Little Author in the Big Woods (8 page)

 

FIVE

Married Life

1882−1892

Dakota Territory–Florida–Missouri

In December of 1882, Laura's school put on an exhibition. The whole town was invited to hear the students recite pieces from memory, give readings, and perform other demonstrations of their classroom skills. Because she was one of the oldest and best students, Laura was given a big part. She had to recite half the story of America's history. Her friend Ida Brown had to recite the other half. Laura was very nervous. But to her great relief and delight, she did extremely well. She knew all her facts and did not forget anything. Everyone clapped loudly and praised her performance. The evening was a triumph.

A few weeks later, the Ingalls family had two visitors: their friend Mr. Boast and his cousin Mr. Bouchie. To Laura's astonishment, Mr. Bouchie was there to offer Laura a two-month job teaching at a small school in a settlement about 12 miles south of De Smet. Mr. Bouchie did not care that she wouldn't be 16 until February. He needed teachers right away and he wanted to hire Laura, so he told her not to mention her age to anyone. Her salary would be $20.00 a month. That seemed like so much money!

Twelve miles and back was too far to travel on a daily basis. If Laura accepted the position, she would have to live with Mr. and Mrs. Bouchie, which she did not want to do. But Laura thought of her sister Mary, and of how hard her parents worked to keep her in school. She said yes.

There were only five students in her new class, and Laura did her best to teach them. She modeled her lessons on her own classroom in De Smet, and she did her own schoolwork while the students were working on their lessons. The worst part was living with Mr. and Mrs. Bouchie. She felt unwelcome in their house and was homesick for Ma, Pa, and her sisters.

When the weekend came, Laura despaired. There was no escaping the gloomy and unfriendly Mrs. Bouchie. But, happily, she found a surprise visitor at the schoolhouse: Almanzo Wilder had come with his buggy and offered to drive her home. Laura knew Almanzo from town. Sometimes he had walked her home from church, and he had a pair of beautiful horses she had always admired. His sister had been her teacher in De Smet.

For the next eight weeks, Almanzo came faithfully to pick Laura up on Fridays and then drove her back on Sundays. When the two-month job ended, she was grateful to go back to her own lessons at school. She did very well, and her teacher, Professor Ven Owen, was extremely proud of her. He told Ma and Pa that she was exceptionally bright and that she should further her education.

Laura continued seeing Almanzo Wilder. He was 10 years older than she was, and he was a homesteader with 320 acres of land. His family had farmed in Minnesota and New York State. When he told her that his brother called him Mannie and his parents called him Manzo, Laura did not like either of those names. She decided to call him Manly, and so a new nickname was born.

Laura and Manly had a lot of fun together. He bought another pair of very fast, frisky horses he called Skip and Barnum, and they pulled the buggy quickly along through town, over the prairie, and to places like Spirit Lake, where there were ancient Native American burial grounds. In the winter, they took sleigh rides around town; Laura loved being outdoors in the brisk, bright weather.

In the summer of 1884, Manly proposed to Laura and gave her a gold engagement ring set with pearls and garnets. Ma said that she was not surprised; she had known it was coming. She and Pa gave Laura and Manly their blessing.

Laura and Manly didn't marry right away. Laura was still in school, and Manly had to take a long trip with his brother Royal to visit their parents in Minnesota, and to the New Orleans Exposition in Louisiana. He would not be back for months. When he left, Laura missed him very much. He missed her too, and he showed up on Christmas Eve, saying he could not be apart from her for so long.

In the spring of 1885, Laura agreed to teach one more term of school. Since married women were not allowed to teach, she would have to give up her career after the wedding. Her new job was at the Wilkins School, where she earned $30.00 a month for a three-month term and got to live with the Wilkins family, whom she liked. She was glad to give this money to her parents to help with Mary's expenses.

Even though Laura had accepted Manly's ring, she still had doubts about being a farmer's wife. From Ma's experience, she knew all too well just how hard a life it was: lots of work, and very little money. Manly listened to her concerns and asked that they give farming a try for three years. If they had not succeeded by then, he'd give it up.

His words must have calmed Laura's fears. On August 25, 1885, Laura and Manly drove to Reverend Brown's house and were married.

Laura was too independent of spirit and mind to accept the word
obey
in the wedding ceremony, and so she did not utter it. Manly agreed with her.

After the wedding, they drove to Ma and Pa's for dinner. Laura might have had mixed feelings about starting a new chapter in her life; she loved Manly but would miss her parents and sisters very much. When the time came, she bravely kissed them all good-bye. She was a married woman now, and she went home to the house that Manly had built for them, just two miles north of De Smet.

Laura loved the little gray frame house. There were windows in the kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom. In the pantry was a special cabinet Manly had designed and made. Now that Laura would be running her own house, she could put all Ma's lessons to good use.

Despite her earlier doubts, Laura was excited about the farm she and Manly were planning. To save money, Laura started helping with the work. She learned to use different machines and rode the corn binder, driving six horses. When they weren't working, they visited friends or Ma and Pa in De Smet. They went to concerts and church socials. Sometimes they saddled up their two swift ponies, Trixie and Fly, and rode off across the prairie. Other times, they took buggy rides. Laura loved the red and pink wild roses blooming all around her.

In the summer of 1886, Manly looked over his wheat field with satisfaction and pride. He had never seen such a promising crop. But in August, before he could harvest the wheat, a terrible storm blew across the prairie, and hail came pounding from the sky. The wheat field was destroyed. There would be no big harvest that year. He and Laura were bitterly disappointed.

But there was good news too. Laura was expecting a baby, so she and Manly had to change their plans. On their first anniversary, they mortgaged the little gray house and moved into a shanty on another part of their claim in order to save money. Manly continued to farm, making plans for the next year. Laura could not help anymore. She had to rest while she waited for the baby.

On December 5, 1886, Laura gave birth. Thinking of the lush flowers she had seen over the summer on her rides with Manly, she called the baby Rose. Rose was a big, strong baby, and Laura was grateful for that. But the spring and summer of 1887 were again disappointing. The crops were poor, and a fire destroyed the barn and a lot of the hay. Laura thought they should give up farming. Pa had, and he and Ma now lived full-time in town, where he worked as a carpenter.

Manly was still not ready to give up. He told Laura they needed to keep working and be patient. The next year, though, things got even worse. Laura and Manly came down with diphtheria. Diphtheria is a bacterial infection spread by coughing or sneezing. It affects the nose and throat, and the disease makes breathing difficult. Today there is a vaccine that prevents the spread of diphtheria. Back in Laura's time, the vaccine did not exist and the disease could be serious, even fatal.

They were nursed by Manly's brother Royal. Little Rose was taken to town, where her loving grandparents watched her. Even though both Laura and Manly survived, their recovery was slow, and Manly was never the same afterward. His hands and feet were partially crippled, and walking was difficult for him. He could no longer manage the 320 acres, so he sold part of it, and he and Laura returned to the gray house. Peter Ingalls, Laura's cousin, moved to De Smet. He was a big help to Manly, and they were able to plant some crops.