Where are we going? And Why?

So, we are going to every spot Laura Ingalls Wilder lived...almost.

She was born in Pepin Wisconsin and lived there in the "Big Woods"

Her family moved for a short time to Missouri---this is a two hour detour out of our way on a very long driving day. We'll decide that day whether to take it.

When she was two they moved to Indian Territory in Kansas. This is the "Little House on the Prairie".

Neither Missouri and Kansas worked out, so they moved back to Pepin.

Then they moved to Walnut Grove Minn. This is where the "Plum Creek" dugout and home were.

When the grasshoppers ruined their crop the Ingalls moved first to South Troy (where little baby Freddie died and where we will not be going), and then on to Burr Oak Iowa to help run a hotel.

Walnut Grove looked better after awhile so they moved back, into town this time. We are excited to see the bell that is still there that Pa helped to pay for.

Pa got a job with the railroad and joined up with the homesteaders in South Dakota. The end of the line was De Smet, on the "Shores of Silver Lake". Silver Lake is long gone, but Pa promised Ma they wouldn't move again, they were the first ones there, and stayed the rest of their lives, being buried in the town cemetery.

Laura and Almonzo met in De Smet and married and intended to stay. But it was a rough first four years. They tried Spring Valley Minn where his family was (and we'll see it), then Florida (no, not going there), and finally Mansfield Missouri. They made a living with a small farm and orchard they named Rocky Ridge and lived out their days in the Ozarks.

And finally, Grace (or was it Carrie?) lived in Keystone SD and worked in the visitors center there. Louisa discovered this on our trip to see Mt Rushmore and bought the travel book outlining all these places and gave us the idea for the tour in the first place. It is on our way home so we will stop and see her home as well.

Unfortunately we cannot crisscross the country to see them all in order. So we will begin in Kansas with the namesake little house on the prairie then over to Mansfield (with a detour into Oklahoma and Arkansas- got to get a few more states on my "have visited there" list). Then a long drive up through Missouri and Iowa to Pepin, then back down to Iowa for Burr Oak and Spring Valley, before heading west again to Walnut Grove and De Smet.