De Smet, Iowa comes into its own as a real town!

Little Town on the Prairie 

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I love this older cover image to the left!

I can imagine that as Laura walking down the 

ever-growing Main Street in De Smet. 

As I read through this series I keep thinking there will eventually be ONE of these books that really doesn't 

'grab my attention' or resonate with me very well...

But, thankfully, that day never comes! :)

Each book is enthralling and endearing in its own way. 

I am thrilled my grandchildren will have the opportunity 

to read these and won't miss out on them 

as I somehow managed to do as a child! :)

Work has kept me so busy that I've 

not had much time to blog. 

But here is my review of this month's 

Little House Read-Along 2016 installment, just before month's end. 

In case you were unaware, Bex of 

An Armchair by the Sea and myself are cohosting a Little House Read-Along 

this year. You can join in whenever you please...or not. You're welcome to 
peruse all the reviews or 
some of them, etc. 

Whatever works for you! 

We post a link-up introductory posting 

at the beginning of each month and 

then I add links to all the month's reviews at my #littlehouseRAL home page, so you can access everything there. 

I've even been able to add a couple of reviews that were not necessarily part of this 
read-along (with permission of the bloggers), so it provides much diversity! 

This month's book was just so much fun! It was wonderful to see how Laura did eventually learn to enjoy living in town. Of course, she was now a teenager (a 'grown woman' in her day), and I believe it helped that Nellie Oleson was forced to live in the country, pretty far from town, so she couldn't berate the Ingalls as "country girls" any more! In fact, the opposite was now true! Though the Ingalls only moved to Pa's store in town during the winter. The rest of the time (the growing season) they spent on their claim, raising crops and a garden, and preserving food. So really, they had the best of both worlds.

Pa shocked everyone by asking one evening at supper,

"How would you like to work in town, Laura?" Laura could not say a word. 

Neither could any of the others. They all sat as if they were frozen. 

Grace's blue eyes stared over the rim of her tin cup, Carrie's teeth stayed bitten into 

a slice of bread, and Mary's hand held her fork stopped in the air. 

Ma let tea go pouring from the teapot's spout into Pa's brimming cup. 

Just in time, she quickly set down the teapot. (1)

I did kinda have to laugh at Ma's immediate reaction,

"A job? For a girl? In town?" Ma said. "Why, what kind of a job--" Then quickly she said,

"No, Charles, I won't have Laura working out in a hotel among all kinds of strangers."

"Who said such a thing?" Pa demanded. 

"No girl of ours'll do that, not while I'm alive and kicking." (2)

These books just make me realize all the more how differently society felt about so many things back then compared to now...

"What other kind of work can there be? And Laura not old enough to teach school yet." (2)

Laura only had to be 16 years old and pass an exam to become a certified teacher. (Wow...only 16! And just one test!)

All in the minute before Pa began to explain, Laura thought of the town, 

and of the homestead claim where they were all so happy now in the springtime, 

and she did not want anything changed. She did not want to work in town. (2)

What patience!

After all, they had all just barely survived that horrid long winter of 7 months of blizzards! 

Then we get a description of the springtime thus far and how wonderfully happy Laura (and I think they all were) to get back out on the land. Having 'bucket-fed' calves on my grandmother's farm as a youngster, I could relate to Laura's patience with teaching the young calf how to drink it's milk. (In order to milk the cow, the calf would need to eat by other means...) I realized how much easier I had it! 

And they still had to battle the 'varmints' for their food! Not grasshoppers this time, but the "striped gophers" ate the seed corn as fast as Pa planted it. The blackbird flocks were so huge as to block the sunshine, as they ate the corn right out of the husks! There was always a struggle awaiting these frontier settlers. And as you can imagine, inside the house was just as bad, if not worse! (Remember, there were no plastic containers or bags back then!) There were so many mice that it was quite a coup when Pa managed to bring home a little bitty kitty for them to raise and keep as a mouser! When it was still just a very tiny thing, it managed to "catch" a mouse, which ended up being much more a "cat-and-mouse fight" since the mouse repeatedly bit the little kitty until it finally managed to climb onto the mouse's back and bite into its neck from on top, and properly killed the mouse in the end. Though they had to doctor all the bites the poor little dear had suffered!  Poor little kitty!! :( But it certainly proved its worth--already! And, it's not like you could just go to the store to purchase baby chickens or cats. You had to rely upon others' kindness or purchase them from people you could locate who had extras to sell. Fortunately, Mrs. Broast gave them a very generous start for their chicken flock! 

