Little House on the Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House on the Prairie Info Chapter Summaries INDIAN CAMP FEVER ‘N’ AGUE FIRE IN THE CHIMNEY PA GOES TO TOWN THE TALL INDIAN MR. EDWARDS MEETS SANTA CLAUS A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT INDIAN JAMBOREE PRAIRIE FIRE INDIAN WAR-CRY INDIANS RIDE AWAY SOLDIERS GOING OUT GOING WEST CROSSING THE CREEK CAMP ON THE HIGH PRAIRIE PRAIRIE DAY THE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE MOVING IN THE WOLF-PACK TWO STOUT DOORS A FIRE ON THE HEARTH A ROOF AND A FLOOR INDIANS IN THE HOUSE FRESH WATER TO DRINK TEXAS LONGHORNS Little House on the Prairie Info

Going West The Ingalls family consist of Pa and Ma, their daughters Mary, Laura, baby Carrie, and their dog Jack The Ingalls are moving to Indian Country to get away from all of the people in Wisconsin, according to Pa. They traveled in a covered wagon They crossed the Mississippi River when it was iced over, and they also crossed the Missouri River on a raft The Ingalls are headed to Kansas

Ma and Pa

Carrie, Mary, and Laura Ingalls

Here is a map of the journey the Ingalls’ made

Crossing the Creek They come to a big creek and have to drive the wagon across it The girls had to remain still in the wagon, so as to not tip it over Jack had to swim across The wagon nearly tipped over Pa had to jump into the creek to save the wagon Jack never made it across to the other side

Camp on the High Prairie They all rested for a day on the prairie They heard a pack of wolves in the distance At night they heard a wolf slowly creeping toward their camp Pa took his gun out when they saw the wolf’s eyes glowing in the grass The wolf turned out to be Jack! He had made it across the creek and somehow found them

Prairie Day The girls explored the prairie around their camp They saw many gophers and strange birds Laura was hoping to see an Indian, especially a papoose Ma dislikes Indians Pa played his fiddle at night for entertainment

Pa’s Fiddle

The House on the Prairie Pa stopped the wagon the next day when he found the perfect spot for their new home. The nearest town, Independence, was 40 miles away Pa found an old trail nearby, possibly one the Indians had used years ago Pa cut logs from the trees that were near the closest river Pa started building their new home Ma hurt her ankle when a log fell on her foot Pa met Mr. Edwards, a neighbor from across the river. He agreed to help Pa build their home, if Pa would help him build his Mr. Edwards was a funny man

What the Little House on the Prairie looks like today What the Little House on the Prairie looks like today. This is an exact replica of the original house.

Moving In Pa finished the walls of the cabin so the family could sleep inside the house Pa heard more wolves in the distance Pa used the canvas cover for the wagon as a roof until he was able to build a roof The Ingalls’ spent their first night in their new home

The Wolf-Pack Pa and Mr. Edwards built a stable for the Ingalls’ horses Pet and Patty Pet had a colt, a baby horse, named Bunny Later that day Jack was acting strange, almost worried-like Pa had gone out hunting and returned in a big hurry and announced that a big pack of wolves was coming toward the house Pa told the story of the wolfpack during dinner That night Laura was awoken by a loud howl, the wolves were circled around their new house Their new house didn’t have a door yet, so Pa had to stand guard with his gun until the wolves left. Jack stood right beside him, he had sensed the wolves coming that day, too

Two Stout Doors The next morning Pa made two doors, one for the house and the other for the stable Laura helped her father with the door Laura loved helping Pa, she’d rather be outside helping him than staying couped up inside the house all day

A Fire on the Hearth Laura and Mary went with Pa to collect rocks for the chimney Pa was going to build Laura wanted to see the abandoned Indian camps Pa had seen while hunting Pa mixed clay and water to help build the chimney Pa made a nice mantle for the fireplace, where Ma could place her china doll Ma was able to cook inside the house now

The chimney

A Roof and a Floor Laura and Mary explored their new surroundings whenever they finished their chores Laura still wanted to see a papoose. Ma would get upset every time Laura mentioned Indians. Pa split logs to make boards for the roof and for their floor Mr. Edwards had lent Pa some nails Pa filled the cracks of the log cabin with mud to keep the wind out

What the inside of the house probably looked like

Indians in the House Pa went hunting and chained Jack to the outside of the stable Pa told the girls not to turn Jack loose for anything Jack growled at Laura. He was really growling at the Indians he saw coming The girls were scared and stayed close to Jack. The Indians went into the house with Ma and Carrie still inside The Indians were nearly naked, covered only by small skunk skins Ma couldn’t speak their language, but she made them food The Indians soon left, taking all of Pa’s tobacco

The Indians visit Ma and the girls

Fresh Water to Drink Pa had made a bed using boards, rope, and straw Pa next started digging a well. He didn’t want Ma walking all the way to river to fetch water when he went to town. Mr. Scott, another “neighbor”, helped Pa dig the well One morning Mr. Scott passed out at the bottom of the well. He had forgotten to send a candle down to the bottom to burn out all the poisonous gas. Pa had to rescue him Soon the well was finished, and Pa put a cover on it for safety reasons

The actual well that Pa dug is still there to this day!

