Pioneers for Grownups

Recently I wrote about my love for Laura Ingalls Wilder and her "Little House" series which inspired me to be a pioneer when I grew up. Well, the books did not end with These Happy Golden Years. Laura wrote three other books which detail her travels after These Happy Golden Years. Are they suitable for children? Sure - older children. But there is quite a difference in style and tone between these latter three books and the earlier books in the "Little House" series. Those who like the "happily ever after" feeling of These Happy Golden Years (which ends on the occasion of Laura and Almanzo's marriage) will not want to read any further. Those interested in Laura's story - the good and the bad - will want to read on.

The First Four Years is a story unearthed after Laura's death. Obviously it is a first draft of a book she probably intended to write later - it is very short and the events are hasty and sketched-in without the wealth of detail Laura usually provides. However, the writing is still clearly her voice. It tells the story of the first four years of Laura and Almanzo's marriage: Laura agreed to give farming a try for four years. While her Pa had farmed, Laura had grown up more as a pioneer girl than as a farmer's daughter. She was reluctant to settle down on a farm, so she and Almanzo compromised on four years.

These four years have joy, but there is also sadness that hits Laura and Almanzo. Sad events had occurred before to Laura - her sister Mary went blind from illness. However, those events were not chronicled in a book. These sad events are, although briefly. Laura and Almanzo lose their second child, a son, as a baby; Laura and Almanzo get diphtheria; they go into debt; and their house burns down. But there are happy times too: sleigh rides, pony rides, the birth of their daughter Rose, the beautiful little house Almanzo builds for Laura.

While Laura's earlier books may have glossed over some of the tragedies and heartbreak the family suffered, this book meets it head on. Not everything is rosy for the pioneer family, and farming is difficult and hard with the farmer completely at the mercy of the elements. It would have been nice if Laura could have finished this book in her usual style, but the spare prose only serves to emphasize the hardships the family suffered. This is a darker book than the other "Little House" books.

The next book On the Way Home, details further travels of Laura and Almanzo. Their attempt to make a go of it as farmers in South Dakota failed. They then moved to Florida, hoping that the climate would be better for Almanzo. However, Florida failed them too and they moved back to South Dakota. This is where the story picks up.

Laura and Almanzo have decided to move to Mansfield, Missouri - the Ozarks, the Land of the Big Red Apple. It is 1894, but the family is moving by a familiar mode of transport - the covered wagon. A more modernized version than the one Laura traveled in a child, but a covered wagon nonetheless. Laura kept a diary of their trip and her diary entries form the majority of the book. A brief introduction is provided by Laura's daughter Rose, who was 8 at the time of the move. It is interesting to hear her recollections of her childhood with the mother we all know so well. Rose grew up to be a famous writer of her own and her introduction is filled with wit and charm. Mansfield would end up being Laura's home for the rest of her life. Finally, she and Almanzo had found a place where they could settle.

The last book in the series, West from Home, details further travels by Laura. The year is 1915 and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition has come to San Francisco. So too has Laura's daughter Rose with her husband Gillette Lane. They work as writers for papers and magazines. Rose invites Laura to come out for a visit to see the Exhibition. She does, and the book is a collection of the letters she wrote home to Almanzo. Just as Laura was her sister Mary's eyes as a girl, so to for the exhibition was she Almanzo's eyes. It is interesting to get a glimpse of San Fransisco - a young, eager city - and the spectacular exhibition through Laura's eyes. We also get a glimpse of her relationship with Almanzo and her love of their farm, Rocky Ridge, at home in Missouri.

With that story, Laura's journey is complete. We have followed her travels from a little log cabin in Wisconsin to a final train journey out to San Francisco. She had literally traveled across the entire North American continent - and mostly prior to the use of cars or trains. Her stories provide us a window on a vanished world whether happy - in the "Little House" series, or sad, in The First Four Years. These books are an excellent resource for anyone who wants to know what it was like in the "olden days."