Little House in the Big Woods

In the absence of time for adventures and travels, and with graduate coursework underway, the source materials for my Wanderings are limited now at best.  That does not mean, however, that this blog cannot go in other directions.

Mitchell Pass below Scott's Bluff

While traveling this summer, we had not really packed any bedtime stories or picture books for sake of space (to be honest we forgot them) so while visiting Scott's Bluff National Monument we bought a copy of Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I remember as a kid watching reruns of the TV show, but I had never read it, but it became obvious as we went along that my daughter was into this book. While visiting Fort Laramie National Monument as a part of our trip, Sadie worked on the Junior Ranger booklet, and one of the questions was something like, "Why would people want to go west on the Oregon Trail?"  Sadie's answer might as well have been channeling young Laura: "There were too many people in the East!"  The ranger commented that he'd never heard that answer before, but he liked it.  It is possible that she has been listening to her Mom and Dad as well - just saying!

Fort Laramie

So just before we finished it I went on the hunt for the next book.  

Unknown to us at the time, Little House on the Prairie is not the first book - it is actually the 3rd. Covering the Ingalls family's journey west to Indian Territory, Praire makes mention several times of their time in the "big woods" of Wisconsin.  The first book in the series is called Little House in the Big Woods, so I added this to my order and started to read it when it came in as part of our good-night rituals. 

This is truly more of a commentary on Big Woods than Prairie.  If you want a look at the life of pioneer stock and the way life was ordered in the western woodlands, Little House in the Big Woods is a fascinating how-to on wilderness survival.  Stephanie commented it was Carla Emery for kids. Written from the point of view of a young child for other young children, cultural history, and social history, comes alive in microcosm.  At one point, Pa (Charles) makes a smokehouse out of an old log, and Laura describes how the hams get smoked and the sausage was stored.  At another point, Laura helps her mother make cheese. (Want to know what "green cheese" is?  Laura will tell you).   Maple sugaring and oat and wheat threshing, too.  

In current days there have been those that have criticised the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder as being politically incorrect and therefore inappropriate for children.  For generations, the Little House books have been loved by adults and children alike.  As a society how many of us could have survived the world of the good sturdy pioneer stock that Laura came from?  Coming from a family of living historians I know some of the skills but I question just how long I would last placed in the position of self-reliance that these western pioneers found themselves (and placed themselves freely).  If you homeschool or just simply have a child that you read to, I highly recommend Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie.  If not for the history, do it to tick off those that want us to forget about Laura Ingalls Wilder and the time from which she came.