The Ingalls settle on the banks of Plum Creek in Walnut Grove. To get the farm set up, Charles must take on several jobs at once. He promises one person that if he didn't get the job done in the specified time, the person could have his oxen.
Laura and Mary start school for the first time. That is where they meet Nellie Oleson. Since Laura hasn't been to school before, she tries especially hard with her schoolwork. The students have to write an essay to present in front of the class. Laura recites what she would have written on the paper if she could have, instead of what was actually written on it.
In the beginning, things look very good for the Ingalls until a bad hailstorm ruins their crops. Charles and some other farmers must leave to look for work. They end up working in a quarry. While Charles is away, Caroline is able to get the women of Walnut Grove to join together to harvest the remaining crops.
While Charles is in Mankato, he runs into Mr. Edwards and invites him to come to Walnut Grove. Caroline tries to match Mr. Edwards up with Grace Snider, but instead she just ends up in the way since Mr. Edwards is able to charm Grace all by himself. Although there are a couple problems that must be overcome, things turn out for the best in the end.
Laura falls in love with a new student, Johnny Johnson. Johnny, who is a lot older than Laura, is interested in Mary instead. Although Mary is not interested in Johnny, Laura's actions cause tension between the sisters. When Charles finds this out, he is appalled that either of his girls is involved with Johnny.
After her friend dies, Miss Amy, an old lady, convinces the Ingalls and Doc Baker to help her stage her own death. Amy thought this was the only way to get her family to come and see her.
Laura becomes good friends with a lonely schoolmate, Olga, who has one leg that is shorter than the other. Charles secretly helps Olga by building her an elevated shoe. When Olga's father finds out he is upset at Charles until he sees Olga running and playing with the other school children.
Charles and Caroline decide to go on a second honeymoon and leave Mr. Edwards in charge of the children. The honeymoon doesn't turn out very well because Caroline keeps worrying about the children. Back at home, Mr. Edwards has his hands full with Carrie.
After Ms. Beadle sprains her ankle, Caroline becomes the substitute teacher. Caroline takes a special interest in helping an older student, Abel, learn to read. One day Mrs. Oleson shows up and causes Abel to quit school. Because of this Caroline quits, but returns after she convinces Abel to give school another chance.
Charles allows Laura to adopt a baby raccoon, Jasper. After being caged, the raccoon bites Laura and Jack and runs away. The family fears that Laura and Jack might have rabies until a healthy Jasper returns.
The town becomes divided when Mrs. Oleson offers to buy a bell for the church, but only if she can put up a plaque. The differences and arguing begin to affect the school children. A mute craftsman, Tinker Jones, steps in and with the help of the school children, is able to make a bell.
While studying for an optional history exam in the barn, Mary accidentally knocks over a reading lamp and starts a fire. Caroline punishes Mary by telling her she couldn't take the exam. Mary doesn't tell Ms. Beadle this until the day of the exam.
Caroline becomes pregnant. Shortly after the baby is born, he becomes ill.
Believing that her jealousy was responsible for her infant brother's death and that her parents would rather have a son than a spare daughter, Laura climbs the highest hill she can find, hoping to get as close to God as possible to ask Him to take her instead and return the baby boy to the family. While Charles and Mr. Edwards desperately search for her, Laura meets Jonathan, a mystical mountain man who seems to have been sent purposely to guide her through this life-changing experience.
The Christmas holiday is approaching and the members of the Ingalls family go about their holiday shopping in secrecy. Laura is able to buy her mom a stove that she wanted after she sells her horse to Mr. Oleson.
After a major disagreement, Nels and Harriet go their separate ways. Many people in town try to get the two back together.
Dr. Baker and Harriet's niece, Kate, fall in love with each other. Then their age difference becomes an issue.
Several people in Walnut Grove get very sick. A quarantine is set up in the church while the source of the illness is being sought.
A traveling circusman, O'Hara, comes to Walnut Grove and tries to get everyone to believe he has magic healing powders. However, he is really found out when Mrs. Oleson almost loses her life when she tries his healing powders instead of having an operation.
When it is found out that a young boy, Graham, is being beaten by his alcoholic father, John, Caroline takes care of the boy while Charles stays with John to try to get him to stay sober.
A college-educated farmer named Joe moves to Walnut Grove with his pregnant wife. He tells the Walnut Grove-area farmers of a new hybrid of corn that would produce good crops, to which the farmers are very enthused. They decide to buy some of this new seed. While on the way back to Walnut Grove with the seed, Joe gets into an accident, as the farmers wait for his return.
