The Supersizers Go... - Regency (Full Documentary)

"Don't know much about the pioneers"

Want to know why pioneers like LIW called themselves emigrants? Get this book "Don't Know Much About...The Pioneers" by Kenneth C. Davis. He'll describe to you the culture of the time with words and colored cartoon pictures and maps. 

I didn't want to put it down, but I had to when class was over! 

Nick Clifford, driller 1938-1939-1940

     Who is Nick Clifford? This gentleman was born about 1920 and worked as a driller on Mount Rushmore from 1938-1939-1940. He was 19 years old when he started working on the major project. He is the last surviving/living worker from Mount Rushmore. He is retired now. But he is at Mount Rushmore signing autographs for his biography. 

     So what does Mount Rushmore have to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder? Her brother-in-law had a part in naming Mt. Rushmore. Her sister, Carrie Ingalls was married to David Swanezy.

Please read the link to see what happened when they named it Mt. Rushmore. 10 pts. if you know the Native American name for the hills. 

Link to Carrie Ingalls 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Ingalls

Link to Wikipedia for Mt. Rushmore. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

 Picture taken by D. and N. Duncan and family. Copyright August 2015. Taken at Mount Rushmore. 

Sarah Utthoff

http://beyondlittlehouse.com/2015/07/11/and-one-more-on-the-way-kirk-dirt/

This is Sarah  Uthoff. She writes a blog about LIW. You can also find her on twitter. 

Is Laura Ingalls Wilder a Rapunzel?

     By now everyone knows the story of Rapunzel, if only via Disney. If you don't here's the link to Wikipedia to help you along. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel

     In the book Little House Travel Diary, at the end of the 1894 trip by wagon Rose Wilder describes her mother's hair. As an adult LIW would brush her EXTREMELY LONG HAIR and then braid it, either in one or two braids; depending on the occasion. Very genteel occasions called for putting her hair up in a very tight bun. This is no easy feat. In 1894 women had hair down to their waist and beyond!  Apparently LIW had her hair down to her ankles!  Wearing it up in a bun would give her a headache, as Rose Wilder stated in the book. Also, how did she ever wash it?!

     Personally, I have had my hair down to my waist, at least, 5 times in my life. It does take a while to grow out. There are tears shed when you decide to cut it, as well. The hair dresser will turn you around and do one swift scissor cut across the starting point of your hair cut. Then, she will turn you around and let you see the one to two feet of hair she just cut off. If she's sensitive to your needs, she'll either pat you on the shoulder or give you a hug. Then she will finish by washing, conditioning, trimming, and styling your hair. 

     Here's my question, did LIW cut her hair later in life? It seems that she had by the flapper, and thread bare thirties eras. She also is seen wearing a standard skirt (medi) and regular shoes for the time. I always wonder what the young women of the enlightened era thought of the dress code of the 1920's and 1930's. Quite a difference. I'm sure some newspapers and magazines have a lot of articles and subscriber mails about that. 

     My maternal grandmother was born in 1909. It was interesting to see her dressed as a flapper. She always wore a skirt below the knee. I had never, ever seen her in a mini skirt. Her skirts always went to the calf. Her hair was nonexistent by the time I came along.  She had lost her hair to extreme stress from the communist takeover of her home country. Therefore, she wore a wig. Her wigs were always short.  Her wigs went down to her blouse/shirt collar. Thanks to the wigs she never had a gray hair shown in her life.  May she rest in peace. 

     I think I'll take another look at hairstyles from 1890's-1930's. Bye for now. 

Once again...

     Once again I have the LITTLE HOUSE TRAVELER book. Now to see what date I left off on. That last city/county was interesting. An insane asylum that became a respected hospital and police department. Respectively. 

By the shores of silver lake

By the Shores of Silver Lake, by LIW, was read in the 4th grade class this year. The teacher had two groups of 3-pak vocabulary words. I remember Nocturnal and Feat being two of the six words taught. 

Yankton infrastructure: education, police, healthcare

Yankton was chosen to house an insane asylum early on. The name changed over time to reflect the population. The asylum had highs and lows in economy. It was affected negatively by WWII. Wages were low and the men left for better paying jobs and the war effort. At one point,before, there were 50 patients. That was considered over populated. There was an incident that killed 18 female patients. When the asylum(1 building) was rebuilt it was done with smaller buildingS (2+ buildings) and rooms. The walls and doors became fire resistant. 

