General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Association removes Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from award [View all]LeftInTX
(25,156 posts)She was born in Wisconsin, but traveled west with her family.
She lived in numerous frontier type towns.
I believe she began publishing her books in 1932 at request from her daughter. I think Laura saw the world changing drastically and wanted to record how it was before there were telephones, cars, radio etc. Her books are easy to read children's books.
Laura became a teacher and she writes about the requirements for becoming a teacher in the late 1800's. It was very different than 1932 standards.
I've read most of her books.
The one that impressed me the most was, "The Long Winter". They were living in South Dakota and had run out of winter food supplies. The trains were snowed out for months. The family was starving.
I was also impressed with the crazy math that she had to memorize to become a teacher. I believe she had to memorize a bunch of square roots etc. I believe she had to be able to do long division in her head without paper and pencil.
I read her books when I was adult, so I read them for a historical perspective.
I don't remember her interactions with Native Americans, mainly because I wasn't focused on that aspect of her life. I was interested in her day to day life more than anything.