It turns out that one of the storekeepers in town, Clancy, has opened a dry goods store and has purchased a sewing machine which his wife will run, but they want "a good handy girl to help with the hand sewing." The pay is "twenty-five cents a day and dinner." All Laura can think of is the money she might be able to contribute to Mary's college fund. I guess this is one of the things I appreciate the most about this series...they are all interested in how they can help each other, there is very little selfishness at all among the members of this family, or even amongst the community members. Though to be sure there is some, but they seem to get shut down pretty quickly by the other community members. As with the shopkeeper who was going to charge such outrageous amounts for the wheat that Cap and Almanzo had driven through the blizzard some 40 miles to get, all to prevent the local people from starving during that last winter. Pa and the others talked sense to the man and he quickly changed his mind, realizing he would be relying upon these same people to purchase from him in the spring and summer...and they wouldn't forget (or forgive) his unbridled greed in this, their moment of need. Ma gives her permission and Laura begins walking to town every morning with Pa. That was one of the selling points for Ma, knowing that Laura would not be strictly alone once she was in town. 

We learn through Laura's eyes just how much the town has changed and how it has expanded to be almost unrecognizable to her, just since a few months earlier! It is while at work one day that Laura witnesses two drunk men falling out the door of one saloon, singing and swaying along the street, kicking out screens in shop's front doors as they go, until they finally go through one door into the other saloon in town. She was laughing at their song and actions, but Ma was not amused, as she told everyone at home the story that evening. As Pa says,

"Two saloons in this town are just two saloons too many."

"It's a pity more men don't say the same," said Ma. "I begin to believe that if there isn't a stop put to the liquor traffic, women must bestir themselves and have something to say about it."

Pa twinkled at her, "Seems to me you have plenty to say, Caroline. 

Ma never left me in doubt as to the evil of drink, nor you either." (55)

I was reminded of my own experiences with my first marriage. But then, we now know what a disaster Prohibition was, so it is simply dependent upon each of us to control ourselves and moderate our alcohol consumption. 

Pa takes Carrie and Laura into town with him for the July 4th celebrations. And one of the politicians gives them some free fireworks, which they choose to save until they're home so they can share them with Grace. (Awwww...so considerate!) It is during this celebration that I am once again amazed at some of the differences between now and then. The lemonade was stored in open barrels, with a dipper in each one. Each person just used the dipper to drink from, just as they did in the school for water, etc. We wouldn't think of sharing a drinking utensil with everyone and anyone now, would we? You'd better have a strong immune system, 'cause you were certainly going to be exposed to alot of germs and bacteria! :) It is during these patriotic speeches that Laura realizes:

Americans won't obey any king on earth. Americans are free. 

That means they have to obey their own consciences. 

No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. 

Why (she thought), when I am a little older, 

Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn't anyone else 

who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good.

Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free.

It means, you have to be good. (76)

I love this realization! Yes, Laura, you will be 'on your own' in the adult world before long. 

Carrie and Laura also watch the horse race and those lovely two Morgan horses, driven by Almanzo, win, even though they are hauling a "high heavy peddler's cart," rather than a one- or two-seater buggy like all the other teams, those being much lighter. With all the other teams hauling just buggies, Laura realizes the Morgans must lose, but she roots for them anyway. I loved the description of the last team of horses in the lead being "whipped" by their owner, as Almanzo draws even with him/them, but Almanzo holds no whip and simply speaks to his team of horses and they pull ahead and win the race in the last seconds! I'm lovin' Almanzo! He was a "horse whisperer" before his time! And Laura is totally enamored with those horses. I'm not sure she's really considered Almanzo so much, but she would do just about anything for a ride behind those beautiful horses. When she learns Almanzo's sister will be the schoolteacher in the fall, she is so hopeful to be liked by her and thereby get just such a ride! 

Mary's brand-new fancy dress for college.

