Recently, the girls and I (and extended family) took a short road trip to
Walnut Grove, MN. Why, you ask! To see Plum Creek, of course. Plum Creek is the famed creek that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about in her book
On the Banks of Plum Creek. We have been reading through all of her books this summer. The girls really like them! Ella and McKenna both were so enthralled in our trip. We saw the dugout house, the creek, the foot bridge, the museum, the Oelson's Mercantile, and a play. It was a really fun day. Seeing all of these things reinforced the books for the girls. They were able to act out different scenes with each other thinking that Laura and Mary
really were there a long time ago!
Our miniature road trip was inspired by
this (the website just posts a snip it of the full article) article in Family Fun Magazine. I hope to next year do the entire road trip. I just didn't realize how close we were to so many of the Ingalls' homes. I never read the series as a little girl. Truth be told, I probably made a gagging sound every time my mom tried to watch the show, Little House on the Prairie (which was about the characters all named in Plum Creek)
The monument. The sun was really in their eyes...
Again, the sun....but isn't the field beautiful?
Not the original...but the foot bridge that Laura and Mary walked across to get to and from their dugout house by the Plum Creek (I believe that in the book it was described as 1 plank of wood.)
This is the sight of the actual dugout home that Pa Ingalls purchased from the Norwegian family. He later sold it for around $430.00 (after the grasshoppers ate his wheat crops.) It has since collapsed (I think the Ingalls lived in Walnut Grove MN in the 1870's.)
"Never knew how much those muddy waters meant to me..."
The Plum Creek
Wading in the creek was probably the highlight of this trip for them!
They were looking for the old crab that scared Nellie Oelson and made her step in the leeches!
After visiting the creek and dugout site, we went to the museum. The museum was a multi building campus. There was a room dedicated to the real Ingalls family, one to the cast of the show Little House on the Prairie, one to local heroes and one to typical pioneer memorabilia.
I haven't read through the whole series yet (though, McKenna has). McKenna tells me that Laura's husband Almanzo comes from money. We will see about that I guess in a couple more books.
A picture of Ma and Pa Ingalls (amazing that photos hold up so well!). I struggle wondering how this portrait was taken. I cant see Ma allowing the family to spend money to have a picture taken. Maybe it was from their wedding day?
Laura sewed this quilt as a married women.
A covered wagon
There was a building dedicated to the Little House on the Prairie cast members. This particular model of the Ingalls house represents their house on NBC's Little House...Ella was very fascinated with this. I could tell that she wished she could play with it.
Okay, so this book might be interesting. I may see about it at the library. Apparently, she was shunned in real life because of how cruel her character was.
The church replica. If you know the story, the Ingalls were founding members. Pa gave his $3.00 to give the church enough money to buy the bell for the steeple. He went without shoes. Over the course of the time they were in Walnut Grove, it is recorded that Pa gave over $20.00 to the church. We are talking 1870's people. That's a lot of money.
In the replica school house, Ella enjoyed being the teacher!
These are the rules that teachers has to follow. I find it interesting....the differences between the rules for males v. females.
This is a model of the typical pioneer dugout house. My father in law tells me that his ancestors (Norwegian) lived in a dugout for a time after arriving to the USA.
After touring the museum, we took a break at a nearby park shortly before dinner. Here's Ella at the top of the slide.
McKenna
After dinner we went to the town pageant....basically it was a play. I still don't understand why they call it a pageant. It's the story of Plum Creek and the Ingalls' time there. At the entrance there was another covered wagon. Of course, that meant another picture.
This was part of the set. The dugout house that the Ingalls bought.
Ella and Papa. She's holding her souvenir tin cup. If you know the stories, Laura and Mary had to share a tin cup until finally, one Christmas, Laura got her own.
Family who came...
This is the little girl who played Laura.
And this is Mrs. Oelson and Nellie. Most kids were pretty fascinated with her character. She was quite nice, actually.
Overall, the play was good. Not great. I think the director portrayed the women to be a bit more bold than they really would have been in that time. But, that's his artistic license, right?
The trip was so much fun. Doing it after reading through half of the series was fabulous. I think that so much of it was brought to life for the girls. What a great way to teach them a small part of pioneer life.
That's all of the pictures, but I do have more to post on a few of the talking points that have come from reading the series....so....stay tuned....
