Minnesota State Fair and Laura Ingalls Wilder

Before I begin about the Minnesota State Fair, I wanted to share about Herbert Hoover.  I think history concentrates so much on presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, that many others are forgotten.  Herbert Hoover was a wonderful man.  Orphaned himself by the age of ten, he had a soft spot in his heart and great compassion for children.  He never, ever wanted to see children go hungry.  Did you know that he started what is now known as UNICEF?  That under his presidency, more than 3 million acres were put into the National Park system?  That he was instrumental in forming the Boys Club of America?  That he was calling for disarmament 70 years ago?  Neither did I, but now I do, and so do you!

We were so excited to head to Minnesota to see our friends Patricia and Mike.  It had been nearly six years since we had seen them last.  After a delicious home-cooked meal, we headed to the Mall of America!  It was awesome, and I'm glad I went on that roller coaster.....really, I am!

The next day we had a leisurely morning, then headed to an amazing breakfast place!  It honestly was the best breakfast I've ever had in my life!  I think it tasted so good because we were enjoying it with good friends.  Then off we went to the Minnesota State Fair.

Now when we say the fair offers food on a stick, we are not kidding!

We were thrilled to hear that Mike and Patricia had gotten tickets for all of us to see Garrison Keillor who was live on-stage taping the next night's radio broadcast of "Prairie Home Companion" for NPR.  It was amazing to watch the performers doing all the sound effects, and to enjoy the music of so many talented people.  At intermission, Garrison Keillor stayed on the stage, and incredibly, as I was heading to the ladies room,  he started singing "God Bless America" and everyone joined in!  It was absolutely beautiful......you would think that thousands of people singing would be way too loud, but it was amazing how soft-spoken it all was.  So very moving as the flag waved overhead......

and the sun set in the west........

Sun setting as we waited for the show to begin.

All in all, it was a very special and most perfect day at the Minnesota State Fair.

The next day, we left fairly early to head over to South Dakota.  I was so happy when Patricia and Mike mentioned that we would be going right through Walnut Grove, MN, which is one of the places that Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family lived during her childhood.  We were on our way to the homestead in DeSmet, SD and hadn't realized we could visit both places. 

We stopped in Walnut Grove on our way across, and ate lunch at Nellie's Cafe.  Yes, that Nellie!  We went to the museum which was cool because it had a whole area devoted to the television series, which I had watched from 1974 until it ended in 1976.  You have to understand that this was televised in the years when I was giving birth to and raising my four children in Rhode Island.  I think I was growing up right along with Laura and her family, so this has always been special to me.

See, we were really there!

Me standing in front of the original mantel
 from the television series, "Little House on the Prairie"

We drove the 40 miles or so over to DeSmet to see the homestead, prairie, town, etc

where Laura and her family had lived for so long........

got to the beginning part of the tour to find this sign in the window: 

Hours for Labor Day weekend:

Saturday 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM

Sunday 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM

Monday 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM

You guessed it!  We arrived Sunday at 10:00 AM. 

We weren't sure what to do, so we headed first to the cemetery to visit the grave sites.  As I stood there at the graves of Ma and Pa, Carrie, Mary and the infant son of Laura and Almanzo,  I began to be so very moved that I started to cry.  It suddenly hit me that these people who had lived and died weren't just some characters out of a book or TV series.  I wept as I stood in that peaceful cemetery looking out over the prairie where they had experienced so very much.

Carrie, or Caroline Swanzey, had lived in the Black Hills with her husband. 
He wanted to be buried with his first wife and two children, so she had her body shipped
 back to DeSmet to be buried with her family after she died.

Next we went to where the original homestead was that Pa worked for seven years.  Although the little house is a reconstruction, it is an exact replica of their home and it is situated on the exact spot where the home once was.  This was a place similar to Plimoth Plantation or Sturbridge Village, called Laura's Living Prairie.  It was so great to be able to walk around where they had actually walked around.
We even took a wagon ride to the school house where they walked to school.
Not the actual building as it was struck by lightning and burned many years ago, but an actual schoolhouse which was moved there from nearby.  When we got to the schoolhouse, there was a woman there who had taught there many, many years ago.  She was fantastic as she regaled us with stories of Laura and her sisters and friends.
On the way back to the barn, we went through the slough (rhymes with "blue").  Not the big slough where Laura cut through with Carrie and got hopelessly lost, but a smaller one on the property.  Very beautiful, though!

