Before the fame of Little House, before Walnut Grove became a household name, Laura Ingalls Wilder lived through one of the most difficult—and least documented—chapters of her life in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

In 1890, following illness, financial ruin, and the death of their infant son, Laura, Almanzo, and young Rose moved in with Almanzo’s family in Spring Valley. For nearly 18 months, they found refuge in the Wilder home and worshipped at the Spring Valley Methodist Church. Though Laura never wrote about this time directly, the town’s records and Wilder family ties reveal a story of quiet resilience, spiritual grounding, and recovery.

In this episode, Lenora and Preston uncover the threads of Laura’s time in Fillmore County—from church registries to museum archives—and reflect on why this chapter, though unwritten, still matters. It’s a story not of prairie winds, but of healing in the stillness.

Sources Referenced

The Laura Ingalls Wilder “Connection”, Mary Jo Dathe

The Wilder Family Story, Dorothy Smith