The Ingallses have to seek shelter when a blizzard hits. There they meet an Indian who helps them out. A marshall, looking for the Indian, comes by...
Johnny Johnson leaves to "see the world" and Mr. Edwards goes along with him to keep him out of trouble. Johnny meets up with a girl who is able to trick him out of a lot of money. Mr. Edwards talks to this girl to try to have her convince Johnny to go back home.
Walnut Grove celebrates this great day with several different competitions. There are very competitive spirits between the Olesons and the Ingallses.
After the mill closes, Charles is unable to pay off his debt at the mercantile. Mr. Hanson is forced to close the mill after one of his big customers declares bankruptcy. This was after Hanson had already shipped them a bunch of lumber. Charles had been expecting two months worth of wages before Hanson was forced to close down. Charles must taken on several jobs at the same time. Mary gets a job to help the family, while Laura does the chores at home. When the bill finally gets paid, Nels tells Charles that he thinks Charles is the richest man in Walnut Grove, since he has a very loving family.
Mary is beginning to do worse in school because she has a hard time reading the blackboard. When Mary first gets her new glasses, she really likes them. The other school children begin to tease her. She purposely loses her glasses, until she realizes that her teacher, who wears glasses, has a boyfriend.
Laura Ingalls is stunned to learn that her amiable fishing friend is none other than Walnut Grove's new banker, miserly Ebenezer Sprague, and heartbroken when he accuses her of becoming his friend to secure a loan for her family.
It's time for baseball! After losing badly last year, Walnut Grove expects to win with their star pitcher, Mr. Mumford. People in Walnut Grove are so confident that they are going to win, they place bets on the game. However, Mr. Mumford's wife won't let her husband play because of the gambling. Caroline convinces Mr. Mumford's wife to let her husband play on the condition that any money made from the game goes to the church.
Although many in Walnut Grove think he's a homicidal maniac who lives in a haunted house, brave Laura Ingalls befriends mysterious hermit, Amos Pike, and soon discovers the truth behind both the rumors and the old man's reclusive life.
Laura wants to go to the annual Spring Dance with Henry Henderson, while Grace Snyder hopes Mr. Edwards will ask her out. But both men, young and old, are too shy to ask the girls. Caroline decides to teach them a technique she used on Charles to make him jealous. While the two girls shamelessly deceive their beaus, Charles reminds Caroline about the exact circumstances that occurred when she tried it on him.
A widowed mother named Julia Sanderson learns she has a terminal illness, and has no close relatives willing to care for her three children, sons John Jr. and Carl, and daughter Alicia. Charles promises Mrs. Sanderson the children will find a new home. Meanwhile, the relationship between Mr. Edwards and Grace Snyder begins to really blossom.
The Ingalls' neighbor, the widow Julia Sanderson, finds out that she will die soon. She asks Charles to find a good home for her three children. After Julia dies, Charles has a difficult time finding someone that will take all three of the children.
The Olesons get themselves invited onto the Ingalls family campout, after Nellie complains that it will give Laura and Mary an advantage for the school holiday project of leaf-collecting. The two man bond while fishing and their wives try to improve their relationship, but the children continue to clash. However, when Nellie falls into a river, her later false account of what happened brings out the same Mrs. Oleson. Back at the school. the result of the leaves project gives some satisfaction to Laura and Mary.
While fishing in a stream, Laura and a friend stumble upon "gold". They spend several weeks trying to pick up all of the gold. When they bring it to the bank, they learn that it is only fool's gold.
The school children have saved up some money to buy the Reverend a birthday present. They give the money to Mary, who is in charge of buying the present. Laura convinces Mary to buy something that they could sell to people with the hope that they could buy Reverend Alden a better gift. The plan backfires.
John is a lot more interested in books than farming or hunting. Mr. Edwards tries to make him different and buys him a gun for his birthday.
Laura and Nellie are rivals for the affections of a classmate's heart. The two polar opposites are after Jason, the new kid at school who is into inventions. Both of them have crushes on Jason, but Jason - who is into inventions and electricity - only has feelings for Laura...
Mary is excited when she has the chance to participate in a state-wide math competition. The problem is that Charles can't afford to have her go.
Charles and his girls go on a trip, while Caroline stays home. Just before they leave, she gets a scratch on her leg by a rusty nail. At first, everything seems OK. However, as time progresses, she gets weaker and more ill.
