The town pump is the biggest treasure of all

Before we had running water in America everyone had to go to one if various locations to secure water. In the TV series the Ingalls family got their water from a creek. In town people would get their water from the town pump. In the TV show the school had a pump. In the 1894 travel diary Laura Ingalls Wilder repeats this many times from town to town. Every town they stopped at they always camped at the school because it had an open public pump.

Recently I came upon a McGuffey's reader that had a story titled THE PUMP. It described itself by the people coming to itself. Each paragraph described a different person and was numbered. The end included a vocabulary list with the words divided by syllables. 

The town pump can be read in the mcguffey reader. A lot has changed since then. While out water is now cleaned piped to businesses and homes by the county/city less people drink the water. More people prefer to drink sugary or caffeinated drinks. Water is no longer free either. Because it is a utility there is a bill to pay for usage. Water as a utility is mandatory. I'd like to look up which decade it became mandatory. I may have to ask an architect friend or relative. 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_Drinking_Water_Act

So far I have found a 1974 Act nationally regulating drinking water. See above Wikipedia link. Before that regulations were local. Bottled water is regulated by THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION while tap water is regulated by THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. 

Sorry no recent posts

I'm sorry I haven't posted recently. I had to return the books. I'm waiting to borrow again from the library.

Day One: July 17, 1894

In this journal entry two sites are mentioned. The first is three miles out from their De Smet, South Dakota home. The second one is sometime after 2pm. They had just crossed Miner County. She describes a hot wind but no temperature. She had taken a thermometer on the trip. Later on, it would get lost! 

They were able to camp by a non-pumpable spring. Ouch. However there was feed or the horses. 

The route they took would later become highway 25. 

In 1894 De Smet, Kingsbury County, SD had a population of 541 people. As of 2012 the population is 1,110 people. De Smet is the county seat of Kingsbury County.   

Miner county was named after Nelson and Ephraim Miner. It's county seat is Howard, SD. In 1894 there were about 5,165. It had grown over 1,300% from 1880. Today Miner County has half the population at 2,326 people. Wikipedia notes five cities in the county; Canova, Carthage, Howard, Roswell, and Vilas. 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miner_County%2C_South_Dakota

ON THE WAY HOME book one 1894

I was able to borrow the travel diary Laura Ingalls Wilder ON THE WAY HOME The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 by the Author of the "LITTLE HOUSE" Books. The librarian is allowing me to renew a fair amount of times more than the county library. 

The Little House Traveler

The three travel diaries and letters she kept. 1894, 1915, 1931. 

Which edition is which?

This is the paperback edition I'm reading from for the Little House series. 

Also here is the edition of the travel diary I'm reading. All three published travel diaries are in this book. 

Farmer Boy returned early!

Darn it. The mister turned in my book, at the library, by accident. I can't find any more life skills from the pioneering days. 

Here's one I am remembering, though.

• bullet making. 

Pa would make enough bullets for the following day at night, after supper. (Little House series book 1).  

Here us my question. When did people stop knowing how to make bullets? When did it all go corporate? Eventually? All at once? That's a question for another time. 

Farmer Boy early return---oops

Today the book Farmer Boy was accidentally returned to the library by my hubby. Oh well. And I was so intent on listing the life skills needed then. Well. I can now focus again on the travel diary. 

Today I spotted in the third journal (1931) that she references a place they passed 40 years earlier. It was a place a few dozen miles from Ft Scott. They found the same school house they had camped at 40 years prior. In 1894 that school has was brand spanking new. Little Rose and the other children played with the shavings from the school house then. 

Other things I noticed was the parking area. Church sheds became parking garages or lots. 

A modern day cultural reference would be an episode of The Walton's I saw yesterday. John-boy pulled up to a house for his new job. The house still had the hitching post with their family name etched on it in the front yard. No one uses the hitching post anymore but you can see how old meets new. 

(I tried to get a pic of the video of The Walton's THE JOB episode. I couldn't find it. The following picture shows a typical hitching lost in a tourist city.)

