In Little House on the Prairie, Mrs. Scott tells Ma that she “can’t get those Minnesota massacres” out of her head. Ma makes a sharp sound, saying, “Little pitchers have big ears.” That tells Laura that whatever a massacre was, it was something that little girls shouldn’t know about.

The obvious issue, however, is that those “massacres” had everything to do with why Laura and her family were in Kansas, and later, able to homestead in Minnesota.

In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act, opening many territories formerly held by American Indians for settlement. In Minnesota, the Lakota and Dakota Indians–commonly, and derogatively, collectively called the Sioux– had earlier signed a treaty that ceded some of their lands to the U.S. government in exchange for money, food, and reservation lands. It’s important to note that while the Lakota and Dakota were and are related, they are not the same tribes.

In lieu of the gold promised for their lands, by 1862, many received luxury trade goods such as top hats, unsuitable for life on prairie and wood reservations. Many were angry, but particularly the Dakota. New white settlement had driven off much of the game that the Dakota relied on for protein, and a Dakota crop failure in 1861 had led to much hunger among the people. Their children, in particular, were suffering from vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition.

Their ways also were changing. New Indian agents in Minnesota were forcing many Dakota to exchange their established patterns of crop-raising and hunting for Euro-American ways, and the agents offered special privileges to those who made those changes. This made many of those who refused to change their ways angry; in many ways the Dakota war was a civil war among Dakota into which their white neighbors were drawn.

The young men formed soldier’s lodges at Shakopee, and began, in the summer of 1862, to agitate for war against the whites. Many Dakota disagreed with the move, especially those Christian Dakota from the northern tribes. Chief Little Crow, in talks with these young men, counseled patience, but in the end, he was persuaded to act as the chief of war. In Council, the Dakota present at Shakopee officially declared war. Some say Little Crow knew the war could not be won.

The Dakota were not a military organization. They did not have a structure such as the U.S. military, and individual warriors could choose to fight nor not; could choose to follow orders or not; could and did act on their own. When the annuity payment in August of 1862 failed to show up on time, Dakota warriors acted across south central Minnesota, routing the Little Sioux Agency and burning and pillaging their way through the homesteads of white settlers.

Witnesses to the destruction and brutality wrote of bodies hacked to pieces lying within steps of their homes; of dinner tables freshly laden with food that looked untouched, as settlers were startled from their meal times. White prisoners, mostly women and children, were taken, and later letters wrote of children being tortured, and women being raped by many Dakota in one evening.

When word reached Fort Ridgely that the Dakota had risen up against the white settlers, it was ill-prepared for any kind of assault. The fort’s young captain, who had the mumps, gathered up a detail to reinforce the Little Sioux Agency, despite being warned that he was riding into a trap.

He and his men were ambushed at Red Ferry. Most were killed.

The remaining soldiers at the fort began preparations for defense by creating barricades and breastworks. The fort had served as an artillery school, and it had cannon, but no walls. It was bare to the prairie around it.

Refugees from the country began pouring into the fort. Defenders expected that the Fort would be the next spot attacked, but fearing defeat, Little Crow went around the fort to attack the small German village of New Ulm.

New Ulm’s citizens, German farmers, had very few weapons, but they did have Jacob Nix Plat, a former soldier who urged all citizens behind hastily constructed barricades in a three-block area downtown. (Three buildings from this time survive.) Many were killed, and as the Dakota left the area, citizens of New Ulm buried their dead in the street and fled to Mankato.

In the end, more than 300 Dakota men, women and children were captured and marched to Fort Snelling, held responsible for the slaying of the white settlers. President Abraham Lincoln commuted the death sentences of all but 38 of the warriors being held. They were executed in the town square of Mankato on December 24, 1862. The remaining Dakota were driven out of Minnesota.

These events happened just five years before Laura was born, and certainly, the memory of the conflicts colored Caroline’s interactions with American Indians. These events also color relationships between whites and American Indians in Minnesota today, with conflict over reconciliation and memory in the commemoration of the tragedies of 1862.

Learn more about this and other related history this summer, at LauraPalooza 2012. Take a tour of the area by car with a map from the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, which conveniently points the way to major battle sites and interpretation. It’s well worth the effort.

First, the next LauraPalooza will not be held until 2015. That gives us more time and flexibility in scheduling the next conference, as well as helps set us up to celebrate Laura’s 150th birthday in 2017. Final dates will be announced at LauraPalooza 2012.

Second, we do have a limited refund policy. If you cancel your registration for 2012 before our registration deadline of May 31, you will receive a full refund. However, after that date, we’re unable to offer refunds because we must pay for you whether you’re there or not. Your best option at that point is to find someone to go in your place.

