Pioneer Days: The Works of Laura Ingalls Wilder

[hobocamp]

Every time I get really sick, I always think about the time the whole family got scarlet fever and Laura (I think) had to crawl to get a ladle full of water to bring to Ma and Pa. That totally scared the crap out of me when I was little.

[prydainprincess]

How in the world did I miss this thread? I'm another LH nut; one of the neatest things I ever saw were the photocopies of the manuscripts that Dwan was nice enough to show me. I'm waiting for her to publish her research. (Drumming fingers on table, do dee do dee doo). And I'm now really ticked that Dwanollah never told me about the REAL Cousin Charley. Eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!

[kanding]

hobocamp said:

Every time I get really sick, I always think about the time the whole family got scarlet fever and Laura (I think) had to crawl to get a ladle full of water to bring to Ma and Pa. That totally scared the crap out of me when I was little.

Wasn't that in Little House on the Prairie? I remember reading somewhere that in reality Laura was just an infant when the family moved to that area. But regardless, even if she didn't have to crawl to get the water (I thought she had to get it for Mary which pissed me off to no end), it was a creepy scene.

I like that Dr. Tan (?), the doctor who treated the family was a real person.

Correct me if I'm wrong. It's been years since I've read the books.

[dwanollah]

prydainprincess said:

How in the world did I miss this thread? I'm another LH nut; one of the neatest things I ever saw were the photocopies of the manuscripts that Dwan was nice enough to show me. I'm waiting for her to publish her research. (Drumming fingers on table, do dee do dee doo). And I'm now really ticked that Dwanollah never told me about the REAL Cousin Charley. Eeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!

Oh, don't worry, honey... by next weekend, you'll be begging me to please shut the fuck up. ;D

BTW... wanna proofread? I'll be that much closer to publication. And the intro paragraphs to this stupid paper are driving me BATSHIT!

[divasahm]

dwanollah said:

BTW... wanna proofread? I'll be that much closer to publication. And the intro paragraphs to this stupid paper are driving me BATSHIT!

Ooh, ooh--I used to be a professional proofer! Gimme!

*disclaimer--motherhood has caused a certain amount of brain damage--accept offers of proofreading at your own risk*

[prydainprincess]

I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to proofread. Not sure I could finish before August, but I'd certainly try!

I also want to hear more real LH gossip. My fave in the original mss was the game of "spin the bottle."

[dwanollah]

I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to proofread. Not sure I could finish before August, but I'd certainly try!

Howzibout before this weekend?

Hm... more gossip...? Mary actually went to college on a scholarship; it wasn't the "we'll all work together and save money and maybe someday Mary can go to college" deal that the books made it out to be. And Mary actually did a lot more than just sit around the house and sew. Lemme scare up some stuff....

ETA: Ah ha! A super-giant excerpt about the Fourth of July from my paper "Free and Independent: The Political and Literary Collaborations of LIW and RWL":

Again, Wilder’s original manuscript details events quite differently than the published version, relying on factual reporting rather than profundity. Chapter Three of the original manuscript, titled “Getting Ready for the Fourth,” describes elaborate preparations for the Fourth of July celebration in town. Pa buys a dozen eggs in town, and Ma uses them to make a white sugar-frosted “Golden Cake” and a sliced lemon pie with lots of sugar, both described in elaborate detail. Laura irons her sisters’ best dresses for the occasion as well, bemoaning all the narrow ruffles that need careful attention. She complains that ruffles are bothersome to iron and asserts that she won’t have any on her next dress. Ma, who is finishing making Mary a new best dress with long skirts, laughs at Laura and admonishes, “You must give a little something to the eye,” an attitude that seems quite incongruous with the quiet, modest Ma as portrayed in the published books. The next chapter, “The Fourth of July,” features the entire Ingalls family filling a picnic basket with treats: the cake and pie, bread-and-butter sandwiches to be eaten with store-bought smoked herring, a bottle of store-bought pickles, foods that seem sumptuous for the new settlers. Wearing wide-brimmed hats and starched and ruffled lawn dresses, the Ingalls girls seem more like delicate Victorians than hardy pioneers. Blind Mary, who is usually depicted sitting quietly in a rocking chair until her return from college, walks eagerly to town with the rest, and Pa carries Grace the mile to town. Once there, the family meets up with their friends the Boasts, who bring more celebratory treats: another cake, apple pie, hard-boiled eggs and pails of lemonade. Wilder mentions that someone theatrically reads the Declaration of Independence, with waving arms, and that there are several political speeches, but Laura fidgets until Mary pinches her arm and hisses, “Sit still!” Only when a man and woman stand to sing a pensive song about a whippoorwill’s call does Laura pay attention to the happenings. This time, it is Carrie that does not understand the phrases about “twist[ing] the lion’s tail and ma[king] the eagle scream,” and although Laura tells her “they meant lawyer Barnes praised the United States and the other speakers said mean things about England… Carrie still looked puzzled.” After the speeches and picnic, the families – including Ma and Mrs. Boast – gather at an impromptu racetrack to watch several races, including a humorous sack race that leaves the contestants crawling on the ground. And Laura watches Almanzo Wilder win the buggy race, despite his heavy peddler’s cart. The celebration continues with music and fiddling, and townspeople jumping up on the bandstand to square-dance. At this, Pa leads his family home, again carrying Grace, and Laura asks him, “Why didn’t we dance on the platform, Pa?” Pa tells her, “Because it was a public dance and you can’t choose your company in a square dance. You have to dance with everyone.” Then Ma and Mary talk about how nice it is to live near town, ostensibly to take part in such celebrations.