Life Skills of a Pioneer

Throughout Laura Ingalls Wilder's life, and everyone else's as well, there were certain skills required then that we take for granted today. 

Everyone knows that on farms the farmers "farm". What does that mean?  Today many farmers simply plant and harvest their produce (with a lot in between). Over one hundred fifty years ago farmers homesteaded. That is they did EVERYTHING!  They grew their own food and cloth! They made their own clothes and shoes. They slaughtered or butchered their own livestock. There was no supermarket or fast food diner. 

• churn butter 

• milk the cow

• make cream 

• weave hats 

• weave cloth

• baste a shirt 

• make sausages 

• preserve fruits/vegetables in jars 

• dry out fruits/vegetables 

• butcher/slaughter 

• preserve meat in jars 

• fertilize soil with the first snow (poor man's fertilizer

• shear sheep 

• make shoes 

• make gelatin (not jell-o!)

• made their own soap 

• churned and made their own ice cream 

• harvested hay and oats for livestock 

• braided hay or oats(?) 

•lead a team of horses-no license required 

• make candles 

• sew their own clothes 

• quilt their own bed quilts 

• brand cattle 

• birth cattle! 

• 

This is only a sample of the skills needed back in the day. I'm sure there are MANY MORE skills that I have forgotten or overlooked from the book series.  

Farmer Boy

In the harvesting chapters of Farmer Boy Laura Ingalls Wilder describes how the family butchered five hogs and a cow. In 1930's and 1940's there was still a high percentage of rural America. Today in 2013 a very HIGH percent of American is urbanized. Today's population believes every piece of food starts and ends at a fast food diner or convenience store. They don't realize the rancher raises cattle or poultry and then slaughters them. Out of sight, out of mind. 

Society has changed so much that books today do not include directions on how to slaughter animals. The book is rated at fifth grade reading level for Accelerated Reader. My next topic will talk about the life skills mentioned on Farmer Boy.

America by the decade!

1800

1810 REGENCY PERIOD in England noted 1880's

1820

1830 

1840

1850

1860

1870 THE GILDED AGE (1870's-1900's)

1880

1890 THE GAY NINETIES 

1900 THE EDWARDIAN ERA THE PROGRESSIVE ERA 1895-WWI) 

1910 (the first Great War 1914-1919)

1920 THE ROARING TWENTIES

1930 THE DIRTY THIRTIES, TURBULENT THIRTIES, THREADBARE THIRTIES,

1940 THE FLYING FORTIES

1950 THE NIFTY FIFTIES, THE FABULOUS FIFTIES 

1960 THE SEXY SIXTIES, THE SWINGING SIXTIES

1970 THE DISCO ERA

1980 THE DECADE OF DECADENCE or GREEDY EIGHTIES

1990 INFORMATION AGE (dot.com)(information superhighway)

2000 the Millennial decade 

2010

www.answeryahoo.com helped with a few decades.

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade10.html

Great site to see American history. 

Diseases and illnesses commonly suffered then

     Here is a partial list of illness and disease that affected America and Americans during the 19th century. Today in the 21st century many of these illnesses and diseases no longer plague first world America. 

     Antibiotics, dress code changes, better hygiene, fortified foods, clean tap water all added to a healthier America in the 20th century. 

Rickets

Malaria 

Tuberculosis 

Bowed Legs 

Fainting Spells 

Fainting Room 

Chicken Pox 

Measles 

German Measles/Rubella

Mumps

Influenza 

Pneumonia 

Cholera 

Dysentery 

Diphtheria 

Poliomyelitis 

Blood poisoning 

I found this site after I started my list. I'd like to refer people to it. 

http://logicmgmt.com/1876/overview/medicine/diseases.htm

Antiquated/outdated/un-pc terms

The following is a list of words or phrases that are now outdated for one reason or another. 

Sitting Indian Style: sitting on the floor with your legs crossed. The term is now considered politically incorrect/racist. It was still used in the 1970's. by the 1990's preschools were no longer using the term citing racism. Instead the term PRETZEL STYLE or CRISSCROSS APPLESAUCE are now used. 

