About Laura   Laura Ingalls Wilder (shown at left with her husband Almanzo) was born February 7, 1867. The site memorialized by Laura in "Little House in the Big Woods" is seven miles from the Village of Pepin. Records in the Pepin County Courthouse show that in 1863 Charles Ingalls acquired the land on which he was to build his home. The original log house and barn are no longer there. The big woods is gone, too. What once was the big woods is now a modern farming community. A highway winds through the land which was the Ingalls farm, probably following very closely the wagon track which Laura describes in her book. One thing that still remains is the "beautiful lake" about which she wrote. People here admire its beauty just as Laura did on her first visit to Pepin. Both commercial fisherman and sportsmen still catch fish in Lake Pepin just as Pa did in the 1870's. Pa Ingalls was a restless man. After leaving Pepin, the family spent time in Kansas, Minnesota, and Iowa before settling near DeSmet, South Dakota. It was there that Laura met and was courted by Almanzo Wilder. The Wilders left South Dakota and moved to Missouri in 1894. As a farm wife, Laura's writing career began with articles that were written for farm magazines. Later, her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, encouraged her to write about the family's pioneer experiences. In 1932, at the age of 65, Laura wrote Little House in the Big Woods, set in Pepin of the 1870's. Eight more books were published with Laura's stories of the frontier, when she and America were young together. These American classics have been translated into more than forty languages for readers of all ages worldwide. Although an immediate success, her fame as a writer was a complete surprise to Laura. Typical of the honors bestowed upon her was an invitation in 1947 from children in Chicago to appear on a radio program. She was unable to attend, so she wrote a letter to them from her farm home in Mansfield, Missouri. In her letter she said that she and Almanzo were then living on the farm, but were no longer farming. They were caring for their pet bulldog, their Rocky Mountain burro and their milk goats. Her letter continued, "Sister Mary living at home after graduating from college. She never recovered her sight but was always cheerful and busy with her work, books and music. Carrie married a mine owner in the Black Hills and Grace married a farmer and lived only seven miles from DeSmet." In closing, she gave this advice: "The 'Little House' books are stories of long ago. The way we live and your schools are much different now; so many changes have made living and learning easier. But the real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong." Pa died in 1902 at the age of 66 and Ma was 84 when she died in 1924. Mary died in 1928, Grace died in 1941 and Carrie's death occurred in 1946. Laura's husband, Almanza Wilder, died in 1949. After his death she lived alone at their Rocky Ridge farm. Laura Ingalls Wilder died at Mansfield, Missouri on February 10, 1957. Their daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, lived in Connecticut and Texas. She was a journalist and novelist and died in her Connecticut home in 1968. More on Laura Ingals Wilder can be found at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder

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306 Third Street, Pepin, WI 54759
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