Third, we are planning a special LIWLRA member meeting at LauraPalooza just prior to Alison Arngrim’s Friday performance. LIWLRA members will want to stop by the LIWLRA booth to get your membership sticker, which will allow you admittance to that event.

Fourth, advertising space in the program is available. If you have a business or other entity you’d like to advertise to a select crowd of Laura fans, academics, scholars and historians, contact me or Laura Welser for a rate sheet.

Keep your questions and registrations coming!

Wednesday

Ice Cream Social, Julia A. Sears Residence Hall

Open to all.

Thursday

Welcome  Address: Amy Lauters

Literary Laura:

o   Elizabeth Nolan Connors:  Laura and Louisa: “Little House” and “Little Women” through Time

o   Kay Weisman:  What Would Laura Read? A Look at the Youth’s Companion of 1879

o   Emily Woster:  Little Books on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Reading Life

o   Eddie Higgins:  Translating Little House into “English” – A UK Fan’s Perspective

History and Context

o   Barb Mayes Boustead:  Wilder Weather:  What Laura Witnessed

o   Jim Hicks:  Children of the Brewster School

o   Susan Thurlow:  Dr. George Tann, Black Frontier Physician

o   Helen Gunnarson:  The Legalities of Roger and Rose

Legacy Luncheon

Honoring notable contributions to Laura’s world.

Featured Speaker: William Anderson

Dean Butler & Dale Cockrell: Pa’s Fiddle Project Presentation & Viewing

Author’s Reception With Amber Waves Band

Friday

Featured Speaker: Barbara Walker, author of The Little House Cookbook

Three Interactive Workshops:

Food of the Little House

Needlework of the Little House (Quilting Bee)

More Music of The Little House

Box Lunch Social with Breakouts

Linda Halpin:  “Quilting with Laura”

Educator Panel:

Featuring Judy Green, Connie Neumann, Melanie Stringer, and Ann Weller Dahl

Breakout Group Discussions

Alison Arngrim, “Confessions of a Prairie ….”

Saturday

Julie Williams, “Carrie Ingalls, Frontier Presswoman”

Farm and Handwork

o   Sarah Uthoff:  Laura Ingalls Wilder: What a Doll!

o   Sanford Clark:  Little Locavore on the Prairie

o   Kelly Kathleen Ferguson:  A Twenty-First Century Look at the “Farm Cure”

Contextualizing Television

o   Benjamin Lefebvre: 
The House that Pa Built: Patriarchy, Nostalgia, and Nationhood in Michael Landon’s Little House on the Prairie

Spelling Bee/Silent Auction

Closing Lunch

Optional: Walnut Grove Field Trip/Pageant

Attendees at LauraPalooza 2012 will find out! Our theme addresses the many meanings of that phrase, and I’m pleased to report that a number of scholars and others have taken us up on our challenge to show us what Laura Ingalls Wilder would have done, or was known to do, in her world.

I’m ridiculously excited for LauraPalooza 2012, and I’m happy to finally be able to share with you what we have on tap. Our headliners this summer:

• Alison Arngrim, TV’s Nellie Oleson, will spend the day with us on Friday, July 13, and perform her one-woman show, “Confessions of a Prairie …” for us Friday night. Tickets to this event are included in your conference registration; additional tickets for non-registrants may be purchased separately for $25.
• Dale Cockrell and Dean Butler: Our favorite musicologist paired up with TV’s Almanzo Wilder for a truly unforgettable music concert performance in January, and they’ll be on hand to show us the results of their partnership.
• Linda Halpin, a Wisconsin-based master quilter and author of a book about Laura’s quilts, will present her work. We’ve been promised a quilting bee!
• Julie Williams, a professor of media history at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., will share her research on Carrie Ingalls, frontier presswoman.

We will have presentations about the food of the prairie, games of the prairie, and other leisure activities of Laura’s time. We have research presentations ranging from an examination of the Youth’s Companion to a biography of Kansas physician George Tann.

And, of course, we have our social activities: Wednesday’s Ice Cream Social at Julia Sears Hall, Thursday’s Author’s Reception (featuring live music), the Legacy Award luncheon, a Friday box lunch social for gathering in groups to talk Laura, and Saturday’s Spelling Bee. New this year? A silent auction to raise funds toward helping us achieve nonprofit status and to support our work in helping scholars and homesites.

We’ve also listened to what past attendees told us about the need for more breaks in the conference schedule, more time for socializing as groups, and an air-conditioned coach bus for those going on the Walnut Grove field trip and coming back to Mankato.

