Laura Ingalls from the Big Woods and Back
The birth of the American dream and the life in that period is charmingly represented in Laura Ingalls' life. See more about the beginning of where America is today.
Many of us know of the famous television series Little House on the Prairie and the Little House books the series is based on. If I said the name Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is the main character in both the television and book series, many of us would think of a young, innocent, skinny, frontier girl with two long brown braids hanging in front of her shoulders whose eyes and grin sparkled and shown with mischievousness. What many of us don't know is the true life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The Laura Ingalls we know from the television series versus the books versus the true girl are exceedingly diverse. Her books depict her life story, but to make reading them easier, Laura made changes for that reason alone. The "Little House" books are not a biography of Laura's life; they fall under the classification of historical fiction.
Laura's birth took place on February 7, 1867; she was the second born to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. Their home was located in the Big Woods of Wisconsin; in the year 1868 the family left the Big Woods and moved to the state of Missouri. Laura was just a baby when this move took place and her sister Mary was at the tender age of three. They would not live there for long because of the Homestead Act of 1862.
This act "was a United States Federal law that gave freehold title to 160 acres (one quarter section or about 65hectares) of undeveloped land outside the original 13 colonies. The new law required three steps: file an application, improve the land, and file for deed of title. Anyone, including freed slaves, who had never taken up arms against the U.S. Government could file an application and improvements to a local land office. The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. Eventually 1.6 million homesteads were granted and 270,000,000 acres (1,100,000 kmē) were privatized between 1862 and 1964, a total of 10% of all lands in the United States."
Charles Ingalls, who Laura lovingly called Pa, was ecstatic by the idea of this act and took the Government up on it. He packed up his family and moved to the state of Kansas were now they would be frontier settlers who were required by law for a total of five years to live on and farm the land that was "given" to them. This land that Laura's father farmed was located on the prairies of Kansas; there he built a cabin home and a stable with the help from Mr. Edwards, a bachelor and a neighbor. The family met Mr. Edwards in the Indian Territory and became a good friend with the Ingalls family. Laura recorded an instance where Mr. Edwards braved a horrible storm and crossed a creek that had flooded, to bring gifts to her and Mary for Christmas. No one really knows who Mr. Edwards is, or if that is his true name; his identity is truly unknown and may never be revealed. He later moved to the state of Oregon but before leaving he went to visit Laura and Mary one last time and secretly slide a twenty dollar bill into Mary's lap. Laura also speaks of the Scotts numerous times who were also her neighbors and a Dr. Tann whose full name is George A. Tann. He was a black doctor practicing on a reserve that had been inhabited by the Osage tribe but was now reduced to almost nothing. Laura tells of the family contracting the dreaded disease malaria and how Jack, the family dog, and Dr. Tann saved their lives. Jack saved the lives of his family by "informing" Dr. Tann of the family's condition; Jack went to fetch the doctor. Dr.Tann took care of the family and left them in the hands of their good neighbor Mrs. Scott.
The Osage tribe though reduced was still inhabited and the inhabitants had also become neighbors of the Ingalls including the chief of the tribe Soldat du Chene. "The Indian tribes who lived in the territory the Ingalls and other white settlers were occupying had decided to make war on the settlers. Soldat du Chene and his tribe came to plead with the other tribes not to kill the white people. He told the tribes that if they began to massacre the settlers, he and his strong Osage would fight them. This persuaded the other tribes to go away peacefully. Soldat du Chene thus saved the Ingalls family's lives." As Laura was writing the Little House books she actually could not remember the name of the Indian chief, only what he had done. After Pa and Mr. Edwards completed the family's cabin home and stable, after Pa had planted his crops, the family was forced to abandon their home sometime in the fall of 1870, soon after Laura's little sister Carrie was born. Pa had heard that the government had a change of mind about opening the land up for homesteading and soldiers were headed their way to force all the settlers out of their homes. Pa decided that he was not going to wait on the soldiers and moved the family back to their old home in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Laura and Mary got reacquainted with family members including their cousins and spent much time playing with them. Laura's mother, lovingly referred to as Ma, was happy to be home but Pa wanted to make his home in the west.
This time period for America was a time of excitement and adventure, a time of expansion and growth, a time for a man to live his dream of owning his own land and working it with his own hands providing for his family. This time period for Pa was also a time of great disappointment and bitterness, but even the government of the United States could not take his dream.
