Little House Discussed

I'm easy going, Laura Ingalls Wilder fans. I don't complain a lot and I try to take life as it comes. But with all of the publicity surrounding " Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography " there's something that's been happening a lot lately and it's sticking in my craw. Images of the wrong family are being used to portray the Ingalls family in articles and reviews.  For example, this article from The Guardian : And this article from The Express about " the rea l" Laura Ingalls Wilder. Come again? That's not "the real" Laura Ingalls Wilder. The problem isn't exclusive to reviews of "Pioneer Girl," though. For example  this blog post discussing racism in the "Little House" series of books: People. This is the REAL Ingalls family: Ingalls Family L-R: Caroline, Carrie, Laura, Charles, Grace, Mary This IS NOT the real Ingalls family: When talking about the rea...

Laura Ingalls Wilder  super fans weren't surprised by many of the reveals in " Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography . "  Those of us who have read many of the biographies and other writings of Mrs. Wilder knew, for example, that the family spent a bit of time in Burr Oak, Iowa where they helped to run a hotel and that the Ingalls sister had a beloved little brother, Charles "Freddie"Frederick Ingalls who died in infancy. There were other items I learned from " Pioneer Girl ," and a few other books that were surprising, even to me. For discussion sake, that is, if anyone is reading at all, I thought I'd share some items I found surprising or that others told me surprised them. Warning: Spoilers ensue: 1.  Jack didn't go on Plum Creek with the Ingalls family Brindle Bulldog (Not Jack) The story about Jack the faithful Brindle Bulldog following the Ingalls family all around the Midwest until he eventually "went to his re...

Grace Ingalls Dow Grace Ingalls Dow is the youngest of Laura Ingalls Wilder's siblings. In fact, of the four Ingalls sisters, Grace is the one I hear or read the least about. I wonder if it's because she was so young when Laura was married and maybe they didn't spend as much time together growing up as she did with Mary and Carrie. I was curious about Grace so I did a little research about her to find out about her life as a child and young lady in DeSmet and, also,  her married years. Grace Ingalls Dow Grace Pearl Ingalls was born May 23, 1877 in Burr Oak, IA.  Although there are books written about Laura Ingalls Wilder's Iowa years , none of them were written by Mrs. Wilder herself as she omitted this period of her life completely from the books. It was during this period of time the Ingalls family was managing a hotel and Mrs. Wilder didn't feel it an appropriate image to portray of her fictional family. In any event, Grace was either not born or a ...

L-R Carrie Ingalls Swanzey, Mary Ingalls, Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Ingalls Wilder was an accomplished woman. She rode across the West in a covered wagon, wrote for farm journals and newspapers, authored a series of books, and her family was integral in establishing a town in South Dakota. She was well-liked a pillar of her community in Mansfield, Missouri. Do you know who else was an accomplished woman? Mrs. Wilder's sister, Carrie Ingalls Swanzey. Who was Carrie Ingalls Swanzey? Born "Caroline Celestia Ingalls," just outside of Independence, Kansas on August 3, 1870, Mrs. Swanzey is remembered by Laura Ingalls Wilder fans first as "Baby Carrie," then as a sickly young lady who got in trouble for rocking her classroom bench in " Little Town on the Prairie ." We don't really hear much about Mrs. Swanzey after Mrs. Wilder married and moved on, however. And why would we? It was Mrs. Wilder everyone wanted to know about. I'm fas...

The Ingalls Family One big question fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder have asked over the years is "Who was Mr. Edwards?" There's been much speculation but what most agree is that there is no one "Mr. Edwards." Like the character of Nellie Olsen, Mrs. Wilder possibly borrowed experiences from different people she met along her journeys to create the "Mr. Edwards" character for her book. So who might Mr. Edwards have been? The Fictional Mr. Edwards Mr. Edwards first appeared in Laura Ingalls Wilder's 3rd children's novel " Little House on the Prairie " as a neighbor of the Ingalls family when they briefly lived just outside of Independence Kansas. Laura was two during this time.  You may recall, Mr. Edwards was the neighbor who saved Christmas for the Ingalls Family by swimming across the swollen creek to bring food and presents. He and "Pa" helped each other as neighbors, and if he was a real person, he no doubt left...