On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield,… (urspr publ 1962; utgåvan 1994)

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.

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Posthumous publication of 1894 diary, with introduction by Rose and mostly contemporary photographs.Ex libris June E. Hawk, 10/22/64. ( )

This was actually a diary found by Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter, Rose, after her mother had died. Rose has a forward and an epilogue. It was good and short, done in diary entry mode, about the Wilder's trip from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri and the purchase of their home. 138 pages ( )

I was very much a fan of the Little House on the Prairie series, so I was interested to read a book that was simply a diary from Laura, rather than a children’s story that was based on Laura’s experiences as a little girl. Laura’s daughter Rose provides context and notes to explain what’s going on, and this book also includes pictures so that the reader can get an idea for what Laura and her family saw and experienced on this trip.

On the Way Home is a super short read — I read it in one sitting, and it provides a nice snapshot for how Laura and her family really lived — much more realistic than the children’s books, at least. It’s much more honest and shows a different side of the Ingalls/Wilder family than is portrayed in the books — their situation seems a lot more difficult and harsher than I ever realized as a child reading the children’s books. I really enjoyed Rose’s commentary throughout, and I loved being able to read what Laura observed during her trip. Her entries are short, so by seeing what she includes, you can get a sense of what she cares about and what she worries about. It’s so interesting to see what the midwest was like during those times, and I kept bugging my husband while I was reading to share fun facts as I read through the book.

I would definitely recommend this for Little House on the Prairie fans. It’s written in diary form, so it’s different than the books, but the pictures are fantastic and it’s worth a read. I don’t think smaller children would be very interested in it, but older children might like it.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. ( )

"On The Way Home" is basically a travel diary that Laura Ingalls Wilder kept when her and her family (Manly and Rose) moved from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri. It takes place after the events in "The First Four Years." It records dates, amounts of rain, food, has descriptions of the land, other travelers they found, bodies of water, and the cost of goods.

There's really not a lot of story to it. If you love Laura Ingalls Wilder, you'll enjoy learning more about her. If you love history, you'll enjoy learning what an individual in 1894 deemed important, their questions and concerns about moving to a new area.

Honestly, this would be a little slow and tedious for most kids-now-a-days to read. As an adult, and the granddaughter of farmers, I can appreciate their concerns about their farming livelihood. When Laura talks about berry picking or their corn crop, I can almost hear my grandmother's voice.

So, yeah, if you want some history, some farming, and some more Laura check it out. ( )