Laura Ingalls Wilder was a famous pioneer girl. Her childhood was spent going farther west. But never was it easy. Drought, grasshoppers, and other natural disasters kept their family from living conformably. A child-friendly version of her life story was written down. People all around read the tales of the brave pioneer girl and grew to enjoy her as a friend. Laura and her family lived at Plum Creek in Minnesota for six years. It is now known as Walnut Grove. Laura went there as a seven-year-old and left for what is now De Smet, South Dakota when she was thirteen. At Plum Creek, her sister, Mary Ingalls, lost her eyesight and their family lost their bulldog, Jack. Several museums across the US have been built wherever the Ingalls lived. Walnut Grove is just about three hours away from our home in Minneapolis.
On June 26, we visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove. The museum was a walkthrough of many imaginative and stimulating exhibits. The first stop on the walk was the depot, which was roughly what would be there in a regular museum – artifacts. Walk a little to the right, and we go into the Grandma’s Attic, a very interactive spot that is more like a play place with the theme of Laura Ingalls. After we left the exciting building, we walked into a dugout replica, which was built to give an idea of what a dugout was. Once we left the dugout, we walked into a model one-room schoolhouse with a lot of information about what the schoolroom rules were like. Then, we walked to a model of the Ingalls’ home. Finally, we went through the Heritage Lane, an interactive walk into the life and age of the Ingalls’. Finally, our walk brought us back to the beginning.
The first part of the museum was the Depot. The first half of the depot told stories that Laura had never written down. Like, how did the Ingalls know about Plum Creek? How did Mary go blind? It also showed items that belonged to the Ingalls at one point or were similar to what had been. An excerpt from the Youth’s Companion was one such item. There was a picture of what Laura’s Jewelry box might have looked like. And what a ‘Dove in the Window’ quilt looked like. The other half of the depot was dedicated to the ‘Little House on the Plum Creek’ movie series. The original fiddle that was used in the movie series was exhibited. There were pictures of the actors and actresses as well. And to the side was even the series playing. I enjoyed the depot and expected more of the same as we went on, but I was pleasantly surprised by the next stop.
Next, we went into the Grandma’s Attic, up the stairs of the white house. In there was a little playroom. There were places to play video games, a little kitchen to pretend to be the Ingalls Girls in, and – my personal favorite – clothes to play dress-up. First, I tried on a sunbonnet. “Mama,” I said, “I agree with Laura. I cannot see through these things!” Then I put on a dress. Finally, to complete the look, I put on an apron. Mia did the same as I did. She dressed up in a blue dress with red flowers scattered over it, a purple sunbonnet, and a white apron. Mama joined in the fun. She wore a pink dress with scattered magenta roses and a white sunbonnet. It was quite fun up in the Grandma’s Attic. Down the stairs, we found an organ.
One evening when Laura came home, the new room was complete. Pa had brought the organ; it stood against the north wall by the door. It was a beautiful organ, of polished walnut, with a tall back. Its overhanging canopy of shining wood almost touched the ceiling… Above the keys was a row of stops, marked tremolo and forte and other names, that changed the tone of the organ. Underneath the keys were two levers that folded back against the organ, or opened so that a player’s knees could work them. Pressed outward, they made the music louder. Just above the floor were two slanting pedals, covered with carpet, that a player’s feet must press down and let up, to pump the organ.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, These Happy Golden Years (Egmont, 2015. First published 1943 by HarperCollins), 159.
This description of the organ from These Happy Golden Years so fittingly describes the organ. Mia tried to play it. With her fingers over the keys and her feet pumping hard, Mia tried her best to play the organ. Passing through the kitchen and onto the porch, we saw a churner. There are three parts to the butter-making process. First, you strain the milk. Then you churn it. Finally, you mold the butter. Then we tried to lift an iron. Wow! It was so heavy. It took all my strength to lift and hold that Iron. Looking at the washing machines of those times, I was surprised to see how much machines have changed since the Ingalls’ were around.
Next Stop, the Dugout Replica. What would dugouts have been like? A musty, grey, tiny underground house. In the little ‘dugout’ at the Museum, there was a cot with a hide over it and a little table decorated with fake flowers. “And Ma put flowers on the table to make it look nice.” This dugout was not the actual dugout that the Ingalls’ lived in during their time at Plum Creek. It was made for the museum. The actual dugout is lost forever to the world.
Walking straight from the dugout, we directly went into a school. A one-room schoolhouse is a mystery to the modern world. What was it like to be in a schoolhouse with only one room where all the classes were joined and taught by one teacher? We saw a small room with benches inching its way up in the little schoolhouse model. We saw desks rising out of the previous seat. The teacher’s desk was up the aisle—a sturdy desk with an inkwell. On the showcase, we saw what a pen looked like in those days. It was not the gel or fountain pen but a feather. Behind the teacher and to the left were the instructions for the proper conduct of a school child. Walking down the aisle, we saw a water bucket with a metal dipper. Now, it is time to leave the subject of schoolhouses and proceed onward.
The next thing we saw was an idea of what the house at Plum Creek would have looked like. The big plank house the Ingalls’ lived in was not as big as I imagined. I imagined a large, spacious home. It was certainly bigger than the dugout, but not too big. The size would have been the size of a garage if it had another level. It would have had just enough space for the Ingalls to be comfortable but not so big that it would have been too much work for Ma Ingalls, Mary, and Laura. Up the ladder was the Ingalls girls’ room, which was as big as both the floors downstairs combined. Both Laura and Mary felt they had the world’s most enormous room. After the house, we walked through Heritage Lane. The first item was a wagon. The next was a printing station, then was an interactive post office, then there was a store, and finally, a telephone booth. The telephone booth was a tiny rectangular box with a phone. We exited the heritage lane and were back where we began – the gift shop.
After looking at the gift store one last time, we went out of the Museum and into our car. Due to too much rain this past summer, the dugout site was flooded. But we decided to drive to the place where we would have gone to see the dugout site. So, after a delicious lunch, we headed out. On our way there, we crossed a bridge that was over Plum Creek. I took a fleeting glance at the Creek. On our way back, we stopped on the side of the road to see the creek. The swirling, muddy brook reminded me of the time when Laura went out in the spring to see the brook. She went under the water and had to fight the current to get back on the landing. I wonder if Laura explored all of the creek. I wonder if the creek still has leaches and crabs. I wonder if the creek has changed much since the time that Laura was there.
Laura Ingalls Wilder was the pioneer girl who wanted to keep going west. She was not like her gentle Mary; instead, she was a tomboyish girl who enjoyed pioneering. In her adult life, she faced just as many hardships despite not traveling west. The pioneer girl is an important figure in history. Her stories open the window into what life looked like over a hundred years ago, and the museums bring the stories to life.