Over time mental health came to the forefront of America. People stopped hiding their "crazy relatives" at the asylum. Medication, therapy, psychiatry, all helped to reintroduce patients to society. Now the asylum is an integrated hospital with outpatient care as well. No more straight jackets. No more restraints. 

Education

Yankton has a k-12 public school system. They also have a k-8 parochial system. In 1881 the first college was founded. It was a small public liberal college. It's name did change over time. However, in 1984 the college closed due to insolvency. Currently Yankton has a private college/university in town.  However, the public college leads us to the police... Correctional facility. 

Police/Correctional Facility

4 years after the public college closed, the federal government took over the college/university and turned it into a correctional facility.  It started with female prisoners and then went co-ed a few years later. Finally it became all male prisoners when the women were transferred to another facility. 

Of course there's more to this town than meets the eye! Wow! 

Yankton county

The Wilder Clooney party passed through Yankton county. This county was established in 1862 in South Dakota. (Right during the civil war!) It's on the border of SD and MO. 

The census shows a good size population of over 20,000 people in the county. The city/town of Yankton has the majority at 14,000+.  The municipal government is run by a 5-member board. 

Yankton was named after the Yankton band of Sioux Indians.  The city became the Dakota territory capital. It would lose it's title in 1883. The capital would move to Bismarck, SD. 

Supposedly Lewis and Clark were the first white settlers to set foot in Yankton. First known white female to set foot was Pelagie Lebarge. She came in 1847 with her husband via steamboat. Interesting way to travel. I wonder if they gambled on the ship. How long did it take? 

It seems this settlement was due to be settled early. In 1861 there was already a newspaper founded there. THE WEEKLY DAKOTAN. Is the paper still running?  Did anyone save their archives? They had a steamboat and a railroad! The first settler has a last name shared with a character from LHOTP tv show. Mr. Hanson. He arrived in 1859. 

Finally the first school was held in a doctor's  home. It opened in December 1862. Reading the LHOTP books you realize certification for education was different back then. If the doctor was the true teacher then the students were very lucky. A classical education may have been attempted. Or, the teacher may have simply kept to the three R's. Reading, 'riting, 'rihmetic. It would be interesting to look into that. Is the dr home a museum now? 

Of course some negative was noted on Yankton. The then governor decided it would be the place to keep an insane asylum (1878). I'd like to know what that institute evolved in to. An asylum then was not pretty. They did not have the medicines we use today for people who suffer from mental health issues. People were tied down to keep from hurting themselves and/or other people. Did the institute evolve or did it close down eventually? Thank you Governor Howard. 

(Next post on insane asylum, collefe, and prison!) 

Yankton county has two cities, five towns, nine townships, and two unorganized territories. I wonder if the unorganized territory is unclaimed natural land. I don't know. Los Angeles county doesn't have unorganized territory. L. A. would claim and organize EVERY piece of property. Someone wants to zone it. Residential, business, adult!  

The first mayor was (unknown). The current mayor is David Carda. 

There are 2 cities 5 towns 9 townships and 2 unorganized territories in the county. It's different from Los Angeles county. Not one piece of land is not zoned in L. A. It's either residential, business, or adult (red light). 

Here is a picture from the website I reference. The Yankton county website. 

Little house on the prairie

#littlehouseontheprairieseries is 4th and 5th grade AR reading level. Perfect for mini-me. 

Dial 1 for The White House Mr. Treasurer

In 1879 when the White House first got their telephone service, there was only one other place to call. That place was the Treasury Department. This I just discovered today... Err...last night at Target when I found a juvenile book on the White House. The book is titled, "Where is the White House? I recommend the book. It is up to date by tenure. President Obama is bowling in the WH 

Laura ingalls wilder pro board

The following is a website forum where people can discuss articles, stories, etcetera of LIW. I found a section where Laura's farmer journal articles were published. It's great to see articles published in 1921; 6 years shy of 100 years! 

http://frontiergirl.proboards.com/board/12/laura-ingalls-wilder-farm-journalist

Laura's 1st telephone

I asked a source if she knew where I could find out the first telephone number of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She did not know. However, she does believe there is a corner where her Candlestick Telephone would have been placed. It's a start. 

