Do You Remember "The Little House Years?"

How many of you remember the three-part clips episode, "The Little House Years?" It's easy to forget, since it isn't included on the DVDs. I spoke to Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder) about it once. He eluded to a rights issue, but didn't know the exact nature of the issue.

Sitting around the table at Thanksgiving with Mary and Adam Kendall, Laura shares some of the family's journeys and memories. This is one great way to share the history of the Ingalls family with adopted brother, Albert.

I don't remember all of them, but scenes from when they left the Big Woods, when they bought the house on Plum Creek, when Charles lost his crop and had to travel to find work with the railroad, when Laura ran away, and several others are included. You also catch a glimpse of a young Shawna Landon in the library picking out a copy of Laura Ingalls Wilder's book.

It is my sincere hope that this part of season 6 is one day released. Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.

Little House on the Prairie - Historical or Fictional Characters

Every once in a while, a question will come up about characters on television's Little House on the Prairie. Since the show was based upon Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, some not familiar with Wilder's real life aren't sure which characters are historical figures and which were created solely for the show. Here's a good place to start.

The Ingalls family included: Caroline, Charles and their children Mary, Laura, Caroline Celestia (Carrie), Charles Frederick (Baby Freddie), and Grace. Popular characters though they were, the Ingallses never adopted an orphan boy named Albert or the Cooper children.

Mary Ingalls went blind as a teenager. Her hopes of being a teacher were quickly dashed. While she went away to a college for the blind and learned many things, she never married. She remained single, living with her parents until their deaths (Charles in 1902 and Caroline in 1924), and then with Grace and her husband in the Ingalls family home in De Smet. She died in 1928, while visiting her sister Carrie. That means Adam Kendall was a made for TV husband.

Reverend Edwin Hyde Alden was minister of the Congregational Church in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. Known as Robert, the real life minister who started the church in Walnut Grove, was a home missionary with a wife and daughter back east. He rode the train west and preached in New Ulm, Sleepy Eye, Barnston, Walnut Grove, Saratoga and Marshall. He would preach in schoolhouses, private homes, and railroad depots. He was known to have built small chapels and churches in pioneer communities.

When the Ingalls family stayed in the Surveyor's House in De Smet, Reverend Alden visited them. He had left Minnesota and entered the missionary field in Dakota. The community wasn't yet know as De Smet, but Reverend Alden held the first church service ever in the Surveyor's House. He would stop by De Smet during his journeys, holding services in an unfinished depot until the new minister was appointed, Reverend Edward Brown.

Dabbs Greer played Reverend Alden on Little House on the Prairie. He traveled to other communities, just like his real life counterpart. He was single in the show, however, until Season 6, when he married widow Anna Craig.

Kevin Hagen played kindly Doctor Baker on the show. He is not based on any real life character that I know of. When the Ingalls family lived in Kansas, a black homeopathic doctor named George Tann treated them for malaria.

In the television show, Doc Baker took care of everyone's aches and pains. He delivered babies and acted as the town's veterinarian. In Season 8, Doc Baker decides he needs some help, so he hires African-American doctor Caleb Ledoux, who moves to town with his wife, Maddie. Racist sentiments in town almost drive them away, but they agree to stay in Walnut Grove, though we never see them again.

After the pilot episode, the Ingalls family leaves Kansas and journeys to Walnut Grove, Minnesota. The real life Ingalls family only stayed in Walnut Grove a couple of years (1874 - 1876) before crop failures forced them to leave, and returned for another two years (1877 - 1879), living in town before moving to their final home in De Smet, South Dakota. The majority of the show, however, took place in Walnut Grove.

When the TV Ingalls family (and the real life Ingallses) stop at Plum Creek, they purchase a dugout house on the banks of the creek from Mr. Hanson. He was a Norwegian settler who itched to go west, On television, he was one of the founders of Walnut Grove and remained there until his death.