Mary, Laura, and Mr. Edwards' adopted son, Carl, go along with Charles and Mr. Edwards to a train station. The three children wander into the caboose. The caboose then begins to move backwards, going faster and faster. Another train is coming the opposite direction...
When Miss Beadle can no longer handle the older students' bullying, she is fired. Her mean-spirited succecssor immediately clashes with Laura, and unfairly blames her for several incidents in the classroom.
Charles, Mr. Edwards, and two other men take a job that involves handling and transporting explosives. They must deal with many things along the road, including prejudice.
Charles takes a job refinishing woodwork for Thurman in exchange for a nice set of china to give to Caroline. Widow Thurman was a lovely, young lady. To keep his secret, Charles had to lie. After he tells the girls and Caroline different stories, everyone suspects that Charles is having an affair.
The Independence Day celebration in Walnut Grove is threatened when taxes are increased. A Russian immigrant shows the people why America is a great place. Even though the immigrant lost his land since he couldn't pay his taxes, he was happy to be in America. He considered it to be the best place to live in the world.
The son of Mrs. Whipple returns to Walnut Grove after serving in the Civil War. To forget his painful past, he takes morphine, which he becomes addicted to.
After a tornado ruins his crop, Charles decides to sell the land and return to the Big Woods of Wisconsin without consulting his family.
Reverend Alden gets sick while collecting donations. Caleb Hodgekiss, an ex-convict, helps the Reverend by giving him a place to stay and volunteering to get the donations from Walnut Grove. Caleb poses as a friend of the Reverend so that he might get donations which he initially planned to keep for himself.
Nellie falls off of Bunny and pretends to be paralyzed. Mrs. Oleson blames Laura for this and wants to destroy Bunny.
Laura and her horse, Bunny, are picked to win at the horse race in town. Since Mrs. Oleson doesn't want Laura to win, she buys a great thoroughbred for Nellie to ride.
Carrie, having tagged along on Laura and Mary's classroom assignment, falls down a mine shaft, providing an alcoholic ex-miner a chance at redemption.
Laura's imagination runs wild on Halloween when she thinks she sees Nels cut off Mrs Oleson's head. Laura tells Nellie and Willie what she saw. Since the Oleson kids know that their mother is really out of town, they decide to scare Laura a little bit more. Everything is straightened up when Mrs. Oleson comes back.
Charles' father, Lansford Ingalls, doesn't want to live after his wife dies. Charles brings his father to Walnut Grove to help him out. When Laura's horse gets hurt, she blames her grandpa.
Lansford leaves because he feels really bad. Once Laura realizes that her grandpa wasn't to blame for the accident, she looks for Lansford and convinces him to come back home.
Laura is tricked into taking a "one of a kind" billy goat home with her. After Fred eats some of the Ingalls' crops, Laura is forced to get rid of the billy goat. Every person that Laura wanted to give the billy goat to resulted in a funny time. Laura finally decides to set him free in the wild.
Rev. Alden's pleas to "turn the other cheek" is put to the test when a family of ruffians move to Walnut Grove and cause trouble.
Pa decides to take Laura hunting with him. When Charles and Laura are getting settled down for the night, Laura trips over her dad's gun and sets it off. Charles is badly wounded. Laura runs to get help, but the only person she can find is a blind person, Sam. Since Sam just recently became blind, he knew his way around somewhat. After getting lost a few times, Sam and Laura finally find Mr. Edwards' home. Mr. Edwards gets a doctor, who saves Mr. Ingalls. Thanks to Laura, Sam learned that just because he was blind didn't mean he had to stay at home and do nothing.
The day before Christmas vacation started, Miss Beadle lets the children out early when she notices that a snowstorm is beginning. The children aren't able to make it home before the storm starts. The men of Walnut Grove search for the children while Doc Baker takes care of the frostbitten children that show up at the school.
Mary and John have fallen deeply in love and want to get married, but John has a problem. He must decide if he will accept a scholarship and go to college or stay with Mary. At first Mary doesn't want him to go until she and John both realize that he must take the scholarship to try to make his dreams of becoming a writer a reality.
Mr. Edwards and Doc Baker help a nearby town with an epidemic case of mountain fever. When Mr. Edwards returns, a quarantine is placed on Walnut Grove. Alicia, Mr. Edward's adopted daughter comes down with the disease. Mr. Edwards tries to help his daughter. Laura, not knowing about the disease, goes to visit Alicia and Mr. Edwards. Laura ends up taking care of the both of them while they recover.
