Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder was an American pioneer and author of books on the pioneer life in the 1800s. She was born on February 7, 1867, in Pepin, Wisconsin as Laura Elizabeth Ingalls. http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm Her parents were Charles Ingalls and Caroline Quiner Ingalls. http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm She met and married Almanzo Wilder in S. Dakota when she was 18 in 1885.http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm She had one daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, who became an author and journalist. http://www.biblio.com/laura-wilder~552054~author She also had one unnamed son who died shortly after birth in 1889. http://www.biblio.com/laura-wilder~552054~author In 1894 she and her husband, Almanzo, established a farm near Mansfield, Missouri, called Rocky Ridge Farm. http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm It was here she wrote her books. Her books described the many places where she had lived with her family while growing up. Little House in the Big Woods detailed the area around Pepin, WI.http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm Little House on the Prairie describes Independence, KS. http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm On the Banks of Plum Creek is about Walnut Grove, MN and the other 5 books describe DeSmet, S. Dakota. http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/history1.htm

Fans of Laura’s books sought out the sites mentioned in her books and would also visit Laura in her home in the Ozarks. She welcomed visitors right up to her death in 1957, at the age of 90.http://lauraingallswilder.com/ After her death, the home she and her husband had built was preserved and opened to readers. Through the years, each of the sites of the books has become literary-historical spots dedicated to the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder.http://lauraingallswilder.com/ In DeSmet, S. Dakota there is a Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society that offers history information to tourists.http://lauraingallswilder.com/ There is a non-profit Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association that maintains and preserves the Wilder Family Farm, Almanzo’s boyhood home.http://www.almanzowilderfarm.com/

Laura Ingalls Wilder started writing in 1932 and wrote to preserve the tales of her family’s adventures and lifestyle on the mid-western frontier of the 1870s and 1880s.http://lauraingallswilder.com/ Histories include scenes from Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and S. Dakota. Her books are suitable for readers of all ages and have been translated into over 40 languages.http://lauraingallswilder.com/ She completed the 8 volume series in 1943. http://lauraingallswilder.com/

"I had no idea I was writing history." ---Laura Ingalls Wilder after her books became well known in America and Europe.http://lauraingallswilder.com/

"In the long winter evenings he talked to Ma about the Western country. In the West the land was level, and there were no trees. The grass grew thick and high. There the wild animals wandered and fed as though they were in a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no settlers. Only Indians lived there." Excerpt from Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilderhttp://search.barnesandnoble.com/Little-House-on-the-Prairie/Laura-Ingalls-Wilder/e/9780064400022#EXC

• Little House in the Big Woods
• Little House on the Prairie
• Farmer Boy
• Little Town on the Prairie
• The Long Winter
• On The Banks of Plum Creek
• By the Shores of Silver Lake
• These Happy Golden Years
• The First Four Years