Mr. Edwards was a neighbor of the Ingalls family when they lived in Kansas. A bachelor, originally from Tennessee, he lived across the creek. Identifying who he was and what his occupation was is difficult. In Donald Zochert's book Laura, he says he might have been J.H. Edwards, who ran Ed's Saloon and dealt in "liquor and cigars" at Fort Scott, but Zochert says that would make him too far away to be the man Wilder mentions in her books.

In the show, the character of Mr. Edwards is first introduced in the pilot, helping the Ingalls family and befriending Laura. They have a teary-eyed parting when the Ingalls family is forced to leave Kansas, but Charles runs into Mr. Edwards in Mankato and brings him back to Walnut Grove. This time, he has a backstory: his wife and daughter died, and he believes it was his fault for moving them so far away from medical help. This caused him to turn to alcohol in order to cope with the loss. 

Nellie Oleson, while featured in the books and on the television series, was a totally fictional character made up by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She is a composite of three of Wilder's classmates: Nellie Owens, Genevieve Masters, and Stella Gilbert. Nellie Owens had a brother named Willie, and her parents (William and Margaret) ran a mercantile in Walnut Grove. Sound familiar TV lovers?

I hope you have enjoyed this discussion. Comments are always welcome.

Character Profile of Mary Ingalls Kendall

This is the second character profile I put together for Little House on the Prairie. Just as I had a challenging time putting together a synopsis of Laura's TV life without sharing everything, I tried to do my best to capture Mary's character as I see her without overdoing it.

WARNING!!! CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

We first meet Mary Ingalls in the Pilot movie. She is Charles and Caroline’s oldest daughter, and she is very different from her younger sister, Laura. The family leaves the Big Woods of Wisconsin and journeys to Kansas, and we soon discover that while Laura’s never ending curiosity tends to get her in a bit of trouble, Mary is happy to play the obedient, helpful daughter.

On Christmas Day in Kansas, Mary is seen at the table helping Ma get the food ready, but Laura is busy trying to peek into her stocking to get a glimpse at her presents. And this is exactly the type of relationship the girls continue to have until Mary moves away from home.

Mary’s good looks and her obedient nature makes things tense between the two oldest Ingalls girls. Now living in Walnut Grove, Laura struggles in school while Mary excels, creating just another reason for Laura to be jealous of her older sister. But perhaps the biggest issue between the sisters is boys. Laura often had a crush on boys who ended up being more interested in Mary than they were in her younger, tomboyish sister, causing hurt feelings and a few arguments between them. Mary, however, was a staunch supporter of her sister against Nellie Oleson, who was destined to be a thorn in Laura’s side from day one.

The real Mary Ingalls dealt with a great deal of hardship in her life. She was ill and lost her sight at an early age. She never married and lived at home with her parents until their deaths, and then lived with one of her sisters until her own death. And one must wonder if Michael Landon used these difficulties to shape Mary’s TV character, as she also had more than her share of hardships.

In Season 3, Mary is kicked by a horse while cleaning out the barn, and her internal injuries go from bad to worse (To Live with Fear). Charles and Caroline take her to Rochester, where Mary undergoes an operation. Unable to pay the hospital bills, Charles leaves his wife and daughter in Rochester to find work. While he is away, Mary requires an additional operation, even though the doctor has told Caroline that she might not survive it. She is held hostage by Frank and Jesse James who had sought shelter in Walnut Grove under assumed names (The Aftermath). And Mary has her share of boy troubles too. Her fiancé, John Sanderson Jr., goes away to college (I'll Ride the Wind), and when she pays him a surprise visit in Chicago, she discovers he has been carrying on a relationship with another young woman (Times of Change).

At the end of Season 4, Mary’s eyesight begins to weaken. At this point, she has accepted her glasses, so it’s not a big deal to get new ones. She dismisses the trouble as eye strain until her Pa finally admits to her that she is going blind (I'll Be Waving as You Drive Away).

