On the Banks of Plum Creek Part 2

On Monday I went on a bus tour to Walnut Creek, MN. I will try to post more about our trip later this week. When we arrived we first went to the site of Laura's dugout home. Then we saw/heard "Pa's bell". Then we had a long lunch hour so we could eat and also shop at some of the local stores in Walnut Grove. Then we toured the museum before heading home.

Lunch was provided in these lunch pails that we were able to keep. Ham sandwich (with white bread),  chips. applesauce (with HFCS), sugar cookie (yum!), and candy stick. There were also special water bottles from the museum.

At the museum was this china shepherdess that Ma treasured. I wasn't clear if this was a reproduction or the actual china shepherdess, but my guess is it is a reproduction. Thanks to the illustrator, Garth Williams, and Laura's description, this is what I pictured it to look like.

I was surprised how small the covered wagon was. I didn't picture having to put all your belongings on a covered wagon this small. I did realize from my study of history what kinds of things they took on the wagon, and that it was small, but not this small.

The museum built a reproduction of a dugout. It is basically a basement turned upside down for the museum. Putting this together with the site at the actual dugout site, helps to put it all together in my imagination.

Look at how small the dugout was! This is the reproduction dugout at the museum. This was "home" for 5 people for the almost 2 years that Laura's family lived there. Imagine the insects and critters that lived there with them. No wonder why Ma hated this home and was glad when they moved on. She was glad to move here though so the girls could go to school at a real school and not be homeschooled.

This is the fireplace from the set from the TV show. There was a whole room at the museum about the TV show, but I wasn't as interested in that as I was the history of the Ingalls family.

Pa's Bell

Pa went to town to buy new boots. He ran into the pastor who was taking donations for a bell for their church. Pa donated his $3 for the church bell instead of getting new boots. Records show that he gave over $25 to that church bell. We know he did not have that kind of money, so he must have taken donations from others for the bell. The congregational church that the family went to was torn down in the 1950's. The bell was moved to this ELCA church. The bell is only played on Sundays, weddings, funerals, and for bus tours. We were fortunate to hear the bell and imagine what it was like for Laura to hear the bell from her dugout. I wish I was better at technology so I could have recorded the bell for you to hear here.