A Wilder in the West

What comes to mind when you hear the name Eliza Jane Wilder? Young Almanzo Wilder's bossy older sister in Farmer Boy? Laura and Carrie Ingalls's unkind, inept schoolteacher in Little Town on the Prairie?

The Laura Ingalls Wilder scholar William Anderson wrote a miniature biography of Eliza Jane titled A Wilder in the West. The book describes sides of her that aren't fully developed in the "Little House" books. For example, she lived a very independent life in a day and age when women didn't conventionally live alone. In fact, she filed her own homestead claim in the De Smet, South Dakota area, around the same time the Ingalls family moved there. Later, she had a large influence on Laura's daughter Rose Wilder Lane during Rose's last years of high school. Oh, and I forgot to include some important biographical information: Eliza Jane lived from 1850 to 1930.

Read about some of William Anderson's other books in my previous posts.
Thanks for reading LHCO! Come back soon for more "Little House"-inspired trivia.
Elizabeth
Like my facebook page
Follow my Little House boards on pinterest
Follow me on twitter