The Avon third grade class read the Laura Ingalls Wilder Book series during the school year. This summer the students and their families were invited to join Mrs. Knodel in DeSmet, to see Laura’s life first hand.

Denise DeVries along with her granddaughters, Karlie and Kensley and Jon Hento and his daughters, Jessica and Breanna met Mrs. Knodel and her niece, Hannah Cihak, at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in DeSmet. They began their tour by visiting the Surveyor’s House. This is where the Ingalls family stayed during their first winter in Dakota Territory and is described by Laura in By the Shores of Silver Lake. Next the group from Avon viewed the school Laura and her sister, Carrie attended in the book, Little Town on the Prairie. They also saw a replica of the Brewster School Laura taught at in the book These Happy Golden Years. The final tour in town was to the last house Charles Ingalls built. It still has original cabinets and wood work built by “Pa” and many items owned by Laura’s Ma, Caroline, and her sister, Mary.

The group met up with Mrs. Knodel’s husband and daughter and gathered for lunch at Ward’s store on Main Street. This was a store Laura would frequent and has now become a café and coffee shop. Next, they did some shopping at another store Laura mentioned in her books, the Loftus Store. After some souvenir shopping, the group headed out of town to the cemetery. They visited the graves of the Ingalls family. Laura and her husband are not buried there, but her Ma, Pa and all three of her sisters are.

Next, the group drove two miles out to get to the Ingalls Homestead. This is the homestead and tree claim Charles Ingalls filed for during their first spring in Dakota Territory. The cottonwood trees on the claim are the exact trees Pa plants in the book Little Town on the Prairie. The Homestead offered many activities for the group to do. Every exhibit on the Homestead encouraged touching and exploring. The Ingalls Homestead included many types of shelter the Ingalls family lived in on their journey west. These include a covered wagon, a dug out, a shanty, and a board house with a hay roof barn. The barn had animals to visit and kittens to cuddle. There was a pump well to fetch water in and carry to the house to do laundry on an old washboard and ringer. Members of the group took turns playing a pump organ and investigated an old time sewing machine.

A barn located on the homestead offers rides on ponies and pony carts. It was also here that the group boarded a covered wagon pulled by two mules, Molly and Dolly. Interestingly enough, the mules used to belong to Janelle Sees’s dad. Once on the wagon, each rider got an opportunity to drive the team of mules down a path that lead to an old school house.

Once at the school house, the group was greeted by a school teacher and led inside. The history of the school was given, and a few lessons were taught. A riddle was solved, math equations were asked orally, then came a spell off. When our school session was done, each person got to ring the bell. The bell was rang in the old days to announce to parents that kids were out of school and should be on their way home.

Our last stop at the homestead was in an old garage. There were pictures of the trains carrying supplies that were snowed in during The Long Winter. A coffee grinder and wheat were there so the visitors could experience grinding the wheat once the supply of flour was gone. They also teach visitors how to make hay twists to burn once the coal ran out. The garage also had an area to make your own corn cob dolls and jump ropes.

Finally, it was time to relax. Mrs. Knodel invited the others to her campsite at the Ingalls Homestead to roast hot dogs and marshmallows for supper. It was a great time sitting and visiting by the fire in the gorgeous weather on the Laura’s prairie. At the end of the evening, the DeVries family had a first time experience as they bunked down in a covered wagon to spend the night. It was a great trip of fun and learning!