The last official day of LauraPalooza 2010 culminated in a field trip to Walnut Grove, Minnesota.
There, we had the privilege of exploring
Laura's mid-1870s home at Plum Creek,
where the House in the Ground once sheltered the Ingalls family until Pa could build the
"wonderful house," complete with glass windows!
Laura's mid-1870s home at Plum Creek,
where the House in the Ground once sheltered the Ingalls family until Pa could build the
"wonderful house," complete with glass windows!
Sadly, the locust plagues of the '70s hit the area especially hard, and made the living--
surviving, really--particularly difficult.
With no crops to harvest and no money to start over, what's a family to do?
With no crops to harvest and no money to start over, what's a family to do?
Move to I-O-WAY, of course!
For a little while, anyway.
But Iowa proved little better, and Burr Oak came with its own set of tribulations and further struggles.
Never one to be dissuaded by a rotten run of luck, Pa soon brought Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and newest daughter--aptly named Grace--back to Walnut Grove.
The family's hardships were far from over, as they continued to grieve the loss of little Freddie and made the further adjustment of grappling with Mary's recent loss of sight, but better times were on the horizon. Within a year, the Ingalls clan was on the move again, leaving the lush greenery of Plum Creek and heading out to try their luck at the site of a new town at the end of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. The future "first family" of DeSmet was about to settle down on the golden plains of Dakota Territory.
Although much altered by thirteen decades of howling Winter freezes, eroding Spring thaws, and sweltering Summer storms, Plum Creek still retains an awe-inspiring air of tranquil beauty that is utterly irresistible.
True, Pa's "wonderful house" no longer stands, and all that remains of the dugout is a square depression on the Northeast bank of the creek. Former wheatfields now boast grand stalks of corn, and the creek itself has changed course greatly in the 131 years since first Charles, then Caroline and their four girls, set out for a new life in DeSmet. Yet, something amazing remains.
The plum thickets still bear lush fruit which welcomes visitors as they cross the footbridge to investigate the former dugout and pay homage at the yellow-lettered wooden sign which indicates its presumed location.
From there, the tablelands beckon the child in all of us to imagine Laura and Mary running along the ridge, and perhaps tumbling down the hill, grasping at stray black-eyed Susans along the way.
I'd like to take this moment to thank the people responsible for keeping a portion of Laura's famous
childhood playground intact.
For decades--and to the delight of many tens of thousands of "LauraPhiles"--generations of the Gordon family
have maintained the Ingalls' legacy at Plum Creek by putting tremendous time, effort, planning, and funding
into the conservation and preservation of this hallowed ground...
thereby saving a special little piece of heaven for us all...
The family's hardships were far from over, as they continued to grieve the loss of little Freddie and made the further adjustment of grappling with Mary's recent loss of sight, but better times were on the horizon. Within a year, the Ingalls clan was on the move again, leaving the lush greenery of Plum Creek and heading out to try their luck at the site of a new town at the end of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. The future "first family" of DeSmet was about to settle down on the golden plains of Dakota Territory.
True, Pa's "wonderful house" no longer stands, and all that remains of the dugout is a square depression on the Northeast bank of the creek. Former wheatfields now boast grand stalks of corn, and the creek itself has changed course greatly in the 131 years since first Charles, then Caroline and their four girls, set out for a new life in DeSmet. Yet, something amazing remains.
The plum thickets still bear lush fruit which welcomes visitors as they cross the footbridge to investigate the former dugout and pay homage at the yellow-lettered wooden sign which indicates its presumed location.
From there, the tablelands beckon the child in all of us to imagine Laura and Mary running along the ridge, and perhaps tumbling down the hill, grasping at stray black-eyed Susans along the way.
I'd like to take this moment to thank the people responsible for keeping a portion of Laura's famous
childhood playground intact.
For decades--and to the delight of many tens of thousands of "LauraPhiles"--generations of the Gordon family
have maintained the Ingalls' legacy at Plum Creek by putting tremendous time, effort, planning, and funding
into the conservation and preservation of this hallowed ground...
thereby saving a special little piece of heaven for us all...
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