Little House
on the Prairie
By Laura Ingalls Wilder
Chapter Summaries
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GOING WEST
CROSSING THE CREEK
CAMP ON THE HIGH PRAIRIE
PRAIRIE DAY
THE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
MOVING IN
THE WOLF-PACK
TWO STOUT DOORS
A FIRE ON THE HEARTH
A ROOF AND A FLOOR
INDIANS IN THE HOUSE
FRESH WATER TO DRINK
TEXAS LONGHORNS
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INDIAN CAMP
FEVER ‘N’ AGUE
FIRE IN THE CHIMNEY
PA GOES TO TOWN
THE TALL INDIAN
MR. EDWARDS MEETS SANTA
CLAUS
A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT
INDIAN JAMBOREE
PRAIRIE FIRE
INDIAN WAR-CRY
INDIANS RIDE AWAY
SOLDIERS
GOING OUT
Going West
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The Ingalls family consist of Pa
and Ma, their daughters Mary,
Laura, baby Carrie, and their
dog Jack
The Ingalls are moving to Indian
Country to get away from all of
the people in Wisconsin,
according to Pa.
They traveled in a covered
wagon
They crossed the Mississippi
River when it was iced over, and
they also crossed the Missouri
River on a raft
The Ingalls are headed to
Kansas
Ma and Pa
Carrie,
Mary, and
Laura
Ingalls
Here is a map of the journey the Ingalls’ made
Crossing the Creek
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They come to a big creek and have to drive the
wagon across it
The girls had to remain still in the wagon, so as
to not tip it over
Jack had to swim across
The wagon nearly tipped over
Pa had to jump into the creek to save the wagon
Jack never made it across to the other side
Camp on the High Prairie
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They all rested for a day on the prairie
They heard a pack of wolves in the distance
At night they heard a wolf slowly creeping
toward their camp
Pa took his gun out when they saw the wolf’s
eyes glowing in the grass
The wolf turned out to be Jack! He had made it
across the creek and somehow found them
Prairie Day
The girls explored the prairie around their
camp
 They saw many gophers and strange birds
 Laura was hoping to see an Indian,
especially a papoose
 Ma dislikes Indians
 Pa played his fiddle at night for
entertainment
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Pa’s Fiddle
The House on the Prairie
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Pa stopped the wagon the next day when he found the
perfect spot for their new home. The nearest town,
Independence, was 40 miles away
Pa found an old trail nearby, possibly one the Indians
had used years ago
Pa cut logs from the trees that were near the closest
river
Pa started building their new home
Ma hurt her ankle when a log fell on her foot
Pa met Mr. Edwards, a neighbor from across the river.
He agreed to help Pa build their home, if Pa would help
him build his
Mr. Edwards was a funny man
What the Little House on the Prairie looks like today. This is an
exact replica of the original house.
Moving In
Pa finished the walls of the cabin so the
family could sleep inside the house
 Pa heard more wolves in the distance
 Pa used the canvas cover for the wagon as
a roof until he was able to build a roof
 The Ingalls’ spent their first night in their
new home
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The Wolf-Pack
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Pa and Mr. Edwards built a stable for the Ingalls’ horses
Pet and Patty
Pet had a colt, a baby horse, named Bunny
Later that day Jack was acting strange, almost worriedlike
Pa had gone out hunting and returned in a big hurry and
announced that a big pack of wolves was coming toward
the house
Pa told the story of the wolfpack during dinner
That night Laura was awoken by a loud howl, the wolves
were circled around their new house
Their new house didn’t have a door yet, so Pa had to
stand guard with his gun until the wolves left.
Jack stood right beside him, he had sensed the wolves
coming that day, too
Two Stout Doors
The next morning Pa made two doors, one
for the house and the other for the stable
 Laura helped her father with the door
 Laura loved helping Pa, she’d rather be
outside helping him than staying couped
up inside the house all day
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A Fire on the Hearth
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Laura and Mary went with Pa to collect rocks for
the chimney Pa was going to build
Laura wanted to see the abandoned Indian
camps Pa had seen while hunting
Pa mixed clay and water to help build the
chimney
Pa made a nice mantle for the fireplace, where
Ma could place her china doll
Ma was able to cook inside the house now
The
chimney
A Roof and a Floor
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Laura and Mary explored their new surroundings
whenever they finished their chores
Laura still wanted to see a papoose. Ma would
get upset every time Laura mentioned Indians.
Pa split logs to make boards for the roof and for
their floor
Mr. Edwards had lent Pa some nails
Pa filled the cracks of the log cabin with mud to
keep the wind out
What the inside of the house probably looked
like
Indians in the House
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Pa went hunting and chained Jack to the outside of the
stable
Pa told the girls not to turn Jack loose for anything
Jack growled at Laura. He was really growling at the
Indians he saw coming
The girls were scared and stayed close to Jack. The
Indians went into the house with Ma and Carrie still
inside
The Indians were nearly naked, covered only by small
skunk skins
Ma couldn’t speak their language, but she made them
food
The Indians soon left, taking all of Pa’s tobacco
The Indians visit Ma and the girls
Fresh Water to Drink
Pa had made a bed using boards, rope, and straw
 Pa next started digging a well. He didn’t want Ma
walking all the way to river to fetch water when he went
to town.
 Mr. Scott, another “neighbor”, helped Pa dig the well
 One morning Mr. Scott passed out at the bottom of the
well. He had forgotten to send a candle down to the
bottom to burn out all the poisonous gas. Pa had to
rescue him
 Soon the well was finished, and Pa put a cover on it for
safety reasons
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The actual well that Pa dug is still
there to this day!
