

Wall covering.

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threshing

Beating to separate.

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chapel

Place of worship.

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Grace Pearl Ingalls

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

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roller skates / rink

Wheeled frame for the shoe.

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“Life Let Us Cherish”

1796 Swiss song translated to English.

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garnet

Deep orange-red gemstone.

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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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breast-pin / brooch / bar pin

Ornament worn on clothing.

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post office / post-office

Where you send and receive mail.

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Florence Bell

Milliner and dressmaker in De Smet.

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“A Life on the Ocean Wave”

1847 Epes Sargent poem put to music.

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tableland

Elevated flat land; a plateau.

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A Modern Musketeer

In which Rose becomes a great actress.

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Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography

Laura’s handwritten manuscript.

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Minnie Johnson

Laura’s schoolmate in De Smet

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C

cabbage – cyclone

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canvas

Coarse hemp or flax cloth.

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S

Sabbath – sycamore

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flag, the flower

An aquatic flower, Iris versicolor.

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Hide the Thimble

You’re getting warmer…

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by jingo!

A corruption of St. Gengoulph.

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Y

“Yankee Doodle” – Youth’s Companion

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Volga, Dakota Territory

Town on the Dakota Central R.R. between Brookings and Arlington, platted in 1879.

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Jerome Bisby

Burr Oak singing teacher

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How well do you know the Little House books?

a quiz for you!

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“Pull for the Shore”

Sunshine for Sunday Schools hymn.

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saleratus / soda

Leavening agents used in baking.

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quarter section / quarter-section

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

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Spookendyke

Rose’s stubborn donkey

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Ross family

Neighbors in the Perry District.

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Turkey red

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

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Willard Seelye

De Smet teacher, 1881-1882.

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ice cream social

Laura and Almanzo didn’t enjoy it.

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“The Sculptor Boy”

Carrie recited it.

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apprentice

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

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“Jingle Bells”

1857 James Pierpont song.

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Horace / Homer Heath

Railroad-working brothers.

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cat hole / cat-hole

Jack will keep other animals from using it.

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Charles Ingalls: The Civil War Years

Charles Ingalls: the Civil War Years

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census taker

Statistical registration of members of a country.

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twine

A strong twisted thread.

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barrel

Round vessel or cask made of wooden staves.

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James Glover family

Students in the Wilkin School.

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“Pop! Goes the Weasel”

Traditional American song.

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gingerbread

Chocolate frosting adds to the goodness!

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nickel

The metal. Or five-cent piece.

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“The Silver Moon”

Sail on, silver moon…

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clinched nail

Bent at a right angle.

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carpet-bag / carpetbag

Traveling-bag

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T

tableland – two-faced

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“Sweet By and By”

Pa’s favorite hymn.

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buffalo beans

Prairie ground plum.

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Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…

From Robert Herrick poem.

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“Old Dan Tucker”

Mr. Edwards sings it!

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Little House in the Big Woods – historical perspective

Pepin Twp., Pepin Co. Wisconsin

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starch

cloth stiffener

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De Smet during the Little House years

The Ingalls family moved here in 1879.

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Will Barnes

Walnut Grove laborer

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riot / Tracy railroad strike

Tracy in June, not De Smet in September

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“Old Grimes”

1822 Albert Gorton Greene poem.

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poke bonnet / poke-bonnet

the lining matched Laura’s eyes

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Rocky Ridge Farm

The Wilders’ Missouri farm east of Mansfield

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Protected: private post

Go away AI; you are not welcome here.

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Supposed Speech of Regulus

From Independent Fifth Reader.

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Laura Speaks

Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo, Al-MAN-zo

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lone cottonwood / lone tree

The big one between the lakes.

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buckwheat pancakes

Seeds of the flowering plant Eriogonum used as a grain.

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bear grease

Bear fat hair dressing.

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pasteboard / lambrequin

Paperboard used as base for decorative edging.

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cottage cheese

Curdled skim milk.

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whalebone

Baleen used in corsets.

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links

Helps you find what you’re looking for.

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“Nellie was a Lady”

…last night she died

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Carrie Ingalls

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

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amen / amen corner

Expression used at the end of prayers.

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Sam Owen

De Smet boot & shoe maker… and horseman!

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John H. Carroll

Early De Smet banker.

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Little House Songs

Prairie Song Companion

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forfeits

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

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“The Singing School”

1869 P. Benson song.

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awl

pokes holes

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Stories of the Moorland

1869 book by Lizzie Bates about a young boy growing up in Scotland.

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Hotel keeper’s family struck by lightning

E.P. LeSuer of Canby, Minnesota.

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Mr. Hanson

Walnut Grove land trader.

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Commentators on the Ac’s

Pa’s charade pun.

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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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Charles Trousdale

De Smet drayman and his performing sons.

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birthday

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

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wild prairie rose

RWL was their namesake, my dear.

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On the Banks of Plum Creek – the fictional story

Farming struggles in Minnesota.

