Laura Ingalls Wilder was    an American author who wrote about her childhood as a daughter in a pioneer family. She tells many stories regarding her experiences in the states where her family settled.

is for Almanzo Wilder 

Almanzo Wilder married Laura Ingalls on August 25, 1885. Almanzo was twenty-eight and Laura was eighteen when they got married.

is for the Books

Laura Ingalls Wilder is known for her book series, Little House on the Prairie. In her books, she tells stories of her experiences as a pioneer and settler.

is for Covered Wagon 

Pioneers travelled across the country in covered wagons. The covered wagon provided shelter from the elements while also transporting necessities to the next location. Laura Ingalls travelled in a covered wagon.

is for Dugout

A dugout is a living area that is dug out of the side of a small hill. The house walls are made out of mud making the house cooler inside. Laura Ingalls lived in a dugout as a child.

Picture of the dugout Laura Ingalls lived in.

is for Epidemics 

Because the Midwest was swampy and many pioneer camps were crowded, Malaria, Dysentery, and Cholera epidemics broke out   and many pioneers died because of them. Later in life, Laura and Almanzo both caught diphtheria.

is for Farming

Early pioneer settlers were self-sufficient farmers. Corn, wheat, and potatoes were some of the major crops that were harvested by the settlers. Laura's family harvested many crops but also had many crops that failed.

is for Game

Game refers to wild animals and birds that settlers would hunt for food. Different kinds of deer, rabbit, geese, and duck were all hunted. Laura, in her books, talks about the game her father hunted for food.

is for Homestead

A homestead is an area of 160 acres granted to any United States citizen willing to settle on the land and farm it for at least five years. Laura Ingalls' homestead is in De Smet, South Dakota.

Laura Ingalls' Homestead

is for Iowa

In 1876, when Laura was nine years old, the Ingalls family left Walnut Grove, Minnesota, after suffering through two years of grasshopper plagues. Laura Ingalls and her family traveled to Iowa and settled in Burr Oak.

is for Journey

The journey that pioneers took was inspired by Westward Expansion. With the amount of land that the United States gained in the West, it was considered the country's destiny to expand west. Laura's family moved westward to South Dakota.

American Progress, John Fast (1872)

is for Kansas

When Laura Ingalls was young, her family lived near Independence, Kansas where many of her stories in Little House on the Prairie take place.

is for Lakota Tribe

The Lakota Tribe are a Native American people that live in regions of North Dakota and South Dakota. Laura Ingalls and her family's homestead would be in the area where the Lakota Tribe would inhabit.

Picture of Sitting Bull, a leader of the Lakota Tribe

is for Missouri 

Laura Ingalls Wilder settled on Rocky Ridge Farm near Mansfield, Missouri with her husband, Almanzo, and daughter, Rose in 1894. This was the last home of Laura Ingalls Wilder and where she wrote her books.

The Wilder's House in Missouri

is for Neighbor

Sometimes, for settlers, neighbors were scarce. With each homestead being 160 acres, it took a while to travel to your neighbors house. 

is for Ozark Mountains 

The Ozark Mountains are located in Missouri. Missouri is the last state that Laura Ingalls Wilder moved to with her family.

is for Plow

A plow is a farming tool that loosens up the soil, preparing the soil for seeds to be planted. 

is for Quilt

Settlers were mainly self-sufficient, meaning they had to make just about everything that they needed. Quilts were made for bedding.

is for River

A river was very important to pioneer settlers because of the availability of water. Settlers used the water to drink, make food, bathe, and wash clothes.

is for South Dakota

De Smet, South Dakota is where Laura Ingalls' Homestead is located. Her homestead is open for visitors to explore how her family, as settlers, lived.

is for Teacher 

At the age of 16, Laura Ingalls becomes a teacher in a school that was twelve miles from her home. She boarded with a family for the week and Almanzo would drive her home on the weekends to see her family.