Independence Day!
What better way to celebrate than to go and explore one of our country’s
most beloved children’s author homeland?
Laura Ingalls Wilder was a childhood favorite. I remember getting her books for Christmas, I
think when I was five. I wasn’t such an
avid reader until I turned 8 or 9. I do
remember I started reading Little House in the Big Woods, but for some reason
it wasn’t so easy to get through. I
watched ALL the TV episodes though.
Repeats upon repeats. I wanted to
be Laura. The, sometime in high school I
decided to go back and read the whole Little House series. I LOVED it this time around. I’ve read These Happy Golden Years probably
three times (and I’m not someone who rereads books typically). I really appreciated the details she gives
about how they actually lived back then, and I grew to love the simplicity of
the real stories, not the made up, overly dramatized TV versions. I could relate to Laura’s passion for nature
and the land. My favorite books of hers
all took place in De Smet, South Dakota.
So, when I started to look at where we were going to be, and
how we could time it to make a trip to De Smet work out, I was pretty
excited. Chris was clueless. He had no idea about the real or TV version
of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I explained to
him that going to see her home would be like going to Kobe Bryant’s or Steve
Job’s homes for him. I think he
understood the analogy and my kind and selfless husband gave into the idea that
we would be driving even farther east (he is NOT a road trip person…although I
think I’m slowly changing that).
We had a later start than we had hoped, and we had decided
to not stay near De Smet that night, but drive the 2 and a half hours back to
get back to Pierre for their fireworks at the fairgrounds. That way we’d have a shorter drive to the
Black Hills the next day. It wasn’t
until we started the car up that I realized we had lost an hour sometime the
day before between Pine Ridge and Pierre!
Pierre is central time and Pine Ridge is still mountain time.
The drive out to De Smet was actually somewhat boring. The land is so flat, the grass is still
green, but the sky is more hazy. It
reminded me of western Kansas….and that’s not a favorite place either. We drove through several very tiny towns, but
finally came upon a bigger one (and when I say bigger I think it was around
1,500 population) and were slowed down by a 4th of July parade. You could tell it was a big deal in this town
and I wondered how many people from around the area were actually there.
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| Surveryor's House |
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| Brewster School |
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| School House |
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| Ingall's Home in De Smet |
We reached De Smet, but had no real idea where to go. I figured the Ingalls homestead would have
plenty of signs up pointing the way.
This was kind of true, the signs pointed us to the town museum, not the
homestead and I was hoping to go to the homestead first. De Smet seemed absolutely shut down with no
one out and about. I had double checked
that it the homestead was open today, but I was a little scared we’d have
driven this whole way and it would be closed.
We turned the last corner and saw other cars parked and other people
walking about. We had found it. We walked into the store to purchase our tour
admission and hit it at just the right time – a tour was about to start. I walked through the gift shop and actually
had to push down the emotion that welled up in my chest. I wasn’t really sure why, but I think it’s
just the culmination of all my childhood fascination with this pioneer.
The grounds were very pretty and well kept with flower beds
and trees and benches. We didn’t wait
long for the young girl (I’d guess around 16, Chris thinks 18) who took us on
the tour. The first building was the
surveyor’s house. This was the house
that the Ingalls family first lived in coming to the De Smet area, as told in
the book “On the Shores of Silver Lake”.
The town hadn’t actually been established yet. The house had been moved from it’s original
site into town eventually, but the Ingalls only lived there for about a year I
think. It’s really such a small house
and had it set up to show how it was described in the book.
The second place we went to was the one room schoolhouse
where Laura and Carrie attended for a few years. It was fun sitting in the desks imagining
what it would have been like on the freezing South Dakota winter days. The school had been made into a house at one
point, so they had stripped down the wallpaper to find the original chalkboards
and walls.
The third place was a replica of the Brewster’s school where
Laura taught at the age of 15. She was
just a few months shy of the legal age of 16.
I can’t imagine taking on a school at 15. I really can’t imagine what it would have
been like in the dead of winter to be in that little claim shanty turned one
room school house, or to live in a claim shanty in those temperatures. I’m glad I’m alive now, in this day and age.
The fourth building we had to get in our cars and drive to
(really, it is not even a half mile, but they have your follow the tour
guide). This was the house that “Pa”
built in town. After they fulfilled
their claim at the homestead, they decided to move back into town. Charles build a house where Mary, Carrie,
Grace and “Ma”, Caroline, all lived.
Over the years, he added to the original few rooms and it today had five
bedrooms, a parlor, entry way and kitchen.
They had come a long way from the tiny homes they lived in. The house had been bought by another family
after the Ingalls all passed away, and of course at that time, Laura hadn’t
published her books and they were still largely unknown people. So, much of the original belongings were
gone, but there were a few items that had been found and the rest was set up to
replicate what it would have been like.
After the tour ended, Chris and I went to find food, which
was not easy in a small town on a holiday.