Mary is able to attend college and there are many weeks of advance planning, and work to complete, to have everything ready to send her off to Vinton, Iowa, by train! They must make clothes for her, including underwear, knit socks, etc. I admit I physically squirmed as they described tightening Mary's stays so her dress would fit, as planned. Yuck!! Ma and Pa are gone a whole week for their trip to drop Mary off. While they're gone, Laura, Cassie, and Grace, all work hard to completely clean the house as a surprise for Ma. Though once Grace had hold of the "blacking" for the stove, she created more work for the other two! :) (I was reminded of a similar blacking incident in the Anne of Green Gables series!) When Ma and Pa return, they are very surprised at all the housework done! They were thoughtful enough to being each of the three girls a gift. And they had earned it with all the work they'd done during that week! A picture book for Grace, and autograph albums for Carrie and Laura. I had forgotten about autograph albums! It was a big deal when I was in school for classmates (and upperclassmen, if you were really lucky) to autograph your yearbook, which rather took the place of autograph albums. But I remember them from grade school! 

Ingalls' detailed writing is so descriptive and intriguing. As Laura and Carrie set out on the First Day of School that fall when Miss Wilder would be teaching:

The coolness of night still lingered in the early sunlight. 

Under the high blue sky the green of the prairie was fading to soft brown and mauve. 

A little wind wandered over it carrying the fragrance of ripening grasses and the pungent 

smell of wild sunflowers. All along the road the yellow blossoms were nodding, 

and in its grassy middle they struck the soft thumps against the swinging dinner pail. 

Laura walked in one wheel track, and Carrie in the other. (125)

I was struck at how much healthier and much more enjoyable it would be to walk to work in these conditions rather than drive a car a bunch of miles! Pa had already hauled haystacks into town and stored them next to the barn so that he wouldn't need to haul hay through the winter for heat and to feed the livestock. 

Fearing another October blizzard, Pa moves them into town early in the fall. And this year they have their own provisions to take with them:

"We will have coal to burn and something to eat all winter, 

if the trains can't get through," Pa gloated. (143) 

I could feel Pa's pride as he stated this! How wonderful that they had all worked and been able to provide for themselves this year. :) A job well done! I cracked up as I read about Laura finding book of Tennyson's poems and actually putting it away and leaving it alone. That was really good of her. She was so thoughtful! I can remember locating Christmas gifts as a child and having to keep my own secrets. It was tough! 

Laura rocking the desk, as told!
(She looks fierce, doesn't she?!?)

Miss Wilder and Nellie Oleson prove to be quite good pals and Miss Wilder is very mean to Laura and Carrie. Laura can rather handle the mean actions thrust at her, but she becomes livid when Miss Wilder darn near makes Carrie faint. Carrie had never fully recovered from the previous hard winter and doing without food and being so cold. As Laura talked about Carrie's headaches, I had a pang of empathy for her. What would we do now without all our fancy over-the-counter and/or prescribed medications to prevent or calm headaches? Poor Carrie! Having suffered from sinus headaches as a child, I could relate! Laura and Carrie are dismissed early from school that day, and the School Board completes a surprise visit soon thereafter. It is obvious that Miss Wilder has no idea how to keep order amongst the students as they boys are constantly making noise, up and out of their seats, etc. I had to laugh at the idea of Laura blaming herself for the boys' bad behavior! Trust me, as a former schoolteacher, they would have done it anyway, with or without anyone else's seeming approval; if a teacher is unable to maintain some modicum of control in the classroom, it is his/her own fault! :)

Left to right: Ma, Grace, Laura, Pa, Carrie, and Mary.
No date given...

Needless to say, Miss Wilder's contract was NOT renewed and Mr. Clewett was hired and he was an excellent teacher as well as active community member! (Of course, in that day, it would be much easier to maintain discipline in a schoolhouse if you were a male. Not much of anyone listened a whole lot to females or were necessarily taught to respect them...but, with that said, Miss Wilder was not a good teacher in so many ways!) 

