the little house on the prairie book set

Visitors can take a covered wagon ride to the old schoolhouse, about a quarter mile away from the main barn. Sod house tat we thought was a better idea tan a standalone house. The shanty provided little ventilation and the heat was unbearable.

We found the sod house considerably cooler on a hot and humid summer day. Visitors can debate which type of house was better – a sod house, built into the side of a hill, or a shanty house built as a standalone building. Bright was only a few weeks old during our visit. A hand-powered water pump is located nearby. A barn topped with hay – similar to one Pa built – is home to chickens and a calf named Bright. The DeSmet homestead offers visitors opportunities to check out several old farm and town buildings. Laundry day at the “Little House on the Prairie.”

She offered us that opportunity, but we passed. The reenactor portraying Ma Ingalls mentioned to us that kids beg to wash the clothes. Today, the replica house hosts tours, as well as allowing kids to wash clothes and hang them on the clothesline to dry. The family could spend time together in the living room. The following year, Ingalls added on to the house, eventually creating two bedrooms for the parents and children. The kitchen was the first room built by Charles Ingalls for their little house on the prairie. The entire family lived in the enclosed quarters. The first year, it was nothing more than a kitchen. Ma – Caroline Ingalls – loved her “little house on the prairie.” Charles built the house in stages. The current homestead visitors site shares stories about the Ingalls and their friends. A look at the Ingalls family’s homestead. The family had to develop the land over a five-year period to gain ownership, according to the national Homestead Act passed in the 1860s by Congress and signed into law by President Lincoln. The family’s moves are documented in one of the homestead’s buildings.Ĭharles Ingalls – Pa – sought a homestead to raise the family on. The family moved several times, living in places such as Walnut Grove, Burr Oak (Iowa) and Pepin, Wisconsin. Laura – nicknamed “Half Pint” by her father Charles – became an author in her 60s, as she started documenting her family’s history. “Little House on the Prairie” was a series of books that were the inspiration for the television series, chronicling the lives of Laura Ingalls Wilder, her family and friends. Actually, many of the events that occurred in the lives of the Ingalls happened in South Dakota. The television series, which ran nine seasons from 1974 until 1983, primarily took place in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. We visited the actual Ingalls homestead near DeSmet, SD. Visiting the place where Laura Ingalls Wilder spent many of her years sure differs from what I saw when I watched “Little House on the Prairie” as a kid. This replica of the Ingalls house stands on the family’s homestead.

The little house on the prairie book set