For many years, Little House on the Prairie books have been required reading for young females. Laura Ingalls Wilder, one of the primary characters, considers one house on Harvest Ridge to be a veritable museum. These books are truly accounts of Wilder's early life on the prairie.
Alma Price claims that a Laura Ingalls Wilder Festival is held annually on the homestead in Mansfield, Missouri. This residence is now a museum. Price has a small portion of a museum at her residence. She has shelving installed in a designated area for displaying her collection.
At one point, a girl from Dillsboro was crowned the Laura Ingalls Festival's duchess and traveled with Price to various schools while dressed as Laura. Because Laura was renowned for her homemade gingerbread, the students would be served gingerbread on those days. Price also ensured that each participating school received a fresh set of Laura Ingalls Wilder volumes for their library.
Price is a lifetime member of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association, and she and her husband, Joe, annually attended the festival and served on the board. Price's last trip to Mansfield, Missouri occurred in September of 1996. She traveled there with her mother and father after Joe's passing.Price has a shingle from the original residence. They were once available for purchase in their gift shop. Price purchased one as a souvenir. Her and Joe participated in the re-roofing of the original residence.
Price enjoys discussing the Laura Ingalls Wilder family, who were very religious and prominent members of the Mansfield Methodist Church. Actually, the majority of Laura's family and Laura herself are buried there. Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family shared the same lofty moral standards. They traveled in a covered carriage from the East to Wisconsin and then to the Dakotas. Laura and Almonzo ended up in Mansfield, Missouri because Almonzo had read in some publication that it was a fertile agricultural region with many fruit trees.
Laura worked as a seamstress in a tailor shop and raised $100 in order for her family to relocate and begin again. A covered carriage transported them to Missouri. Laura concealed one hundred dollars in a small desk. During the journey, they encountered and camped near another group of pioneers. When Laura arrived in Missouri, her funds were gone! She was convinced that another family had robbed her of her life assets. Evidently, the money had slid into a concealed compartment of her writing desk.
They began in Missouri with a two-room timber cabin and expanded as they moved westward. Laura cultivated a garden, and they acquired a calf and poultry. Additionally, Laura completed her writing.
Her novels were not actually published until Rose was a senior in high school. Rose encouraged her mother to pursue a vocation in writing. Little House in the Big Woods, her first novel, was rejected by the first publisher. It was published by the second publisher contacted.
Price has long cherished the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. When she was approximately seven or eight years old, she would read them to her younger sister, Linda. Price received the Rocky Ridge Review, a type of periodical that provides information about the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. Price has been a quilter for many years and even created her own Little House on the Prairie quilt.
She also possesses a "laundry stove" that would have been used by Laura in the past. Price joined a club years ago where members could purchase a new Little House character each month.
Price proudly displays her collection of porcelain dolls featuring Ma, Pa, Mary, Karrie, Laura, Grace, Almonzo, and Nellie. She possesses an original series of Little House on the Prairie books.
While Price would love to travel back to Mansfield, Missouri, she appreciates her small piece of something that has been dear to her since she was a child.Price, a longtime educator at South Ripley Schools, first taught at Holton and then at South Ripley before retiring.
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