Little Town on the Prairie
Encyclopedia
Little Town on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
, was first published in 1941 and is the seventh of nine books written in her Little House
series, also known as "The Laura Years." The book is set in De Smet, South Dakota
. It opens in the spring after the Long Winter, and ends as Laura becomes a schoolteacher so she can help her sister, Mary, stay at a school for the blind in Vinton, Iowa
. It tells the story of 15 year-old Laura’s first paid job outside the home and her last terms of schooling. At the end of the book, Laura receives a teacher's certificate, and is employed to teach at the Brewster settlement, 12 miles (19.3 km) away.
On the Fourth of July, Laura, Carrie and Pa attend the celebration. They see the buggy racing, and Laura's future husband, Almanzo Wilder is the winner. Meanwhile, the family is planning to raise cash crops of corn and oats to sell for Mary's college. Blackbirds destroy both crops, but Mary goes to college after Pa sells a calf to earn the final amount needed. When Ma and Pa escort Mary to the college, Laura, Carrie, and Grace are left alone for a week. In order to stave off the loneliness stemming from Mary's departure, Laura, Carrie, and Grace do the fall cleaning. They have several problems, but the house is sparkling when they are done. Ma and Pa come home, and are truly surprised.
In the fall, the Ingalls quickly prepare for a move to town for the winter. Laura and Carrie attend school in town and Laura is reunited with her friends Minnie Johnson and Mary Power and meets a new girl, Ida Brown. There is a new schoolteacher for the winter term: Eliza Jane Wilder, Almanzo’s sister. Nellie Oleson, Laura's nemesis from Plum Creek, has moved to De Smet and is attending the school. Nellie turns the teacher against Laura and Miss Wilder loses control of the school for a time. A visit by the school board restores order; however, Miss Wilder leaves at the end of the fall term.
For the winter term, Miss Wilder is replaced by Mr. Clewett. Laura sets herself to studying, as she only has one year left before she can apply for a teaching certificate. However, she soon becomes worn out from too much study. Laura is able to relax when the town of De Smet begins having literary meetings at the schoolhouse, where the whole town gathers for fun every Friday night. They would participate in activities such as putting on a play, a spelling bee, or a wax figure show, or they would sing prairie songs. This winter is very mild, so Laura and Carrie never miss a day of school. Laura and her classmates become friendly after a birthday party for Ben Woodworth, and so Laura begins lagging in her studies, though she remains head of the class.
Laura spends the summer studying to make up for lost time. The next school year, there is another new teacher, Mr. Owen. Laura likes Mr. Owen, and they become friends. Later, during a revival at the church, Almanzo Wilder begins escorting her home from church. Near Christmas, Mr. Owen organizes a school exhibition to raise awareness to the school's needs, as the school is becoming overcrowded. Mr. Owen assigns Laura and her friend Ida Brown the duty of reciting the whole of American History up that point. He gives them this warning in advance of the other students, because they will have the most important part. Carrie is to recite a poem and she does well on the night of the exhibition. Laura’s mind initially goes blank; even so, she does wonderfully. Ida Brown does just as well. Almanzo once again sees Laura home, and offers to take her on a sleigh ride after he completes the cutter he is building.
At home, Laura is met by Mr. Boast and Mr. Brewster, who interview Laura for a teaching position at a settlement led by Brewster twelve miles (19 km) from town. The school superintendent comes and tests Laura (though she is two months too young, he never asks her age), and she is awarded a third-grade teaching certificate.
To encourage settlement of the mid-west part of the United States, Congress passed the Homestead Act
in 1862. This act divided unsettled land into sections, and heads of households could file a claim for very little money. A section was 1 square miles (2.6 km²), and a claim was ¼ of a section. 36 sections made a township. A section was identified by three numbers, for example NW quarter of Section 18, Township 109, Range 38. By paying $10.00 plus other filing fees, a man could get 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of land for his use if he could live on it for 5 years and not give up to go back east. The Ingalls’ staked one claim near Plum Creek. In the spring of 1880, Charles Ingalls filed a homestead claim south of De Smet for the NE quarter of Section 3, Township 110, Range 56.
Little Town on the Prairie takes place between the summer of 1881 and December 24th 1882.
Mary enrolled in the Iowa School for the Blind
in Vinton, Iowa on November 23rd 1881. Laura worked 12 hours a day to help provide the necessary money for Mary's clothing, books and transportation by basting shirts for 25 cents a day (the Dakota territorial government actually paid the tuition for sightless persons to attend the college, if the person was a Dakota resident).
