Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
7th out of 94 books
—
14 voters
On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 (Little House #10)
In 1894, Laura Ingalls Wilder, her husband, Almanzo, and their daughter, Rose, packed their belongings into their covered wagon and set out on a journey from De Smet, South Dakota, to Mansfield, Missouri. They heard that the soil there was rich and the crops were bountiful -- it was even called "the Land of the Big Red Apple." With hopes of beginning a new life, the Wilder...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
October 20th 1976
by Harper & Row
(first published 1962)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
From the introduction:
...moreFor seven years there had been too little rain. The prairies were dust. Day after day, summer after summer, the scorching winds blew the dust and the sun was brassy in a yellow sky. Crop after crop failed. Again and again the barren land must be mortgaged, for taxes and food and next year's seed. The agony of hope ended when there was no harvest and no credit, no money to pay interest and taxes; the banker took the land. Then the bank failed.
In the seventh year a mysterio
I read “On the Way Home” when I was a kid and just couldn’t appreciate it like I do now. It is a travel log that Laura kept on her journey from De Smet to Mansfield. Most of the book is just a record of the Wilder family’s daily activities with little of the beautiful prose I’m so used to in Laura’s books. As a child, I couldn’t hear Laura’s voice, and I got bored with the seemingly monotonous details. Now, I can read between the lines a little more, and I find it fascinating.
I now can recogniz...more
I now can recogniz...more
I thought this book was very enjoyable. I've seen many reviews in which people went into it thinking it was going to be another Little House book, but what you have to remember is that when Laura wrote this she never meant to publish it. It was simply a little diary she kept on the 650-mile journey from De Smet, South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri that she wrote in a 5-cent notebook. It lacks the polish of her most famous works, but it's still fascinating for all Laura Ingalls Wilder fans. Lurki...more
Last night I took a break from the heavier reading (Mr. Ripley) to read something short: On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane. The heart of the book is a short diary of the Wilder family's migration from De Smet to the Ozarks during a crop failure in 1894. Laura's contribution is a diary of brief entries for each day, mostly noting where they had traveled, what they ate and how hot it was. Rose's introduction, conclusion and periodic annotations flush this diary out to ex...more
Mar 31, 2012
sabisteb
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
buch,
kinder-und-jugendbuch
Nachdem das junge Paar Laura und Manly Wilder mehrere Jahre in Folge nur Missernten einfgefahren haben, beschließen die beiden 1894 mit ihrer Tochte Rose von DeSmet nach Mansfield in das Land des großen roten Apfels zu ziehen. Mit der befreundeten Familie Cooley ziehen Laura, Manly und Rose mit einem Pferdegespann in die Ozarks in Missouri. Während dieser Reise führt Laura Tagebuch, damit sie den Lieben daheim getreulich berichten kann, was sie auf dieser Reise erlebt hat.
Dieses Buch ist der Abs...more
Dieses Buch ist der Abs...more
I am such a Little House fan that I don't think I could ever give any of the books less than 4 stars. I'm not ashamed to say it: I am an adult, and the Little House books are still some of my favorites to read. This book is actually Laura's journal from her move to South Dakota to Missouri, which she wrote in everyday. The more I read these books, the more thankful I become that I was born when I was, rather than in the 1800's.
For more details please see my review of West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915 http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... This was shorter, and not quite as informative - but that's only to be expected as it had not the purpose of communicating the events as the other, and also Laura was younger and busier and poorer (paper was a luxury).
Still, I enjoyed it very much, even though I wish it had more about Rose and being a mother in it. I liked that at one point, whe...more
Still, I enjoyed it very much, even though I wish it had more about Rose and being a mother in it. I liked that at one point, whe...more
May 31, 2010
Megan
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
hardcore Little House fans
Shelves:
autobiography
In my quest to read all things Laura Ingalls Wilder, I decided to give this short book a try. It is basically a series of journal entries that Laura wrote on her way from De Smet South Dakota to Mansfield Missouri (where she and Almanzo would later settle).