Here is a picture of a candlestick telephone with box ringer. 

Day 5: July 21, 1894

On this day everyone took a bath. Rose and the Cooley boys had ropes tied at their waists. Laura held on to Rose's rope as she played and swam in the James River. Laura even states Rose sat in the water up to her chin. The boys were tethered by their mother, Mrs. Cooley. 

Their day started terrible. Apparently Mr. Murphy was invited. Anything that can go wrong, Did go wrong. 

•Laura's horse PET took off without them. 

• They ran out of bread. 

The good thing is Laura knew an alternative to making bread. She made "Chicken Pie"; biscuits served up with chicken gravy. 

Remember they left the river before? The James river keeps coming back to them. They spotted the bluffs across it at 10:30 AM. AT 12 Noon they crossed into a new county. YANKTON COUNTY. At 2:00 PM they saw the river again. 

Former counties of South Dakota

The following link will take you to a group of former counties in South Dakota. Many were simply annexed by another county. You will see a birth and death of said counties. 

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

Area Codes started in 1947

In 1947 the nation received it's first area codes. There were 86 in total. Hard to believe California only had 3 area codes! Here is the link to the map of the area codes. It's followed by a copy of the image. I hold no copyrights to it. (http://www.lincmad.com/map1947.html)

 What was your area's first area code? Can you find the Wilder's homestead area code? Next up zip codes. 

The gentleman who originated exchanges for the telephone came up with the invention in 1891. He believed customers should have the ability to call other subscribers instead of operators. He was an undertaker at the time. The wife of his competition was a regular Harriet Oleson on the switchboard. She gave the undertaking business to her husband.  He was unhappy to hear that. Pissed really. Read more here. (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almon_Brown_Strowger) Almon Brown Strowger. 

Here is a dedicated page to manual relay for telephones. (http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/staff/mcsele/TelephoneSwitch.html) 

White House telephone number 1877

Today I found out that President Rutherford B. Hayes had the first telephone installed in the White House in May 1877. The telephone number? (1). That's it. One. No area code. No prefix. No letters. It would be one year before an exchange would come about in Connecticut. (History channel, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hayes-has-first-phone-installed-in-white-house) 

Fifty years later, President Herbert Hoover would be the man who would first put a telephone on the desk of the Oval Office.. (The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes, 2007 ). He even put in a switchboard. Of course being first didn't come without problems. He knew he still had phone trouble when his son couldn't get through to him. Can you imagine that "exchange"? 

 

Hoover set up protocols to receive needed calls and avoid the critics. 

Day 4: July 20,1894

Here she does mention a new setting. It's amazing that it would take them a "whole day" to get from county to county.

They left Bridgewater, McCook County, South Dakota and entered Hutchinson County at midmorning (10 O'Clock in the morning).  In McCook County Laura mentions how all the wells have windmills. She further states in all the years of bad weather, this is the first time it has greatly affected McCook County. So for the first time, they are seeing bad crops. 

Official site for Bridgewater. The city was named by or for the railroad workers who had I carry water across the bridge. (http://www.bridgewatersd.com)

(http://www.bridgewatersd.com/images/bridgewaterimage.pdf) aerial map of the city. 

Notable person is Sparky Anderson. "Hall of Fame baseball manager" as stated in Wikipedia, referenced from October 19, 2012 baseball almanac. Mr. Anderson was born in Bridgewater. Here is another website with his biography. 
(http://www.biography.com/people/sparky-anderson-31656)

Currently Bridgewater and Emery share a school site. I don't know if it's always been that way. Maybe I'll send an email and inquire. I sent an email of to the Bridgewater Tribune. In looking them up on the internet I have discovered a website that claims "Bridgewater, Sparky Anderson's Hometown".

Hutchinson County  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutchinson_County,_South_Dakota)


They found a Russian settlement there. Their homes were built long and back from the roads. 

Tbc...

