Why did the ingalls move to the city

But where to next? Back to Wisconsin. While they were in Kansas, the new owner of their Pepin homestead had defaulted on his mortgage, so the Ingalls moved back into their little house in the big woods — for a few years, anyway. Wilder skips this Wisconsin redux in the books — in the series, it's straight on to Minnesota.

After soaking up a little more Wisconsin air — and losing their wheat crop — repeatedly — the Ingalls moved to Walnut Grove in Walnut Grove is the setting for the "Little House on the Prairie" television series, which aired from to Thanks to the show, this is the place most closely associated with Wilder's stories — but don't look too hard for landmarks; the show was filmed in California.

Eventually, Charles was able to build his family a real house, complete with hinged doors and glass windows. Having a glass window was one of the ways the government determined whether or not a house met homestead standards. That house has been lost, and all that remains of the dugout is a deep depression along the creek. That depression would have remained an unmarked, unremarkable dent if not for Garth Williams, an illustrator for "The Little House" series. In , Williams traced the Ingalls family's path to the sod house site on Plum Creek, which by then was owned by a family oblivious to its historical significance.

After hearing the story, the family erected a marker and opened the site to visitors. It includes a replica of the dugout, a covered wagon display, memorabilia from the television show and an astounding collection of dolls. If you're looking for an on-theme snack for this portion of the trip, consider chocolate-covered grasshoppers. The Ingalls thought Minnesota would bring a bountiful harvest, but a grasshopper plague destroyed crops for two years in a row. The government executed 38 members of the Dakota tribe in Mankato, Minn.

When the hotel management situation went south, the family moved around town. They first landed in an apartment next to a saloon — too unsavory for Charles' tastes. He moved his family to a small brick house just outside of town instead. By , it was back to Walnut Grove. It's filled with the possessions of people who once lived in the hotel, including many who interacted with the Ingalls.

Back in Walnut Grove, Charles Ingalls got a case of that wandering foot once again. When his sister, Docia, offered him a job on the railroad in the Dakota Territory, it was the perfect opportunity keep moving west. His wife, Caroline, agreed, under one condition: This would be the last move.

So in , Charles took the job as a timekeeper for the railroad, and his family followed — it was the Ingalls children's first time on a train.

They spent a lonely winter in the railroad surveyor's house before Charles built the first-ever home in the newly formed town of De Smet, "By the Shores of Silver Lake.

De Smet fully embraces its place in Wilder's stories. You can visit the Ingalls Homestead , a living history farm where children can experience a slice of s life. Activities include twisting hay, lessons in a one-room schoolhouse and even driving a covered wagon. The tour includes the surveyor's house, the schoolhouse and the Ingalls house in town — the last home of Charles, Caroline and Mary.

The homes are maintained by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society, which has the largest collection of Ingalls artifacts, and organizes seasonal displays of the items. Outside of town, the original cottonwood trees that Charles planted for his family still stand by Silver Lake. Sign In. Little House on the Prairie — Jump to: FAQs 26 Spoilers 0. In what episode in Little House on the Prairie did Adam get his sight back? In the credits Mrs.

Ingalls is listed as Caroline, so why does everyone call her Carolyn? In what episode did Mary Ingalls go blind and how? And more importantly, why did the writers put her going blind in the series at all?

What different cities did the Ingalls family live in? How many episodes take place in Mankato and what are they? Does Mankato have a saloon? How many episodes take place in Minneapolis and what are they? How many episodes take place at Plum Creek and what are they? Does Springfield have a jail? Does Walnut Grove have a saloon? How many episodes take place in Walnut Grove and what are they?

Does Walnut Grove have a hospital? Does Walnut Grove have a jail? How many episodes take place at Willow Lake and what are they? Where is Winoka located? Charles Ingalls bought a acre farm outside the new town of Walnut Grove and moved his family into a sod house on the banks Plum Creek.

The Ingallses were active participants in the growing town on the southwestern Minnesota prairie. Laura and her sister, Mary, attended the local school. Their stay in Walnut Grove was cut short by crop failures in and caused by the grasshopper plague that was sweeping the area. They left their farm and moved east, settling briefly in Wabasha County with extended family. There, the youngest Ingalls child, a son born in Walnut Grove, sickened and died. In the wake of these hardships, the family moved south to Burr Oak, Iowa, where Charles and Caroline had arranged to manage a hotel in partnership with another couple, the Steadmans.

The family returned to Walnut Grove in However, a year later, when Charles Ingalls took a job with the railroad, they moved again, settling in De Smet, Dakota Territory. When she was fifteen, Ingalls qualified for a teaching license and began teaching at local schools. After the couple settled on a farm near De Smet, multiple setbacks —including a bout of diphtheria that nearly killed Laura and Almanzo, crop failures, and a house fire — forced the couple to relocate.

Wilder was an active member of the Mansfield community.