Little House on the Prairie April 2011

Just South of Independence,Kansas one finds a sign inviting travels to turn for Little House on the Prairie.If you pass it,another sign tells you so and suggests to turn around. We traveled South of 75 through Burlington,Yates Center. The last time we traveled this direction, it was instinctly foggy, so we didnt see the Nuclear Power Plant, I was pleased to note we could see it this time. We considered stopping or at least seeing the lake , but didnt.

On to Little House on the Prairie,what you find is a collection of old post offices, One room school houses and the cabin. Laura Ingals Wilder wrote several books detailing the Prairie life of the 1870's and 1880's. The books and the TV series are iconic. Personally I would rather have the book as what Kansas is, or was than the Wizard of Oz, which I am over and most Kansans have either a love or hate relationship with. As the Summer of 2011 wore on, The Wizard of Oz was shown at the Capital Building as part of Movies on the Lawn series, I told a co worker, I'd have to be paid a lot of money to willingly see it. Little House on the Prairie, William Inge ,Buster Keaton yes, Wizard No !


Anyway, my question was how do we known the Cabin was there. Census work, The Ingals family is listed in the 1870 census in Montgomery County, the book talks about a hand dug well and this spot was the only one that fit the bill. So the log cabin is recreated as it was in the book.

The brounche warns you not to trust GPS and that is correct. The GPS will take you about a half mile down the road.


Traveling through Kansas, you run into a lot of Log Cabins and one room school houses,they all tend to be the same. This one has the rules of conduct that teachers had to live by. This Cabin because of the connection to this great book just feels different.