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.

The set was simple, but clever. They arranged the props (that stayed the same and always on stage) a little differently for each scene. There were only four actors – Pa, Ma, Mary (who also played a small part as Nellie Owens), and Laura…unless you count the bundle they called Baby Carrie who made an appearance toward the end. They played a little with the timeline, but followed the Ingalls family to Independence, Walnut Grove and De Smet (and Burr Oak was mentioned in a song). The mention of Burr Oak and Nellie’s last name being Owens leads me to believe that someone who knew Laura beyond the Little House books had their hand in this. It was not even an hour long, but in that 55 minutes, Laura evolved from a young girl into a young woman who would someday become a writer.

You know what I enjoyed the most though? I saw lots of little Lauras (and probably Marys too) with their sunbonnets hanging down their backs. I saw families and a handful of men. I saw boys with their grandmother. I saw grown women like my daughter and me. And we were there for one reason – we all love Laura. Those little girls weren’t going to pick apart the details. They were there because they’d read Laura’s stories and they wanted more.

Laura’s legacy lives on. That reason alone made me enjoy this little musical more than anything.

I was gandering through some books at an antique store recently when I saw this:

Of course, the first thing I noticed was the cover art! Do you see what I saw there above the word “BOOKS”?
When I opened it up, there was the title page telling me that this particular volume, which happens to be Volume 28 from 1959, contains the Christmas chapter (complete with Garth Williams illustrations) from Little House in the Big Woods. The entire volume had several other stories, many having to do with Christmas.

The price was right and the book became mine!

Does anyone else remember these?

Of course I wanted this ring the minute I saw it advertised so I called Walnut Grove to get more information. The ring is based on a drawing from a 1884 Montgomery Ward’s catalog that resembles Laura’s written descriptions. 1884 is the year Laura and Almanzo got engaged. Now we don’t know whether Manly got Laura’s ring from a catalog, he could have gone to one of the local jewelry stores in De Smet, but we do know they ordered other things from the Ward’s catalog (such as their first Christmas gift to each other, the glassware set that included the famous oval bread plate) so it’s not a stretch to assume he ordered Laura’s ring from Montgomery Wards as well, especially if he didn’t want gossip spreading all over town that he was buying a ring.

The museum is taking orders for the initial batch of rings for just a few more days, the order will be sent to the jeweler on October 3.  Since the rings take 4 weeks to make, this is probably your only chance to get the ring in time for Christmas. The museum will continue taking orders after October 3 but the jeweler needs a minimum of six orders for each production run. The initial prices ($299/10k gold, $199/sterling silver) are good through December 31, 2011.

The museum will be taking prepaid orders at Laurapalooza next year but wouldn’t you rather have your ring by then? I know I would. Luckily I have a birthday coming up in November so the timing couldn’t be better. What’s your excuse reason?

Here’s the ordering information for you one more time – go make that phone call so that you can show me your ring at Laurapalooza 2012!

Call Me Not Back From The Echoless Shore

Why is your forehead deep-furrowed with care?
What has so soon mingled frost in your hair?
Why are you sorrowful? Why do you weep?
And why do you ask me to “rock you to sleep”?
Could you but see through this world’s vale of tears,
Light would your sorrows be, harmless your fears;
All that seems darkness to you would be light,
All would be sunshine, where now is but night.

Follow me, cheerfully, pray do not weep;
In spirit I’ll soothe you, and “rock you to sleep,”
Why would you backward with time again turn?
Why do you still for your childhood’s day yearn?
Weary one, why through the past again roam,
While, in the future, the path leads you home?
Oh, dearest child! dry those tears, weep no more,
Call me not back from the echoless shore;
In spirit I’ll soothe you and “rock you to sleep.”

The book says that the author is unknown. I did a little sleuthing (google search), which told me that it was written by Charles Carroll Sawyer in 1861. It was also a song with the music written by Henry Tucker.

I suppose it was written to be of comfort, but I really like “Rock Me To Sleep” by itself.

Yes, that’s right. I said my toddler. Who says you have to be a big kid to enjoy Laura’s world?

A number of “My First Little House” board books were published over a decade ago by HarperCollins. Fortunately, I had the foresight to buy them as they are no longer in print (but you can still find some of them used).  Doodle loves them, and brings them to me night after night to read them again.

One night, he studied intensely the picture of the little brown-striped gophers Laura and Mary chased on the prairie. On a whim, I snatched up the little stuffed prairie dog (close enough!) on my Laura bookcase and began to show him how they pop out of holes in the ground. Pop! Up he came from behind my leg. Pop! Out from behind my shoulder. Pop! Peeking over my knee. How Doodle giggled and giggled!

And the thought came to me… peekaboo with a little striped gopher — what a perfect Little House activity for toddlers! There are so many great ideas for things to do with older children, but what about Laura’s littlest fans?

We played “Mad Dog” tonight. Unlike Laura and Mary, Doodle wasn’t a bit frightened, even when backed into a corner. He just giggled and giggled and giggled some more. (Maybe I’m not as scary as Pa with his wild hair standing up on end!)

And a wagon ride in our Radio Flyer with its Conestoga wagon top is always a great delight!

What other activities might thrill the smallest of “Little House” fans? Any fun ideas out there?

Check out this story where homage was paid to Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wendy McClure’s The Wilder Life was given a mention too!

The article also tells of a website called Writer’s Houses, which highlights homes of different authors around the world .

