Sui luoghi de “la casa nella prateria”: viaggio a De Smet, in South Dakota

Un itinerario senza tempo, lungo il villaggio che ha ispirato “La piccola casa nella prateria”, il libro di Laura Ingalls Wilder dal quale è stata tratta la serie di successo. La memoria autentica del coraggio e della perseveranza in South Dakota, negli Stati Uniti.

Settlement in South Dakota

Let’s jump to 1862. With the Homestead Act, the American government allowed every head of household the opportunity to claim about sixty hectares of government-owned land as long as they settled there for at least 5 years and paid the administrative fee. There was so much publicity to create farms and homesteads on the lands of the Dakota Territory that it filled the minds of young men and women seeking adventure and fortune. The desire to own land became a dream for many. In 1880, the Dakota Central Railroad pushed the railway borders further west, reaching small communities beyond Volga and Huron in eastern South Dakota, and gave rise to many small villages that sprang up like mushrooms: Arlington, Lake Preston, De Smet, Manchester, Iroquois, Cavour. Many of these settlements relied on a couple of stores, a boarding house, stables, and a few added shacks. Swarms of settlers arrived from the eastern United States and also from Europe.

De Smet, in South Dakota

De Smet, in South Dakota, arose precisely in 1880 as a typical colony in the prairie. It had a general store, a bank, a hotel, a saloon, the local newspaper, the church, and a carpentry shop. At the time, those who arrived to own the land built a shack, that is a claim shanty. In the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder, it talks about “a small room, barricaded from top to bottom, with a slanted roof making it look like a little house” (Wilder, 1939). If today you walk along Calumet Avenue in De Smet, you can imagine it in 1880.

The Little House on the Prairie

“The Little House on the Prairie” (Little House on the Prairie), a work from 1943-1945 by the American writer Laura Ingalls Wilder, narrates her own vicissitudes in the numerous moves in search of a better life, recounting the events experienced firsthand during her childhood. Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family, like other settlers around 1880, arrived in De Smet in 1879 right at the beginning of her book By the Shores of Silver Lake. The author, in her numerous books, captures the essence of the founding of De Smet, as her family was among the first residents. Here she grew up on the family farm, attended the first and only school in De Smet, had her first job on Main Street, courted her future husband Almanzo in the prairie, and built her family right here.

Today De Smet boasts the title of Little Town on the Prairie, jealously preserving the memories of Laura for over 50 years, much to the delight of many enthusiasts from all over the world. Exploring the area where the Laura Ingalls Wilder family settled, you can experience firsthand the life of settlers in South Dakota. This land proved valuable in many ways: the school, the church, and part-time work were important to Laura‘s father, Charles Ingalls.

The shack built on the property housed the Ingalls family. The Ingalls Homestead in the heart of the eastern South Dakota prairie is the place where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived from ages 13 to 18.

Things to Do in De Smet, South Dakota

There are various experiences to relive firsthand in De Smet: driving a pioneer wagon, attending a class in the only schoolroom, twisting hay, grinding wheat, making rope, washing clothes on old boards, experiencing the daily life of a settler in the history that shaped the nation.

Today the vast prairies, the original historic buildings housing exhibits about pioneer life and all related activities allow you to grasp aspects of the evolution of agricultural life. You can stay in the charming Victorian B&B Prairie House Manor, a beautiful 1894 home mentioned in Wilder’s book Il Lungo Inverno – The Long Winter.

The recommendation is to start your exploration at the Hazel L. Meyer Memorial Library, with its vast collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s literary repertoire and over 2000 original artifacts. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society was founded shortly after the death of Laura Ingalls Wilder in 1957. A tour showcases several historic houses including the Surveyors House from the book Sulle sponde del Silver Lake- and the last home of Ma, Pa, and Mary Ingalls.

The Loftus store opened in 1879 and is still in its original building today; Wilder wrote about Mr. Loftus and the The Loftus Store in the book Il Lungo Inverno. The store remains one of two authentic 19th-century buildings on Main Street and offers souvenirs, books, clothing, and gifts as well as memorabilia items such as the tin lunchbox Laura took to school or the tin Christmas gift cup, or the peppermint candy stick and the shiny penny. The candy corner mentioned in the book still exists!

There are also beautiful illustrations by Harvey Dunn, a prolific artist and painter of the Pioneer West, native to South Dakota, who lived not far from De Smet during the same period as the Ingalls. He is known for his portraits of prairie girls and women, the “Prairie Pictures”. Then again, the historic first congregational church organized by Charles Ingalls in 1880, with the first religious service of the town held in his home on February 29, 1880.

The De Smet Cemetery is located southwest of De Smet on a hill overlooking the town and today hosts the graves of various members of the Ingalls family, including Charles, Caroline, Mary, Carrie, Grace, and the newborn son of Laura and Almanzo Wilder. In summer, on July weekends, the outdoor theater show Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant brings Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book to life. The series of lakes nearby are worth a visit: Spirit Lake and Silver Lake.

Surroundings of De Smet, South Dakota

By car, extend your exploration of the eastern South Dakota prairies, reaching Brookings about 60 kilometers away where you can visit the South Dakota Agricultural Heritage Museum that respectfully illustrates the agricultural heritage of the region and the South Dakota Art Museum with galleries displaying works by Native American artists as well as about 140 of Dunn’s finest paintings.

Prairie Village

South of Madison, another small historic gem shows rural life many years ago in South Dakota: Prairie Village with its 40 original buildings presents life as it was 100 years ago on Main Street. The Lawrence Welk Opera House, the century-old steam carousel Herschell Spillman with hand-carved wooden figures rearing to the notes of the calliope music. The country school, the churches, and one of the only traveling railroad chapels that carried the good news around the country thanks to missionaries.

“Emmanuel” is listed in the South Dakota Register and the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest Baptist railroad chapel among the three remaining in the entire United States. It traveled with the missionary and his family aboard from 1893 to 1942, to preach and teach the Gospel. The thousands of settlers who had left the eastern part of the country in 1880 to carve out a piece of the Wild West were devout Christians, deprived of a place of worship. The 18 m long railroad chapel, completely built from oak wood and metal, was inaugurated in Denver, Colorado, in 1893 to serve the western and northwestern United States until 1940, when permanent churches were built. The Village is surrounded by about 5 km of tracks of the Herman & Milwaukee Railroad. The experience in these prairie locations of South Dakota reconnects you to the courage and perseverance of the people who managed to create a new life and knew how to rejoice in the little things.

©Thema Nuovi Mondi