The school children are allowed to put on plays in groups. Laura and Mary work with Ginny Clark, a student who has no father. Ginny wants her mother to date, but her mother, Della, doesn't believe she looks good enough. Ginny sells her long beautiful hair so she can buy her mother a new dress. Della at first accuses Ginny of stealing money until she sees that her daughter has cut her hair.
Joseph Stokes is the son of a Sioux Indian who moves to Walnut Grove with his widowed mother. They stay with his grandpa, Jeremy. Jeremy doesn't like Joseph because he is embarrassed that his daughter married an Indian. At school, Joseph is being bullied. Jeremy finally accepts Joseph when he sees his grandson face the bullies
Mary has an accident with a horse in the barn. When Mary starts to get worse, the Ingalls take her to a specialist. There they learn that Mary needs an immediate operation.
Caroline stays with Mary who suddenly needs another operation. Charles leave and take on a high risk job to pay for the operation for Mary and Mr. Edwards goes with him. They take a job as a couple of Powder Monkeys making a tunnel for the railroad. But safety is far at the back of Charles' mind as he takes risks, refusing to stop even when a funeral of a Chinese worker takes place. This rush inevitably causes a cave-in where Charles and Harris are buried.
Solomon Henry, an eleven year old black boy, runs away from his family because he's tired of everybody treating him different. He goes to live with the Ingalls. The Ingalls learn many important things and Laura learns an important lesson : Don't take things for granted. The Ingalls convince Solomon to be proud of his heritage. Solomon goes back to his family in the end.
Laura befriends a new girl, Anna, who stutters and has a hard time making friends. A jealous Nellie starts an elite club and although she invites Laura, she leaves Anna out. While at the Olesons, Laura steals one of Nellie's music boxes.
As a prank to make him look foolish, the older boys of Walnut Grove school nominate the object of their practical jokes, gentle Elmer Dobkins, to run for class president against popular Mary Ingalls and wealthy Nellie Oleson. While Mary and Nellie wage their campaigns with promises of popcorn and gum balls, Mr. Dobkins witnesses his son being teased by the older boys and, when he finds out why Elmer was nominated, angrily orders him to pull out of the election. But, when election day comes and the race seems too close to call, a cruel act and children tired of being bullied decide the outcome.
After having their crops destroyed, the Ingalls leave Walnut Grove to try their luck at striking it rich. After being at the gold mines for a while, the Ingalls realize that greed has been poisoning their minds. They leave to go home instead of looking for more gold.
A heavy rain has been falling in Walnut Grove for two months, and it shows no signs of stopping. Farmers like Charles fear that their families will go hungry, and after reading an article in the newspaper, they take a 400-mile journey with their wives and children for a temporary new life in Gold Country. Things start out pretty well when Charles and Isaiah dig up some gold, but Laura and Carl get a completely different perspective from a new friend that they meet near their camp site. Meanwhile, Caroline opens and teaches a school in a tent, right in the middle of town, but it proves to be a less-than-ideal learning environment for everyone.
When Laura's dog, Jack, dies, her Pa gives her a new dog, Bandit, after the dog follows him home. Although the dog seems very friendly to Laura, Laura doesn't want it. When Laura later visits Aunt Kezia, a lonely women, she realizes that she really loves Bandit.
After going to Chicago for the first time, Charles and Mary are very disappointed in what life in the city is really like.
A mother is in deep denial over her daughter's death in a tragic drowning. To comfort herself, she kidnaps Laura, hoping she will take her late daughter's place.
Charles must take a delivery to Mankato immediately and is unable to finish the addition to his house. Caroline hires a handsome man, Chris, to finish the house. Mary suspects that her Ma and Chris are falling in love.
Charles and Caroline go away and leave Mary in charge. Laura and Andy find some baby wolves.
Things are being stolen in Walnut Grove. Laura and Andy try to figure out who's the crook. They end up getting a lot of people mad at them, including Mr. Ingalls, especially after his hair turns green.
When Doc Baker is unable to save a patient of his, he believes that he is unhappy being a doctor. He finds a new doctor for the town. Doc Baker stays on when he realizes that the new doctor really doesn't care about his patients.
Jesse and Frank James hide out in Walnut Grove. The people of Walnut Grove find out who they really are when bounty hunters come looking for them.
After Mr. Garvey's barn burns to the ground with the crops inside, his wife, Alice, takes a job at the post office. Mr. Garvey opposes this believing that a man should be able to support his family. He is ready to get a divorce until he realizes what his stubborn pride was doing to his family.