Laura and one of her best friends, Mary Power, were invited to the first "Sociable" in town even though it did cost a dime. It was supposedly for the Ladies' Aid Society, though Ma was unaware one was bring organized. They did not have fun, it was basically an adult affair, they were the only two teens in attendance. Then Laura and Mary are invited to a supper party which was to be a birthday party for one of the boys in school. The dinner served was excellent and the girls had fun when the four teens were allowed to go downstairs by themselves. It was prior to the Sociable that Laura decided she wanted to cut and curl bangs just as Mary had...Ma was rather adamant initially: 

Laura with her
"lunatic fringe"! 

"Oh, Ma, I do wish you'd let me cut bangs," she almost begged. 

"Mary Power wears them, and they are so stylish."

"Your hair looks nice the way it is," said Ma. 

"Mary Power is a nice girl, but I think 

the new hair style is well called a 'lunatic fringe.'" (203)  

Ha! Ha! I did have to laugh at that. The older generation(s) are typically opposed to much change, aren't they? I hope I'm not...

I try not to be. 

I delighted in reading about the establishment of the Literary Society and it's various performances and activities! It was at the first such meeting that Pa suggested there be no "officers" or "organization," per se:

"From what I've seen, the trouble with organizing a thing is that pretty soon folks get to paying more attention to the organization than to what they're organized for. 

I take it we're pretty well agreed right now on what we want. 

If we start organizing and electing, the chances are we won't be as well agreed...

So I suggest, let's just go straight ahead and do what we want to do, without any officers. 

We've got the schoolteacher, Mr. Clewett, to act as leader. Let him give out a program, 

every meeting, for the next meeting. Anybody that gets a good idea can speak up for it, 

and anybody that's called on will pitch in and do his share in the programs the best he can, 

to give everybody a good time." (214)

Mrs. Bradley singing
along with her organ!

That Pa is one wise man. And as a result of the Spelling Bee held at the first meeting, we discover he is indeed a very smart man in many ways. And Mr. Fuller rather redeems himself after the herding antelope debacle during the previous winter by proving himself to be a good speller, too. Ma lasted to one of the remaining few, as did Laura. Pa won the whole thing! At another Literary Society meeting on a Friday night, Mrs. Bradley sang a beautiful solo. And another found a group of five of the men performing in "black face." I was reminded that this was acceptable at one point in time, whereas, it certainly would not be now...and that, in my opinion, is a change for the better! I thought it rather funny that none of his own family recognized Pa as one of these performers! He was tricky! And I could relate when Ma was obviously upset at the idea of him possibly  having shaved his beard for it--but he didn't! I could relate to her distress at the thought, for I love my own husband's beard!! I'm always sorry when he trims it down to a mustache and goatee in the summer. :) Though I do understand--it gets hot!

Although it offends our sensibilities now, I guess
I can understand it was not considered offensive
to these settlers at the time...
(Thank goodness we've evolved!)

It was not long after the start of Friday night Literary Society meetings that the week-long revival started. Although Laura would rather stay home and study for both her teaching certificate exam and the school's Exhibition in which she has the largest part, reciting the history of the United States. I had to laugh when the girls at school were discussing the upcoming revival meetings that were every night for a week, and Laura stated "she should stay home and study," and Nellie Oleson burst out,

"Why, people who don't go to revival meetings 

are atheists!" (274)

Ah, yes, you must profess a belief in Christianity...or else! In my opinion, it is unfortunate that U.S. society overall seems to still hold on to this prejudice to a great degree. 

Almanzo sees Laura home!

But the revival meetings are much more exciting for Laura than she might have imagined. Although Almanzo did pick her up one day in the buggy and drive her to school, she had not been with him since that day, but he would tug on her sleeve after revival and ask to "see her home." The first time she couldn't speak; she was unable to say anything! However, the second time and each thereafter she overcame her nervousness. Though I'm not sure she ever truly understood why he might seek her out. Poor Laura had an inferiority complex much as every teenage female tends to have--she wished her body was different and her hair and...well, you know. I suppose males can also be plagued with such self-doubt, it not only a female affliction. Though I believe Almanzo a self-confident person overall.  

