little vacation on the prairie

Last week we spent a couple days in De Smet, South Dakota, the setting of several of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. We visited the Ingalls Homestead 1 mile southeast of town. The Ingalls family moved to De Smet in 1879, and it was the final home of Ma and Pa, and where Laura met & married Almanzo. The homestead had a replica of the original shanty house, barn and some other junk.This semi-authentically dressed young woman in flip-flops took the kids for pony rides. Each kid ('cept Zachary) got a turn on the horse.We enjoyed a sorta covered wagon ride, courtesy of these morose-looking draft horses.

We stayed in a covered wagon on the homestead the first night, supping on the Ingalls' favorite food - hot dogs, BBQ chips and s'mores. With 'orange drink.' Purchased from the Ingalls' favorite gas station, Shell.Little sunset on the prairie.

Little foggy sunrise on the prairie.

The next day we took a tour in town, run by the LIW Memorial Society. This is the surveyor's house, where the Ingalls spent their first winter in De Smet. I have about 2.5 seconds of video footage inside, cut short because the 95 year old tour guide barked at me not to take pictures. Mean old lady. She had painted-on eyebrows and too much rouge.

Also part of the tour was this home that Pa built in town. They sold the homestead in 1892 and I believe both Pa and Ma died here. The stairs and some floorboards were Pa's craftsmanship, but most of these "original" buildings are restored.










We stopped at the cemetery to see the graves of Pa, Ma, Mary, Carrie, and the infant son of Laura & Almanzo. Pa's (the tall one) is the only original marker.

Now, how to end this post on a non-creepy note...hmm. There's not much else to say about De Smet. We had a good time on our mini-vacation, and as usual the kids' favorite part was swimming in the hotel pool the 2nd night.