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Laura Ingalls Wilder question


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I am just about finished with The Long Winter. Reading to ds7. In the front of the book is a family tree which lists Laura as being born in 1867 and Almanzo being born in 1857--making him 10 years older. In the beginning of The Long Winter Laura mentions that she is 'going on 14'. It was summer time when she said that--she was helping Pa tromp the hay down as he tossed it into the wagon. Toward the end of the book, when Almanzo and Cap are going after the wheat to save the town from starvation,(Somewhere a long mid Feb) it mentions that both boys are 19.

 

So that doesn't add up. Does anyone have an explanation for this? I haven't searched on line yet---just thought someone might know off the top of their head.

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I don't know the exact answer but I think it may be that when she wrote the books she took some liberties...they aren't an exact account of her life. When I was researching some things for a potential visit to some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin, I realized that not all the details add up exactly to the books.

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I thought of that... in fact when it is talking about Cap and Almanzo's age the book says, 'both boys were 19, but since Almanzo had a claim Cap thought he was at least 21 and gave him more respect, which Almanzo didn't decline.' :) And earlier in the book it mentioned that Almanzo had lied about his age....but I would think the family tree would give the ACTUAL age of them all...for instance if he lied and said he was 24 instead of 19....he still would REALLY only be 5 years older than Laura rather than 10. Making him born in 1862. It just doesn't add up.

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I am a huge LIW fan! I haven't studied her for a couple years now so my memory is fuzzy on some of the specifics, but I DO know that yes, he was definitely 10 years older that her, and yes, she definitely took some liberties with her books. Do not take the books as fact! Just enjoy them as stories and memories.

 

For example, she leaves the years that her family spent in Burr Oak, Iowa completely out of the books. She also leaves her baby brother completely out, and changes around the facts concerning Carrie's birth - Carrie was actually born in the Little House on the Prairie in Kansas Territory! After her birth, the family then went back to the Little House in the Big Woods, was able to buy that house back and lived there again for a time before striking out again for Walnut Grove. Laura has them leaving the Big Woods with Carrie as a baby, going straight to Kansas Territory, then straight on to Walnut Grove from there. Which really is all an easier progression for the books, if you think about it.

 

For the most accurate factual story of her life, check out "Laura: the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder" by Donald Zochert, probably at most libraries. It's got GREAT photographs too. And if you're ever in DeSmet, South Dakota, check out the Ingalls Homestead; it's wonderful! You can even camp there overnight; for that matter, you can RENT the re-created claim shanty (re-created even to Ma's red-checked tablecloth and Mary's organ in the addition) and SLEEP in it! We stayed there four years ago - not in the claim shanty, to my dismay, but in our RV, and it was so wonderful. Definitely one of my favorite memories. I couldn't get the rest of the family to sleep in the shanty with me, but there wasn't anyone else renting it that night, so they let us bring our lanterns down there after dark and we read aloud from her books. Oh, and the whole place is left unlocked overnight - you get the "run of the joint"!

 

http://www.ingallshomestead.com

 

Ahhhh.....memories........

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I am a huge LIW fan! I haven't studied her for a couple years now so my memory is fuzzy on some of the specifics, but I DO know that yes, he was definitely 10 years older that her, and yes, she definitely took some liberties with her books. Do not take the books as fact! Just enjoy them as stories and memories.

 

http://www.ingallshomestead.com

 

Ahhhh.....memories........

 

About 8 years ago, my mom and I took my niece and nephew to the LIW musuem in MO. It was really cool.

 

I guess I need to stop pointing out to my son the things that are not adding up and just enjoy the books. Thanks again all!

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Yes, I liked that site too! Thanks!

 

What I always found interesting was that Rose was Charles' and Caroline's only surviving grandchild. Mary never married; Carrie and Grace married when they were older and had stepchildren. I also found it interesting that Carrie's stepson helped to build/carve Mt. Rushmore!

 

And I always found it very sad that Ma had one son that died in infancy, as did Laura, and then Rose.

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Well, it must be that she did change some things. I can tell you, I don't like it one bit. :(

 

I don't think that when she wrote the books in the 1930s that she intended them to be taken as pure history or as autobiography. For example, she writes about Laura in the third person instead of in the first person. Some of this editing was to allow the story to flow better. I think that some of it was to fit what was acceptable for a story in the 1930s. If you look at the style differences between a book like The Long Winter and The First Four Years (which Laura did not finish preparing for publication) there is a sadder tone to the unedited story.

 

Here's the way Wikipedia puts it: "Many fans tend to mistakenly accept the material in the books as completely factual, forgetting they are really fictional autobiography. Pioneer Girl, Laura's unpublished original autobiographical manuscript shows the subtle differences between reality and fiction when compared to the published books. Like any writer, she sometimes compressed characters, changed names, and juxtaposed incidents in the interest of better story telling."

 

I think this is similar to the way you have to read books like Roll of Thunder, Here My Cry by Mildred Taylor or The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig. They are certainly based on fact. But they retellings, not journal entries or historical reporting.

 

FWIW, the Wiki article also comments on the editiorial relationship that Laura had with her daughter Rose. Rose may have done a lot of editorial shaping of the stories. And Rose herself published two books for adults that were based on her mother's rememberances.

 

Sebastian

Percival Blakeney Academy

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I don't think that when she wrote the books in the 1930s that she intended them to be taken as pure history or as autobiography.

Sebastian

Percival Blakeney Academy

 

When taken to task for not mentioning a specific town near which she had lived, she said, "I should have, but at the time I had no idea I was writing history."

 

I thought that was a sweet way of saying, "I was telling the stories, not writing a historical record." Wasn't it? Regardless, I think she did a lovely job capturing the memories of the pioneering experience, and continues to take generation after generation along with her on the journey.

 

And boy, howdy, am I thankful I didn't have to live Ma's life!! *whew* ;)

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