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.

Summer is a time to relax, to take a break, to soak up the sunshine and to be a little lazy. Summer is also a time of transition, when we break from one school year to the next, when we move from the hustle and bustle of the planting season to the hustle and bustle of the harvest.

The chapter titled Summer Days is summertime personified. It is the one season of the year where there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency for the Ingalls family. Pa has steady work. Mary is home. There is a lazy feel to this chapter, largely because, like summer, Summer Days is a transition.

The purpose of a transition chapter is to move ahead in time during a period without action or drama. The most important event that happens in Laura’s life in this chapter is an invitation to work as a seamstress with Miss Bell. But we have seen Laura as a seamstress before, so there is no need to go into great depth about what her days will be like.

Yet, if you look closely at Laura’s summer, it is the blossoming of her transition from girl to woman. The girl Laura would feel obligated to take on Miss Bell’s offer to help earn money for Mary’s schooling. The young woman Laura, though, still wants to earn the money for Mary but she now understands the value of a good job. The girl Laura would have begged Pa to go into town for the Fourth of July celebrations. The young woman Laura prefers to stay on the claim and enjoy a quiet day with her family.

There are two other significant moments in this chapter that show Laura’s transition to womanhood. One is her reaction to seeing Almanzo in town, dressed as a homesteader and driving oxen. Laura and Mary Power barely recognize him, but Laura tries to explain to herself why Almanzo seemed so unfamiliar to her.

The second is her walk with Mary, where Mary confesses she’d like to write a book someday, but teases Laura that since Laura was the one who went on to be a teacher, Mary’s dream profession, Laura will probably end up writing the book. Laura denies it, saying she’ll be an old maid teacher like Miss Wilder. This gives Mary an opening to ask about that Wilder Boy Ma wrote about in letters. Laura says he is busy on the claim but then the prose goes on to say that she found herself too shy to talk about him.

Up until this point, Laura’s connection with Almanzo was through a physical activity – riding behind Prince and Lady in sleighs and cutters and buggies. This is the first we see Laura thinking of Almanzo beyond the horses. She’s not sure of her feelings. While she may be too shy to speak his name, you just know her heart was doing flip flops thinking about him. On the Fourth of July, she wondered if Almanzo was in town, and you could feel the yearning in her heart. But then the stubborn Laura came back – if wanted to see her, he knew where to find her.

The chapter ends with Pa’s own yearnings to head west again, but finally Ma puts her foot down. “I was so tired of being dragged pillar to post, and I thought we were settled here.” What made Ma finally say no to Pa’s wanderings? Is it because the girls are in school or is it because Ma recognizes that there are greater changes on the way?

Laura herself feels Pa’s restlessness, but whereas the girl Laura would have begging for the adventure, the young woman Laura knows they cannot move because she has a larger role to play in the family now as an income-earning school teacher.

They are having a gift shop sale and I thought it may help you get something for your Laura Ingalls Wilder collection at a sale price, while helping contribute to the financial well being of the site. Check out their flyer.

They do mail order, you can call them at: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm at 515-278-5286.

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio
Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association, Vice-President and Membership Chair

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!

“For a full year my daughter loved this Disney Princess Collection. Finally I was like, I can’t do this anymore! Now we are reading Little House on the Prairie“.

It is great to know that the Little House collection has more clout with parents than stories about Princesses!

“Images of the Past” at the

Laura Ingalls Wilder Park & Museum

Tours/Gift Shop Open:
Saturday, 9 am-5 pm (closed for parade); Sunday Noon to 4 pm

Events on Saturday, June 25th

• “Wilder 5-K” Run-$15 (includes T-shirt),
registration opens: 7:30 am (bank) run starts: 8:00 am
• Spelling Bee / Indian Bead Stringing (every _ hr. 9-10, 11:30-4:30)
at the Red School House starting 9:00 am
• Bouncy House / Children’s games 9-10:30 am
• Food Tent (closed during Parade 10:30-11:15) 9:30 am -3:00 pm
serving Brats, Chicken Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, bars, pie, drinks & more!
• “Images of the Past” Parade (236th Avenue) 10:30 am
• Founder’s Park Dedication presented by Iowa Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm 11:15 am
• Pedal Tractor Pull Contest (in front of museum) 11:30 am
Checkers Tournament (tables under the tent)
Stage Coach Rides (on 236th Ave. across from museum, $3/ea, every 15 minutes until 4 pm)
• Musical Entertainment: The Bread and Butter String Band (Big Tent)
Noon-1:00 pm and 1:30-2:30 pm
• Interactive Children’s Games Noon-2:30 pm
Pioneer Crafts and Hands on Activities (tents near shelter)
Face Painting (tent near shelter),
Horseshoe Pitching (by basketball court)
• Sarah Uthoff presentation: A Day in a One-Room School (Big Tent) 1-1:30 pm
• Pie Auction Fund Raiser: A dozen pies offered to tantalize your bidding 2:30 pm
• Little Miss Laura / Young Almanzo Winners Announced (Big Tent) 2:40 pm
• Sarah Uthoff presentation: Through the Eyes of a Child (Big Tent) 3:-3:30 pm
• Coloring Contest Winner Announced 3:30 pm