Her entries are an interesting glimpse into frontier America in the late 1800's, but contain more facts than anything generally interesting. There is also an introduction, footnotes, and a short conclusion written by her daughter Rose to acco...more
Her entries are an interesting glimpse into frontier America in the late 1800's, but contain more facts than anything generally interesting. There is also an introduction, footnotes, and a short conclusion written by her daughter Rose to acco...more
Aug 10, 2010
Katharyn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Michele, Lizzie
Shelves:
young-adult,
historical-fiction
The diary of Laura, the memories of Rose, and a some historical pictures give us the Wilder's move from Souse Dakota to Missouri. The saving, the camping, the passers by on the road... Written before the Little house books, Laura proves her teacher's hand by maintaining a very similar writing style to that of her later series.
Growing up, Laura felt the same pull as her father to move west; now the wife and mother though she still enjoys the adventure she come to learn the stress of uprooting yo...more
Growing up, Laura felt the same pull as her father to move west; now the wife and mother though she still enjoys the adventure she come to learn the stress of uprooting yo...more
Interesting to read, but I'm glad I read Little House on Rocky Ridge before reading this one, as Laura (naturally) takes for granted that the reader is aware of a lot of background information. Makes sense as it was originally written as a diary, so I'm glad I had the background from Rose.
Even so, my favourite parts of the book were all the photos, and the end letter from Laura to her readers. But it's a very quick read that should be of interest to people who want to know "what happened next".
Even so, my favourite parts of the book were all the photos, and the end letter from Laura to her readers. But it's a very quick read that should be of interest to people who want to know "what happened next".
For book club
A very sligt book. Growing up, I had read West from Home (which I loved) and was thinking it would be similiar. Laura's journal is brief, but still interesting. The glimpses into the towns they traveled through and her constant commentary on the crops were particularly interesting, especially considering how much they had struggled.
Rose's commentary that begins and ends the book, is well, odd. Though I certainly don't expect all of my beloved childhood authors to be pure happiness a...more
A very sligt book. Growing up, I had read West from Home (which I loved) and was thinking it would be similiar. Laura's journal is brief, but still interesting. The glimpses into the towns they traveled through and her constant commentary on the crops were particularly interesting, especially considering how much they had struggled.
Rose's commentary that begins and ends the book, is well, odd. Though I certainly don't expect all of my beloved childhood authors to be pure happiness a...more
OMG - how is it I never knew this book existed??!?!?!???!?!??
This is a diary of Laura's, which details their move from South Dakota to Missouri, where the Wilders finally settled and stayed. Her daughter Rose wrote an introduction and a conclusion and some explanatory footnotes, but otherwise the words are all Laura's. It's short and quick, and not too much happens - but it's a fascinating peek at travel in the midsection of the U.S. in 1894. This is strictly for the Laura Ingalls Wilder obsessi...more
This is a diary of Laura's, which details their move from South Dakota to Missouri, where the Wilders finally settled and stayed. Her daughter Rose wrote an introduction and a conclusion and some explanatory footnotes, but otherwise the words are all Laura's. It's short and quick, and not too much happens - but it's a fascinating peek at travel in the midsection of the U.S. in 1894. This is strictly for the Laura Ingalls Wilder obsessi...more
I want to get my hands on all things Wilder! So I got this and several others from the library. It's pretty cool for me to read about how they had to travel back in those days. My favorite part though, was to see the romance they kept in their lives. That they finally get a chance to be alone from their child and their traveling companions so they could run through the woods together. :) Anyway, this is basically Wilder's journal of the trip that took them from De Smet where they got married to...more
Aww, Laura Ingalls Wilder!
Reading Laura's dry diary gave me much insight into this practical pioneer. I liked her as much as ever. I also enjoyed the way my mind had to build the details of the trip (Laura cooking at all these strange places, sleeping out in the open on others' property, sweating like crazy in ridiculous temps, how such a careful person could lose a thermometer). But this is for only two types of readers: hard core Little House people, and history buffs. All others will probably be underwhelmed.
"On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield" is mostly journal entries made by Laura Ingalls Wilder during a move from Dakota to Missouri. Her daughter Rose fills in some of her own recollections from the cross-country move. The entries aren't particularly interesting -- they mostly focus on the cost of land in different areas, the status of crops and the temperatures. Not really necessary to read this tome as part of the series.
This is quite literally the transcription of Laura Ingalls Wilder's diary. The first and last chapters are written by her daughter, Rose, to set the scenes. It looks like it is designed to be read by young fans of the Little House series, but for the most part, it is a somewhat dry log of weather and crops. Older fans who are interested in the context of the stories will get more out of it, especially the period photographs included. A quick read.