Although Carrie is very nervous about the school's Exhibition, she performs flawlessly, as does Laura! In fact, it is through this performance that suddenly Laura is offered a position as schoolteacher although she will not be 16 for two more months! She is shocked when Mr. Broast and his buddy from back east, Mr. Brewster, tell her just not to mention her age. The examiner comes to her house just after she accepts the position and she passes with flying colors, as we would expect! She is so excited that she will be making money and will be able to help Ma and Pa provide for Mary's education and she will be able to come home for the summer! How exciting! 

I am so excited for the next installment! 

I want to know when and exactly how 

she and Almanzo get together 

and how she fares running a classroom! 

I'm certain she will be successful. 

How could she not?

With Pa as her father and Ma as her mother? :)

Join us next month for 

These Happy Golden Years!

I love this older cover image on the left.

I bet I can guess whose horses those are! :)

That Didn't Seem Like Just ONE Winter!!

The Long Winter 

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

As I began this post, I linked the author's name above to a website 

with her name in the URL and thought how wonderful it is that literally anyone 

can now be 'kept alive' long after their death, so that others who follow can 
investigate and learn about that person through the Internet. 
That is just sooooo cool! 

(Yes, I'm old, so I am still amazed periodically by what can be accomplished 

in this technologically advanced world in which we/I now find ouselves!)

Join us for the LIttle House Read-Along 2016!
Here is my #LittleHouseRAL page!
And here is the page on Bex's blog, An Armchair by the Sea!
We begin each month with a registration posting for that month's book. 
Then I link each review submitted on my page! 
It is "one-stop shopping" where you can read all the reviews!
Feel free to just comment or read the postings, or post your own review, on a blog, 
or Goodreads, or any other social media!

This cover makes it look too
much like fun in this extremely
hard winter for De Smet!

We find the Ingalls family still on their homestead claim 
at De Smet, suddenly anticipating a very long, snowy, 
cold winter. (Did I mention L-O-N-G?!?) 
I adored Pa's explanation of God having granted 
'free will' only to "us," and not to 
"everything else in creation." 
He uses the ready and available example 
of the muskrats' house he and Laura encounter.
As he explains, muskrats can only build 
one type of house, though they can choose to 
make the walls thicker or thinner, as necessary. Whereas "man"/"humans" can choose what type of house to build among the many possibilities available.

Though this doesn't reflect my own belief system, 

I could appreciate Pa using this hands-on real-world     

                example to explain it to Laura!

"I never saw a heavier-built muskrats' house than that one." (12)

This observation gives Pa pause, as he (correctly) interprets this to mean there will be a very "hard winter" ahead. And he rushes to prepare for just that, since this isn't the only sign he encounters!

Carrie, Laura, and Mary

I am rather surprised at Laura's reticence to be around people. I guess I'd never thought about that aspect of her personality prior to reading these books. But she really didn't like to be around people when she was young. (Does this change as she ages, I wonder?) So when a tooth breaks off the cutting bar while Pa is mowing hay, she is glad for Carrie's company when Pa sends her to town to purchase a new one. However, on their way home, she allows Carrie to select a previously unexplored  'short-cut' and they become lost...though who should they discover on their trek? Almanzo and his brother, of course! He very politely guides them in the correct direction once he sees where Mr. Ingalls is working from the top of their own wagonload of hay. Of course, Laura immediately recognizes them by their beautiful horses!

Not long after this, Pa spends the whole day hunting, expecting to kill some fowl for supper, but comes home empty-handed... 

"...every kind of bird is going south as fast and as high as it can fly...

And no other kind of game is out. 

Every living thing that runs or swims is hidden away somewhere. 

I never saw country so empty and still." (34-35)

This definitely sounds eerie! It is this same evening that Ma presents her experimental pie that tastes just like apple, though she used a green pumpkin to make it. I was so impressed by her resourcefulness! She is a marvel! I would have never thought to even try that! :) And overnight, Laura imagines water drops hitting her in the face, though that can't be, since they're snug under a roof...and then...they awaken to a 3-day-long blizzard. In OCTOBER! Yikes! This is proof, then, that Pa's observations fit along with a very early and very long winter of snow upon snow upon more snow! 

But this first blizzard brought with it a seemingly unbelievable scene! Pa notices some stray cattle wandering close to their homestead and is fearful they'll eat all the hay he has stockpiled to keep his own stock well-fed throughout the winter. They don't seem to be moving along, so he and Laura decide to go "drive them off." 