Events on Sunday, June 26th

• Ecumenical Pioneer Worship (Big Tent) Bring your lawn chair 10:00-11:00 am
• Community Pot Luck meal (shelter) 11:00 am
• Raffle drawing Noon
• Museum Tours and Gift Shop Open Noon – 4 pm
Evening events at Barney’s Bar and Grill 8 to 12 pm
Friday, June 24 Deep River Band Saturday, June 25 DJ Dewey

www.lauraingallswilder.us email: museum@lauraingallswilder.us
3603 236th Avenue, Burr Oak, IA 52101 phone: 563-735-5916

Granted, they don’t look all that much like Mother Wilder’s donuts, but hey, they’re donuts made from scratch right on the property. What’s not to love?

And we can vouch: they were scrumptious.

We understand that life happens, so please let us know if you need us to reassign your chapter.

There are so many chapters I love in Little Town on the Prairie; I couldn’t choose one even though I was offered. So I let the pages fall where they may and took this chapter, undoubtedly one of the shortest in the book. The shortness of this chapter does not take away from the realism of its subject matter. There’s a lot there that clues us, yet again, why the Little House books remain timely books, not only our children to read but, for us to reread.

There is basic 2011 reality hidden in this Little House chapter: financial needs, raising college funds, job layoffs, and the realization that the more we have, the more we want. Contentment seems to be harder to obtain nowadays than a job. That’s pretty bad.

In reading Laura’s books we are repeatedly yet calmly and joyfully reminded how to pull up our work boots and put our best foot forward. We are also reminded how to find contentment in the face of adversity. It kind of helps us to remember that people faced the same problems in the 19th century that we still face in the 21st century.

At the beginning of this chapter Laura is told that the spring rush is over and Mrs. White will no longer need her. Laura has spent that beautiful spring working indoors and has earned only nine dollars. Laura admits:

“One dollar had seemed a great deal of money only six weeks ago, but now nine dollars was not enough.”

Sound familiar?

Yeah, in my little house too.

And Laura is left feeling “cast out, and hollow inside.”

Why do we do this to ourselves? And to our families? We’ve all done it. Gotten something then wanted something more. Right?

When Laura began work, one dollar seemed like a huge amount. Six weeks later, nine dollars is insufficient.

Then Laura discovers that Pa will be out of work that summer as well. “Oh, Pa!” she begins to fret.

But Pa stops her with a pep talk. No matter how unexciting our job is or how unstimulating the work (even Laura would question sewing buttonholes), we can go home with a sense of satisfaction and at the end of the day say as Pa taught us, “You’ve done good work. It’s a good job well done.”

It was the pioneering spirit to be upbeat and undefeated. It still is!

With his pep talk, Pa delivers a “bushel basket covered with a grain sack” in which there is a “rasping of claws, and a cheeping chorus” of chickens! I especially love this part of chapter seven because I have a two-acre hobby farm of sorts on the edge of town where I care for a chicken tractor full of Rhode Island Reds and I love my chickens. Nothing says lovin’ quite like my chickens do. This chapter motivates me to try some of Ma’s crumbly bran mash, well peppered. I’m questioning the pepper. Has anyone tried that?

Pa reminds us that we cannot sit idle and ignore the tasks at hand. We still have hay to make while the sun shines and we have our little chickens to care for. On that same page, Laura reminds us of the joy of coming home and the contentment our housework, our gardens (vegetable or flower), our families, and our homes can bring us if we allow it. Ma assigns her girls different chores in caring for the baby chickens. Everyone plays a part in the raising-up of a family. Ma reminds us of orderliness which fills hollowness.

Then there is the talk between Laura and Ma that night of sending Mary off to college. With Laura’s help, this will happen sooner than expected. Laura again feels a sense of pride in the nine dollars she has earned; yet, with that pride, there comes the realization that the nine dollars is what makes the next seven years a reality.

Seven long years. “Mary would be gone. All day long, Mary would not be there.” How many parents have realized that no amount of money could ever buy back our children’s youth?

Suddenly the nine dollars becomes insignificant again and the seven years is a lifetime of hollow.

Lucky are those of us who have visited the Little Houses. They helped put our priorities into perspective. They assisted us in weathering storms. Thanks to Pa and Ma, we were shown that the most precious things in life come from within our homes and not from without.

*****

Here’s a nice lapbook template that read-along participants can do with their children or grandchildren: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/little_town_on_the_prairie.php

There are still plenty of chapters to go around! Don’t be shy. Simply read your chapter and write up a summary of sorts, include your own thoughts and feelings. Don’t worry! You will not be graded! We just want you to have fun. If you’d like to get an idea, look back to Chapter One of the read-along to The Long Winter.

We ask that you submit your chapter post to beyondlittlehouse at gmail dot com by the time the chapter ahead of yours is posted. Please include your name so that we can give you credit. We will post a new chapter every couple of days.

Any more questions? Don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below or email.