Ingall's Homestead

 July 29, 2021

Today we drove to De Smet, SD to see the Ingall's Homestead

Here we are in an original RV, the covered wagon, that pioneers headed west in with all of their belongings.

A Sod House

"On the treeless plains, settlers used what they had in abundance a mat of grass and dirt called sod. It was free for a lot of hard work.  Long, straight strips of matted grass, about 2 inches thick, were cut with a special plow. The strips were then "bricks", and the sod was stacked in capping fashion the way bricks are laid. In areas where the land was completely flat, all four walls of the house were made of sod."

"A big problem with the houses made of sod was the leaky roof. After a heavy rain, a saturated roof could drip for three days after the sky cleared."

The Ingalls family lived in a dugout on the Banks of Plum Creek in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

A claim shanty with tar paper siding.

"In the spring of 1878, leaving Sioux Falls, Pa and Ma Burvee and their girls crossed the prairie for two weeks, in search of a less crowded area. They settled near Spirit Lake, about twelve miles northwest of here. This was the summer before Pa Ingalls arrived in Dakota Territory to help build the railroad through Kingsbury County.  With a herd of twenty Galloway cows and lumber for a new house, the Burvees had more resources than many prairie pioneers.

Jim inside the claim shanty.

"The government offered free land, in hopes of settling the vast frontier. Any man or woman could acquire a 160-acre farm "for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation".  The settler had to be twenty-one years of age, build a home, live in it six months of each year for five years and plow at least ten acres of land."

Which would you rather have a Sod House or Shanty?

At this location Pa built a claim Shanty.

"Pa built the family's claim shanty in three stages. 

Stage One In the spring of 1880, he built a "half-house" of 140 square feet for his family of six. 

Laura describes it as having a slanted roof.

Stage Two In 1881, he added the second half, an additional 140 square feet.

Laura writes that the new part created two tiny bedrooms, each with a window.

Stage Three While attending the lowa School for the Blind, Mary learned to play the organ. Pa and Laura worked and saved money to purchase a pump organ as a surprise for Mary's homecoming.

Pa built a 12 foot by 16 foot addition to make room for the pump organ. 

Once completed, Ma declared that the shanty was now a real house."

Here is Jim in the kitchen, which originally was the entire house.

Pa later added 2 bedrooms and a livingroom.

We were given a wagon ride around the property.

Lady and Skip pulled our wagon.

The hazy skies are from a fire in Canada.

WEST BETHANY LUTHERAN

- Established 1881. ERWIN, SD -Built 1905, 7miles N, 2miles E, 1 mile N of De Smet, SD

Not the church the Ingalls went to, but of the same time.

When inside a young girl from our wagon ride played Amazing Grace and we all sang along, just like the Ingalls sang while Pa played his fiddle.

The other wagon stop was the schoolhouse.  (also a stand-in from the period)

Laura attend school in De Smet and taught at 3 schools in the area, but those did not survive.

Inside the one room schoolhouse on the chalkboard to the left is a quote

"It is still best to be honest and truthful and to make the most of what have you." Laura Ingalls Wilder

In the stable we were shown how they twisted straw to burn when they were out of coal and the trains were not running to resupply town in the winter of 1880 when constant blizzards kept covering the tracks in snow.

Little girls who come to visit often dress like Laura Ingalls did in the 1880's

Can you tell what these farm tools were used for?

Answers at the end of this blog page.

The stable is huge compared to the house.

A video of Rose trying to rope a calf outside the stable.

Jim successfully ropes the calf.

Ma's garden is growing a pumpkin and other vegetables.

A hayroof barn.

Charles Ingalls built a 16' x 24' hayroof barn into the hillside west of the claim shanty. He specified the dimensions and the hayroof in his homestead proof papers. The Ingalls family often referred to it as a stable.

A calf and chickens occupy the hayroof barn.

July 30, 2021

It is raining today makes it harder to see all the smoke from the fires north of here but you can still smell them.

No bad weather, just need the right clothing, so I went for a hike.

Across the road the neighbor had his horses out in the meadow.

The haybarn was full of little girls playing with the barn cats.

Off to the right is the all important manure spreader.

Here is a picture of Ma's vegetable garden with the house in the background.

And the Big Slough on the property.

"A slough is an area of wetlands that cannot be farmed. Other words for slough are swamp, bog, or marsh. Pa picked this spot so in dry years he could still cut the grass around the slough for feed.

"In the Big Slough the old, dead grass stood higher than Laura's head, over acres and acres, for miles and miles. The deep mud sucked at bare feet and there were water - holes. Laura could hear from where she stood, the sound of the coarse slough grass in the wind."

By The Shores of Silver Lake Chapter 29

In the afternoon we went to downtown De Smet, SD

The old train depot was filled with artifacts from the town,  I particularly like all the clothing.

This dressed survived the tornado that completely destroyed Manchester, SD on June 24, 2003.

The dress was found in a rain soaked box in  a field.

Her shoes are so thin I am certain I could never get my foot in it.

Answers to farm instrument quiz:

1.Anti Kick Device

While hand milking, these were strapped to the front of each of the cow's rear legs to prevent kicking. 2. Cow Hobbles

With the chain placed around the front and along the outside of both rear legs, the hook ends are placed around the back of the cows legs just above the hock to prevent kicking.

3. Buggy Step

This was attached to the side of the horse buggy, to help the person enter the carriage.

4. Non-serrated Farm Knife

5. Serrated Hay Knife 

When hay was placed in stacks, the unbaled haystack was sliced with a hay knife.

6. Glass insulator with holder

 Electricity was brought to rural Kingsbury County in 1947.

7. Single Tree or One-Horse Evener 

Horses were used for field work. The rings on both sides of the single tree were attached to the harness tugs on each side of the horse. The farm implement, such as a harrow, was hooked to the round circle and pulled behind the workhorse.

8. Gambrel

The hooks on the gambrel were attached to the tendons of the back legs of the slaughtered hog, allowing the carcass to hang during the butchering process.

9. Butchering Hog Hook

 A hook was used to move the hog carcass in the barrel of scalding hot water.

10. Hog bell scraper

Bell scrapers were rubbed on the hog's hide to remove the hair after scalding.

11. Home-made hog catcher

The wire loop was placed into the mouth and over the nose to catch a hog for a treatment or for slaughter.

12. Commercially manufactured hog catcher