They did not seem like real cattle. They stood so terribly still. 

In the whole heard there was not the least movement. 

Only their breathing sucked their hairy sides in between the rib bones and pushed them out again. Their hip bones and their shoulder bones stood up sharply. 

Their legs were braced out, stiff and still. And where their heads should be, 

swollen white lumps seemed fast to the ground under the blowing snow.

On Laura's head the hair prickled up and a horror went down her backbone... 

Pa went on slowly against the wind. He walked up to the herd. Not one of the cattle moved. 

For a moment Pay stood looking. Then he stooped and quickly did something. 

Laura heard a bellow and a red steer's back humped and jumped. 

The red steer ran staggering and bawling. 

It had an ordinary head with eyes and nose and open mouth bawling out steam on the wind.  (48)

This is an excellent example (in my opinion) of the writing that makes these books so amazing to read! Such a simple 'child-like' description is so very effective to me, as the reader. I felt as if my own hair was standing up on end just as Laura's had done! This was so creepy. I was raised on a farm with cattle and my ex-husband and I had farmed the first few years of our marriage, raising both cattle and hogs, and though we had 'weathered' (pun intended!) several blizzards, none where the poor animal's heads had literally frozen to the ground! Egads!! That would just be too bizarre! I might not believe it had I not lived in the "prairie" since then, experiencing the extreme winds that can arise so suddenly with weather changes. It really could be this severe!  

In the midst of a haystack Pa discovers and manages to save a strange-looking baby "bird" with webbed-feet unlike anything they've ever seen (supposedly resembling the picture of an auk in one of the few books they own) and once the weather clears a bit he places it on the water and it is able to take off and fly. Pa is smart enough to realize it cannot fly without water on which to get up to an appropriate speed, using those webbed feet! He is so smart!

A bit of "Indian summer" followed this first blizzard and Pa realizes 

"The wild things know, somehow," Pa said. 

"Every wild creature's got ready for a hard winter."

"I don't like the feel of things, myself...This weather seems 

to be holding back something that it might let loose any minute. 

If I were a wild animal, I'd hunt my hole and dig it plenty deep. 

If I were a wild goose, I'd spread my wings and get out of here."

Ma laughed at him. "You are a goose, Charles! I don't know 

when I've seen a more beautiful Indian summer." (58)

What fascinated me about this exchange was the fact that this is the first time I remember Ma ever actually teasing Pa! A few days later while in town to purchase supplies since the trains were once again running, following the blizzard, an older male Indian/Native American steps into the store, ostensibly to warn the "white men" that "Heap big snow come," moving his arm in a wide sweeping motion to take in all the surrounding lands. When Pa asks, "How long?" He replies, "Many moons," holding up seven fingers, indicating blizzards for seven months. He ends with "You white men...I tell-um you." 

He showed seven fingers again. "Big snow." Again, seven fingers. "Big now." 

Again seven fingers. "Heap big snow, many moons."

Then he tapped his breast with his forefinger. "Old! Old! I have seen!" he said proudly...

"Well, I'll be jiggered," Mr. Boast.

"What was that about seven big snows?" Almanzo asked. Pa told him. The Indian meant that every seventh winter was a hard winter and that at the end of three times seven years 
came the hardest winter of all. He had come to tell the white men that this coming winter 
was a twenty-first winter, that there would be seven months of blizzards. (62)

In the discussion following this episode, all but Mr. Boast decide to move into town from their homestead claims, just to be safe. Pa immediately returns to the homestead with the few supplies he'd purchased, stating,

I feel like hurrying...I'm like the muskrat, something tells me to get you and the girls inside thick walls. I've been feeling this way for some time and now that Indian..."

He stopped.

"What Indian?" Ma asked him. She looked as if she were smelling the smell of an Indian whenever she said the word. Ma despised Indians. She was afraid of them, too.

"There's some good Indians," Pa always insisted. Now he added, "And they know some things we don't. I'll tell you all about it at supper, Caroline." (64)

The feminist in me was reminded that this was a very different time and place. As a woman, there were few to no protections from any male, and it is typical for humans to fear anyone "different" from them. And, it isn't as if the Indians hadn't entered their house before and taken whatever they pleased! :) I might well have had the same attitude and fears had I been Ma. And, of course, poor Laura is unhappy about living around so many other people in town, but she rationalizes that it will only be for this one winter season. 

