Whiteley Creek Homestead

I thought it would set the stage, for our road trip to Laura Ingalls childhood home in southeastern Minnesota, if I picked some peas from my garden to shell on the way to the town of Walnut Grove that was the setting for her book On the Banks of Plum Creek. It just seemed fitting… while I read the book, that I had checked out from the public library, aloud to Dick as we traveled the 210 miles from Brainerd on Wednesday afternoon.

The first night, after settling in at Plum Creek Campground 2 miles southwest of Walnut Grove, we hopped on our bikes to take advantage of what daylight there was remaining. The next day, we biked 2 miles to town then 1-1/2 miles north of  Walnut Grove to the unreconstructed site of the Ingalls sod house. The sign states, "The Charles Ingalls Family's dugout home was located here in the 1870s. This depression is all that remains since the roof caved in years ago."

This is a view from the other side of Plum Creek, which faces the sign marking the site of the Ingalls "earth home". It's easy to imagine Laura running down the hill to the creek to wade in amongst the minnows and play along the banks on hot summer days.

This is what the Ingalls sod house would have looked like. This replica was built 2 miles southwest of Walnut Grove at the site of the Wilder Pageant that is held three weekends in July every year for the past 32 years.

This is a scene from the Wilder Pageant during a prairie fire. The play retold the story On the Banks of Plum Creek when the Ingalls family lived in Walnut Grove.

I purchased this handmade card in Walnut Grove. It summed up perfectly our three day adventure in the sleepy town of Walnut Grove where we walked the same paths the Ingalls did so many years ago.