Who wouldn't love a little Laura Ingalls Wilder tour of the midwest?
The state of Kansas has designated the childhood home of the Ingalls South of Independence as a historic site, which is open to visitors. It is the location from which the events of the book Little House on the Prairie take place. It includes a cabin modeled after the original (at the William Kurtis ranch), and the original post office. Much of the surrounding countryside retains its open and undeveloped nature. It is now owned and operated by journalist Bill Kurtis and his sister Senator Jean Schodorf. There is a historical site, and they get about 20,000 visitors a year. The land was inherited by the two from their parents, Bill Kurtis and Wilma Kurtis. Wilma inherited it from her father, Bert Horton. It has been in the Kurtis/Horton family for close to 100 years.[citation needed]
De Smet, South Dakota attracts many fans with its historic sites from the books By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter',' Little Town on the Prairie',' These Happy Golden Years',' and The First Four Years. From 1879 to 1894 the Ingalls family lived in De Smet and the family homestead, a house in town built by Charles Ingalls, the Brewster School where Wilder taught, and the surveyor's home the family lived in between 1879 and 1880 are open to visitors. The bodies of Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie, and Grace Ingalls, and the unnamed infant son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder are buried in the De Smet Cemetery. Laura and Almanzo Wilder stayed briefly in Westville, Florida in the 1890s.
Mansfield, Missouri is the chosen final home town of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was here, on her farm, that she wrote the Little House books. Each year the whole town celebrates with a festival, turning back the clock to the late 1800s. During the festival, the town square becomes a showcase for handmade crafts. There is a big parade, and folk music is played from the gazebo in the park.
Walnut Grove, Minnesota may be the most recognized name of all the towns Wilder wrote about in her books (although it is the only town she did not mention by name) because Michael Landon's television series Little House on the Prairie of the 1970s and 1980s was set here. Although the show depicts the family as living here through Wilder's adulthood, in reality, they only lived here a few years.
In 1874, when Wilder was seven years old, the family left their home near Pepin for the second time and settled just outside Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Wilder writes of her early years here in On the Banks of Plum Creek. The family lived in a dugout in the creek bank until Pa could build a house. Laura and Mary began school again, and made both friends (the Kennedy children) and enemies (Nellie Oleson). Laura discusses both at length in her book On the Banks of Plum Creek, as well as in her unpublished biography "Pioneer Girl."
Pepin, Wisconsin was Wilder's birthplace. Her birthplace is about seven miles (11 km) north of the village, and is marked by a replica cabin along the former WIS-183 at the Little House Wayside (near Lund, Wisconsin). Pepin celebrates her life every September with traditional music, craft demonstrations, a "Laura look-alike" contest, a spelling bee, and other events.
Wilder's baby brother, Charles Frederic Ingalls, was born in Walnut Grove on November 1, 1875; he lived for nine months before dying in South Troy, Minnesota. Wilder did not include this in her books, (other than "Pioneer Girl," the unpublished manuscript) as she logically thought that an incident that sad had no place in a series of books aimed at young children.
Pa had felt that Minnesota would be "the land of milk and honey," but a plague of grasshoppers destroyed the wheat crops two years in a row. Pa was offered a job co-managing "The Master's Hotel" in Burr Oak, Iowa, and the family moved there in 1876. In 1976 the restored Hotel was opened as a museum.[3] A year later, the family returned to Walnut Grove.
At first, the Ingalls family lived with their friends, the Ensigns. Pa built a house in town, and worked as a storekeeper, butcher, then carpenter. In the spring of 1879, Mary became very ill. Her illness was followed by a stroke, which resulted in blindness. Soon afterward, Pa's sister Docia came from the Big Woods and offered him a job with the railroad going west. Though Ma wanted to remain in Walnut Grove, Pa felt a better future could be found in Dakota Territory. After making a promise to Ma that it would be their last move ever (a promise he kept) he accepted Docia's offer gladly, thus ending the Ingalls' stay in Walnut Grove, eventually settling for good in DeSmet, South Dakota.
... as long as we're going to be in Vegas, anyway ...
Imperial Palace Auto Collection
- Address:
- 3535 Las Vegas Blvd. S., Las Vegas, NV [Show Map]
- Directions:
- Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. East side of The Strip (Las Vegas Blvd S.), in the parking garage of the Imperial Palace Hotel-Casino, between Sands Ave. and Flamingo Rd.
- Admission:
- ~ $7 adults.
- Hours:
- Daily 9:30 am - 9:30 pm. (Call to verify)
- Phone:
- 702-731-3311
- This one might be dangerous, since it is possible to buy the exhibits.
Live Lions Inside A Casino
- Address:
- 3799 Las Vegas Blvd S., Las Vegas, NV [Show Map]
- Directions:
- MGM Grand Hotel-Casino. At the south end of The Strip (Las Vegas Blvd S.). Corner of Las Vegas Blvd S. and Tropicana Ave.
- Phone:
- 702-891-7777
- Sounds like it's right up Bridget's alley.
There is a Woody Guthrie festival in Okemah, Oklahoma, July 8th through 12th. The website didn't list any artists -- I wonder if Jonatha Brooke will be there.
The 71st National Folk Festival in Butte, Montana, runs July 10-12. We could go on the 10th and be in Vegas by the 12th for the EmbroidMe thing.
The Newport Folk Festival is July 31st through August 2nd.
The Lowell (Massachusetts) Folk Festival is July 24th through 26th.
More later. This is fun.
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