The Man of the Place and I went camping in Forestville Mystery Cave State Park, Minnesota, this weekend. This gorgeous area, full of rolling farmland and clear trout streams, offers a bounty of natural resources. It’s no wonder, then, that James and Angeline Day Wilder settled here, in Spring Valley, in 1870. They stayed until 1898, and their son, Almanzo, brought his wife, Laura, and daughter, Rose, to stay with them in 1890 and 1891 while he recovered from his stroke.
Confession time: I had no intention of visiting Spring Valley this weekend. The MotP and I simply did the equivalent of throwing a dart at the map to pick a state park for camping and hiking one last time before the snow flies up here. It was as we pulled into Spring Valley, about twenty minutes from the park, that I realized I was entering Wilder territory.
A squeal, a jump and a sharp right turn later, we were following a sign labeled “Wilder Museum.” It led us to the beautiful Methodist church, attended and partially funded by the Wilders, that now houses artifacts of their 28-year stay in Spring Valley as well as rooms full of community history. It was closed on Friday (the museum is only open on the weekends after Labor Day), but the MotP took my picture in front of it, and promised a trip back through on Sunday.
So, this morning, instead of building another leisurely campfire for breakfast before breaking camp, we packed up the truck, broke down the tent, and headed back into town as soon as we awoke, looking for breakfast on the way. We ended up at Subway for a quick breakfast sandwich–there wasn’t much else right off the main highway–then made our way to the door of the church just as it opened at 10 a.m.
A friendly volunteer teen took me through the upper part of the church, which houses the Ingalls-Wilder collection. The local historians here have done a masterful job of research, digging into community newspaper archives and other materials to unearth photographs of the Wilder family, focusing particularly on James and Angelina’s fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1893 (at which many photographs were taken on their farm) and on the Wilder connection to the church. Alice, Royal and Eliza Jane all were married in or in affiliation with the church there. Other materials focus on Royal’s variety store, which he opened in Spring Valley after selling out his store in De Smet. Royal’s grave can be found in the cemetery here, and the building in which his store was housed still stands. (Today, it’s a bar.)
A second volunteer took me through the history of Spring Valley in the rooms on the ground level of the church, which feature artifacts from the Native Americans who once populated the area as well as artifacts from the everyday lives of Spring Valley citizens at the turn of the century. It’s tough to describe everything, as the museum houses a truly remarkable collection of everyday cultural history, but as a media historian, I must talk about the enormous collection of cameras and other media technologies that are truly remarkable. One can see a magic lantern, a telegraph key, an Underwood typewriter, and two different movie projectors, as well as cameras from the Kodak brownie on. (More squealing ensued at the site of this collection.)
Here’s the best part: Spring Valley is just under two hours from Mankato, southeast. It’s well within driving distance for a quick trip–so if you’re planning to attend next summer’s LauraPalooza, it’s a good stop.
There was time today for one last squeal: The Wilder farm, now privately owned, is just on the outskirts of town, and a Wilder horse barn still exists on the property. The MotP drove me out there on our way out, and I could see the enormous space the Wilders used to house their famous Morgan horses.
Oh, and one little-known fact I could’ve guessed but didn’t know? Almanzo raced his horses at the town track, and apparently won third place in the Fourth of July centennial races in Spring Valley.
Spring Valley is well worth the visit.