Once again, these attitudes and portrayals are quite different than the final books. In the published text, the Fourth of July celebration in town is attended only by Pa, Laura and Carrie. Ma, Mary and Mrs. Boast emphatically prefer to stay at home where it is quiet, and are adamant about ladies not attending rough activities like horse races. Grace must stay at home as well, because she is “too big to be carried,” and is unruly and perhaps on the verge of being spoiled by such coddling attentions. Pa and the girls take only bread and butter for lunch; the smoked herring bought in town is a rare treat, and the girls opt to take some home to Ma. Lemonade is an equally rare treat; Laura has only had it once, Carrie never, and they dip only two shared drinks from the community barrel, conscious that “it would not be polite to ask for more.” Laura and Carrie spend most of the time in Pa’s store building, watching the happenings from above and musing about historic events, rather than mingling with the noisy crowds. Especially, Pa, as portrayed in the published books, would never make such an undemocratic, elitist and overprotective statement about his girls “having to dance with everyone” at a public dance.

But above all, the final version of LTOTP contains overt patriotic ideology, presented through songs, comments and several detailed speeches, all of which are experienced first-hand by the character Laura. Notably, the Fourth of July celebration is the first community event in a book whose primary plot is centered on community integration, and in a book that will feature, as its climax, Laura reciting a hundred years of American History and thus securing her teaching certificate. In town, Laura is uncomfortable by the noise and strangers, but, when someone steps up to read the Declaration of Independence – of which two of the text’s pages include excerpts incorporated into the story – Laura listens with solemn, rapt attention even though she “knows every word” of it “by heart.” As if rewarding her, the moment furnishes a personal political illumination. After the reading is finished,
No one cheered. It was more like a moment to say, “Amen.” But no one quite knew what to do.
Then Pa began to sing. All at once everyone was singing,

My country, ‘tis of the
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing. . . . (ellipses in original text)

Long may our land be bright
With Freedom’s holy light.
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

. . . Laura stood stock still. Suddenly she had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in her mind, and she thought: God is America’s king.
She thought: Americans won’t obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. No king bosses Pa; he has to boss himself. Why (she thought), when I am a little older, Pa and Ma will stop telling me what to do, and there isn’t anyone else who has a right to give me orders. I will have to make myself be good. . . . This is what it means to be free. It means you have to be good. . . . The laws of Nature and of Nature’s God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God’s law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free (LTOTP, 75-76).

Here, after participating socially in a certain public political event, the character Laura’s private mind becomes a kind of publicized sphere of political discourse, clarifying the ideologies of Rose Wilder Lane, and emphasizing the individual, personal responsibility of what it means to be “free and independent.” A family, a community, a country, are all dependent on the individuals upholding their personal responsibilities to “make themselves be good.”

In this final version of the book, the buggy race, with Almanzo Wilder’s team pulling his brother’s heavy peddler’s cart, takes on new philosophical contexts as well. As Laura watches, agonizing that it’s “not fair!” that the beautiful Morgan team hasn’t a chance at winning against all the other light buggies, she overhears some men talking. Mr. Boast comments that Almanzo “might’ve rousted out a buggy somewhere” to race with, but another man responds, “He’s an independent kind of a young cuss…. He’d rather lose with what he’s got than win with a borrowed buggy.” Of course, despite this, Almanzo wins the race; his victory and five-dollar prize are consecrated, in part, by his independence at using his own family resources. This further establishes him as a worthy suitor for an independent person like Laura Ingalls.

Here, even more so than the similar chapter in Farmer Boy, the ideas are presented through Laura herself, the beloved future-author of the Little House book. The character Laura is fully incorporated with the book’s political thoughts, not a detached, uninterested observer.

[prydainprincess]

How long is it? I have a ton of shit to do, but the more procrastination tools, the better! I already proofed part of Melissa's thesis; what's some more good critical reading!

Yeah, I always thought Mary HAD to do more than just sit and take up space. Especially given the descripition of how she moved around more confidently after coming home from college.

Has anything been written about Mary at college, actually? My favorite AGG book is AotI because I so enjoyed reading about college in the olden days.

[dwanollah]

Mary was very active at college, and there are some reports about her achievements, both artistic and academic, but nothing hardcore critical. In fact, someone ought to write bios on some of the OTHER LH women, like Mary, Carrie, Eliza Jane... they're fascinating!

(Remind me to tell you about my latest research project on turn-of-the-century college stories....

WHY CAN'T YOU JUST COME VISIIIIIIT?!?!?!)

p.s. Just finished my paper. Must do final proofread, but am currently shoveling in ice cream.

p.p.s. Am sending copy to Rod. *ACK!*

[prydainprincess]

Interesting. Hm, I'd look into writing one, but didn't someone start writing books about Laura's direct ancestors and descendents? Probably couldn't get the rights to it.

Ooo, can't wait to hear about college stories! As I have no time whatsoever this year for a cross country trip, we'll have to cram that in next week. And send the paper my way when you're ready; can't wait to read it!!!