Do you want a fun way to learn about history? Take a road trip! About a 50 minute drive from Menomonie, WI, along Highway 25, is the small town of Pepin – the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura would be 153 years old today, born on February 7, 1867. Along Lake Pepin you can tour the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and a replica of the cabin the family lived in (7 miles north of Pepin on County Road CC). I have been to the museum twice and it is a great way to learn about Laura’s early days as a small girl and what Pepin was like during the late 1800s. Discover more information here: https://www.lauraingallspepin.com/ Pepin sits along HWY 35, or the Great River Road, and is a beautiful drive for a fun day trip.
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| Historical Marker at replica cabin in Pepin |
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Replica Cabin in Pepin
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In the archives, we have area history books and documents related to Pepin County’s history as well as an exciting collection of letters written to Charles and Martha Carpenter of Stockholm, WI (north of Pepin), 1861-1919 and 1975-1977, Stout SC 142. They are letters from relatives, many serving in the Civil War. Martha Carpenter's maiden name was Quiner, sister to Caroline Quiner Ingalls, mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Also in the library’s 4th floor main stacks, we have Pioneer Girl: an annotated bibliography, edited by Pamela Smith Hill, call #: PS3545.I342 Z46 2014. It follows the same timeline as the Little House on the Prairie book series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder; it is like the unedited version of her books. Hill gives context to the events in Laura's life, through research and footnotes written throughout the book.
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Letters written to Charles and Martha Carpenter, sister to Caroline Ingalls, Laura's mother (Stout SC 142 located in the UW-Stout Archives)
If you are Laura Ingalls Wilder fans like we are, don’t just stop at Pepin. Laura lived in many places throughout her life, ending up in Mansfield, Missouri. Check out Julie’s fun 2011 road trip photos to the Laura homesites of Pepin, WI, Walnut Grove, MN, https://walnutgrove.org/museum.html and De Smet, SD, https://discoverlaura.org/:
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| Map of Laura's Travels, located on outside of Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, Pepin, WI |
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| Depression where Laura's dugout home was along the Banks of Plum Creek, Walnut Grove, MN |
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Description of Ingalls's homes and schools in De Smet, SD
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The Surveyors' House where the Ingalls lived their first winter in De Smet, SD
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Charles Ingalls homestead site, with the Cottonwood trees still standing that Charles planted
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| Julie very excited to be standing next to one of the cottonwood trees Charles planted. I was touching a part of history! |
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