In my attic, I have stored and treasured this series of books whose pages have slowly worn down from not only the years that have gone by but from being read on more than one occasion. My hope for those who read this article and might have children is that you would consider obtaining the Little House books and taking the time to read them to your own children. They not only opened my eyes to the settling of my own country but to also see what it would have been like for a young girl to live during this period of time.
Laura's birth took place on February 7, 1867; she was the second born to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. Their home was located in the Big Woods of Wisconsin; in the year 1868 the family left the Big Woods and moved to the state of Missouri. Laura was just a baby when this move took place and her sister Mary was at the tender age of three. They would not live there for long because of the Homestead Act of 1862.
This act "was a United States Federal law that gave freehold title to 160 acres (one quarter section or about 65hectares) of undeveloped land outside the original 13 colonies. The new law required three steps: file an application, improve the land, and file for deed of title. Anyone, including freed slaves, who had never taken up arms against the U.S. Government could file an application and improvements to a local land office. The Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862. Eventually 1.6 million homesteads were granted and 270,000,000 acres (1,100,000 kmē) were privatized between 1862 and 1964, a total of 10% of all lands in the United States."
Charles Ingalls, who Laura lovingly called Pa, was ecstatic by the idea of this act and took the Government up on it. He packed up his family and moved to the state of Kansas were now they would be frontier settlers who were required by law for a total of five years to live on and farm the land that was "given" to them. This land that Laura's father farmed was located on the prairies of Kansas; there he built a cabin home and a stable with the help from Mr. Edwards, a bachelor and a neighbor. The family met Mr. Edwards in the Indian Territory and became a good friend with the Ingalls family. Laura recorded an instance where Mr. Edwards braved a horrible storm and crossed a creek that had flooded, to bring gifts to her and Mary for Christmas. No one really knows who Mr. Edwards is, or if that is his true name; his identity is truly unknown and may never be revealed. He later moved to the state of Oregon but before leaving he went to visit Laura and Mary one last time and secretly slide a twenty dollar bill into Mary's lap. Laura also speaks of the Scotts numerous times who were also her neighbors and a Dr. Tann whose full name is George A. Tann. He was a black doctor practicing on a reserve that had been inhabited by the Osage tribe but was now reduced to almost nothing. Laura tells of the family contracting the dreaded disease malaria and how Jack, the family dog, and Dr. Tann saved their lives. Jack saved the lives of his family by "informing" Dr. Tann of the family's condition; Jack went to fetch the doctor. Dr.Tann took care of the family and left them in the hands of their good neighbor Mrs. Scott.
The Osage tribe though reduced was still inhabited and the inhabitants had also become neighbors of the Ingalls including the chief of the tribe Soldat du Chene. "The Indian tribes who lived in the territory the Ingalls and other white settlers were occupying had decided to make war on the settlers. Soldat du Chene and his tribe came to plead with the other tribes not to kill the white people. He told the tribes that if they began to massacre the settlers, he and his strong Osage would fight them. This persuaded the other tribes to go away peacefully. Soldat du Chene thus saved the Ingalls family's lives." As Laura was writing the Little House books she actually could not remember the name of the Indian chief, only what he had done. After Pa and Mr. Edwards completed the family's cabin home and stable, after Pa had planted his crops, the family was forced to abandon their home sometime in the fall of 1870, soon after Laura's little sister Carrie was born. Pa had heard that the government had a change of mind about opening the land up for homesteading and soldiers were headed their way to force all the settlers out of their homes. Pa decided that he was not going to wait on the soldiers and moved the family back to their old home in the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Laura and Mary got reacquainted with family members including their cousins and spent much time playing with them. Laura's mother, lovingly referred to as Ma, was happy to be home but Pa wanted to make his home in the west.
This time period for America was a time of excitement and adventure, a time of expansion and growth, a time for a man to live his dream of owning his own land and working it with his own hands providing for his family. This time period for Pa was also a time of great disappointment and bitterness, but even the government of the United States could not take his dream.
In my attic, I have stored and treasured this series of books whose pages have slowly worn down from not only the years that have gone by but from being read on more than one occasion. My hope for those who read this article and might have children is that you would consider obtaining the Little House books and taking the time to read them to your own children. They not only opened my eyes to the settling of my own country but to also see what it would have been like for a young girl to live during this period of time.
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