Episode 2 – Laura Ingalls Wilder
Channel your inner pioneer. Think tall plains grasses, humble and hardworking people who knew what it meant to carve a life out of the rugged terrain. The woman we talk about this week is remembered for romanticizing her childhood and for sporting a really, sweet bonnet. But her reality was not all about fiddle playing and homesteading- it was a difficult life. One that was full of failure, and some controversy, on the road to literary success .
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867, the second child of Charles and Caroline. Her childhood began in Wisconsin and then took off as the family was led by her Pa’s roaming spirit around the then just establishing Midwestern states. It was a hard life of danger and self-reliance, but also an exciting life of new frontiers and conquering the unknown.
The history of Laura’s early life is outlined in the beloved nine-book, Little House series. One of the books, Farmer Boy, is a recounting of the early years of her husband, Almonzo Wilder. The last book in the series , The First Four Years, gives an idea of what early married life was like for the couple. But these books are fictionalized accounts written for children. They talk of the hardships of the times in a most simple fashion, and major heartache is omitted entirely.