Walking Indian File:  walking one behind the other. This term was used in Little Town on the Prairie. What's used now? "SINGLE FILE". Indian File was never used when I was growing up. I never heard it until I read the book. 

Colored: current term is African-American. Other terms previously used and no longer PC are; Negro (dates earlier than colored) and the worst one can't even be mentioned. It goes by an initial. The N-word. The most negative term ever given to a group of people. It's so negative you can't even say the word in polite society. From the travel diary of 1894 as they travel through Kansas. She notes they see more colored people. 

Irishman: Man of Irish nationality or descent. Current term. Irish or Irish-American. From Little town on the Prairie

Chinaman: Man of Chinese nationality or descent. Current term: Chinese, Chinese American. 

Scotch: a person of Scottish nationality or descent. Current term: Scottish, Scottish-American. 

Corsets: tightly fitted women's undergarment that fits from under the breast to the hips. Many times ladies would faint from these corsets. Many houses had "fainting rooms" where ladies could go in and modestly take off their corsets. Typically, men were not allowed in this room. I'm soo glad it went out of style! 

Britches: (farmer boy) pants that would go just below the knee caps. 

Hooped skirts: (farmer boy) Eliza Jane wore hooped skirts. The skirt held the shape by the wired hoop under the skirt. 

Baste a shirt:(little town on the prairie) needlework tack, with long loose stitches in preparation for sewing. 

Buttonhole: (little town on the prairie) Laura makes buttonholes for the shirts. 

Cobbler: (farmer boy) a person who makes or mends shoes. 

Moccasins: (farmer boy) apparently young boys wore moccasins until they were old enough to wear boots. Every night Almanzo had to carefully clean and dry his moccasins to keep them pliable and usable. 

Homesteading: under agreement with the government; claim land, improve it, farm it, and live on it a few months out if the year. 

Pioneer: one of the first people to settle an unused area. 

Settler: Person Who settles in a low population area. 

Water pump: (travel diary 1894)

Tree claim: 

Tar and feather: (mark twain Tom Sawyer) cover people in tar then cover with feathers as punishment. 

Covered wagon: conestoga wagon or prairie schooner. 

Motor car: (1894) Laura stated in her diary that to the north citizens had one type of car while the south had another type of car. 

Horseless carriage: (travel diary) archaic term for an automobile. 

Telegraph:

Morse code:

Consumption: tuberculosis. 

To Be: ex. "Almanzo, be you sick?" (Farmer Boy)

Blacking brush: (Farmer Boy) brush specifically for shining boots black. 

Scythe(s): tool used for cutting grass or wheat, or crops as such. 

Cradle(scythe):

Bonnet: ladies or child's hat tied under the chin. There is usually a brim frame 

Calico: pain white unbleached cloth. 

Bombazine:

"They didn't bruise one apple, for a bruised apple will rot, and one rotten apple will spoil a whole bin." (Farmer Boy, p. 241; paperback)

WindRow (Farmer Boy, p. 236; paperback)

Milk pan: during the various harvest seasons

Hogsheads: a large measure of liquid. 63-64 gallons

Down cellar (Farmer Boy; harvest chapters) as opposed to down the cellar

Gaily; happily Gay; happy

Playing Wild Indian (Farmer Boy, p. 277, paperback)

Indian Summer (Farmer Boy, p. 277, paper

Hooped skirt and undergarment of the time. 

Man tarred and feathered then carried out on a pole. 

An image of an early model motor car. 

Defining a ghost town

The following is a google search for the definition of Ghost Town. Please note an 1870-1875 definition as it pertained to the culture of the time. 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?rd=1&word=ghost+town

 

ghost town n. A once thriving town, especially a boomtown of the American West, that has been completely abandoned.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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---

ghost town

n

a deserted town, esp one in the western US that was formerly a boom town

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

---

ghost′ town` 
n.

a town permanently abandoned by its inhabitants, as because of a business decline or because a nearby mine has been worked out.