While our registration fee had to go up this year to accommodate some of these changes, we think it well worth the price of $125 for all three days of programming. And as always, LIWLRA members get 10 percent off registration, making this the perfect time to join.

You may register here. And if you have any questions as you do so, see our FAQ page.

See  you in Mankato!

Of course, you all do. And that’s what makes this conference special. We all have an opportunity to interact with others who share that very same obsession in different kinds of ways.

Next summer, we’ll meet again, July 12-14, 2012, in Mankato, Minn., on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato. We’re keeping on the schedule some of our favorite things–the ice cream social, the author’s reception, the spelling bee–and adding some things that you requested, such as breaks and break-out sessions for discussion. We’ve also been discussing a variation on our theme for next summer: What would Laura do?

That means we’re going to try to put in a few more sessions that are hands-on workshops devoted to playing Laura. I’m working with other departments at MSU to see if we can use the kitchens in the Family and Consumer Science area, the recreation center, and other spaces to give us all a chance to play Laura.

We’re also looking forward to a fresh batch of speakers, researchers, and workshop presenters. Our call for papers will go out in August, and we’re looking for researchers who want to present their work about Laura’s life and legacy or an aspect of it, as well as panel proposals from folks who have ideas for discussions, and workshop proposals from educators or others who have something Laura-related they’d like to share. We’re hoping for a variety as fun as we had last summer, but our programming depends on what you want to share with us!

Finally, we’ve heard from you that the Walnut Grove field trip is a MUST. I will never forget watching all the women on my bus running forward to Plum Creek, squealing as we raced to take off our shoes and put our toes in the water. It’s these kinds of experiences that we can’t replace, and we’re not going to try. But we will book a bus to help our dorm-dwellers get back from Walnut Grove to Mankato without falling asleep on the long, dusty road of Hwy. 14.

So, ask yourself, as you think about how you might contribute to next summer’s gathering: What would Laura do?

Kesinee has been my companion in Laura adventures for several years, since she was first old enough to understand the first stories. When she lived near LaCrosse, Wis., I could scoop her up for a few days to play with me, and we stopped at the Pepin site several times, as it was on the way from her house to mine.

In the summer of 2009, I took her with me to De Smet for the planning meeting that led to LauraPalooza. We stopped at Walnut Grove, camped in a covered wagon on the Ingalls Homestead, and generally had a great time. The only hitch in our get-along? A fear of prairie animals that my father, her “Papa,” had accidentally instilled in his warning to us about camping on the prairie.

My husband provided us with a baseball bat.

Kesinee never had to use it. In fact, she slept through the major thunderstorm event we had on our night on the Ingalls Homestead. Additionally, Kesinee took notes at our meetings, made suggestions about young people activities, and helped to coordinate the crafting activities that later did take place at LP.

So as Kesinee turns 15 today, I reflect on her willingness to jump in and help, share my interest, and be my Laura companion. I can’t help but be proud of her gumption. And even though she won’t be traveling 12 miles one way in a sleigh to a lonely schoolhouse next winter, I have no doubt she could handle the task if she needed to.

Happy Birthday, Kes!

It might be a little sacreligious; after all, most of us associate that phrase with the popular “What would Jesus do?” I believe that’s an infinitely better question in most circumstances.

But throughout my regular day, when my decisions have less to do with weighty matters and more to do with questions of the every day, my thoughts do drift to lessons gleaned from Laura. What should I eat for lunch? Fresh food, in season. Should I go wading in the creek? With every possible opportunity. What about trying to cross the river on foot today? Remember the spring freshet, and stay on the plank. (We’re flooding here in Minnesota right now.)

Unexpected company is coming; what do I serve? Whatever is in the pantry; it need not be fancy as long as the company is good. I MUST NOT hit Nellie Oleson–even if she is trying my patience beyond all measure. No matter what comes, bravely accept and do your best to make the best of it.

“There is no great loss without some small gain.” Cows go dry in the winter. Tend your animals and you will reap rewards from them. Love your family. Handmade gifts make the best presents–because the gift isn’t just the object, it’s the love and care and time that went into it. Harvest what you plant–but be wary of grasshoppers, gophers, and blackbirds.

When the world is getting the best of you, go home. Singing can be like praying, and both can be done out loud, in company. No one will notice if I’m wearing pink ribbons or blue. Manners apply in all circumstances, and any who have manners can adapt to any social situation.

Let’s add to the list. What lessons have you gleaned from Laura that you apply in your life?

