LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

- August 15, 2022

Sometime last year I asked my son Rob where we were going on vacation next summer. I believe that he said something like I don't know, where do you want to go. My suggestion was Mount Rushmore, Little Big Horn battlefield in Montana and Yellowstone National Park. He liked the idea and over time my wife, my daughters Misty and Melanie, and my daughter-in-law Carrie also liked the idea. In the ensuing months the ladies began adding extra stops along the way including a day long bus tour that would start out with breakfast, an hour long stop at Mount Rushmore, a circuitous trip over Iron Mountain, thank God for Dramamine, another hour long stop at the Crazy Horse Memorial finishing the day with a dinner and a show back at our starting point. I have been blessed over the years to have been given the opportunity to see much of America and the world during my 21 years of military service and the many road trips we have taken over the years as a family. This trip, however; was a first for us. We were able to see five states that we have never visited before. Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana and Idaho. We have been to Wyoming but 1970 was the last time we were there. That was when we passed through on our way home from Oregon.

We left our home in Murfreesboro Tennessee very early on the morning of Sunday July 10th. Our car was packed to the gills with our trunk and backseat completely full. We had a 3 car caravan. Our car along with my daughter Melanie, her husband Kenny, and my grandson Russell in their car. Then there was my daughter-in-law Lisa along with my 2 grandsons Robbie and Blaine in the 3rd car. Our son Rob, our daughter Misty, her husband Ronnie, our daughter-in-law Carrie and our grandson Zachary were flying to South Dakota and would land after we arrived in Keystone near Mount Rushmore. We had motel reservations in Omaha the first night on the road and we would arrive there around 8:00 PM Sunday night. After arriving there we ate at a restaurant near Boys Town. The food was good but pricey.

Melanie and Kenny in Omaha

My grandsons Blaine, Russell and Robbie along with our daughter-in-law Lisa

My wife Debbie, Lisa and Robbie in Omaha

Laura Ingall's Wilder was born in Wisconsin during the year 1867. Her parents were Charles and Caroline Ingall's. Laura and her parents lived in Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota before moving to DeSmet South Dakota when Laura was 13. In DeSmet Charles became a homesteader for the first time. Under the Homestead Act of 1862, signed by president Lincoln, the government would allow the homesteader to acquire 160 acres of land for a fee of 10 dollars. The homesteader would eventually own the land if they lived on the land for 5 years and farmed at least 10 acres of land. Laura became a teacher at 15 and married at 18. She married Almanzo Wilder and they would have 2 children, a boy and a girl. The boy died in infancy and would be buried in DeSmet. They would move around like her parents did, living in South Dakota, Minnesota, Florida and finally settling in on a farm in Missouri. Laura died at the age of 90 and is buried in Mansfield Missouri.

Their daughter Rose Wilder Lane became a famous novelist. She encouraged her mother to write about her experiences growing up on the plains. Laura would begin writing at the age of 63 and her last book was published when she was 76. She wrote Little House in the Big Woods which became such a big hit that she followed with Farmer boy, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town On the Prairie, and Those Happy Golden Years. Although the television series has Laura living in Walnut Grove Minnesota through adulthood she lived there twice between the ages of 7 and 13. Laura's parents moved from Pepin Wisconsin where Laura was born to Independence Kansas then back to Pepin. From Pepin they moved to Walnut Grove, then to Burr Oak Iowa, then back to Walnut Grove. Finally, they moved to DeSmet South Dakota when Laura was 13 and stayed there until she was a married adult.

The Ingall's suffered through severe hardship living on the plains. I was struck by the remoteness of the land as I drove through Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. You have to be pretty tough to live there even in this modern age, much less living there in the 1800's. These people were a tough and hardy bunch. This land was not for the faint of heart. My biggest fear in the Air Force was being stationed at one of the SAC bases like Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, Ellsworth AFB South Dakota, Malmstrom AFB Montana, or SAC headquarters at Offutt AFB in Omaha Nebraska. I hate cold weather and temperatures can hit 30 below in the winter with blizzards that could bury cars and buildings. People like the Wilders had to endure weather like that as well as heat and drought in the summer. When we originally planned our trip the Wilder homestead in DeSmet South Dakota was not on the itinerary. My wife was very enthusiastic about going there because she is a big fan of the television series. It was very interesting and well worth the trip. We left our motel in Omaha early on the morning of Monday July 11th and after about a 5 hour drive we arrived at the Ingall's homestead in DeSmet.