Couldn't get into this as a kid and I just bought a copy so I thought I'd try it now. Nothing wrong with the book, but I can see why it doesn't appeal to kids. As Laura's diary, she was not writing it with an audience in mind. It's more of a record book of few and far between events as the family traveled to a new home. Since the LH books are very fictionalized, this was interesting to read, seeing as it gave some insight to the real Laura.
On the Way Home offers specific information on farms and farm practices on the Great Plains in the 1890s, and the author has a good eye and a sharp mind. Still, even with the setting provided by Wilder's daughter Rose, this book suffers from a lack of context (likely, passionate readers of Wilder's books provide their own). This journal, if written by any other traveler on the plains, would never have seen publication.
Movin' further along. This is a slim tome, indeed -- 100 pages, with at least 5-10 of those being pictures. It contains an intro and afterword by Laura's daughter, Rose, who attempts to contextualize the events of the journey from de Smet, SD to Mansfield, MS. The middle part is just Laura's diary from the trip. A lot of reports about how high the wheat is growing in places where they're traveling, the temperature in the wagon, and the suitability of different places to live. Neat to see the Wil...more
Not an amazing stand-alone piece, but as someone obsessed with the Little House series, I had to read it. So strange to think that Laura's daughter, Rose, made it to the year 1968! Think I gleaned more about the family from Rose's intro and outro than Laura's diary entries themselves. But it was lovely to get to see some real photos of the houses and townscapes that the diary describes.
This really is a diary set amid a brief thing by Rose. So, as one would expect from a diary of someone on the road, it's about the weather, the price of land, condition of crops, what they can get at each town they pass through, and the people they meet along the way. Still, kind of interesting if you're at all interested in that. The pictures in the version I read were neat too.
Laura's journal as they traveled from South Dakota to their new home in Mansfield Missouri where she lived the rest of her life. The journal is interesting but not the stories her other books are. WHY she didn't write about the rest of her life while living in Mansfield, I just don't know. I am sure I join millions and millions of people wishing that she had.
I can't help but be smitten with books that speak of the journeys of our forefathers and ancestors, those who helped to build this country, whether by working in the factories or in the fields.
This diary of Laura Ingalls Wilder as she and Almonzo and their daughter traveled to their new home in Missouri is another sweet tale of those times.
This diary of Laura Ingalls Wilder as she and Almonzo and their daughter traveled to their new home in Missouri is another sweet tale of those times.
A tad on the dull side in the body of the book. I agree with some other reviewers that the truly interesting parts are the beginning and ending written by Rose. However, while Laura's journal isn't that exciting, it is interesting to get a snippet of what daily life was like for them including
current prices of land and food.
current prices of land and food.
I've been trying to find all the Little House on the Prairie books in hardcover - to keep in my library for my grandkids to read. I've never read this story before - so I was really excited when Roy found it at a garage sale! It was free. Cool! Nice story - can't wait to go see the museum in Mansfield, MO.
I really really enjoyed this book. Half of it is Laura's diary and the other half is Rose remembering events that took place. I almost liked it better than the 'Little House' series because this was so much more real and made me really understand that Laura was a real person who lived through hard but amazing times.
I have been to Mansfield and Rocky Ridge Farm. Mid 1990s. I almost cried when I saw Pa's fiddle. One highlight was meeting a friend of Laura's who was still living at the time. Neta Seals. She had a dress of Laura's and an original set of books Laura had signed. She let me touch them! Nerd/ fan moment.
A little diary of their trip. Touched on life in a covered wagon onthe trail. Immigrants, the going prices for land and staples. Life and the landscape around them. Like all the books about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family, I loved it. The thing wrong with it was it was too short.
view all 6 comments
This is Laura's diary during a covered-wagon trip from South Dakota to Missouri. It made me wish Laura had kept a daily diary all the time, not just during trips. The "setting" is written by Rose, Laura's daughter. It is interesting to see Laura through her daughter's eyes.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Ingalls wrote a series of historical fiction books for children based on her childhood growing up in a pioneer family. She also wrote a regular newspaper column and kept a diary as an adult moving from South Dakota to Missouri, the latter of which has been published as a book.
More about Laura Ingalls Wilder...
Share This Book
1 trivia question
More quizzes & trivia...
