LHOTP

I am enjoying reading the Little House series. I'm reading Farmer Boy now. I'm at Spring Time. Right now a starved dog is protecting the family from robbers. Seems a con man came to buy a horse from the Wilder family. The con man finally paid the family the full worth of the horse and took the horse. It was too late to go to town and deposit the money. Apparently the con man has partners that come later in the night and invade the house and demand the money. 

My other favorite is THE TRAVEL DIARY of Laura Ingalls Wilder. There are three books in this one. First is 1894, second 1915, and third is 1931. I read 1915 almost 20 years ago. It was letters she wrote to Almanzo Wilder on her way to San Francisco for the world fair. Her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, would write letters later, as well. At one point Laura fell off a trolley and badly injured. The trolley company found her culpable because she stood up.  Problem is the trolley was FULL. ALso on this trip Rose tells her Pa that her Ma is starting to get fat.

The book shows a picture of Laura in modern dress for 1931(3rd book). Books one and three are reciprocals if each other. In 1894 the Wilder's left De Smet, South Dakota for Mansfield, Missouri. In 1931 they reverse that travel. From Mansfield, Missouri to De Smet, South Dakota. What's the difference now? A LOT! Horse to motor car. Dirt road to highway. Utilities! Running water and electricity could be found at the travel lodges they stayed at. No sleeping in covered wagons for them! Both books detail the area, buildings, towns/cities, etc...  The first book 1894, showed them taking up to two months to get from A to B. every day they travelled city to city and stopped. In 1931 they took the original highway 71. Hours passed and so did MANY cities. What once took weeks and months now took hours and days. 

I want to do a comparison between the two. I've already started making notes about what to compare. I'll keep you up to date.