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East High Geography Web Quest: On the Trail with Laura Ingalls Wilder. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Laura and Mary were born at Pepin, Wisconsin, Mary in 1865 and Laura in 1867. Charles or Pa as Laura called him in her books decided to go to Kansas in 1869. Since Burr Oak was on the covered wagon trail going north and south across Iowa they probably went through Burr Oak on their way to Independence, Kansas. Pa planned to homestead so he built a house and planted a garden.Carrie was born August 3, 1870. Before long the Ingalls learned that they were living on Indian territory so Pa decided to leave before the army would take them out. Since they had not received the money for the farm they had sold they decided to go back to Pepin and reclaim the farm. By this time it was 1871. Mary was old enough to go to school and before long Laura was old enough to go with her part of the time. Pa wanted to go west again so one fall he sold his farm for cash. They stayed with Pa's brother, Peter and his family until the river had frozen over so they could drive axcross it. Peter and his family decided to go west with them but when Peter got across the river he decided to stay there so Pa and his familywent on alone to Walnut Grove, Minnesota, arriving there in 1874. Pa wanted to homestead again so he made a dugout for his family to live in. In 1875, he planted a crop but the grasshoppers destroyed it. Pa had to find work so he walked to Peter's house, stayed with him and hired out to farmers in the area. When the work was done he walked back to Walnut Grove. He moved his family from the dugout to a rented house in town for the winter. Charles Fredrick was born Nov. 1, 1875. In the spring of 1876 Pa planted another crop but the grasshoppers destroyed it, too. This time Pa took his family with him when he went to Peter's home. Pa hired out to the farmers again. Charles Fredrick died August 27, 1876 and was burried by a little Methodist church called South Troy. About the first part of November of 1876 the Ingalls came to Burr Oak, Iowa to help Mr. Steadman run the Masters Hotel. Masters had sold the hotel to William Steadman October 21, 1876 and Mr. Steadman wanted the Ingalls to help him. Ma cooked and baked and Laura and Mary waited on tables and took care of Mr. Steadman's little boys. Pa and Ma didn't think the hotel was a very good place for their little girls to live because there was a saloon next door and strangers came to the hotel to stay so they moved above the Kimball grocery store that was on the other side of the saloon. They stayed there for the winter and then they moved to a brick house that was a short distance from the hotel. Grace, Laura's youngest sister was born May 23, 1877 while they were living there. In the fall of 1877 Pa decided to go back to Walnut Grove because there were too many people in Burr Oak. Pa had to sell his cow to a farmer so that he had enough money to pay the rent he owed. When the covered wagons were going west there might be from 100 to 200 extra people in the area at a time. By November of 1877 the Ingalls were back in Walnut Grove. All that Laura wrote in "on the Banks of Plum Creek" about the time when Charles Fredrick was born until the Ingalls get back to Walnut Grove was that the grasshoppers destroyed Pa's crops and Pa had to walk a long way to find work. After Laura and her daughter Rose passed away, Roger Lea MacBride, an Unofficial grandson of Rose, found the Manuscript of these two years that had not been published. Facts from this manuscript will be found in William Anderson's new book, "Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Iowa Store." After leaving Burr Oak the Ingalls lived in Walnut Grove for about two years. In the spring of 1879 the girls got scarlet fever and Mary lost her sight. While the girls were sick Pa's sister from South Dakota came to visit them. She told Pa that if he would go home with her he could get work on the railroad, so Pa went to South Dakota. Ma took care of the girls until they got better. Pa sent money so ma and the girls could ride on the train as far as the tracks went and Pa met them with a team of horses. In the fall of 1879 the Ingalls stayed in the surveyor's house until spring. Laura started teaching when she was 15 years old. August 15, 1885, at the age of 18, she married Almanzo Wilder. They had two children, Rose born December 5, 1886 and a boy born later that died as an infant. Laura and Almanzo had diphtheria and Almanzo was left nearly a cripple because he went to work too soon. Almanzo's parents at Spring Valley, Minnesota asked them to live with them so Almanzo could rest. They were there for most of 1890 but Almanzo wasn't improving so they went by train to Florida thinking the climate there would be good for Almanzo, but Laura didn't like the climate so they went to DeSmet, South Dakota in 1892. Laura sewed for people and Almanzo did odd jobs and by 1894 they had saved $100.00, so they left for Ozark country and settled in Mansfield. They bought a farm near there and built a house. Laura passed away February 10, 1957 at the age of 90. Directions: 1) Print out web text. 2) Click on Map Quest under Geography Links. 3) Click on Driving Directions 4) You are to plan your own Laura Ingalls Wilder Trip. If you wanted to take this trip today, how long would it take and how much would it cost? 5) You have to travel to the same places, in the same order. 6) You can only travel for 14 hours in one day. 7) In each place you stop you need to spend 1 hour visiting the sights. 8) You sleep for 8 hours a night. 9) A gallon of gas costs $1.30. 10) Your car gets 25 miles to the gallon. 11) A hotel room costs $50.00. 12) Food for the day costs $20.00. 13) After you have planned your vacation, figure out how long it took the Ingalls' family to travel from place to place. A covered wagon could travel 20 miles a day. Here is the order of cities they traveled to: 1) Pepin, WI to Independence, KS 2) Independence, KS to Pepin WI. 3) Pepin, WI to Walnut Grove, MN. 4) Walnut Grove, MN to Spring Valley MN. 5) Spring Valley, MN to Burr Oak, IA. 6) Burr Oak, IA to Walnut Grove MN. 7) Walnut Grove, MN to DeSmet, SD. |
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By: Steven Oaks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Geography Links: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map Quest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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