In the context of Laura's books, the "Nellie Oleson" here is the Nellie from On the Banks of Plum Creek
, although the fact that Nellie is a fictional character should not be forgotten. In reality, Laura never saw the "Nellie" from Plum Creek again after her family left Minnesota. The "returning" character of Nellie in this book is based on a real-life colleague and rival of Laura named Genevieve Masters
.
At age 18 Laura married Almanzo Wilder
. A year of Almanzo’ s childhood in rural New York is memorialized in her second book, Farmer Boy
. Together they homesteaded and raised horses, which Almanzo loved. They had one daughter, Rose Wilder Lane
, and lost a son in infancy. Rose grew up to become an author, among other things. Laura wrote over the years in the form of essays and articles for newspapers and magazines, mostly articles related to homesteading. Laura wrote out the manuscript for each of her books by hand, and Rose helped her type and edit them. The well-known illustrations by Garth Williams
appeared in the revised editions about 20 years later.
The bodies of Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie, and Grace Ingalls, and the unnamed infant son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder
are buried in the De Smet Cemetery. Laura and Almanzo Wilder stayed briefly in Westville, Florida
in the 1890s.
Today, De Smet
, South Dakota
attracts many fans with its historic sites from the books By the Shores of Silver Lake
, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years
, and The First Four Years
. From 1879 to 1894 the Ingalls family lived in De Smet and the family homestead, a house in town built by Charles Ingalls, the Brewster School where Laura taught, and the surveyor's home the family lived in between 1879 and 1880 are open to visitors.
In addition to the Little House
books, four series of books expand the Little House series to include five generations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's family. The success of the Little House series has produced many related books including two series (Little House Chapter Books and My First Little House Books) that present the original stories in condensed and simplified form for younger readers. Additional series have been written to tell the stories of Laura’s mother, The Caroline Years, her grandmother, The Charlotte Years, and her daughter, The Rose Years. There are also Little House themed craft, music, and cookbooks.
The Little House on the Prairie television series
was loosely based on the Little House books. A total of 203 episodes were produced and originally aired on NBC from 1974 to 1982. Pa was played by Michael Landon, Ma by Karen Grassle, Laura by Melissa Gilbert. Mary by Melissa Sue Anderson, and Carrie by identical twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. The series remains popular in syndication and has been released on DVD.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of books based on her childhood in a pioneer family...
, was first published in 1941 and is the seventh of nine books written in her Little House
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...
series, also known as "The Laura Years." The book is set in De Smet, South Dakota
De Smet, South Dakota
-External links:* * * * *...
. It opens in the spring after the Long Winter, and ends as Laura becomes a schoolteacher so she can help her sister, Mary, stay at a school for the blind in Vinton, Iowa
Vinton, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 5,257 in the city, with a population density of . There were 2,299 housing units, of which 2,187 were occupied....
. It tells the story of 15 year-old Laura’s first paid job outside the home and her last terms of schooling. At the end of the book, Laura receives a teacher's certificate, and is employed to teach at the Brewster settlement, 12 miles (19.3 km) away.
Characters
- Laura is a pioneer girl in the late 19th century and the main character in the Little House books. During Little Town on the Prairie she ages from 14 to nearly 16. Laura's goal is to help earn money to help send her older sister Mary to college. She first takes a sewing job in town. Throughout the rest of the book, Laura studies so that she can earn a teacher's certificate when she turns 16. She loves living on the prairie, and initially hates living in town during the winter, though she comes to enjoy it more than she thought.
- Mary is Laura’s tall, slender older sister with blonde hair and blue eyes. She is blind due to a previous illness (which is detailed in By the Shores of Silver Lake). She is more ladylike than Laura is, preferring to remain in the house. During the book, she is enrolled in a college for the blind in Iowa. According to the book, Mary had wanted to become a schoolteacher, but could not due to the blindness.
- Carrie is around 10 years old. It is mentioned that she is not recovering from the effects of the Long Winter, and thus is frail and easily tired. She grows closer to Laura during the book, and Laura is protective of her.
- Grace is the youngest child, not yet in school, and the reader does not learn as much about her personality. She is sweet, but mischievous and usually amuses herself.
- Ma (Caroline) has a sweet disposition. Ma wants the Ingalls girls to have a good opportunity to learn, and dreams of one of them becoming a schoolteacher, as she herself was once. She and Pa make an agreement that the family will not move, so that the girls can receive an education.
- Pa (Charles) is a hard-working man, and he has dark hair and blue eyes like Laura. He loves the prairie, and the topic of moving west always excites him.