People in Walnut Grove are betting on a big boxing match in town. Mr. Ingalls does not know that he will be fighting an extremely sick person. That's why Charles is surprised in the ring when he is able to defeat his opponent so quickly. After his opponent collapses, he is brought to Doc Baker. Doc Baker is able to save him but warns him that he needs to stop fighting.
The Ingallses and Olesons take a trip to the fair. Patrick, a carnival worker and Mary's boyfriend, and his boss, Cass (a balloonist and suave ladies man) vie for Mary's attention; Charles and Nels entering a jackass riding contest; and Carrie has her own adventure.
Adam Simms and his son Luke move into town. Adam falls in love with Miss Beadle, while Luke and Nellie Oleson fall for each other. After Miss Beadle talks to Nellie about love and marriage, Nellie and Luke decide to get married.
An Indian boy comes to Walnut Grove trying to get help for his sick father. The people of Walnut Grove become very hostile toward the Indians. Thanks to Mr. Ingalls' help the Indians are able to escape.
Charles must try to save his business from a competitor. Laura, who is love with Jimmy Hill, must compete with somebody else for him.
Mary eagerly accepts a teaching job in a backwoods community, only to face the sternest test of her career and life when she meets the community's leader: an elderly woman who is totally against education but has concealed a shameful secret.
Mr. Ingalls is severely delayed when a wheel breaks on his wagon in the pouring rain. This is the day of Charles and Caroline's wedding anniversary. Everything had been all prepared and set up for that day. When Charles doesn't show up in time, Caroline tells the children how hard it was to get Charles to notice her and how many heartbreaks she had before she finally knew that Charles loved her.
When Laura is playing along a creek, she finds a bottle with a note in it. The note read, "Be my friend." Laura convinces Pa to help her look for the person who sent the note. They end up finding a baby. Charles then searches for the parents of the child. The baby belongs to teen parents. The reason the mother left the baby for the Ingalls to find was because her dad was opposed to her being with the guy she conceived the child with. The young parents take the baby and try things again.
When Charles learns that he's inherited the estate of a wealthy uncle, the Ingalls family find themselves on the brink of a new way of life.
Nels' brother sends his 12-year-old son to Walnut Grove after repeated conflicts at home and school. When Mrs. Oleson interferes in her husband's plans to rehabilitate his nephew, Nels asks Charles to step in and teach the boy some values.
Charles and Caroline are going to have another baby. Caroline constantly refers to the baby as he. Caroline delivers the baby sooner than expected causing Charles to be the doctor. The baby ends up being a girl, Grace.
Mary falls in love with Seth. When Mary's eyesight starts to get worse, Charles takes her to a specialist. He is devastated when the specialist tells him that Mary will lose her sight. Charles is unable to tell Mary for a while that she is going blind. When Mary does go blind, the whole family suffers.
Charles and Caroline sign Mary up for the blind school in Iowa. At first, Mary is very reluctant to learn anything at the school. However, after being with her teacher, Adam Kendall, for a while, she turns her outlook on life around. Mary is such a great student that Adam asks her to help her teach at a blind school with him.
Poor economic conditions cause the Ingalls to move closer to Mary. Mary is now teaching at the blind school. The Ingalls move to be closer to Mary, where she helps teach the younger blind students. Laura catches an orphan, Albert, stealing from their hotel. Charles becomes friends with Albert and invites him to Mary's birthday party.
Charles even sells his fiddle to buy Mary a gift. At the party, Mary gives Pa his fiddle back. Laura gives Mary a card. Mary is so proud of Laura writing the letter in braille. Almost everyone is in tears, including Mrs. Oleson, when Mary announces that she has nothing to wish for, since she has everything that she could possibly want.
A blind student feels he is useless. He is reluctant to do anything at the blind school. The student gains self-confidence when he is talked into being the center for the Winoka football team. He is able to throw Albert across the goal line during the game to score the tying touchdown for the Winoka Warriors, keeping the Warriors from losing.
Amelia, a new girl that Laura meets in school, is ashamed of her very overweight father. Her father works at the blind school where Mary works. All the blind students like him a lot. They claim that they can see his love. One day, Laura and some other students from school, start making fun of the overweight person, not knowing that they were making fun of Amelia's father. Amelia's father pretends to leave town since his girl is so ashamed of him. He hides out at the blind school. When he is involved in an accident, Amelia reveals to her dad how much she loves him.
