About This Quiz
If Laura had a remembrance book, there's one thing she'd want to put in it: her adventures in the American Midwest. The TV series, though, was only loosely based on the book series, and took liberties with the story over its nine seasons. Albert Ingalls, for instance, appears only on the show. Mary's husband, too. See how much you remember about the pioneer life of the Ingalls family and the town of Walnut Grove.Charles calls Laura "half-pint." The nickname is used in both the book and TV series, and comes from a quote of him saying, "Where's my little half-pint of sweet cider half drunk up?”
Although her Pa worries about the 10-year age difference between his daughter and Almanzo, he gives them his blessing when Laura turns 18.
Mary's husband Adam, played by Linwood Boomer, regains his sight after an accident. You may also recognize Linwood Boomer as the creator of the TV series "Malcolm in the Middle."
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While all of these actresses appeared on "Little House," Shannen Doherty played role of Jenny Wilder. Jenny is the daughter of Almanzo's brother Royal Wilder. When Royal dies, she's adopted by Almanzo and Laura.
Merlin Olsen, who played Jonathan Garvey, was selected to the Pro Bowl 14 times in a row during his 15-year NFL career as a defensive tackle with the Rams.
Charles Ingalls had many jobs, but he never ran the mercantile. In Walnut Grove, it was the Oleson family who ran the mercantile.
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Although not every episode has narration, Laura's character was often the voice-over.
Because Walnut Grove didn't have a jail, anyone who was awaiting trial cooled their heels in the Oleson's ice house.
Laura's horse, Bunny, won the first Hero Township horse race against Nellie Oleson's thoroughbred, Sparks. Patty is Bunny's mother. And Barnum? That's Almanzo's horse.
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Although they originally tried using a curling iron to get those perfectly fat ringlets in Alison Arngrim's hair, after the first few weeks of filming Arngrim started wearing a wig.
Mary's blindness is blamed on scarlet fever in both the book and TV series. Today, though, based on newspaper and first-hand reports of her illness, scientists believe she was afflicted with optic neuritis caused by an inflammatory brain disease, viral meningoencephalitis.
Laura's favorite perfume is lemon verbena. How do we know? Mr. Edwards gives it to her twice throughout the series: once when she's a kid, and then once when she's an adult.
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A widower, Isaiah Edwards' meets Grace Snider at the Walnut Grove post office and the two began courting. They married and adopted three children: John Jr., Alicia and Carl Sanderson.
Almanzo Wilder, whom she would marry, called Laura "Beth." (It was Harriet Oleson who called Almanzo, "Zaldano.")
Before she became one of the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," Kim Richards, who is aunt to socialite Paris Hilton, was a child actor. Among her roles included Olga on "Little House."
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At 16, Laura, who passes her teacher's exam, begins a teaching position in Currie. (And Mary's first teaching position was in the small town of Willow Run.)
When hardship hits, many residents of Walnut Grove move to Winoka, including the Ingalls family. While there, they manage the Dakota Hotel, owned (as everything in the town is) by Mr. Standish. The Dakota is conveniently located near Mary and Adam at the Winoka School for the Blind.
Composer David Rose is also known for his work composing for "Bonanza," "Father Murphy" and "Highway to Heaven" -- all involving Michael Landon, but he did not compose for the show "Cheyenne" (in which Landon had a small role).
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Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh were the twins who appeared as Grace Ingalls, in Seasons 5 through 8. Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush were also twins who appeared on the show, as Caroline "Carrie" Ingalls.
Unlike the real-life Pa Ingalls, Michael Landon could not and did not play the fiddle during the show.
Before you knew him as Ralphie in the holiday movie "A Christmas Story" in 1982, Peter Billingsley appeared on an episode of "Little House" as a new boy in town, teased because of his stutter.
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Karen Grassle was using her stage name, Gabriel Tree, at the time she auditioned for Caroline Ingalls. It was Michael Landon who asked her to use her given name on the series.
Yes, it is! It's the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, which is dedicated to the Little House on the Prairie books and the Ingalls family.
Michael Landon appeared in a lot of episodes, 177 of them! He also directed almost 90 episodes. But it's Melissa Gilbert who tops this list though.
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It's probably not a coincidence that Sean Penn's acting debut was on a 1974 episode of "Little House" directed by his father, Leo Penn. (In the same episode, Sean Penn's mother played the character Mrs. Kennedy.)
Mary and John Jr., Mr. Edwards' adopted son, were engaged to be married. Mary, sensing his unhappiness and the growing distance in their relationship, bows out, and John Jr. goes to study at the university.
All of these Minnesota towns -- Sleepy Eye, Sanborn and Tracy -- were among those that were day trips by stagecoach for the residents of Hero Township.
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Lars Hanson, who also owned the town's lumber mill, founded Walnut Grove.
The role of Etta Plum, one of Walnut Grove's schoolteachers, was played by Michael Landon's daughter, Leslie Landon, from 1982 to 1984.
Merlin Olsen and Michael Landon, along with other "Little House" alums, were back on the 1870s American frontier in "Father Murphy."
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E.J. André appeared seven times as these five different characters: Amos Thoms; Jed Cooper (twice); Matthew Simms, St. Peter and Zachariah (twice). He did play a character named Eugene Bullock on the show "Dallas" during the same time he made appearances on "Little House."
The "Little House on the Prairie" two-hour pilot episode, which closely followed the written story of the Ingalls family move from Wisconsin to the Kansas prairie, aired in March 1974. It was directed by Michael Landon, who agreed to direct if he also played the role of Charles Ingalls.
After working at CNBC in 2012, Melissa Francis got her own show on Fox News Channel, "MONEY with Melissa Francis," as well as anchor of the Fox News Channel's afternoon news show, "America's News HQ." Her TV brother, James, was played by Jason Bateman, whom today is probably best known for his role as Michael Bluth on the sitcom "Arrested Development."
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Melissa Gilbert has said she got a nose job during those nine seasons she played Laura Ingalls. But unlike today, no one posted photos of it online.
In "Little House: The Last Farewell," the town really was destroyed. As the story went in the series finale, it turns out a railroad tycoon actually owns the land the town is built on. The residents destroy their town themselves rather than let the tycoon do it. In real life, the buildings were all blown up for the finale -- except for the Ingalls' homestead. Although the iconic house was spared, in 2003 it was destroyed by California wildfires that ravaged the area.