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.
