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When Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the "Little House" books about her life she
did not intend to write history. She was writing fictional stories based on
hers and her family's life, experiences and travels. Some events take place
in a different order in real life than she wrote them, and other places they
lived, and events, were left out entirely (such as the birth and death of
her brother and the family's time in Burr Oak, Iowa.)
links on book titles are to Amazon.com where copies may be
purchased
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10 Jan 1836 |
Charles "Pa" Ingalls born in New York |
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12 Dec 1839 |
Caroline "Ma" Quiner (Ingalls) born in Wisconsin |
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13 Feb 1857 |
Almanzo Wilder born in New York ("Farmer
Boy") |
| 1 Feb 1860 |
Charles & Caroline Ingalls married |
|
10 Jan 1865 |
Mary (Laura's sister) born in Wisconsin |
|
7 Feb 1867 |
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls (Wilder) born in Wisconsin |
|
1868/1869 |
Ingalls family lives a short time in Chariton County, Missouri |
|
1869 |
Ingalls family moves to Indian Territory in Kansas ("Little
House on the Prairie") |
|
3 Aug 1870 |
Carrie (Laura's sister) born in Kansas |
|
spring 1871 |
Ingalls family leaves Kansas and returns to Wisconsin ("Little
House in the Big Woods") |
|
1874 |
Ingalls family leaves Wisconsin and moves near Walnut Grove, Redwood County,
Minnesota ("On
the Banks of Plum Creek") |
|
1 Nov 1875 |
Charles Frederick (Laura's brother) born in Minnesota |
|
27 Aug 1876 |
Charles Frederick (Laura's brother) dies in Minnesota |
|
fall 1876 |
Ingalls family moves to Burr Oak, Iowa |
|
23 May 1877 |
Grace (Laura's sister) born in Burr Oak, Iowa |
|
1878 |
Ingalls family moves back to Walnut Grove, Minnesota
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|
early 1879 to fall 1879 |
Mary loses her eyesight, family moves to Dakota Territory (early part of "On
the Shores of Silver Lake") |
|
winter 1880/1881 |
DeSmet, Dakota Territory ("The
Long Winter") |
|
fall 1881 |
Mary goes to the school for the blind in Iowa |
|
fall 1882, early 1883 |
Laura becomes a school teacher ("Little
Town on the Prairie") |
|
1883/1885 |
Laura teaches school, is courted by Almanzo Wilder ("These
Happy Golden Years") |
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25 Aug 1885 |
Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder marry |
|
5 Dec 1886 |
Rose Wilder (Lane), Laura and Almanzo's daughter is born in Dakota Territory
("The
First Four Years") |
|
August 1889 |
Laura and Almanzo's unnamed son is born and dies twelve days later, their
house burns down |
|
about 1890-91 |
Laura and Almanzo live for a time with Almanzo's parents in Spring Valley,
Minnesota, then move to Westfield in the panhandle of Florida for a short
time. They return to DeSmet. |
|
summer 1894 |
Laura and Almanzo Wilder leave DeSmet, South Dakota and move to Mansfield,
Missouri, purchase Rocky Ridge Farm. ("On
the Way Home") |
|
8 June 1902 |
Charles "Pa" Ingalls dies in DeSmet ("New
Dawn on Rocky Ridge") |
|
1908 |
Laura and Almanzo's daughter Rose moves to San Francisco ("Bachelor
Girl") |
|
24 Mar 1909 |
Rose Wilder married Gillette Lane. The marriage ends in divorce less than
ten years later. Their only known child died as an infant. |
|
1915 |
Laura travels to San Francisco, California to visit her daughter Rose, now
married to Gillette Lane. ("West
From Home") |
|
20 April 1924 |
Caroline "Ma" Ingalls dies in DeSmet |
|
17 Oct 1928 |
Mary (Laura's sister) Ingalls dies at home of Carrie in the Black Hills of
South Dakota. Mary never married and had no children. |
|
1932 |
"Little
House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
1933 |
"Farmer
Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
1933 |
"Let the
Hurricane Roar" (reprinted as "Young
Pioneers") by Rose Wilder Lane is published |
|
1935 |
"Little
House on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
1935 |
"Old
Home Town" by Rose Wilder Lane is published |
|
1937 |
"On
the Banks of Plum Creek" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
1938 |
"Free
Land" by Rose Wilder Lane is published |
|
1939 |
"By
the Shores of Silver Lake" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
1940 |
"The
Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
1941 |
"Little
Town on the Prairie" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
10 Nov 1941 |
Grace Ingalls Dow (Laura's sister) dies. She married but had no children. |
|
1943 |
"These
Happy Golden Years" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
|
2 Jun 1946 |
Carrie Ingalls Swanzey (Laura's sister) dies. She married a widower with
children, had none of her own. |
|
23 Oct 1949 |
Almanzo Wilder, Laura's husband, dies in Missouri. |
|
10 Feb 1957 |
Laura Ingalls Wilder dies in Missouri. |
|
1962 |
"On
the Way Home" by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane is published |
|
30 Oct 1968 |
Rose Wilder Lane, Laura's daughter, dies in Connecticut. She was divorced
and had no surviving children. |
|
1971 |
"The
First Four Years" by Laura Ingalls Wilder is published |
Laura Ingalls Wilder Country: The People and places in Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and books
