On the Banks of Plum Creek

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
Walnut Grove, MN

http://www.walnutgrove.org/index.html

"Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs." Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Today, in a world filled with stories of vampires and wizards and entire amusement parks dedicated to such notions, it is difficult to imagine a time when kids were enthralled with stories of normal family life, filled with school time, dinners and evening songs by the fire.

Laura Ingalls Wilder inspired a generation of female readers. She told them it was alright to despise cooking and cleaning, that not everything worked out as planned, and that she could be an equal in her relationship with her husband. Considering the time period she was writing in, these truly were revolutionary notions to be passing on to the youth of America. Compare that to the fawning, I'll follow you anywhere because you are a handsome (vampire) man, message, of Twilight, and it is hard to believe we haven't stepped back a couple of generations in the messages our books are sending to teenage girls.

Unfortunately, the Little House books have fallen out of favor with young readers, today. This did not lessen my excitement at visiting the museum in Walnut Grove, MN where Laura spent part of her childhood. Having lived in Minnesota for my entire life, I don't know why it never occurred to me to drive out to the small town before now. To stand in the very location where her dugout home was located, was thrilling. Just looking out at Plum Creek, and imagining the Ingalls family stood in my very footsteps, was an awe inspiring sensation.

Nine different buildings make up the Museum, including a replica of the dugout house. Inside the sod building, it is hard to imagine five people spending an entire Minnesota winter locked inside the tiny dirt walls. The location of the actual dugout location is a mile and a half north of the museum. Our schedule did not allow us to go during the Wilder Pageant. But this year, they have a couple of celebrities from the television series. We will have to check back next year.