[1870–75]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Thesaurus Legend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun

1.

ghost town - a deserted settlement (especially in western United States) town - an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city; "they drive through town on their way to work" western United States, West - the region of the United States lying to the west of the Mississippi River

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

Going Home to Nicodemus, by Daniel Chu.

I am really enjoying the book, Going Home to Nicodemus, by Daniel Chu. The promoters really DID STRETCH THE TRUTH BOTH TIMES they promoted the town. The minister's wife cried when she saw the town. The railroad companies didn't want to invest in Nicodemus. They would get as far as a certain town and then stop. Then they'd decide to go a different route. Bogue township started as a camp for railroad laborers and developed into a rival town!

When both black and white communities were poor there was no racial injustice. However, when the white communities prospered prejudices started developing. Those prejudices developed into full out racial hatred. 

The town was started by emancipated slaves. I think many we're expecting some sort of already existing community. A mercantile, a church, a school... But the homes were dugouts. That first generation felt cheated. They worked hard for all they had. Never ending cycle of work just like Laura Ingalls Wilder on the frontier.  They made all their things. They hunted, fished and gardened. THEY SURVIVED. 

Nicodemus

Today I picked up the book GOING HOME TO NICODEMUS. INTERESTING HISTORY! It explains a lot about how African-Americans were first talked into going to Nicodemus and what they saw there. Told about the promised land, and seeing the promised land were two totally different experiences. The first pioneers arrived to see the first homes were dugouts. At least one woman cried. 

Also, how could a government give people free or low cost property when all they do is show up? The rest of the pioneers had to improve the land. How much was truthful, a stretch of the truth, or an outright lie?! I'll keep you posted as I read the book. 

Migration maps

Sears catalog from the turn of the century

You can tell a lot about a culture by what they shop for. Note an ad for a bicycle. "Sell your horse and buy a bicycle." Typewriters, stoves, shotguns(arms), sewing machines... I think the pics if the ladies in their underwear was after 1894. In my opinion in 1894 only drawings would've been allowed culturally. 

http://www.searsarchives.com/catalogs/history.htm

The previous site mentioned here is a Sears catalog archive. 

Modern American Atlas

I forgot to take down the correct name of  the book. 

Frederick Smoot map of western migration

I don't know why it's such a Looong URL. It's embarrassing. However, please check out Mr. Amit's website. He created it. He has many pre-1920's letters from around pioneer America. 

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A2KJkCDgHVZSfhAArsGJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTFxMDVja210BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM3YWNkZGJiYWQwNTczM2EyMzYyZjAzNjA1MGQwNThlOQRncG9zAzM-?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dpioneer%2Btrails%2Batlas%26fr%3Dyfp-t-900%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D3&w=618&h=522&imgurl=www.tngenweb.org%2Ftnletters%2Fwest-usa.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tngenweb.org%2Ftnletters%2Fusa-west.htm&size=100.7KB&name=%3Cb%3ETrails+%3C%2Fb%3EWest%2C+a+map+of+early+western+migration+%3Cb%3Etrails%3C%2Fb%3E.+TNGenNet+Inc+...&p=pioneer+trails+atlas&oid=7acddbbad05733a2362f036050d058e9&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t-900&tt=%3Cb%3ETrails+%3C%2Fb%3EWest%2C+a+map+of+early+western+migration+%3Cb%3Etrails%3C%2Fb%3E.+TNGenNet+Inc+...&b=0&ni=21&no=3&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11eojd0ui&sigb=13duhr92u&sigi=117druq6r&.crumb=xscc5OU/lAX&fr=yfp-t-900

letters from pre-1920's

Frederick Smoot copyright 2000 all rights reserved

website with migration trail map by Beverly Whitaker

Beverly Whitaker made this website. 

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gentutor/migration.html

Books for references PUBLIC ROADS OF THE PAST;1952

Here are a few books I looked at for reference. This is the cover page, the first few pages of titles,

And a 1952 who's who for the American Association of State Highway Officials 

A table if context page 

And two pages from the book. The last page has a table of years, work and workers hired. 

