By Amy Ankrum, Emeritus Curator of the Wilder Museum
Historical events such as the Homestead Act, the building of the railroad west and the start of new pioneer towns allows children to research new subjects. What is a badger? How do you make homemade butter? What else can you use a coffee grinder for? These are all questions answered within the pages of Laura’s “Little House” series. Her books are timeless and can be read by all ages.
Laura’s how-to chapters on molding bullets, making cheese, digging a well, decorating shelves, making homemade butter, drying plums, framing a house, and smoking a ham, among dozens of daily activities fulfill the “Little House” book series’ purpose to entertain and to educate. The books also instill wholesome values that are easy to agree with and conform to.
The adventures and hands-on experiences throughout Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” series can be used to teach children of all ages history, science, home economics and how hard work can bring forth happiness and survival in the harshest circumstances. On the Banks of Plum Creek, comes to life off the pages while visiting Walnut Grove, M004E. Visit the museum, walk the banks of Plum Creek and remember Laura’s past.
Laura’s stories parallel the obstacles and triumphs that every family faces at some point in their lives. The train whistle beckoned Pa Ingalls westward. That distant whistle resonated with a mix of excitement, memories, a few regrets, and a strong hope for a better tomorrow. Laura’s books can also resonate in us, bringing forth images, thoughts and feelings. The Ingalls hoped for a better life for their friends and their children. They sacrificed and worked hard to make that dream come true. We are all, when we are at our best, drawn to give of ourselves to make life better for others.
It was an oasis in the tall grass prairie. Walnut trees grew and thrived on a little stream that was home to a few trappers and a resting place for travelers. This small dot on the plains would eventually become Walnut Grove with the meandering Plum Creek immortalized in the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder some sixty years after her family worked the land and made friends with many other pioneers.
The story of the Charles Ingalls’ family began long before they arrived in Walnut Grove in the Spring of 1874. Charles was born on January 10, 1836 in Cuba Township, New York. Caroline Quiner was born December 12, 1839 in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The United States was growing rapidly. The territories to the west were rich in game, furs, farmland, and open range.
Charles and Caroline were married February 1st, 1860 by Reverend Lyman in Concord Township, Wisconsin. Civil War erupted the following April. The Homestead Act of 1862 sent thousands westward with hopes of free land and more opportunity. The Civil War raged through 1865.
Mary and Laura were born near Pepin, Wisconsin in the Ingalls’ log cabin. Mary Amelia arrived on January 10, 1865 and Laura Elizabeth on February 7, 1867. In the fall of 1868 the Ingalls family moved to Montgomery County, Kansas just 13 miles outside of Independence, where their daughter, Caroline Celestial “Carrie” was born on August 3, 1870. Hearing a rumor that the government planned on returning the land they were living on to the Native Americans, Charles moved back to Wisconsin. Charles had unknowingly settled three miles into what was called the Osage Diminished Reserve. The man who bought their log cabin could not pay for it, and the Ingalls moved home to Wisconsin.
In October of 1873, Charles once again sold the family’s Wisconsin home and land to a Swedish farmer named Anderson for $1000. The family moved in with Uncle Peter and Aunt Polly Ingalls. On February 7, 1874, Laura’s 7th birthday, the two families crossed frozen Lake Pepin. They stayed at the Lake City Hotel until Charles and Peter located an abandoned cabin. The families waited until spring to continue by wagon. Peter chose a farm on the Zumbro River but Charles continued west. Laura heard her first train whistle on this journey. Charles brought the family to a new pioneer town called Walnut Station. This town had a railroad and several businesses and residences. Charles learned that a Norwegian settler, Anders Haroldson (Laura’s Mr. Hanson), who lived about a mile north of town, wanted to sell his land. Charles bought the 172 acres of fertile land along with the dugout on Plum Creek. Charles’ plans were solid. Charles began working his plow and ox team, turning up the sod for wheat fields. With a large crop, their future was assured. Caroline kept house in the dugout with Mary and Laura’s help.