We first went to a BBQ place that apparently is part of the country club
in the area on a golf course. There were
quite a few people inside, but the dining room looked empty, set up nicely and
quite formally, but all the activity was in the adjoining room. A nice older man saw us and asked if we were
looking for a place to eat and tried to help us out. He recommended first the Subway and Dairy
Queen and mentioned the other restaurants that might be open, but I could tell
he really didn’t think they would be. We
drove over to the first restaurant mentioned, but it was closed. So, Dairy Queen and Subway it was. They were part of one larger building, so
Chris chose Dairy Queen, and I chose Subway to try to have something less harsh
on my stomach. My indigestion was acting
up a little.
In line was just a family of five…this should happen quickly
enough. It should…but it didn’t. It was almost painful to watch the two
workers – an older woman and an younger.
I don’t know if they were family who had been brought in just to work on
a holiday or what, but they were so slow and didn’t really even know what they
were doing. A man finally came out to
run the cash register. Chris had gone
through his line and eaten his whole meal before I had finished getting
mine. He even got back in line after
using the restroom and ordered our blizzards by the time I sat down to
eat.
Across the street must have been a farm equipment rental or
sales. I have no idea what kind of
machines they were but there were about six to seven of the same big
thing. It had discs to cut into the
ground, so at least I think it would help with plowing and maybe creating rows,
but other things were attached too. This
is a totally different life. Most of
what we saw being sold all across South Dakota were either big trucks (Rams,
Tundras, etc.) or large farm machinery.
There may not be much else in a town, but you could find a lot with
these items in most towns over a few hundred people.
We finished our food and drove out to the homestead, which
was only a mile or two out of town. We
turned off the main highway onto a dirt road that took us up to the visitor’s
center/gift shop to buy our admission ticket.
We watched a brief video explaining the homestead and then began our
adventure of following the map. First
was a viewing tower where the winds of the prairie whipped at my dress and
hat. I decided my hat was not a good
idea on the prairie (this reminded me how securely Laura had to make sure her
decorative items were pinned onto her bonnets, and why the bonnets had to be
secured to the head by the ribbons). I
returned my hat to the car.
We stepped into the covered wagon replica in the first
building and imagined what it would have been like to ride across the prairie
hundreds of miles in one of those and sleep at night inside or next too
it. It wouldn’t have been too bad in
weather like we had that day, but in heat or storms…that would have been rather
scary.
The second stop was looking at life in either a dugout or a
typical claim shanty. The dugout would
have been nicer for the insulation of both heat and cold and the security from
the tornados, so I picked that as my choice or abode, but Chris preferred the
tiny claim shanty. I’m glad I don’t have
to live in either, really.
We went to the barn and saw a sweet little dairy calf and a
cat. Then we found the liter of tiny kittens
that couldn’t have been even a week old.
That’s when I like cats – when they are just little kittens, they are
really so cute. Chris pumped water from
the well, we walked by the garden and wildflower exhibit and into the replica
of the claim shanty Charles had built.
This was much nicer than the first one we looked at. A woman came in that then told us the history
of the real claim shanty and how it had grown over time. I remember vaguely from the books, but it’s
been a long time since I’d read them. I
think it really helped Chris appreciate why I was am so fascinated with Laura.
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| Replica of Pa's Claim Shanty |
As we left the replica of their home, one of the workers came and told us she was about to take another wagon ride out. We loaded into the wagon with it's curved spine holding up the cover which was rolled up to let us see out over the prairie. Two beautiful black horses pulled us and the lady driving the wagon let the kids sit in front and "drive" the wagon. She held the reigns behind them, but that would have been such a fun activity for me to do as a child. The ride was short, it took us over to the one room school house that was on the far end of the claim. The Ingalls homestead was 160 acres, or they explained about 1/2 mile by a 1/2 mile. The grasses blew in that ever blowing prairie wind and rippled like waves. Where we parked in front of the school house was close to a whole patch of wildflowers. I can completely understand Laura's love for this land - during this time of year.
There was a teacher that came out to take us in. She is an actual teacher during the school year and in the summers she does this, I could tell she was probably a very good elementary teacher. The school had been one used shortly after Laura's time not far away, so they had moved it onto the homestead for educational purposes. We sat in desks, and she took us through some of the common activities. Chris was called upon to make sure that he kept the water bucket filled. When she found it empty, she drew a circle on the chalkboard in the front and he had to stand up there with his nose to it. This, of course was all play, but our group thought it was funny. There was one desk in the room that was special because of the metal work down the side. One side had the words "never give up", and the other side I believe said "Keep trying". Human nature doesn't change, and neither does student behavior...we all need to be encouraged.
We road back over the dirt road and Chris and I spent a little time exploring the "garage" after we unloaded. There were hands-on activities, but we were the only ones in there at first. We saw the corn cob dolls, and the hay twists that were made to burn during the Long Winter and kept people warm on the treeless prairie. A girl came in who was working the shop and showed us how to make rope and gave Chris the little sample she made. We also saw her work a machine that helped take off the dried kernels from a corn cob. There wasn't much else, but I think the girl could have kept talking forever and we wanted to walk down to the church. It was such a pretty little white church, as picturesque as could be out on the plains. Our walk was nice, I was so grateful that it was such a nice day and the breeze kept it from getting hot in the sun. We walked past the cornfields and into the church for just a brief few moments and then back out.