As I started out from Mankato, I couldn’t help but notice the temps were way below zero. And I decided it would be fun to keep a log of my trip, following the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Highway east toward her roots, to those of her parents, in the spirit of On the Way Home.

At each stop along the way–and never while I was actually driving–I sent a text message to update my Facebook status. I noted where I was, what I was up to, and the temperature. It stayed below zero until I got into Wisconsin; by the time I was in Wisconsin Dells–stopping at Exit 92 for a Dunkin’ Donut and cup of coffee–it was well above zero. And I realized I had another Laura opportunity: I could stop in Concord, armed with new general directions for finding the original farms of Charlotte Quiner Holbrook and Lansford P. Ingalls.

I’ve been to Concord before. At one point, I lived in Milwaukee for three years, and I took advantage of that opportunity to seek out these roots of Caroline and Charles. But at LauraPalooza last summer, in talks with John Bass, I got more specific directions to the original farms. I decided to go off the freeway at County Road F and drive out that direction.

The problem, however, was that I couldn’t be sure I was in the right space. Some of these sites felt familiar–the Groose area, for example, rang a dim bell–but because this was an impulse stop, I wasn’t armed with the right maps to make sure I was in the right spot. Naturally, I sent a text message to Facebook noting my dilemma, as part of the log, before moving on.

And got a wonderful lesson in the power of the social network and the generosity of the Laura community.

Nansie Cleaveland, who is a dedicated Wilder researcher, happened to note my problem, and she had the maps! She scanned them and posted links to them for me on Facebook. I retrieved the maps on my phone, and on the way back from Milwaukee, easily found the right spot. (Nansie since has written post of her own about this experience, and included those links for anybody else wandering through Concord at her blog, Pioneer Girl.)

My problem had been that I was looking for the farms south of the Oconomowac River, and south and east of Concord. The farms are actually north and east of Concord. They adjoin at a specific spot:

The spot where the Lansford Ingalls and Charlotte Holbrook lands adjoin.

Parked on that corner, I took pictures to the north and east of the intersection.

The Lansford Ingalls farm.

This sweeping cornfield, with the farmhouse just up the street, was original Lansford P. Ingalls land–where Charles spent most of a his youth.

It’s easy to see, with as close as the two farms were, how three different couples evolved from the numerous young people who lived there. Henry Quiner and Polly Ingalls, Eliza Quiner and Peter Ingalls, and Caroline Quiner and Charles Ingalls all married.

The Quiner/Holbrook land lays kitty-corner across the street from this intersection. This is the sweep of field and stream that exists there now:

The Holbrook farm land.

I just barely missed shooting an image of my vehicle in the foreground of this one.

If the farmhouses were located in roughly the same spots as they are today, the young people living on these farms only had to walk about a half a mile to go visiting. There would have been many more trees than exist today; the farm land has been cleared and planted, and these farms look to be successful and self-supporting.

As we drive down the road south, with the Holbrook farm on the right, a delightful surprise awaits:  When we approach the river, which apparently once wandered through the Holbrook land, several houses have sprung up on the right, a mini-village of sorts. The entire site is still in the Town of Concord, but one would have to cross the river–and today, Interstate 94–to get to the village crossroads.

Much easier, today, is to turn right at the river, and go to Concord General Store just off the freeway for gas and an ice cream cone or coffee. Even if the owners didn’t know, when I asked, that they were just down the road from Little House history.

The quintessential LIWLRA pink T-shirt:

The hunter green Farmer Boy T-shirt

The totebag:

The lanyard: And the flour sack embroidery kit:

We also have assorted button string kits that include a variety of vintage buttons and the string to put them on–just like Carrie’s.

All funds raised go toward managing expenses for and from the conference and for web site maintenance, as well as to promote the mission of LIWLRA in supporting the work and research of scholars and volunteers at Little House sites.

Ordering and pricing information available here.

As always, LIWLRA members get 10 percent off!

All designs created by the amazing Kristina Sukalski.

Amy Lauters displays the award given to LauraPalooza by the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau.

When Anna Thill, the director of the GMCVB, called to tell me we had won this award, I was stunned. I didn’t even know we’d been nominated. But then Anna explained to me that the award goes to a community body that has gone above and beyond to bring visitors to Mankato. And we certainly did that.

You all came, followed us, or watched Sarah Sue’s amazing videos of the event. We had more than 180 people each day, with 152 pre-registered for the full event. We hosted Dean Butler, William Anderson, Pamela Smith Hill, John Miller, and many more scholars and researchers who shared with us their thoughts about the world and legacies of Laura and Rose.

So on behalf of the city of Mankato businesses, I thank you for your support. And this award goes to all of us.