Map of Laura and Rose’s homes by Karen Ward
This map by my talented colleague Karen Ward records all of the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter, the novelist and libertarian-movement founder Rose Wilder Lane.
Look at the dates for Mansfield, Missouri. Two key periods, in the mid-1920s and again from 1928-1935, found both Laura and Rose living on Rocky Ridge Farm. There they began the collaboration on the beloved pioneer stories, the Little House books.
An eyeball at this map reminds us that Rose’s wider travels—she lived on both coasts (and Europe, not shown, of course)—and her publishing life gave her the savvy and contacts that would make publication of the first Little House book, Little House in the Big Woods, possible, in the early 1930s.
The map also shows very clearly that Rose and Laura—although they had a deep love for each other—could not live happily near each other. So the times they were together really make up a very small part of their very long lives.
My book telling the story of these two women and the beliefs they put into the pioneer stories is called Libertarians on the Prairie.
