The LITTLE HOUSE Timeline

THIS WEBSITE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY AND TALENT OF MICHAEL LANDON, VICTOR FRENCH, RALPH BELLAMY, DAVID ROSE, STEVE TRACY, BURL IVES, RICHARD JAECKEL, LEW AYRES, AND THE ORIGINAL CREATOR OF "LITTLE HOUSE", LAURA INGALLS WILDER.

ALSO DEDICATED TO THE MILLIONS OF "LITTLE HOUSE" FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO STILL WATCH THE SHOW EVERY DAY AND WEEK.

Updated August 9, 1998.
We have revised a few things in the timeline after a careful look at the episodes "To See The Light" and "Hello And Goodbye".

This web page has been re-tooled a bit to be incorporated into the Encyclopedia site. However, this Timeline will continue to run as a self-contained site with a link to the Encyclopedia.

One thing to note on this timeline...the notation S1 stands for season one, S2 stands for season 2, and so on.

DISCLAIMER: This timeline is based exclusively upon concepts from the television series and not on Laura Ingalls Wilder's original novels on which the series itself is based.
Also, we took into consideration the character of Jenny Wilder. The episode "The Nephews" mentions Royal Wilder's wife's pregnancy with Jenny, and we don't see her until 2 seasons later as a 10-year old girl, thus we have created a ten-year gap between that episode and "Times Are Changin'", which may also support Almanzo's statement in the latter episode ("I haven't seen Royal in ten years"). Finally, as a result of that clever device called "soap opera time", the actors have not aged as the characters they play.

1834
Frederick Charles Phillip (Pa) Ingalls born.

1835
Caroline Quiner (later Holbrook and finally Ingalls) born; Lars Hanson migrates to America from Sweden and forms an alliance with Lem McCary, George Maddux, Les & Mattie Sutherland, and Jess Moffet.

1837
Idea for a town in Minnesota proposed by Hanson & company; Jess Moffet suggests the town be called Walnut Grove.

1840
Town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota founded by Lars Hanson.

1853
Adam Kendall born.

1855
Nels Oleson and Harriet Williamina marry.

1857
Mary Ingalls and Danielle (Nellie) Harriet Oleson born.

1860
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls born.

1862
William (Willie) Nelson Oleson born.

1863
Caroline (Carrie) Quiner Ingalls born.

1865
Dr. Hiram Baker begins his practice in Walnut Grove.

1866
Rev. Robert Alden founds the Walnut Grove church and begins his minstry there.

1869
"LITTLE HOUSE" original movie
The Ingalls move from the big woods to the plains of Kansas and build a little house there. By government order, however, they are forced to leave.

1870
"A Harvest Of Friends" thru "A Christmas In Plum Creek" (S1)
Ingalls move to Walnut Grove; Charles Frederick Ingalls is born and dies within days of leukemia, Laura sees an apparition of an angel, in the form of an old man named Jonathan.

1871
"Family Quarrel" (S1) thru "The Monster Of Walnut Grove" (S2)
Isaiah Edwards marrys widow Grace Snider and adopts three children from the Sanderson family (John Jr., Carl, & Alicia); Mary's eye problems begin.

1872
"Journey In The Spring" thru "Blizzard" (S3)
Charles' mother Laura Colby Ingalls dies, and his father, Lansford, comes to live in Walnut Grove for a time; Sarah Reed & John Carter marry; blizzard hits Walnut Grove.

1873
"Little Girl Lost" (S3) thru "Meet Me At The Fair" (S4)
Jebeddiah ("Jeb") Reed Carter born.

1874
"Here Come The Brides" thru "A Most Precious Gift" (S4)
Nellie marries Luke Simms, but marriage is later annulled; Eva Beadle marries Luke's father Adam; her baby, Matthew Adam Simms, born months later; Grace Holbrook Ingalls & James Cooper born.

1875
"I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away" (S4) thru "The Sound Of Children" (S5)
Mary goes blind and is sent to blind school, then meets Adam Kendall; The Garveys move to Walnut Grove before the town goes broke and the citizens are forced to move to the city of Winoka where they meet a stray orphan, Albert Quinn; money circumstances cause Walnut Grove's citizens to return home; Lars Hanson, town founder, dies of conplications from a stroke suffered months before; Mary marries Adam.

1876
"Mortal Mission" (S5) thru "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" (S6)
Alice Garvey becomes the new school teacher; Cassandra Cooper, Jason Reed Carter, Matthew Rogers (the "wild boy") and Mary & Adam's son Adam Charles Holbrook Kendall born; Harriet Oleson starts town newspaper, "The Pen & Plow", which quickly folds; Wilder family comes to town; Eliza Jane Wilder takes over as teacher at the school; Nellie's Restaurant and Inn opens; Albert adopted by the Ingalls; Blind school burns down, killing Alice Garvey and Adam Kendall Jr.,; Jeremy Quinn (Albert's real father) dies; Laura receives teachers' certificate; Almanzo proposes marriage; blind school re-established in Sleepy Eye; Giles Kendall (Adam's father) dies: Nellie meets and marries Percival Dalton (who turns out to be Issac Cohen).

1877
"Laura Ingalls Wilder" thru "The Nephews" (S7)** & "Sylvia" (S7)
Laura marries Almanzo; Reverend Robert Alden marries widow Anna Craig; Royal Wilder visits Laura and Almanzo; his daughter Jennifer (Jenny) is born; Nellie announces her pregnancy but later miscarries; Laura becomes the new school teacher; blacksmith Irv Hartwig missing and presumed either dead or fled to Mexico.

