Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Somehow I do not have Little House in The Big Woods which is the first in this series (although I have at least 2 copies of every other book in the series!) I decided to skip it for now and read starting with this one.
The book I read belonged to my Aunt Lisa - and I have had it forever and read it so many times the cover fell off. But I don't want a new one, I like this one that says "Lisa H" in my Grandma's handwriting on the top of the first page. So I am taping the cover back on.
Anyway, in this book Pa sells their cozy cabin in the big woods - the one where they have lived and were happy and had a cow and were near Ma's family - to move his wife and three daughters into Indian Country. Because he feels too crowded. Not that I think this is a bad idea (which I totally do) but I want you to fully understand how complient Ma is. If Aaron told me, lets sell our house and all our stuff to move way the heck out into the Bush because I think town is crowded I would wish him good luck and send him on his way alone.
Anyway, they drive forever and finally decide to settle. Pa builds a cabin (nearly killing Ma in the process) and hunts, then there is a fire, they get malaria, they are nearly attacked by Indians, and then at the end of all that, after a year of what I would consider to be extremely bad luck - Pa hears that the government is going to make the settlers leave Indian Territory (the nerve of that stupid government) but without waiting for official confirmation, he decides to leave his house (with glass windows which was a big deal), fields, cow and calf (are you sensing a theme here) and move to Minnesota.
I guess, what I am saying is - Pa is crazy and he is forever moving his family for no good reason and if I were Ma I would be headed back to the Big Woods of Wisconsin and moving back in with my family. But she is a good wife and loves Pa so she deals with it.
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