Texas Longhorns Laura heard a rumble in the distance which turned out to be cattle ranchers driving their cattle, Texas Longhorns Pa agreed to help drive the herd across the river Pa received a cow and a calf as payment Pa had a difficult time milking the cow

Indian Camp Pa noticed the Indian camp that was nearby had been recently abandoned Pa took the girls to go check it out The girls found all sorts of colored beads Laura and Mary made a beautiful beaded necklace for Carrie

Fever ‘N’ Ague Ma and the girls would pick blackberries near the river whenever they were ripe They would get bitten by mosquitoes a lot Soon the whole family was getting very sick. They could barely move a muscle One morning Laura woke up to a friendly black man offering her some water The nice black man was a doctor, Dr. Tan They were told they had gotten sick from bad watermelons and gotten fever ‘n’ ague Dr. Tan and Mrs. Scott nursed the Ingalls’ back to good health The Ingalls’ didn’t know in those days that fever ‘n’ ague was actually malaria, which they had gotten from the mosquito bites

Dr. Tan and Mrs. Scott tend to the Ingalls

Fire in the Chimney One day while Pa had was hunting the chimney caught fire The fire was burning very close to the roof Ma beat down the flaming sticks onto the floor Laura helped save the house Pa said that he was going to town tomorrow, and Ma wanted to send a letter back to their family in Wisconsin

Pa Goes to Town Pa was going to town, a four day journey Mr. Edwards had come to help with the chores around the house, but Jack chased him up the woodpile Indians were rumored to be in the area again Pa returned late on the fourth night, bringing back food, a plow and some seeds, and a gift for Ma, panes of glass to make windows.

The Tall Indian One day a tall Indian showed up to the house Ma made a meal for him and Pa to share Pa gave him some tobacco The Indian, probably from the Osage tribe, soon left Pa realized the old trail he had seen when they first moved here must be an Indian trail that is still used One day while Pa was hunting, a couple of different Indians showed up and stole all of Pa’s furs that he had been saving to trade with

Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus The girls were upset because Christmas was coming, but a storm had come and made the river to dangerous to cross. This meant that Santa Claus, who drove a sled of pack mules in the Old West back then, would not be able to visit them On Christmas a strange rattling was heard at their door. It was Mr. Edwards He had just come back from town and bumped into Santa Claus. Santa gave him the girls’ presents, and Mr. Edwards risked his life crossing the river to give the girls their gifts Inside their stocking from Santa was a tin cup, two candy canes, a heart-shaped cake, and a shiny new penny

A Scream in the Night One night the whole family was woken by a terrible scream, Pa said it was a woman screaming and that it sounded like it was coming from the Scotts’ house. Pa went to go check it out Pa discovered the scream was actually a panther roar

Indian Jamboree Pa went to town early in the spring Before Pa returned Laura had heard many Indians chanting in their nearby camps When Pa came back he said the Indians must be having a jamboree Pa brought back beautiful hair combs for the girls The Indian chants were getting louder and faster each day

Prairie Fire Throughout the spring more and more Indians came to the area, often stopping by the house One day Laura saw dark clouds on the horizon. The clouds were actually smoke, and a prairie fire was headed right for their house Pa dug a ditch, a firebreak, and with buckets of water and wet rags he and Ma battled the fire They saved the house

Indian War-Cry More Indians were showing up to the area Each night the Indians’ chanting and drum beating got a little louder and faster In the middle of the night Laura was awoken by a terrible sound, the Indians were yelling Pa told the girls that the Indians were talking about war against the white settlers Every night the girls would hear louder war-cries One night they saw an Indian ride past their house in a hurry, heading toward the Indian camps The chanting stopped soon Most of the Indians left, except the Osage tribe. Pa discovered that all of the other tribes wanted to kill the white people, but the Osages did not want this. The Osages had saved their lives, especially that one Indian that had rode by that one night, he was their leader. His name was Soldat du Chene

Indians Ride Away One morning a bunch of Indians were headed toward the house in a line They marched right past the house and continued out of sight Indians continued walking by the entire day Laura finally saw a papoose

Soldiers After the Indians had left there was a peacefulness to the prairie Pa had built a beautiful field of vegetables One day, after talking to Mr. Scott and Mr. Edwards, Pa had some bad news They would have to leave the territory, the government was giving it back to the Indians. Anyone that stayed behind would be taken away by soldiers Pa was upset because he had built this beautiful home, but did not want to wait around for soldiers to come get him, so he decided that they family would have to move

Going Out They had only lived there for about a year, but they had to move again Just like before they loaded up their wagon with the necessities and set out across the prairie, heading north Laura was sad, too. But she was happy to be with her family, no matter where they were

Visit the Little House on the Prairie Historical Site

A Brandon McAnulty Presentation Some pictures of inside and outside of cabin are property of: Little House on the Prairie Photography © Leslie A. Kelly 2000