South Dakota historical archive

http://history.sd.gov/Archives/forms/exhibits/SD%20Towns.pdf

A listing of South Dakota towns and cities. When they were incorporated. When they got their first post office. 

Kansas state historical archive

http://www.kansastowns.us/hdkt/ 

Here is the historical info on the cities of the state of Kansas 

Proposed town/city: Laurent, McCook County, South Dakota

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurent,_South_Dakota Laurent, South Dakota 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/21/national/21deaf.html?_r=1& NYTIMES article 

http://www.gallaudet.edu/clerc_center/welcome/laurent_clerc_the_man.html

     Who is Laurent Clerc? Read his biography here at the Gallaudet website. 

Laurent city was proposed, planned and funded, but never executed. There were pros and cons on both sides of the issue of a "'signing' town". The city was to be a city of and for the deaf and hard of hearing. The National Association of the Deaf(pro American Sign Language) supported a signing town. The Alexander Graham  Bell association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing(pro Oralists) were against it. 

Day 3: July 19,1894

No mention of a town or county. Between day 2 & 3 the temp dropped 10•F. I'm sure 92•F was a blessing when you HAVE to wear modest clothing! Many layers of slips, corsets, ankle length skirts and wrist length blouses. The weather was described as "cool and pleasant". She was able to describe the direction of the wind (north). We city slickers lack that ability. 

They were greeted by two men in the evening. Laura and Mrs. Cooley went to a farm to buy milk. Wow. The comment on the children and pigs! "They looked a good deal alike."

Laura described the groves of trees they saw. She described her breakfast but not dinner. Did they take their hens with them? 

Day 2 pt 2

The weather was HOT and WINDY. Laura writes the wind was HARD It reached 102•F "in the wagon".  They met up with a dust storm. They took shelter by closing the wagons together. This day they crossed "Northwestern R. R. tracks" at mid afternoon. 

Does northwestern RR still exist? What happened to them? They still have trains; just not as nationwide. 

http://cnwhs.org

This website is the Chicago and Northwestern RR historical museum. More can be found on Wikipedia as well. 

http://www.northcoastrailroad.org

This site was give as the current web page by Wikipedia. 

 Here are two pictures for day two.  

Day 2: July 18, 1894

In the first two days Laura describes the land and how it's affected by the drought/weather. 

Day one: "grain is 8 inches high, will go about 1 1/2 bushels to the acre. Hot wind. 

Day two: " FARMERS MOWING the grain for hay." "Dragging for next year's crop is all done, without troubling to take this years grain off."  Continues by saying "Worst crops we have seen yet." She would repeat that many times throughout the trip. 

In day two they left Miner county and entered McCook county in the afternoon. The two families traveled eastbound leaving behind Howard.  The town itself did not have a census until 1900 (Wikipedia). In 1900; population was 588. Although it would rise past 1,000, eventually the population would steady at 858 in 2010.  

Howard is the county seat of Miner County, SD.  It was incorporated in 1885. Don Arnes is the current mayor. (Wikipedia) however http://www.cityofhoward.com states otherwise. In the city website Andrew Dold is the mayor. You can also see the city council members and staffers. 

Ten years before the Wilder's passed through here a photo had been taken of a tornado passing through. It occurred southwest of Howard. It is the oldest known photograph of a tornado. (Wikipedia)

Johan Andreas Holvik, an educator, and Wayne Rasmussen, a football player, are two notable persons from Howard. (Wikipedia)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page#/search 

Here is route 25 in South Dakota. It officially started with funding in 1926.  Eventually other routes were added on. Also, whereas it previously zig zag, it later became straight for a more direct path.  Please see October 10,2013 to see the Wilder travel map to compare. 

Day 1: July 18, 1894

They left De Smet South Dakota and got as far as Miner County line.  From the pictures taken from Wikipedia you can see who the current mayor is, as of 2014 (Mayor Gary Wolkow). The  mayor of 1880/1890 was hard to find. It still is. The local government is run by city council.  De Smet is the county seat of Kingsbury, SD. Please note the population at 1880 and 2010. In 1880 there were only 116 people. The next year the population exploded by 366.4%! 

Hi again

Sorry I haven't kept up with this project. I got the book again and will try and start up again.