Toby Noe wins a lottery of $5,000 and becomes a man of means. He buys the children a cartload of fireworks, for an annual celebration. Standish dupes Toby into losing all his money using cards and drink at the saloon. Everything comes to a head as the fireworks go off in the saloon. The Ingalls, Olesons, and Garveys get tired of the bustling city life during all this (Nels getting drunk and wins a whole pile of money), and they decide quickly to return to Walnut Grove. The Ingalls take Albert along with them.
As the Ingalls, Garveys and Olesons return to Walnut Grove they discover a town that is badly in need of repair. With a lot of hard work, from everyone around them, they're able to get the town back to its old self, helping a number of people who feel they are living in a dead town, like Lars Hanson.
Laura feels ignored and left out when Charles spends all of his time with Albert and the calf given to Albert. Albert runs away after overhearing Charles and Caroline talking about Laura not feeling that she is part of the family anymore. Laura takes Albert's calf to the fair and wins first place. She dedicates the award to Albert. Albert, who is secretly hiding and watching the show, comes out when he hears Laura's heartfelt words.
Mrs. Oleson's cousin starts a newspaper in Walnut Grove, and she uses the fledgling small-town publication as her forum for gossip. It isn't long before the newspaper creates havoc and embarrassment for the townspeople, leading Charles to take matters into his own hands.
Adam finally asks Mary to marry him. She begins having second thoughts when her parents starting talking about being grandchildren and how hard it was to keep track of Mary when she was little. Mary begins to wonder if she could take care of a child. A blind child gets caught in a dust storm and is found by Mary and Adam. After this, Mary realizes that she has nothing to worry about. They get married by Reverend Alden.
Jonathan and Charles allow their boys to prove their manhood by allowing them to take a trip to Sleepy Eye by themselves. Jonathan and Charles secretly follow the boys. The boys end up making the trip with no problems at all. However, the fathers get into some embarrassing situations following their boys.
Andy Garvey's mother is embarrassed by her son's performance at school. She hires Nellie Oleson to tutor him. Nellie reveals to Andy how she gets such good grades. Nellie makes Andy keep the secret of Nellie cheating. Andy eventually admits what he has been doing and his mother makes sure that Nellie isn't able to cheat on the next test.
When the blind school closes up, the people of Walnut Grove decide to make the old Reverend's house a blind school. Charles leads the students to their new school. Mrs. Oleson comes along on the trip because she believes that a prominent person will be with them. + This story is in part about racism. It begins with Joe Kagan's membership to the church in Walnut Grove, something Mrs. Oleson is very much against as he is black. Elsewhere, the blind school is forced to close. Charles and Joe Kagan lead the group of blind students through the woods to their new school in Walnut Grove, but not before Harriet has joined them, willing and eager because she hears they will be joined by more blind students and their teacher, who isn't blind, Hester-Sue Terhune. Harriet says the name Terhune is very prominent and it must be a sophisticated woman with a great upbringing. She buys a new dress and even wears a fancy wig. Harriet walks as she refuses to sit next to Joe Kagan on one of the wagons.
When Mrs. Oleson meets Hester-Sue Terhune she is very disappointed to discover she is black. Hester-Sue has bought black children to join the rest of the blind school and they all continue the journey onwards to Walnut Grove. In the end it takes the words of a little blind black boy to teach her that prejudice is wrong, and Harriet comes to a crossroads in her life, whilst Adam will have to face his deepest fear as he comes to a crossing of his own.
In this episode starring twins Lindsey and Sidney Greenbush, Charles takes a job on a telephone crew that is working in southern Minnesota, which requires him to be away from home for several weeks. Carrie, heartsick for her Pa and craving attention, only manages to get into everybody else's way, so the lonesome tyke creates an imaginary friend, Alyssa, to ease the pain.
A story about bigotry. Albert becomes an apprentice of an old Jew, Isaac. The people in school call Albert a Jew-lover and beat him up. Albert learns a sense of pride from Isaac. Albert and Isaac become the best of friends.
After a boy is in an accident, he pretends to be blind to keep his parents from getting divorced. Laura discovers that the boy isn't blind, but doesn't tell his parents because the boy pleads with her not to. The boy is involved in another accident and has a concussion. The concussion causes him to not remember his pretending to be blind.
Toby Noe turns up again after the Ingalls, Garveys and Olesons decided to leave the town Standish owned (episode 93, There's No Place Like Home (1)). He makes an immediate impact, stirring things up, especially with Amanda. Laura and Albert do some matchmaking for the upcoming dance.
Mary is expecting a child. Mary is able to get Adam closer to his father because of the expectancy of a child. His father even suggests that Mary and Adam come live with him. After Mary has a miscarriage, Mary and Adam really find out that Adam's father only wanted to be with Adam because of the baby. They decide to remain in Walnut Grove.