We wrapped up our visit on the homestead by looking in the gift shop one more time, but I bought nothing. I discovered that buying souvenirs generally just means more stuff I don't really need collecting dust somewhere. I did think about buying hard cover edition of my favorite book - These Happy Golden Years - but Chris and I decided that the money spent on the admission and the memories were the best part of the trip and I didn't at this point need something else. We snapped a few pictures on the fancier carriages outside and left.
We drove out and took a picture of the Big Slough, often mentioned in the books, with it's tall grasses and reeds. I don't think I'd want to walk through that for fear of meeting a creature I didn't want to - particularly one that slithers. Silver Lake had been pumped and dried years ago, so you could only see where it once existed. We drove to the site of Almanzo's homestead, the location primarily discussed in The First Four Years. We finished our tour off at the cemetery on the other side of town where many of the Ingalls family is buried. The cemetery is built high on a hill and also is quite peaceful and lovely, with the winds rustling leaves of the broadleaf trees planted around the site. The view was nice extending over the surrounding plains.
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| Graves of the Ingalls |
I took the opportunity to nap part of the way back because it really wasn't an exciting drive. We did find it very funny that there was what looked like a shed that had large motel sign attached. I think it was in Holabird. I'm quite sure that it's not a motel anymore, and wonder if it really ever was, but sometimes there are things you pass on the road that you really don't understand and so wish you could find out about it. This is one of them.
We arrived back at Pierre and sat in front of our hotel using their wifi, trying to find a place open to eat dinner. It was almost 9pm and everything was either closing or about to close. We found an Arby's open across the river and so ate there. The nice young man at the counter was surprised about Chris' Apple Watch. He didn't even know Apple had made a watch. We asked about fireworks and he thought if we went down to the park by the river we'd have a pretty good view of the fireworks being shot off at the fairgrounds. We had seen a whole bunch of cars parked there, so we thought that sounded like good advice.
We found the park, and drove in for a parking spot near a small outdoor stage where there was a concert of orchestral/band music being played. The air was heavy and warm and the small bugs (probably mosquitos) swarmed. We were right on the grand Missouri river and could see the bridge spanning the divide between Ft. Pierre and Pierre. Fireworks were already being shot in the sky from all directions. We ate and decided to walk down the river front a ways.
I got a little freaked out when I saw a blond haired, blue eyed young man, in long baggy pants with a baggy jacket zipped up all the way to the top of his neck. I was too warm in my short dress and unbuttoned jean jacket. I reasoned that I did have a lot of students that would wear heavy sweatshirts in the hot weather and sometimes it's more of a self-conscious thing that it really is anything else. That could be this kid...but the recent events in South Carolina with that crazy young man who shot up the church and other events where you have people in trench coats hiding weapons, made me a bit wary. I looked at him, made eye contact and hoped to see a smile or something, but he just looked somewhat vacant. I don't think it had helped that we had just heard about ISIS threats and a SD newspaper was talking about their new program of "see something, say something" especially as there was concern at 4th of July events.
I told Chris I didn't want to be up there in the open, and so we stayed down farther on the river by a bunch of trucks, SUVs and cars lined up. We figured we must be in a good place to see the fireworks. A family nearby was shooting off fireworks, when we saw it fall over and the fireworks shot straight at the 3-4 adults sitting in lawn chairs nearby. I'm surprised that they didn't seriously get hurt (it didn't seem like it, but they had to have had some burns or singes).
I felt bad, Chris said this was one of the worst 4th of July fireworks he'd ever had. He has always grown up going to fireworks shows. I remember hardly ever going to firework shows and it was not until I was older that I went to some kind of show. We bought the fireworks to shoot off on our street, but that's about it. I was disappointed that we missed the show, but I thought getting to see them all up and down the river was pretty cool. We drove back to the the hotel, and along the way there were so many fireworks going off. Chris decided not to go straight back, but he followed some of the fireworks.
We found a parking lot where people were shooting them off and there was some time of canal or something with a park on the other side. We were amazed at how much was happening. We got out and walked around. It was crazy. Suddenly, this 4th was getting much better in Chris' mind. We crossed a bridge the park because there were a lot large fireworks going off. We stood there in awe. There was a whole huge setup in on the grass. We walked for awhile and then I asked the people nearby if they knew who or what organization was putting this on (it's after 11pm at this point). Apparently it was some type of roofing company who had brought a whole trailer full because they got them at a discount from some friend or family member in Florida. The lady also told us that often it was volunteer firefighters that would do many of the shows. There was a couple from Arizona visiting, and they were in awe like us. It was crazy. While their fireworks were going on, there were numerous around us. You could turn in a circle and see fireworks in all directions.
It was nearing midnight when we drove back to the hotel (fireworks were allowed until midnight). It seemed like every open space had people shooting off major fireworks. Chris said it this Fourth of July just went up to the top five on his list. It was definitely a different experience for me than I've ever had. We did see firetrucks hurrying off to somewhere on one of the roads. I don't even want to know how many accidents happen here. We went back up to the hotel room and I heard a series of loud explosions, and looked out the end of the hallway and saw they were shooting them off in the lot across the street. Midnight was the cut off, and things did actually quiet down after that.
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