Laura Ingalls Wilder Wayside & Cabin

Laura Ingalls Wilder is one of America’s favorite authors. Wilder wrote a series of children’s books known collectively as the «Little House» series that documented pioneer life in the 19^th Century. Her works inspired several stage and movie adaptations but she is best remembered for inspiring the hit television series, «Little House on the Prairie» starring Melissa Gilbert and the late Michael Landon.
It all started near this wayside, in the «Little House in the Big Woods.» The wayside features a log home, a reproduction of the Ingalls home where Laura Elizabeth Ingalls was born on February 7, 1867 to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. Charles Ingalls seemed to have wanderlust, for he uprooted his family and took them, by covered wagon, to Kansas to farmstead at a new location. The farmstead was actually on the Osage Indian Reservation (near modern Independence) and after being evicted, the Ingalls family returned here, to the Big House in the Woods.
Eventually, Ingalls moved his family again, and Laura moved to Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Dakota Territory. Laura became a teacher, although she did not care much for the profession and didn’t last too long. She married Almanzo Wilder and eventually, the couple settled in Mansfield, Missouri.
Ingalls became a columnist in a Missouri newspaper. In her later life, under the encouragement of her daughter, she wrote of her youth in a series of books, aimed at elementary school children, that became the Little House series.
«Little House in the Big Woods» was inspired by her early life in Wisconsin, near this location and was published in 1932. In 1971, an unpublished manuscript was discovered that documented the first years of her marriage. It was published as «The First Four Years» and is considered to be the ninth book in the Little House series.
The wayside is located about 7 miles north of Pepin, Wisconsin, on Pepin County Highway CC. There isn’t much here, the Ingalls’ log home, the barn and even the Big Woods are all gone. The house is a reproduction but is a great illustration of the hardships encountered in 19^th Century pioneer life. The wayside also offers picnic grounds, rest facilities and fresh water — although you have to pump it yourself, just as Laura’s family did.
A historical marker in Pepin, and one here, commemorate the birthplace and writing career of Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder. She is claimed as a favorite daughter in a half a dozen states, but her life started here, at this spot in Pepin County, Wisconsin.