Mrs. Olesen forecloses on the lakefront property of Kezia, and she, Nellie and Willie cause no end of grief for the elderly recluse. Laura, Andy and Albert hatch a "get even" plan by claiming a monster lives in the lake.
It all starts when a local farmer, who is hateful and bigoted, refuses to set a fair price for wheat, since black farmers would be entitled to the same price. The whole thing escalates when the farmer assaults Andy and is later accused of setting fire to the Garvey's barn.
Mary starts to be able to distinguish light from dark and the Ingalls believe she is regaining her sight. Mary is taken to the specialist only to discover that a brain impulse was causing her to see light when she felt the heat from the sun coming through a window. While Mary is away, Albert and Laura fix up Mr. Edwards' old home. However, the only colors of paint that the mercantile has is pink and purple. Mary returns and talks to Laura in the old Edwards' cabin. Laura tells Mary that her and Albert were building a club house. Mary tells Laura she is glad she can't see the room after Laura tells her what colors they used.
Charles stays with a family while looking for some horses to buy. The children of the family asks Mr. Ingalls if he could possibly do something to keep their parents from splitting up. Thanks to Charles talking to the husband and the wife, they decide to stay together and work things out.
Charles and Jonathan meet with danger as deadly as the disease they left behind them when they are sent for the medical supplies needed to battle an outbreak of anthrax in Walnut Grove.
Albert and Laura leave home to run away with their friend, Dylan. Dylan, who is dying from leukemia, wants to achieve his life long dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Ingalls catches up with the children, but when he finds out what is going on, he helps them get to the ocean.
The school's new teacher is Ms. Wilder. Laura falls in love with Ms. Wilder's brother Almanzo. Laura is crushed when Nellie invites Almanzo over for dinner. Laura gets even with Nellie by volunteering to cook dinner for them. Laura adds some hot spices to the chicken and since Nellie had said that she had cooked the meal, Almanzo stays away from Nellie.
When Laura and Nellie get in a fight about the graduation test, Almanzo separates them and takes Laura home with him. When Charles finds out that Almanzo took Laura home with him, Charles goes to Almanzo's place and punches Almanzo because he fears his daughter was being taken advantage of. Laura yells at the fighting pair and tells them that she is no longer a child.
Each student must trace their family tree for a school assignment. Albert is unsure how he can do the assignment. The Ingalls decide to legally adopt Albert, but run into problems when Mr. Quinn, Albert's father shows up. He wants Albert until he sees him. Albert pretends to be blind with the hope that his father wouldn't want him. The blindness does the trick. Albert is legally adopted by the Ingalls.
Adam wins a prestigious award. Laura and Albert give the Christmas money they had made from collecting honey, to Adam and Mary to go on a trip to receive the award. The stagecoach is involved in a very serious accident.
A circus comes to Walnut Grove. Everybody is helping set up, except Nels Oleson. His long, lost sister is in the circus. Only Mrs. Oleson believes her husband's story about his sister. Nels is nominated to be the announcer at the circus. When he announces his sister, he says, "My sister, Annabelle." These words lead to Nels and Annabella becoming very close siblings.
Mrs. Craig is in love with Reverend Alden. Although Mrs. Oleson tries to stop Reverend Alden from marrying Mrs. Craig, the wedding goes on as planned.
Albert's imagination starts to get the better of him when he dreams that he and Laura are taken by Indians.
After an accident where a tree falls on him, Mr. Edwards is injured and can't walk properly and feels like he is only half a man. Charles and Laura visit him, where Mr. Edwards seems to come out of his dark mood at seeing Laura. Charles, Mr. Edwards and Laura go on a hunting trip, where Mr. Edwards has deadly intent on his mind. Charles then resorts to a serious tactic to help his friend.
Jonathan is tricked into believing that he is a good wrestler. Jimmy Hart tricks Jonathan into believing this just to make money off of Jonathan. The local region is betting heavily including many residents of Walnut Grove who stand to lose a lot of money. Mrs. Oleson is betting heavily too, with the church funds, which she is treasurer for. Milo has to prove to Jonathan that he has been set up. In the end, Jonathan has Milo (the wrestler he beat in round one), take his place in the wrestling ring.