Laura helping hang curtains in the house
 in town. Their home for the winter.

No one realized how very brave Laura was determined to be, even considering teaching school and constantly being forced to deal with strangers and form relationships with them. 

She would be brave if it killed her. But even if she could 

get over being afraid, she could not like strange people. 

She knew how animals would act, 
she understood what animals thought, 
but you could never be sure about people. (70)

Oh, Laura! I so agree with you! I would much rather live on the land, in the country, with only livestock and wild animals as neighbors. Living "in town" forces me to deal with people ALL the time! :) And I prefer animals overall! 

This one winter seemed interminably long! There were indeed seven months of blizzards! Unbelievable! The Ingalls were forced to hover around the stove when the cold winds of the blizzards hit just to stay warm...and then...as supplies dwindled times became more desperate. One day, Laura and Carrie and all the other students from school are darned near lost in one of the many blizzards before they inadvertently walk into the side of a house. Laura realizes if they hadn't discovered that house, they would have been walking out into the wilderness and might have frozen to death! The girls are safe and sound at home afterward. Though Laura "rubbed her eyes and saw a pink smear on her hand. Her eyelids were bleeding where the snow had scratched them." Ooohhh...OUCH!

The supply train was delayed by the blizzard. Then another blizzard hits, and another, and...repeat! Finally there is a break in the weather and the men from town travel via handcar on the railroad tracks to help dig out the train. The railroad superintendent even comes out and works for days trying to get the train going, but each time it is dug out another blizzard hits until it is hopeless and the railroad is shut down. No. More. Supplies. Period. For the remainder of the winter. Needless to say, all the food and coal for stoves/heat is purchased from the local store owners and people are subsisting on whatever they have left, which is typically wheat to make into bread for food. However, the wheat isn't even ground, so that the Ingalls must all take turns with the hand-cranked coffee mill, keeping it turning virtually all day long to have enough roughly ground wheat to bake brown bread for each meal. 

And heat. They had used all their coal for the stove and were forced to "twist hay" to use as fuel. Thank goodness for Pa's resourcefulness in thinking of this! Needless to say, this burned way too fast to last very long or put out much heat. Hence, everyone was forced to sit around the stove, except for those out in the lean-to twisting hay, which were usually Pa and Laura. Of course, this means that Pa must continue hauling hay into town from the homestead that is two miles away! And that world is nothing but snowdrifts, so whenever he goes over the slough with the grass beneath the snow, the horses fall down into the snow. Then the wagon/sled must be unhitched from the horses, the snow trampled down until the horses are able to walk out of the 'hole' and then the wagon/sled hitched up again, and continue on...until the next time the horses fall through. Of course, once another blizzard hits, any tracks made are lost and the whole process repeats itself! Needless to say, that makes these hay-hauling trips extremely arduous, and frustrating, and many times longer than usual!


Even Ma's chores have changed somewhat, as she will wash clothes and hang them out to "freeze dry." No such thing as a clothes dryer back then! :) And no electricity. Once there is no more coal to be purchased in town and they use hay for heating, Charles changes his tune about "progress"...

"These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. 

Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves--

they're good things to have but the trouble is,

folks get to depend on 'em." (192)

Once they've exhausted their kerosene supply, Ma makes a light, a button lamp, with grease, just as they had done before kerosene lamps! Pa tells the story of the railroad superintendent who ended up quitting after proving even he was incapable of ramming a locomotive through the drifted and iced over snow! 

Pa must finally dig a tunnel through the drifted snow just to get from the house to the stable. Although digging out was time-consuming and exhausting, at least he wasn't exposed to the wind and cold when doing chores, feeding and watering the animals. The girls become stir crazy and everyone becomes hungry and depressed. Pa can't play the fiddle due to twisting the hay for fuel which cuts his hands and makes them swell, so they can't even enjoy that type of music, though they do sing and march sometimes to help keep their bodies warm. 
The potatoes are all gone. The last of the wheat has been used for brown bread. There is no more food and no hope of supply trains. The town stores have been sold out of all food supplies for months. Pa has been visiting with the Wilder boys off and on throughout all the blizzards and he finally goes down and helps himself, without asking permission to their seed wheat stash, simply to get enough wheat to continue feeding his family brown bread. Again, Pa was quite the smart observer. He realized they had built a false wall to encase and hide the seed wheat, but he didn't demand to have any until they were totally out of any food to eat. 