Texas Longhorns
Laura heard a rumble in the distance
which turned out to be cattle ranchers
driving their cattle, Texas Longhorns
 Pa agreed to help drive the herd across
the river
 Pa received a cow and a calf as payment
 Pa had a difficult time milking the cow
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Indian Camp
Pa noticed the Indian camp that was
nearby had been recently abandoned
 Pa took the girls to go check it out
 The girls found all sorts of colored beads
 Laura and Mary made a beautiful beaded
necklace for Carrie
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Fever ‘N’ Ague
Ma and the girls would pick blackberries near the river
whenever they were ripe
 They would get bitten by mosquitoes a lot
 Soon the whole family was getting very sick. They could
barely move a muscle
 One morning Laura woke up to a friendly black man
offering her some water
 The nice black man was a doctor, Dr. Tan
 They were told they had gotten sick from bad
watermelons and gotten fever ‘n’ ague
 Dr. Tan and Mrs. Scott nursed the Ingalls’ back to good
health
 The Ingalls’ didn’t know in those days that fever ‘n’ ague
was actually malaria, which they had gotten from the
mosquito bites
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Dr. Tan and Mrs. Scott tend to the
Ingalls
Fire in the Chimney
One day while Pa had was hunting the
chimney caught fire
 The fire was burning very close to the roof
 Ma beat down the flaming sticks onto the
floor
 Laura helped save the house
 Pa said that he was going to town
tomorrow, and Ma wanted to send a letter
back to their family in Wisconsin
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Pa Goes to Town
Pa was going to town, a four day journey
 Mr. Edwards had come to help with the chores
around the house, but Jack chased him up the
woodpile
 Indians were rumored to be in the area again
 Pa returned late on the fourth night, bringing
back food, a plow and some seeds, and a gift for
Ma, panes of glass to make windows.
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The Tall Indian
One day a tall Indian showed up to the house
Ma made a meal for him and Pa to share
Pa gave him some tobacco
The Indian, probably from the Osage tribe, soon
left
 Pa realized the old trail he had seen when they
first moved here must be an Indian trail that is
still used
 One day while Pa was hunting, a couple of
different Indians showed up and stole all of Pa’s
furs that he had been saving to trade with
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Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus
The girls were upset because Christmas was coming, but
a storm had come and made the river to dangerous to
cross. This meant that Santa Claus, who drove a sled of
pack mules in the Old West back then, would not be able
to visit them
 On Christmas a strange rattling was heard at their door.
It was Mr. Edwards
 He had just come back from town and bumped into
Santa Claus. Santa gave him the girls’ presents, and Mr.
Edwards risked his life crossing the river to give the girls
their gifts
 Inside their stocking from Santa was a tin cup, two
candy canes, a heart-shaped cake, and a shiny new
penny
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A Scream in the Night
One night the whole family was woken by
a terrible scream, Pa said it was a woman
screaming and that it sounded like it was
coming from the Scotts’ house.
 Pa went to go check it out
 Pa discovered the scream was actually a
panther roar
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Indian Jamboree
Pa went to town early in the spring
 Before Pa returned Laura had heard many
Indians chanting in their nearby camps
 When Pa came back he said the Indians
must be having a jamboree
 Pa brought back beautiful hair combs for
the girls
 The Indian chants were getting louder and
faster each day
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Prairie Fire
Throughout the spring more and more Indians
came to the area, often stopping by the house
 One day Laura saw dark clouds on the horizon.
The clouds were actually smoke, and a prairie
fire was headed right for their house
 Pa dug a ditch, a firebreak, and with buckets of
water and wet rags he and Ma battled the fire
 They saved the house
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Indian War-Cry
More Indians were showing up to the area
 Each night the Indians’ chanting and drum beating got a
little louder and faster
 In the middle of the night Laura was awoken by a
terrible sound, the Indians were yelling
 Pa told the girls that the Indians were talking about war
against the white settlers
 Every night the girls would hear louder war-cries
 One night they saw an Indian ride past their house in a
hurry, heading toward the Indian camps
 The chanting stopped soon
 Most of the Indians left, except the Osage tribe.
 Pa discovered that all of the other tribes wanted to kill
the white people, but the Osages did not want this. The
Osages had saved their lives, especially that one Indian
that had rode by that one night, he was their leader. His
name was Soldat du Chene
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Indians Ride Away
One morning a bunch of Indians were
headed toward the house in a line
 They marched right past the house and
continued out of sight
 Indians continued walking by the entire
day
 Laura finally saw a papoose
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Soldiers
After the Indians had left there was a peacefulness to
the prairie
 Pa had built a beautiful field of vegetables
 One day, after talking to Mr. Scott and Mr. Edwards, Pa
had some bad news
 They would have to leave the territory, the government
was giving it back to the Indians. Anyone that stayed
behind would be taken away by soldiers
 Pa was upset because he had built this beautiful home,
but did not want to wait around for soldiers to come get
him, so he decided that they family would have to move
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Going Out
They had only lived there for about a year,
but they had to move again
 Just like before they loaded up their
wagon with the necessities and set out
across the prairie, heading north
 Laura was sad, too. But she was happy to
be with her family, no matter where they
were
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Visit the Little House on the Prairie
Historical Site
A Brandon McAnulty Presentation
Some pictures of inside and outside of cabin are property of:
Little House on the Prairie
Photography © Leslie A. Kelly 2000