Plot
The story begins one day at supper, with Pa asking Laura whether she will accept a sewing position in town. Laura accepts the offer. This is Laura’s first real job, and she leaves with Pa to go to town. Her job is to baste shirt-waists and sew buttonholes. She hates the work but never complains, and earns $1.50 per week for a total of $9.00 before the spring rush ends. The family that she works for runs a dry goods store, but they fight a lot, which makes Laura uncomfortable. However, she completes the job because she wants to earn money so that Mary can go to a college for the blind in Iowa. Laura works through the month of June, but is let go at the end of the spring rush.On the Fourth of July, Laura, Carrie and Pa attend the celebration. They see the buggy racing, and Laura's future husband, Almanzo Wilder is the winner. Meanwhile, the family is planning to raise cash crops of corn and oats to sell for Mary's college. Blackbirds destroy both crops, but Mary goes to college after Pa sells a calf to earn the final amount needed. When Ma and Pa escort Mary to the college, Laura, Carrie, and Grace are left alone for a week. In order to stave off the loneliness stemming from Mary's departure, Laura, Carrie, and Grace do the fall cleaning. They have several problems, but the house is sparkling when they are done. Ma and Pa come home, and are truly surprised.
In the fall, the Ingalls quickly prepare for a move to town for the winter. Laura and Carrie attend school in town and Laura is reunited with her friends Minnie Johnson and Mary Power and meets a new girl, Ida Brown. There is a new schoolteacher for the winter term: Eliza Jane Wilder, Almanzo’s sister. Nellie Oleson, Laura's nemesis from Plum Creek, has moved to De Smet and is attending the school. Nellie turns the teacher against Laura and Miss Wilder loses control of the school for a time. A visit by the school board restores order; however, Miss Wilder leaves at the end of the fall term.
For the winter term, Miss Wilder is replaced by Mr. Clewett. Laura sets herself to studying, as she only has one year left before she can apply for a teaching certificate. However, she soon becomes worn out from too much study. Laura is able to relax when the town of De Smet begins having literary meetings at the schoolhouse, where the whole town gathers for fun every Friday night. They would participate in activities such as putting on a play, a spelling bee, or a wax figure show, or they would sing prairie songs. This winter is very mild, so Laura and Carrie never miss a day of school. Laura and her classmates become friendly after a birthday party for Ben Woodworth, and so Laura begins lagging in her studies, though she remains head of the class.
Laura spends the summer studying to make up for lost time. The next school year, there is another new teacher, Mr. Owen. Laura likes Mr. Owen, and they become friends. Later, during a revival at the church, Almanzo Wilder begins escorting her home from church. Near Christmas, Mr. Owen organizes a school exhibition to raise awareness to the school's needs, as the school is becoming overcrowded. Mr. Owen assigns Laura and her friend Ida Brown the duty of reciting the whole of American History up that point. He gives them this warning in advance of the other students, because they will have the most important part. Carrie is to recite a poem and she does well on the night of the exhibition. Laura’s mind initially goes blank; even so, she does wonderfully. Ida Brown does just as well. Almanzo once again sees Laura home, and offers to take her on a sleigh ride after he completes the cutter he is building.
At home, Laura is met by Mr. Boast and Mr. Brewster, who interview Laura for a teaching position at a settlement led by Brewster twelve miles (19 km) from town. The school superintendent comes and tests Laura (though she is two months too young, he never asks her age), and she is awarded a third-grade teaching certificate.
Historical Context
Though Wilder began writing the books as autobiographical recollections, they are considered historical fiction and have won a number of literary awards. In 1941, Little Town on the Prairie was awarded a Newbery Honor for exceptional children’s literature.To encourage settlement of the mid-west part of the United States, Congress passed the Homestead Act
Homestead Act
A homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
in 1862. This act divided unsettled land into sections, and heads of households could file a claim for very little money. A section was 1 square miles (2.6 km²), and a claim was ¼ of a section. 36 sections made a township. A section was identified by three numbers, for example NW quarter of Section 18, Township 109, Range 38. By paying $10.00 plus other filing fees, a man could get 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of land for his use if he could live on it for 5 years and not give up to go back east. The Ingalls’ staked one claim near Plum Creek. In the spring of 1880, Charles Ingalls filed a homestead claim south of De Smet for the NE quarter of Section 3, Township 110, Range 56.
Little Town on the Prairie takes place between the summer of 1881 and December 24th 1882.
Mary enrolled in the Iowa School for the Blind
Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School
The Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School is located in Vinton, Iowa. Students from all over Iowa are housed and educated there. Students must be legally blind to attend Iowa Braille. Students in special education are entitled to educational programming until age 21. Students may attend the school...
in Vinton, Iowa on November 23rd 1881. Laura worked 12 hours a day to help provide the necessary money for Mary's clothing, books and transportation by basting shirts for 25 cents a day (the Dakota territorial government actually paid the tuition for sightless persons to attend the college, if the person was a Dakota resident).
