Chapter 10 - FINALLY "Mary Goes To College"

I often ask myself, "How did Laura Ingalls Wilder get through hard times?" The Ingalls family didn't lack challenges. 

They ate blackbirds for lunch and saved money for years in order to send Mary to college. (Somethings never change . . and I am referring to the part about college being expensive, not the part about eating blackbirds for lunch.) During the Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to reread Little Town on the Prairie to discover - What Would Laura Do?

In chapter 10, Mary finally leaves for college. As all parents of college students know, this means shopping sprees. Ma and Pa head to town and purchase a new trunk for Mary. Laura describes the trunk in tedious detail - you only need to know the trunk is made of tin and is encircled by strips of shiny, yellow wood. Ma said, "It is the very newest style in trunks, Mary, and it should last you a lifetime." Ma sets to work packing the trunk, cramming newspapers between all of Mary's belongings. 

Once the busy work of packing is complete, the family begins to ruminate on Mary leaving the prairie. For Mary's send off dinner, Ma makes cottage cheese balls with onions and cold creamed peas. Mary says, "Anything you put on the table is good, Ma." (Hmm. I might have to challenge Mary on that.)

Mary's organ is located in the Ingalls family home in DeSmet, South Dakota.

Laura and Mary go on one last walk to the garden to pick lettuce and tomatoes. Mary, while being scared about leaving home, is excited she will finally learn to play the organ. Mary also wonders if sunsets are different in Iowa and how Pa can spend so much money on her.  

I also wondered how Pa could afford to send Mary to college. The Pioneer Girl Project thoroughly researched this questions. Here is the link if you are interested in reading more. How could the Ingalls afford to send Mary to college? 

But here is my, Reader's Digest, version: Basically the Superintendent of DeSmet schools took care of the paperwork to get Mary admitted to college.  Legislation had been passed saying that blind students could attend college for the blind, in surrounding states for five years (though that was later upped to seven years). Long story short, Mary's tuition was paid for by the government and Pa covered transportation and clothing. (Hmmm. This doesn't jive with Pa's independent spirt and dislike of government.)

Yum. Lunch.

Early the next morning, Ma is up scalding and plucking blackbirds. The blackbirds will be a yummy, inexpensive lunch for the travelers to eat on the train, while traveling to Iowa. Ma put on her summer challis (challis is a silk and wool blend of fabric), Pa wore his Sunday suit, and Mary wore her best old calico dress. A hired boy, in a wagon, arrives to take the trio to the train station. Good-byes were said and the traveling party departed. "The wagon taking them away left silence behind it. Laura had never felt such a stillness. It was not the happy stillness of the prairie. She felt it in the very pit of her stomach."

Grace and Carrie begin to cry. Laura, who is in charge, gathers her wits and shames Grace for crying. "For shame, Grace! For shame! A big girl like you, crying!" Laura decides the sisters need a big, distracting project and suggests they complete the Fall housecleaning for Ma. 

I agree with Laura that an over whelming project can keep your mind off of what is really bothering you, be it a pandemic or an older sister finally leaving for college. Since being in quarantine since March I have opened an Etsy store (Prairie Girl Greetings), started a podcast (2 Chick Chat Chicks), lost 5.78 pounds of the 11 I gained, and written over 50 blog posts. I did not participate in Spring cleaning and didn't even know Fall house cleaning was a thing. 

Here is a list of Laura's Fall Housekeeping duties:

• wash and fill straw ticks with fresh straw
• wash and line dry all quilts (Laura was shocked how heavy wet quilts were.)
• scrub floors
• blacken the stove (Grace created more work with this one, since she decided to "help" and blacken the stove herself. Laura said what all mothers know, "She had not known how hard it would be, sometimes, never to be cross with Grace who was always trying to help and only making more work.")
• wash windows and curtains (plus, sprinkle and iron curtains)
• scrub kitchen shelves

A few days pass and finally the girls see Pa and Ma walking home from town. The girls run to meet them at the Big Slough. Ma was very pleased with the college. The teachers were kind, the students were pleasant, and Mary would be warm and well fed. Mary's classes were: political economy, literature, higher mathematics, sewing, knitting, beadwork and music. Mary was more challenged than my 8th grade son is at the moment. He wanders down for virtual classes around 8:00 ish and is done for the day three hours later. Maybe he should take up knitting?

The girls were excited for Ma to realize they had done the Fall housecleaning. Ma, not wanting the girls to be prideful, noticed and said "My Goodness."  A lousy - "My Goodness." I feel I have to do backflips every time my kids even bring their dirty dishes into the kitchen. 

Laura's autograph album is in Mansfield, MO.

Ma brought her daughters souvenirs from Vinton, Iowa. Grace got a picture book. Laura and Carrie received beautiful, embossed autograph albums. Laura's was red and Carrie's was blue. Ma wanted her girls to have what other girls had, "I found that autograph albums are all the fashion nowadays. All the most fashionable girls in Vinton have them." Carrie loved the idea friends writing verses in her autograph book and says, "I won't mind going to school so much now. I will show my autograph album to all the strange girls, and if they are nice to me I will let them write in it." I wonder if anyone wrote, LYLAS (Love Ya Like a Sister) in Carrie's album?

Here is the "typed up" version of what Laura's friend, Minnie Johnson, wrote in Laura's autograph book:

What Would Laura Do?

• See "not crying" as a sign of strength
• Curate long goodbyes
• Start an ambitious project to take your mind off of things
• Help her ma even when no money is attached

Prairie Eydie, Prairie Ma &  Prairie Daughter

See you soon, Bonnetheads, for Chapter 11 - "Miss Wilder Teaches School." 

Prairie Eydie