My mother was in poor health after she broke her leg several years ago and just wasn’t able to live her life the way she once had. After she died, I mourned not only losing her, but also that she had never been able to recover fully.

After the funeral and after it was time to get back to “normal”, I wrote on my own personal blog about missing her:

I think that everyone thinks that it’s just time to move on. I can’t. Not yet. All I wanted to do today was sleep. I know that’s not a good thing, but when I slept I could dream of her and she was still here and could walk and could hug me and hum a little song like she did when I was a small child.

My friend Rebecca (of right here at Beyond Little House) wrote the following comment:

Your words remind me of Little House. (What else is new?) Just think of Mrs. Bradley’s beautiful sad song… forgive me if I err on any of the words, just writing from memory here:

Backward, turn backward, oh time in thy flight,
Make me a child again just for tonight.
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to thy heart as of yore.
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care
Wash the few silver strands out of my hair
Over my slumber your loving watch keep.
Rock me to sleep, Mother, rock me to sleep.

I found such comfort in, not only the words, but also the direction that Rebecca was aiming me…the direction where she knew that I needed to go. I replied to Rebecca that it had been my wish to escape to somewhere “Laura” for a few days and it just wasn’t possible at that time. She suggested that I can escape, even if only to the pages of her books. And I did just that, as I had done so many other times in my life.

But those words “Backward, turn backward”…they just would not escape my thoughts. I had to know more and so began my search.  It really didn’t take long before I found what I was looking for in the pages of a book I had gotten and put away on one of my bookshelves – The Best Loved Poems of the American People Selected by Hazel Felleman. Maybe some of you already know this. It never occurred to me to look further than the pages of Little Town on the Prairie until those sad words somehow comforted me when I needed them most. The words that Mrs. Bradley sang on that night so many years ago had been written as a poem entitled, “Rock Me To Sleep” and I’d like to share them with you. I also made another discovery, but I’ll save that for another day.

Rock Me to Sleep
by: Elizabeth Akers Allen

Backward turn backward, O time, in your flight,
Make me a child again just for to-night!
Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
Take me again to your heart as of yore;
Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair,
Over my slumbers your loving watch keep; -
Rock me to sleep, Mother – rock me to sleep!

Backward, flow backward, oh, tide of the years!
I am so weary of toil and of tears -
Toil without recompense, tears all in vain -
Take them, and give me my childhood again!
I have grown weary of dust and decay -
Weary of flinging my soul-wealth away;
Weary of sowing for others to reap; -
Rock me to sleep, Mother – rock me to sleep!

Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O Mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded, our faces between;
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I to-night for your presence again.
Come from the silence so long and so deep; -
Rock me to sleep, Mother – rock me to sleep!

Over my heart, in the days that are flown,
No love like mother-love ever was shown;
No other worship abides and endures, -
Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours;
None like a mother can charm away pain
From the sick soul and the world-weary brain,
Slumber’s soft calms o’er my heavy lids creep; -
Rock me to sleep, Mother – rock me to sleep!

Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,
Fall on your shoulders again as of old;
Let it drop over my forehead to-night,
Shading my faint eyes away from the light;
For with its sunny-edged shadows once more
Haply will throng the sweet vision of yore:
Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep; -
Rock me to sleep, Mother – rock me to sleep!

Mother, dear Mother, the years have been long
Since I last hushed to your lullaby song;
Sing then, and unto my soul it shall seem
Womanhood’s years have been only a dream,
Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep; -
Rock me to sleep, Mother – rock me to sleep

Thank you, Rebecca, for being a friend…

Then there are those who want to learn more. They go beyond the original “Little House” books and buy more books. There are lots of books out there written about Laura and Rose.

Then there are others who like to collect. Do you go to the home sites (or order from them) and pick up a souvenir here or there? Are you a frequent ebay or antique store browser always on the lookout for something that reminds you of Laura…maybe a cup and saucer of the pattern that she had?

It all starts off innocently enough. You want to collect some of the Sewell-illustrated editions of the “Little House” books. For me this started long before ebay came along.

You visit some of the home sites and collect Charlotte dolls or die cast chotchkies.

Then you start searching for Laura and Almanzo’s bread plate, but which one is really the one that they had? Somehow you end up with both.

And then you start looking for antiques. Things mentioned in the books…butter churn, sheep shears, name cards.

So…are you a collector? What are some of your great finds? Or are you content to read the books or watch the television series?

But I’d venture to say there are quite a few others of you who are certifiably “Little House” obsessed. It’s always so refreshing to voice your obsessions with others who totally get it, especially when most of us may have spent much of our lives feeling like we were the only ones.

But what qualifies one as obsessed? I thought it might be a lot of fun to make a list together. Add a great reason taken from your own life in the comments — and feel free to comment multiple times throughout the conversation to tell additional stories!

I had one of these moments just this week, so I’ll start.

You know you’re “Little House” obsessed when…

…you have a good heartbreaking cry with your child over the supposed death of a dog who lived 150 years ago — even though you know the dog was perfectly fine!!!  (Little House on the Prairie, “Crossing the Creek”)  (And yes, after sobbing through the chapter together and attempting unsuccessfully to comfort her, I had to read the next one so she wouldn’t have to go to bed distraught! This chapter never bothered me as a child! I think I’ve made the Ingalls family a bit too live and personal!!)

Your turn!