Ghost Towns originally posted 10.07.13

http://villageofthehomeless.blogspot.com/2013/10/ghost-towns.html

"Marysville, NE (Seward County)postal and trade routes changed and settlement abandoned. Left is church and cemetery. (www.roadsidethoughts.com; www.ghosttowns.com)

Richland, KS (Wikipedia; www.kansasmemory.org) 

One more city not on the map but an honorable mention; Nicodemus, Kansas. Mrs. Wilder goes on to mention how many colored people they were seeing in Kansas. One city, that they did not pass by is Nicodemus. It is one of the longest surviving African-American originated cities in America. Currently no one lives there on a permanent basis. However, reunion festivals are held for former residents. There is a book about the city titled "Going Home to Nicodemus"

P.S. 

I google mapped Nicodemus and Beatrice Kansas. Nicodemus is Way Out of the way; too far west from the road they took."

originally posted october 6,2013 Mapping the travel diary by Laura Ingalls wilder

http://villageofthehomeless.blogspot.com/2013/10/mapping-travel-diary-by-laura-ingalls.html

The link above is an essay i wrote about mapping the route Laura Ingalls Wilder took.  It's on my other blog, Village of the Homeless.  Here is a tidbit of what i stated...

"I just about finished mapping out the route the Ingalls-Wilder and Cooley family took from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri. The trail they followed was so well traveled it became part of the interstate highways and state routes. Proof of that is actually shown in her reverse trip diary 40 years later in 1931. She mentions the highways used at the time. Some routes have become highways(freeways) and their numbers have changed. Route 71 is one of them. Route 59 is the old route 71 now.

You know in the beginning I tried to plot the course through Map-Quest. It kept telling me in no uncertain terms that I couldn't get there from here. That is, even though they could do it back in 1894 and again in 1931; in 2013 it was impossible. So I googled it on my iPhone. Now, I was plotted. But wait, that's not all.... I looked for other maps that had cities mentioned with the highways shown. I looked at AAA online downloadable maps with city and street markings. I looked at old maps too. No highways! No surprise there. I found maps of the four states through www.geology.com. The maps that came up were nice. Someone posted them from the site. I went to see if I could get a cleaner map... You have to PAY to even look at their maps; $20.00 for basic. The person who posted the four states unknowingly did me a favor. I printed them out and started comparing the hand drawn map to a GPS map. Lots of fun there. 

The first group of maps I printed today ended up being painted on by my dependent  and friends. Those were maps that the Ingalls Wilder museums had made. I would have to wait until after playtime with new paints and friends to print out my pages. And so here you find me describing what happened before."

1894 births; 1931 births

In 1894 when the Wilder's and Cooley's took their trip from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, Jack Benny was born! 

In 1931 William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were born days apart in March. 

P. S. 

3.8.14 recently Leonard Nimoy passed away from COPD. 

Bibliography

www.wikipedia.com 

Research and Comparison

I am starting a new research project. I will be analyzing and comparing the 1894 and 1931 travel diaries of Mrs. Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is my intent to take in the period of the day and present them in a comprehensive "snapshot". 

Between 1894 and 1931 the United States of America had changed dramatically. America was beginning to urbanize. Horseless carriages, or automobiles, were beginning to be common place in 1931. Culture, law, politics, trade, emigration, education, entertainment, language were all changing within those forty years. 

Many things mentioned in her 1894 diary would eventually become outdated; buying feed for the horses, camping at the town school to use the public water pump are only a few of the events that would change out by 1931. In 1931 they traveled in an automobile. They would buy gasoline instead of horse feed. They would stay at camp grounds and motels instead of sleeping in their covered wagon. Utilities were becoming common in cities. Electricity and running water were mentioned quite a bit. 

So, on this blog I plan to compare cultural  impacts of the day from 1894 and 1931 to 2013 (2010 US census).