During the summer of 1874, Charles and Caroline helped organize the Union Congregational Church with the help of Reverend Edwin Alden, a traveling Home Missionary, who was in charge of bringing new churches to various pioneer towns, including Walnut Grove. On December 20, 1874, a new bell rang out over the prairie, announcing the dedication of the newly-built church. In Spring of 1875, Charles moved the family into a new house that was built of yellow pine lumber brought in by the railroad and purchased on credit. The wheat crop was lush and green, and Charles thought a house would be a wise investment. Eleck Nelson assisted Charles in building the new home. Because they were close neighbors, Caroline and Olena Nelson also spent a lot of time together with their children. A new school was built in the spring of 1875. Mary and Laura would have attended this school.
Swarms of grasshoppers (locusts) devoured all the area crops and gardens in 1875. “I have lived among uncounted millions of grasshoppers,” Laura later wrote, “I saw their bodies choke Plum Creek. I saw them destroy every green thing on the face of the earth.” Charles walked 200 miles east to find work. His crops had been destroyed and the family needed money. This would be the first of several grasshopper plagues. On return to Walnut Grove, Charles moved his family into town to avoid the harsh blizzard weather and to allow the girls to still attend school. On November 1, 1875 the Ingalls family grew. Charles Frederick was born. Laura and Mary fondly called him Freddie.
In the spring of 1876 the Ingalls moved back to their frame house by Plum Creek. Charles planted a small field of wheat. He was unsure what nature would bring. The grasshoppers once again covered the area, destroying vegetation and the clothes off the line. William Steadman, a friend from church, purchased a hotel from William Masters in Burr Oak, Iowa. He asked Charles to bring his family back east to work at the hotel in the Fall. On July 10, 1876 Charles sold the 172-acre farmstead to a new settler named Keller. The Ingalls family once again loaded up the covered wagon and traveled east to live the rest of the summer with Charles’ brother, Peter Ingalls. Baby Frederick was very ill. On August 27, 1876, the “awful day” as Laura Ingalls Wilder later wrote, baby Freddie died. It is said he is buried near South Troy, on land Peter Ingalls owned.
The family moved to Iowa. Burr Oak was an older town that was a crossroads for travelers. The family lived on the first floor of the Burr Oak House (now known as the Masters Hotel). Caroline cooked, cleaned and laundered with Mrs. Steadman and a hired girl. Charles worked odd jobs at the hotel. During the winter of 1877 Mary, Laura and Carrie continued their schooling. Grace Pearl, the last Ingalls child, was born on May 23, 1877. No matter how hard they worked, they were not able to make ends meet. In the Fall of 1877 the Ingalls returned to Walnut Grove.
They lived with the Ensign family until Charles could build a new home. Charles continued to work at various carpentry jobs and manual labor to support his family. On November 4, 1877, Reverend Leonard Moses was ordained minister of the Congregational Church. Laura earned the treasured reference Bible by participating in the afternoon ministry at the Methodist. Later that spring, Charles opened a butcher shop. Charles became a trustee in the congregation. Mary, Laura and Carrie enrolled for both the spring and summer terms of school in 1878. Still, for many, each day was a challenge for survival. The people of Walnut Grove were a hardy lot. They had survived raging prairie fires, frigid winters, hard births, plagues of grasshoppers and the loneliness of isolation and separation from their families.
March, 1879 Charles helped organize the village of Walnut Grove and was elected Justice of the Peace. Mary fell ill with scarlet fever in the spring of 1879. By July, 1879, Mary was entirely blind. Laura became Mary’s eyes and described the world to her sister. Charles loved to play the fiddle. Laura’s books are filled with references to religious, patriotic and children’s songs. It provided a release and a way to express joy and share time together.
Charles was restless and wanted to move further west. His sister, Docia, arrived and told Charles of a job working for the railroad. The pay was good, at fifty dollars a month. He left Caroline and the girls in Walnut Grove while he earned enough money to bring them to Dakota Territory. In September of 1879, Caroline and the girls said goodbye to their friends. They took the train from Walnut Grove to the end of the line in Tracy. They traveled to Dakota Territory where more adventures awaited. They did not return to Walnut Grove.
Milking cows, schoolyard games, vanity cakes and lemonade are but a few of the activities Laura describes in her book On the Banks of Plum Creek. Historical events such as the Homestead Act, the building of the railroad west and the start of new pioneer towns allows children to research new subjects. What is a badger? How do you make homemade butter? What else can you use a coffee grinder for? These are all questions answered within the pages of Laura’s “Little House” series. Her books are timeless and can be read by all ages.