1878
The Year of the Drought: ten-month dry spell hits Minnesota; hundreds are killed; Matthew Rogers given up for adoption.***

1884
"To See The Light" & "Come, Let Us Reason Together", and from "Make A Joyful Noise" thru "Blind Justice" (S7)†
Adam regains his sight, passes his bar exam and opens a law practice; Nellie's twins, Jennifer ("Jenny") Oleson Dalton Cohen & Benjamin ("Benny") Oleson Dalton Cohen are born.

1885
"I Do, Again" (S7) thru "The Christmas They Never Forgot" (S8) and including "The Legacy" (S8)
Cooper children (James & Cassandra) adopted by the Ingalls; Benjamin Cohen (Percival's father) dies of a heart attack; Nellie & Percival and Mary & Adam leave for New York; another stray oprhan named Nancy adopted by the Olesons; Caleb LeDoux becomes Dr. Baker's assistant-at-large; Isaiah's adopted son John Jr. murdered in Chicago.

1886
"No Beast So Fierce" thru "He Was Only Twelve" (S8)††
Almanzo suffers mild stroke; Rose Wilder born; tornado strikes Walnut Grove; Grace Snider divorces Isaiah Edwards on grounds of his alcoholism; Isaiah becomes born-again Christian and is godfather to baby Rose; Grace Snider Edwards marries Nathan Simms (Adam's brother); James is critically injured but miraclously recovers.

1887
"Times Are Changing" thru "Sins Of The Fathers" (S9--"A New Beginning")
The Ingalls move to Bur Oak, Iowa; the Carter family moves to Walnut Grove; Sarah Carter starts a second town newspaper, "The Walnut Grove Gazette"; Royal Wilder comes to Walnut Grove to die, leaving daughter Jenny to live with Laura and Almanzo as their daughter; Etta Plum becomes the new school teacher; Lem McCary elected the new mayor of Walnut Grove; Matthew Rogers (the "wild boy") escapes to Walnut Grove and comes to live with Isaiah.

1888
"The Older Brothers" thru "Home Again" (S9)
Albert Quinn Ingalls returns to Walnut Grove a drug addict, but ultimately kicks his habit and begins his studies as a doctor.

1889
"A Child With No Name" thru "Hello & Goodbye" (S9)
Laura's second baby, a boy, is born and dies within 12 days as result of flu epidemic picked up during Laura's pregnancy; Mae Flanery, owner of nearby inn, dies and wills the inn to Laura and Almanzo; Willie marries Rachel Brown; Mr. Sherwood Montague comes to town to write a book about Walnut Grove; Wilders open their inn; Matthew Rogers' real father finds his son and takes him home.

1895
"Look Back To Yesterday"
Albert returns to Walnut Grove again and contracts leukemia, but later miraculously recovers.

1896
"Bless All The Dear Children"
Laura's daughter Rose is kidnapped but later recovered.

1899†††
Albert obtains his masters' degree in medicine, then returns to Walnut Grove as a doctor.

1901
"The Last Farewell"
Land swindlers take control of Walnut Grove, but not before its citizens blow up the town.

NOTES FOR CONTINUITY PURPOSES
*"Centennial" from season 3 is no longer considered canon.
**This entry skips "To See The Light" & "Come, Let Us Reason Together" in the season 7 sequencing.
***As mentioned in "Hello & Goodbye" (season 9).
†We've skipped "Sylvia" in the season 7 sequencing because the events there already took place.
††We've skipped "The Legacy" from the season 8 continuity since the events there already took place.
†††Based on the assumption that Albert is still alive, as explained by Laura in the epilogue to the episode "Home Again". There are still those who believe he died at the end of "Look Back To Yesterday", but his death is never mentioned or deplicted.

If we are to take this timeline seriously, then the entire series (from premiere movie to "The Last Farewell") would span 32 years! And here's how old the central characters would be:

CHARLES INGALLS--67
CAROLINE INGALLS--66
LAURA INGALLS WILDER--41
MARY INGALLS KENDALL--44
CARRIE INGALLS--38
GRACE INGALLS--27
ALBERT QUINN INGALLS--36
JAMES COOPER--27
CASSANDRA COOPER--25
JENNY WILDER--25
NELS OLESON--76
HARRIET OLESON--75
NELLIE OLESON DALTON-44
WILLIE OLESON--39
ROSE WILDER--15
MR. ISAIAH EDWARDS--83!!!
...like I said before, all this would have been literally true had it not been for "soap opera time".

And here's something else...if this timeline is taken seriously by even the most avid "Little House" fan, the 3-hour Thanksgiving movie, "The Little House Years" would have to be set in the early 1870s rather than the late 1870s...which proves that even a television series or movie has its time anomalities.

For other "histories" of movies and TV shows, visit TV and Movie Histories of Things That Never Were , a brand new "historical" site on the Internet.

This page updated August 9, 1998.

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CREDITS:
Developed for television by Blanche Hanalis. Based upon the "LITTLE HOUSE" series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: ©Copyright 1974-98 Worldvision Enterprises Inc., a subsidiary of Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This web site is not affiliated with NBC, the estates of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Michael Landon, Worldvision Enterprises Inc., Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc., or any other person or entity associated with "Little House On The Prairie".

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