In the context of Laura's books, the "Nellie Oleson" here is the Nellie from On the Banks of Plum Creek
On the Banks of Plum Creek
On the Banks of Plum Creek is a children's book written in 1937 by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The fourth of nine books written in her Little House series, it is based on Laura's childhood at Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota in late 19th Century....
, although the fact that Nellie is a fictional character should not be forgotten. In reality, Laura never saw the "Nellie" from Plum Creek again after her family left Minnesota. The "returning" character of Nellie in this book is based on a real-life colleague and rival of Laura named Genevieve Masters
Nellie Oleson
Nellie Oleson is a fictional character that appeared in the children's books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her character was later adapted for the NBC television show, Little House on the Prairie. She also stars in the book Nellie Oleson Meets Laura Ingalls, by Heather Williams.Nellie was a...
.
At age 18 Laura married Almanzo Wilder
Almanzo Wilder
Almanzo James Wilder was the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and father of Rose Wilder Lane, both noted U.S. writers.- Early life :...
. A year of Almanzo’ s childhood in rural New York is memorialized in her second book, Farmer Boy
Farmer Boy
Farmer Boy is a children's historical novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder. First published in 1933, it is the second book in the nine part Little House series, also known as "The Laura Years"...
. Together they homesteaded and raised horses, which Almanzo loved. They had one daughter, Rose Wilder Lane
Rose Wilder Lane
Rose Wilder Lane was an American journalist, travel writer, novelist, and political theorist...
, and lost a son in infancy. Rose grew up to become an author, among other things. Laura wrote over the years in the form of essays and articles for newspapers and magazines, mostly articles related to homesteading. Laura wrote out the manuscript for each of her books by hand, and Rose helped her type and edit them. The well-known illustrations by Garth Williams
Garth Williams
Garth Montgomery Williams was an American artist who came to prominence in the American postwar era as an illustrator of children's books...
appeared in the revised editions about 20 years later.
The bodies of Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie, and Grace Ingalls, and the unnamed infant son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder
Almanzo Wilder
Almanzo James Wilder was the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder and father of Rose Wilder Lane, both noted U.S. writers.- Early life :...
are buried in the De Smet Cemetery. Laura and Almanzo Wilder stayed briefly in Westville, Florida
Westville, Florida
Westville is a town in Holmes County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 221. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the town had a population of 225.According to Westville town Census 2010 results, the population of the area was...
in the 1890s.
Modern Influence
De Smet, South Dakota
-External links:* * * * *...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
attracts many fans with its historic sites from the books By the Shores of Silver Lake
By the Shores of Silver Lake
By the Shores of Silver Lake, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was first published in 1939 and is the fifth of nine books written in her Little House on the Prairie series, also known as "The Laura Years." The book begins when Laura is twelve years old and the family moves to what will become De Smet,...
, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years
These Happy Golden Years
These Happy Golden Years, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, was published in 1943 and is the eighth of nine books written in her Little House series, also known as The Laura Years. This book is based on Laura's adolescence near De Smet, South Dakota, in the late 19th century, and focuses on Laura's short...
, and The First Four Years
The First Four Years
The First Four Years is a compilation of early songs by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag recorded before Henry Rollins became the band's vocalist in 1981...
. From 1879 to 1894 the Ingalls family lived in De Smet and the family homestead, a house in town built by Charles Ingalls, the Brewster School where Laura taught, and the surveyor's home the family lived in between 1879 and 1880 are open to visitors.
In addition to the Little House
Little House on the Prairie
Little House is a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published originally between 1932 and 1943, with four additional books published posthumously, in 1962, 1971, 1974 and 2006.-History:...
books, four series of books expand the Little House series to include five generations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's family. The success of the Little House series has produced many related books including two series (Little House Chapter Books and My First Little House Books) that present the original stories in condensed and simplified form for younger readers. Additional series have been written to tell the stories of Laura’s mother, The Caroline Years, her grandmother, The Charlotte Years, and her daughter, The Rose Years. There are also Little House themed craft, music, and cookbooks.
The Little House on the Prairie television series
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
was loosely based on the Little House books. A total of 203 episodes were produced and originally aired on NBC from 1974 to 1982. Pa was played by Michael Landon, Ma by Karen Grassle, Laura by Melissa Gilbert. Mary by Melissa Sue Anderson, and Carrie by identical twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush. The series remains popular in syndication and has been released on DVD.
External links
- Rock Pickle Publishing – a Historic Children’s Book website with reviews, publication history, photos of original covers, etc.
- Fact and fiction of Laura Ingalls Wilder from A to Z
- List of real life individuals from the Little House books