Laura Ingalls Wilder Dugout Home Site - On the Banks of Plum Creek

Описание: Original site of the Ingalls Family Dugout. Walnut Grove, Minnesota

“Charles Ingalls homesteaded this farm in 1874 when Laura was 7 years old. In the century that has passed Plum Creek has meandered some but not enough to hide the major landmarks. Even though Laura wrote ‘On the Banks of Plumb Creek’ sixty years after living here, her descriptions fit the terrain well.

When they arrived, “Mr. Hanson” (real name most likely Anders Haraldson) had only a small wheat field on this side of the creek. That fall Pa harvested the hay from the prairie across the creek, plowed it up and planted wheat and oats the next spring.

Within the first year they built a wooden house which probably stood across the creek on the level ground just beyond the knoll. (The current farmstead was built in 1900 and has no relationship to the Ingalls.)

The flat-topped hill to the right is most likely the table land. There are some still, deep holes in the creek near there which could have been Laura’s swimming hole. The plum thickets are still here today.

The spring is to the left among the willows. Laura recalled reaching the spring from the dugout by crossing the creek. Although the creek may have moved several feet it is unlikely that the spring was on the other side a century ago.

The grasshoppers ended the Ingalls stay here in July 1876. Charles converted the homestead to a cash purchase for $430.18 and sold it immediately to Abraham Keller for $400. The Ingalls family left Walnut Grove for Burr Oak, Iowa by the way of South Troy, MN where their relatives lived. Their 9 month old son Freddy died enroute and is believed to be buried near South Troy.”