Circumstances were dire. As Almanzo and Royal calculate the remaining weeks (at least two more months) during which people must eat enough to live, they determine that even their own seed wheat supply will be insufficient to keep everyone alive throughout the remainder of the winter. It is then that Almanzo and Cap Garland decide to travel the 20 miles to the farmer's homestead where there supposedly is a settler who raised wheat last year. If they can make it to his place, purchase wheat from him, and haul it back before another blizzard hits, they figure there will be enough wheat to feed the town until spring. But it is a huge risk! It wouldn't be unexpected for a blizzard to hit before they could return to town, with or without wheat! If they can even find this settler and if he has this wheat and if he'll sell it! I believe this part of this book was the most suspenseful of any of the books in this series thus far. My heart was beating fast and I was just hoping they would make it back to town, even if they couldn't find this place or person or the wheat! It was decided Royal would remain in town, just in case something happened to Almanzo... Although they barely made it, they finally did make it. And...although the settler was not willing to sell them any wheat initially, he finally did. Everyone had enough wheat to stave off starving to death, though they were all mighty thin and virtually listless by the time supplies arrived and saved them! 

Again, this was a vivid reminder of just how dangerous it was for these settlers. 

Those who were first in the western territories took a huge risk, 

especially those with children to feed!

No mention was made of how other families in town survived the cold, etc., 

but they all did survive, which, in and of itself, was a miracle, in my opinion! 

There was also a sense of community and although it didn't always work well, as in 

Mr. Foster shooting at the elk herd that passed just outside of town WAY too early 

and spoiling anyone and everyone's chances of having elk to eat, sometimes it did.  

As when one of the storekeepers, Mr. Loftus, donated the cash to purchase the wheat.

However, once Cap and Almanzo returned, charging NOTHING for their troubles, 

and the fact that they literally risked their lives,

Loftus initially tried to sell the wheat to the town inhabitants 

for $3.00 per bushel, when it had only cost him $1.25!! 

Charles Ingalls was the one whom others wanted to "handle" this situation. 

[Mr. Lotus] banged his fist on the counter and told them, 

"That wheat's mine and I've got a right to charge any price I want to for it."

"That's so, Loftus, you have," Mr. Ingalls agreed with him. "This is a free country and every man's got a right to do as he pleases with his own property." 

He said to the crowd, "You know that's a fact, boys," and he went on, "Don't forget every one of us is free and independent, Loftus. This winter won't last forever, 

and maybe you want to go on doing business after it's over."...

"It's a plain fact. If you've got a right to do as you please, we've got a right to do as we please.

It works both ways. You've got us down now. That's your business, as you say. 

But your business depends on our good will. 

You maybe don't notice that now, but along next summer, you'll likely notice it." (304)

In the end, Loftus sells the wheat for $1.25, making no profit.

As it should be, in my opinion, and all the men gather together to apportion the wheat out to each family according to how much they need, based upon whatever food supplies 

they may still have left... Again, as it should be.

Almanzo helped Charles lift and balance the two-bushel sack he purchased.

Almanzo thought to himself, 

He would have carried it across the street for him, but a man does not like to admit 

that he cannot carry a hundred and twenty-five pounds. (306)

Poor Charles was weak and unable to just swing it onto his shoulder as any man would. 

It was the last day of April that the first of the trains came through.

The blizzards did last seven months (October through April) that year, 

just as the old Indian had predicted! 

It was early May when the Ingalls' and Mr. and Mrs. Broast had a Christmas feast!

 Although "All's well that ends well," this was a close one for the people of De Smet!

Join us next month for Little Town on the Prairie!

I thought this was the most suspenseful book 

in the series thus far.

I am anxious to see what happens next!

Did you like this installment?