Last, we headed over to the corner where there are just five surviving cottonwood trees out of the hundreds that Charles planted.  They honor all his girls.....Caroline, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace.

Me standing near the largest cottonwood tree that Pa planted

Mike standing among the cottonwood trees Finally, around 2:00, we headed back to town to take the tour of the surveyor's house, the schoolhouse where Laura and Carrie went to school (the actual  building) and lastly, to the house that Pa had built in 1887 and where they lived after leaving the homestead after being there for seven years. All I can say is it was very, very different to be in all those places where the books  and show had brought to life for so many people. Much more moving than I ever  expected it to be. It was so sad to me that although Charles and Caroline had five children of their own, four of whom lived to adulthood, they only had one  grandchild.....Rose Wilder, daughter of Laura and Almanzo. Mary never married, Carrie married a man with two children who was 20 years older than she was, and they decided not to have children of their own, and Grace never had children. All three generations lost an infant son: Caroline, Laura and Rose.   What I looked forward to when I decided to visit where Laura Ingalls Wilder had lived,  and what I came away with as we left there, turned out to be very different than I ever  expected. I am ever more grateful that Laura decided to write about her life on the prairie, and ever more humbly respectful of the brave people who traveled into the  unknown so many years ago. ~Karen

We weren't sure what to do, so we headed first to the cemetery to visit the grave sites.  As I stood there at the graves of Ma and Pa, Carrie, Mary and the infant son of Laura and Almanzo,  I began to be so very moved that I started to cry.  It suddenly hit me that these people who had lived and died weren't just some characters out of a book or TV series.  I wept as I stood in that peaceful cemetery looking out over the prairie where they had experienced so very much.   

Next we went to where the original homestead was that Pa worked for seven years.  Although the little house is a reconstruction, it is an exact replica of their home and it is situated on the exact spot where the home once was.  This was a place similar to Plimoth Plantation or Sturbridge Village, called Laura's Living Prairie.  It was so great to be able to walk around where they had actually walked around. 

We even took a wagon ride to the school house where they walked to school.

Not the actual building as it was struck by lightning and burned many years ago, but an actual schoolhouse which was moved there from nearby.  When we got to the schoolhouse, there was a woman there who had taught there many, many years ago.  She was fantastic as she regaled us with stories of Laura and her sisters and friends.

On the way back to the barn, we went through the slough (rhymes with "blue").  Not the big slough where Laura cut through with Carrie and got hopelessly lost, but a smaller one on the property.  Very beautiful, though!

Last, we headed over to the corner where there are just five surviving cottonwood trees out of the hundreds that Charles planted.  They honor all his girls.....Caroline, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace.

Me standing near the largest cottonwood tree that Pa planted

Mike standing among the cottonwood trees

Finally, around 2:00, we headed back to town to take the tour of the surveyor's
house, the schoolhouse where Laura and Carrie went to school (the actual
 building) and lastly, to the house that Pa had built in 1887 and where they
lived after leaving the homestead after being there for seven years.

All I can say is it was very, very different to be in all those places where the books
 and show had brought to life for so many people. Much more moving than I ever
 expected it to be. It was so sad to me that although Charles and Caroline had
five children of their own, four of whom lived to adulthood, they only had one
 grandchild.....Rose Wilder, daughter of Laura and Almanzo. Mary never married,
Carrie married a man with two children who was 20 years older than she was, and
they decided not to have children of their own, and Grace never had children. All three
generations lost an infant son: Caroline, Laura and Rose.

 

What I looked forward to when I decided to visit where Laura Ingalls Wilder had lived,
 and what I came away with as we left there, turned out to be very different than I ever
 expected. I am ever more grateful that Laura decided to write about her life on the
prairie, and ever more humbly respectful of the brave people who traveled into the
 unknown so many years ago.

~Karen