Robert and Ella Boast were actually ten years older than Laura describes them when they arrived in Dakota Territory in 1880. Robert was 37 at this time, being born in May of 1848 in Canada of English parents. Ella was 28 years old at the time she met the Ingalls, having been born in Illinois in March 1852. They married in January 1870 and farmed in Iowa where they were reasonably prosperous.

They moved into the town of DeSmet with Robert later working as a cattle buyer and real estate agent. They had no children.

Ella died at age 66, Robert at age 73. They are buried in the De Smet cemetery.

This website contains a good history of Cap Garland and his family, including pictures of them.

Identifying Mr. Edwards:

There are several possibilities for the identity of Mr. Edwards (a first name is never given)...

• He was a compilation character with "Mr. Edwards" representing several different real people who met the Ingalls family. This is possible--Laura did this with other characters, notably Nellie Oleson.
• He was a purely fictional character--unlikely, while the Little House books are fiction, they are strongly based in autobiographical fact.
• Mr. Edwards was really a man named "Ed Mason". Mason was a neighbor of the Ingalls in Kansas and appears near them in the 1870 census. Mason is, however, very unlikely to be Mr. Edwards. Mason was an English-born farmer who never left that area of Kansas and is buried there. Also, Mason had relatives very nearby (probably brothers) which negates the family-less bachelor aspect. He could not be the "Mr. Edwards" who appears ten years later in South Dakota.

Some possibilities I think are likely that I've never seen considered anywhere else are:

• Mr. Edwards was really met in Missouri. Before they lived in Indian Territory, the Ingalls lived for a time in Chariton County, Missouri. This was one of the most strongly Rebel counties in Missouri with countless bushwhackers and guerrillas coming from there. A northern family in this area at this time would be in dire need of a friend. Tennessee was a common place for Missouri residents to have migrated from, most of them with southern-leanings. Perhaps Edwards was a friend there with Laura transferring his appearances to the "Little House on the Prairie" setting.
• "Mr. Edwards" was an alias, or if not an alias, the name of a man who tried not to be identified and purposely avoided things like the census. The Indian Territory area of Kansas where the Ingalls settled was a haven for outlaws and Mr. Edwards may have been one of them. Bear in mind, not all outlaws were criminals in the classical sense, but many were ex-Confederates (which a young man from Tennessee could well be), often ex-guerrillas who were not recognized by the Federal government as having been legitimate soldiers and were not granted amnesty at the war's end. As is mentioned often in "Little House on the Prairie," there were numerous outlaws about (note the number of times horse thieves were mentioned and the security measures Pa took that aren't discussed in books that took place in other areas). The famous James brothers, Frank and Jesse, in their personal accounts of these exact years discuss hiding in and passing through Indian Territory. So does Cole Younger in his autobiography. Charles Ingalls was the sort to judge a man by his character, not his background (recall his fondness for a known horse thief in "On the Shores of Silver Lake"). As the Ingalls are leaving Kansas, recall that Mr. Edwards was said to have left quickly too, before the soldiers--Federal soldiers--arrived. What's more, he headed south, deeper into Indian Territory and outlaw hideout country.

Finding Mr. Edwards...

There are a number of approaches, each quite difficult and each with its drawbacks.

CENSUS RECORDS: Mr. Edwards should appear on both the 1870 and 1880 censuses. However for Montgomery County, Kansas in 1870 there are no conclusive candidates. The problem with the census is that not everyone in an area appears. If Mr. Edwards was trying to avoid being identified he could be one of the many from that area who avoided the census or gave a false name. He should also appear in the 1880 census for Dakota Territory. There are 41 men with the surname "Edwards" indexed in this census and 5 with the surname "Edward". I've checked about ten so far with no matches. The same problem exists with the 1880 census as the 1870--"Edwards" may not be his correct name, and even if it is, he may not be listed for any number of reasons.

MILITARY RECORDS: It is extremely likely that Mr. Edwards had been a Civil War soldier--his stated background by time and place makes it very probable. His 'yow-ee-ee' that Laura describes may well have been a Rebel yell. The National Archives index lists almost 350 men named "Edwards" as having served from Tennessee. Nearly 300 of these were Confederate, the rest Union. There were 286 "Edwards" who were in the Civil War from the state of Missouri, 96 of them Confederate, and 37 from Kansas, all Union. Confederate service records are not complete so the numbers may be higher. These records also do not take into account hundreds, if not thousands, of irregulars--partisan rangers, guerrillas, bushwhackers--who considered themselves legitimate soldiers but for whom no service records exist.

LAND RECORDS: No land claim may exist for Mr. Edwards for Kansas (none does for Charles Ingalls for reasons explained in the book--they were essentially squatters on land they had no right to claim). However a land claim for Dakota Territory should exist filed the day, or near to it, that Charles Ingalls filed his DeSmet land claim. Whereas Charles Ingalls shows a land patent grant in the Bureau of Land Management files, it was said that Mr. Edwards relinquished his claim, so no land patent would show up, however the claim record should exist... if it could be found and reconciled to other records (census and military), may conclusively establish an identity. Such a search would need to take place by criteria other than name (like approximate age, marital status, and states of prior residence) which adds to the complexity. This would be a large, involved project for anyone who would care to tackle it. No one lives without leaving a paper trail and, faint as it is, this one may someday be found.

More histories will be added as time makes possible - check back for additions