Scared and angry, Mary falls into the darkness of self-pity, and Charles and Caroline make the difficult decision to send her to Iowa where there is a school for the blind. Mary believes her parents are trying to get rid of her, and she spends the first several days at the blind school acting out—something that we rarely see from her.

Mary meets Adam Kendall while in Iowa. He is her teacher, and he is the first to tell her that she is not special just because she is blind. Adam is also the one who comforts her when Mary is afraid to return home to put the skills she has learned to the test. It isn’t until Mary realizes that she may never see Adam again that she discovers her feelings for him. Adam asks her to join him in Winoka to start a new blind school. Mary agrees. It seems that though she had given up on her dream of being a teacher, her dreams are destined to be fulfilled, and Mary looks forward to developing her relationship with Adam.




The entire Ingalls family moves to Winoka because times are so tough in Walnut Grove. Mary celebrates her 16th birthday in a new town, and this is where we see that Laura and Mary’s relationship has definitely changed (As Long As We're Together). The jealousy is no longer there, and Laura, who is also quickly growing up, expresses her love for her sister. 

After months of trying to deny it, Charles realizes that he will never be happy in the city, and the family says goodbye to Mary and Adam and travels back to Walnut Grove (There's No Place Like Home).

Charles and Caroline are thrilled when they receive Mary’s letter that she and Adam are going to be married (The Wedding). They can’t afford to take the whole family with them—a family that now includes Albert, an orphan they met in Winoka, who they unofficially adopt and bring home to Walnut Grove, so Charles and Caroline travel by train to attend Mary’s wedding. Mary is excited about getting married until she hears her Ma talking about how her children used to run off. She fears that two blind people couldn’t care for a sighted child and calls the wedding off. When one of the children from the school is lost in a sandstorm, Mary and Adam search for her. Finding Susan Goodspeed gives Mary the confidence she needs to marry Adam.

But happiness would not come easy to the Kendalls. When the blind school is purchased by the greedy Mr. Standish, they are forced to find a new location (Blind Journey). Mary and Adam, with Charles’s help, make the long journey from Winoka to Walnut Grove to a new blind school at Mr. Hanson’s old house. Mary becomes pregnant for the first time but miscarries the child (The Sound of Children). The blind school is turned into a hospital when an anthrax epidemic hits town, and some of Mary and Adam’s students die (Mortal Mission).

Mary gets pregnant again and gives birth to Adam Charles Holbrook Kendall, but the infant is killed in a fire that also destroys the blind school and takes the life of Alice Garvey, a good friend to the Ingalls family (May We Make Them Proud). At one point, Mary thinks she is regaining her sight, but is disappointed to discover it was untrue (The Enchanted Cottage). This makes it even harder when a freak accident returns Adam’s sight, and Mary feels like she is losing her husband to a world she cannot see as he pursues his law career (To See the Light).

Once Adam gets his law degree, he soon realizes a town the size of Walnut Grove will not allow him to provide for Mary, so they say goodbye to the Ingalls family again and move to New York (The Reincarnation of Nellie).



The trials that Mary endured during her life made her a person of strong character, and I believe that Michael Landon captured that in many ways. Losing her sight forced Mary to focus on her strengths, and not only was she able to do that, she flourished and found love with Adam. Mary was a woman of quiet dignity, very different from her younger sister, but with the same pioneering spirit that taught her that as long as you stick together, you can do anything. Adam became the perfect companion for Mary, and just as Mary had stood up for Laura against Nellie Oleson, she stood up for Adam when she felt he was wronged, allowing him to pursue a career he had only dreamed about.



When Mary and Adam return to Walnut Grove one last time to celebrate Christmas with the Ingalls family, Hester Sue, and a pregnant Laura and her husband Almanzo (A Christmas They Never Forgot), we see a Mary that seems truly happy with her life, and we rejoice in the overdue happiness that Mary and Adam have together.


You can find Laura's character profile here.