On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 (Little House)

by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane

A detailed diary from the author of the beloved Little House series, chronicling her journey with her family from South Dakota to Missouri. This middle grade nonfiction book is an excellent choice for tween readers in grades 7 to 8, especially during homeschooling. It's a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom.

In 1894, Laura Ingalls Wilder, her husband, Almanzo, and their daughter, Rose, packed their belongings into their covered wagon and set out on a journey from De Smet, South Dakota, to Mansfield, Missouri. They heard that the soil there was rich and the crops were bountiful--it was even called the Land of the Big Red Apple. With hopes of beginning a new life, the Wilders made their way to the Ozarks of Missouri.

During their journey, Laura kept a detailed diary of events: the cities they passed through, the travelers they encountered on the way, the changing countryside and the trials of an often difficult voyage. Laura's words, preserved in this book, are a fascinating account of life and travel at the turn of the twentieth century, and reveal Laura's inner thoughts as she traveled with her family in search of a new home in Mansfield, where Laura would write her Little House books.

• ISBN10: 0060264896
• ISBN13: 9780060264895
• Publish Date: 4 November 1994 (first published 21 January 1962)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Harpercoll
• Edition: 60th ed.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 101
• Language: English

Reviews

[daltonlp]

From the introduction:

For seven years there had been too little rain. The prairies were dust. Day after day, summer after summer, the scorching winds blew the dust and the sun was brassy in a yellow sky. Crop after crop failed. Again and again the barren land must be mortgaged, for taxes and food and next year's seed. The agony of hope ended when there was no harvest and no credit, no money to pay interest and taxes; the banker took the land. Then the bank failed.

In the seventh year a mysterious catastrophe was worldwide. All banks failed. From coast to coast the factories shut down, and business ceased. This was a Panic.

It was not a depression. The year was 1893, when no one had heard of depressions. Everyone knew about Panics; there had been panics in 1797, 1820, 1835, 1857, 1873.

Later:

We started at 8. Hated to leave our camping place, it seems quite like home. We crossed the James River and in 20 minutes we reached the top of the bluffs on the other side. We all stopped and looked back at the scene and I wished for an artist's hand or a poet's brain or even to be able to tell in good plain prose how beautiful it was. If I had been the Indians I would have scalped more white folks before I ever would have left it.