Laura Ingalls Wilder was a remarkable storyteller. She started writing 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘦 after publishing her first book at the age of 65. Her cousin William Harrison Ingalls was a close friend of my 3rd great-grandfather Rev. William Maynard. In 1891, Rev. Maynard moved to Todd county, Minnesota. He purchased 80 acres in July 1891 and, over the next four years, he purchased an additional 120 acres. By August 1895, he owned 200 acres in the southwest corner of Germania township. His daughter Nancy Jane and her husband James Goble owned the adjacent 80 acres and my 2nd great-grandfather Nels Johnson owned the 80-acre farm across the road.

W.H. Ingalls and his family moved to Germania township after the eldest son Jasper Ingalls married Pearl Beckman of Eagle Bend on June 28, 1899. Rev. Maynard sold 120 acres to the Ingalls family on August 24, 1899. At the turn of the 19th century, Rev. Maynard lived next to Jasper and Pearl while W.H. lived nearby with his wife Abigail and their four youngest children: Clarence, Lovina, Mabel, and Roxie. The eldest daughter Fannie was married to Grant Walters and living elsewhere by then. Rev. Maynard sold his remaining 80 acres to Grant Walters in January 1902 as he prepared to go west.

By October 1903, Rev. Maynard and W.H. had migrated westward to Sumner, Washington where they were joined by other family members. Lovina Ingalls had already married J.C. “Chris” Klebs so she stayed behind along with her sister Mabel. My 2nd great-grandmother Oma (Maynard) Crider also stayed behind but five of Rev. Maynard’s other children did move to Washington around the same time. Rev Maynard hosted family and friends for Thanksgiving on November 26, 1903. W.H., his wife, and their youngest child Roxie were among those who had attended the dinner.

Rev. Maynard and W.H. were also members of the same fraternal organization. W.H. was Chief Templar of the Sumner Lodge of Good Templars while Rev. Maynard was the Chaplain. Some of their children and grandchildren also served as officers. Fred Wright Bonney, son of the namesake for the city of Bonney Lake, was Vice Templar. Rev. Maynard established the Baptist church in Sumner while W.H. operated a harness shop, both of which were located on Alder Avenue. W.H. also served several terms as Justice of the Peace from 1905 to 1920.

W.H. Ingalls and his cousin Laura Ingalls Wilder share the same great-grandfather. Their paternal grandfathers James and Lansford Ingalls were brothers born 14 years apart. After the Panic of 1837, the two brothers moved their families to the tallgrass prairie of Kane county, Illinois where they farmed for at least the next 16 years. Laura’s father Charles Phillip Ingalls grew up there with W.H.

By 1854, Charles and his family had moved to Jefferson county, Wisconsin while W.H. and his family settled in Howard county, Iowa. Charles was 17 years old at the time. His future wife Caroline Lake Quiner lived across the river. In 1860, Charles and Caroline were married in Concord, Wisconsin. Three years later, they settled in the big woods of Pepin county. Their daughter Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born in a log cabin on February 7, 1867. When Laura was seven years old, her father, whom she called “Pa”, bought a 172-acre farm near Walnut Grove, Minnesota where the family moved into a sod dugout on the banks of Plum Creek.

Walnut Grove served as the setting for the Little House on the Prairie television series, which aired for nine seasons from 1974 to 1983. The show was based on the 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 books written decades earlier. In 1911, the owner of a regional publication read one of Laura’s farm papers and invited her to submit articles for publication. She accepted the invitation which led to a permanent job as a columnist and editor, a position she held for twelve years. In her weekly column, she wrote about her childhood, her family, and farm life.

In 1915, she used the byline “Laura Ingalls Wilder” for the first time. After her “Ma” and sister Mary died, she began writing her autobiographical memoirs in earnest. She finished the handwritten manuscript, titled 𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭, in 1930 and submitted it to several publishers but it was rejected by every last one. After failing at first, she revised the material with support from her daughter and turned it into a series of eight 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 books. The first book was published in 1932 and the final book was completed in 1943. Since then, the 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 series of books have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide.

When 𝘗𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘪𝘳𝘭 was published posthumously in 2014, it debuted near the top of the New York Times bestseller list. In December 2020, Paramount announced that a reboot of 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘦 is in development. Although details are scarce, one thing we do know is they will not be reusing any of the original sets. Michael Landon, who both directed and starred as Charles “Pa” Ingalls, blew up all but the church during the filming of the final episode, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. In a later interview, he said he “didn’t want anybody making a trashy movie in Walnut Grove.” As the only building preserved from the set, the church was a popular tourist attraction until it was destroyed by the wildfires a few years ago.