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

Quilt block pattern.

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Quaker meeting

Parlor game in which players try to remain silent.

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Belgian horse

They’d pull a barn, if hitched to it.

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lief

Gladly; willingly; freely.

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“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

1863 Louis Lambert song.

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Thomas C. Wilkin family

Florence Wilkin’s father.

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Thomas P. Power family

De Smet tailor.

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buck / buckskin

Male of the fallow deer, and leather made from its skin.

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St. Lawrence River

A streak of silver on the horizon.

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peddler’s cart / wagon

A little store on wheels.

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Timber Culture Act / tree claim

Passed by Congress, March 3, 1873.

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I

“I am Mrs. Jinks…” – “I wouldn’t marry a farmer”

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Martha Perry / Mrs. White

Laura helped her sew shirts.

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cradle scythe

Blade and handle used to cut oats.

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“Billy Boy”

English folk song.

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surveyor

One who measures land and delineates the same on paper.

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sulky / sulky plow

One-seated conveyance.

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Walter Ogden

Surveyors’ House housemate 1879-80

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Thomas Quiner

Ma’s brother and Laura’s uncle

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Will Knight

Walnut Grove revival singer.

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tiger lily

Native spotted flower of tallgrass prairie.

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“By Lo, Baby Bunting”

Mother Goose rhyme.

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beef

tough! juicy!

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ash withe / ash-withe

A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band for tying.

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Eskimo / igloo

Tribes of arctic America and Greenland. / Snow hut.

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“Daisy Deane”

1863 song by Union soldiers.

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gopher

Four don’t go fur…

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“The Battle-Cry of Freedom”

We’ll Rally Round the Flag, Boys!

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ground-cherry

Variety of husk tomato.

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worm / angleworm

common soil worm

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killdeer

Small aquatic bird.

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Jim River / James River

A tributary of the Missouri River.

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“The Campbells are Coming”

Traditional Scottish jig.

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picket rope / pin / line

animal tether

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Jerome Beardsley family

De Smet hotel keeper.

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James Kennedy family

Walnut Grove farming family, originally from Canada.

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missionary barrel

Collection of items distributed to the needy.

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Sale of School Lands on the Osage Diminished Reserve

LHOP cabin was on Section 36

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butter

Edible fatty substance made by churning cream.

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acre

4840 square yards of land.

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greenhorn / greeny

Immature, raw, awkward.

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Mrs. Jarley’s Wax Works

Rise! Come forward!

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ante-over / anti-over / anteover

Game in which a ball is thrown over a structure.

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Freddy Ingalls

Laura’s brother (1875-1876)

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“Wait for the Wagon”

Buckley and Knauff song.

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Burke / Malone during the Little House years

Almanzo Wilder birthplace.

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“Lilly Dale” / “Lily Dale”

1852 song by H.S. Thomson.

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windlass

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

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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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bastion

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

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bacon

Hog’s flesh salted or pickled and dried, usually in smoke.

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welcome!

who we are

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cat’s cradle

Game played with string twisted on the fingers.

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badger

Don’t poke it with a stick!

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Little House on the Prairie – historical perspective

LHOP history

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“The Heavens Declare the Glory”

From The Conqueror, page 144.

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claim shanty

Temporary dwelling.

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swimming hole

Watch out for ankle grabbers!

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Protected: Alfred Ely

One of the younger boys in school.

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Jack Frost

A popular personification of frost.

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“Uncle John”

Play song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

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Maude Blair

Walnut Grove friend of Laura’s

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calendar

What’s today’s date?

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mud hen / mudhen

American coot.

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Laura’s Sorosis Club speech

“My Work”

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Spin-offs and Adaptations of the Little House Books

Not by LIW, but kindred publications.

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Jesse French

Butchered oxen during the Hard Winter.

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Henry O. Quiner family

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

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Reverend Edwin H. Alden

Walnut Grove Congregational minister and missionary in Dakota.

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Laura & Almanzo Wilder house in De Smet

Home of Almanzo, Laura, & Rose 1892-1894

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Uncle Sam

Figure symbolizing the United States.

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carding-machine

Straightens fibers by combing.

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“In the Starlight”

1878 Glover & Carpenter song.

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beet

Succulent root vegetable.

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fichu

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

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“Arkansas Traveler”

Traditional American folk song.

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“nervous as a witch”

restless

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milking-stool

Three legs (the cow has the udder).

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Charleton Fuller / Gerald Fuller

Hardware store owner, partnered with his brother Gerald.

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Bad Lands

Area eroded by wind & water.

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wigwam

What Almanzo’s shocked oats looked like.

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spinning wheel / spinning-wheel

Turns wool into yarn.

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Perley Day Wilder

Almanzo’s youngest brother.

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bracket lamp

Affixed lighting fixture.

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“Beware!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

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dragon-fly / dragonfly

Mosquito hunter.

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mowing machine

Farm implement for cutting hay or grain.

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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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