In this Two-hour special, The Ingalls' spend Thanksgiving reminiscing about their past years in Walnut Grove (via clips from previous episodes). This Thanksgiving special from season 6 of Little House on the Prairie has not been released on DVD Stories include: how their Little House came to be built on Plum Creek (from S01E01), Pa's 100 Mile Walk to get work (S01E03), Laura and her friend finding "gold" in a stream (S02E10), Laura's guilt over the loss of her baby brother (S01E13/14), Nellie's horse accident on Bunny (S03E02), the horse race (S03E03), the death of Grandma Ingalls' and visit by Grandpa Ingalls' (S03E06/07).
A preacher who works as a faith healer establishes a congregation in Walnut Grove, taking parishioners from Rev. Alden's church. But things grow deadly serious when a teen-age boy dies from a ruptured appendix after being healed from the pain.
Caroline's mother dies while traveling on a train heading for Walnut Grove. Caroline's father takes to the sod house for a while. Albert is the one that convinces him to go fishing with him. Caroline's father tells great stories of the children growing up in the Big Woods. Mr. Ingalls convinces Caroline's father to write down the stories. The Ingalls work hard to save up enough money to get the book published. Caroline's father leaves knowing that he is a published author.
The telephone comes to Walnut Grove, and Mrs. Olesen is hired as the switchboard operator. She takes advantage of her responsibilities to engage in her favorite pastime: gathering gossip. It will have a very damaging effect on the Garveys' marriage when she learns about Alice's hidden past.
Todd was a boy who got beaten up by his drunk father. Now Todd is 17 and is visiting his grandparents in Walnut Grove. Todd quickly gets into trouble. Charles puts Todd in jail when his watch is stolen. Todd is forced to work on Mr. Ingalls' farm. This causes Todd to learn to become a nicer person.
Walnut Grove has a school bully, Bart. Albert and Laura want to teach the bully a lesson. Albert dresses up as a werewolf, but the bully doesn't buy it when Carrie comes out and tells Albert and Laura that she'll tell Ma that all of the glue was used by them. Laura and Albert come up with another plan. But in the end, it takes the joint efforts of the school children to get the bully to be nice.
Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls travel to a farmers convention. They want to meet up with some of their old friends. Charles tries to convince the small farmers to stand up to the larger farms. Caroline is ready to go home when she finds out that several of her friends are unhappy with the way their lives have turned out. The Ingalls are more than happy to go back home.
Some escaped convicts take refuge at the blind school during a stormy night. Laura and Mary are held captives there. One of the convicts tells Laura to go get a doctor. Laura goes and gets her Pa. Pretending to be the doctor, Charles is able to disarm the convicts.
A deaf boy learns how to communicate with people when Laura teaches him sign language. The boy falls in love with her.
Albert's careless disposal of smoking materials in the basement of the School for the Blind causes a fire that kills Alice and his nephew, Adam Jr. Albert, Mary and Jonathan all have trouble dealing with the events and the resulting grief.
Albert, Mary and Jonathan - all deeply impacted by the fire at the School For the Blind - continue to deal with their emotions. Charles helps Jonathan realize that his alcoholism has taken a toll on his son, Andy, while Mary snaps out of her shock when she hears the melody of the music box Albert had purchased for her as a gift. But Mary's initial panic soon becomes Albert's when he finally understands his carelessness caused the fire that killed her baby and best friend's mother. Albert runs away, leading Charles and a reformed Jonathan to frantically search for the lad.
Almanzo's younger brother arrives, and Charles hopes Laura might fall for someone closer to her age.
Nels finally gets fed up with his wife and starts his own mobile merchant business. At a boarding house in another town, he meets a lovely young woman ... and nearly gives into temptation when he almost has an affair with her.
Laura gets the opportunity to be a temporary teacher for a nearby town. Almanzo drives her to the school. Laura realizes in this episode that Almanzo also has feelings for her. Their romance steps up another degree in this episode.
Almanzo asks for Laura's hand in marriage. Mr. Ingalls tells Almanzo to wait until Laura was eighteen. Not wanting to wait, Almanzo forces Laura to choose him or respect her father. Laura respects her father's wishes. Almanzo leaves town and causes Laura a lot of heartache. Harriet hires Percival Dalton to help her in the restaurant. Nellie and Percival fall in love and eventually Percival asks Nellie to marry him. Adam's father dies, which means that a new blind school wouldn't be built in Walnut Grove.
Laura helps Adam and Mary set up a new blind school in Sleepy Eye to try to get her mind off of Almanzo. Almanzo gets very sick.
Upon being sold a piece of land, Almanzo is eager to begin building a home for him and Laura. He hires his friend Harv Miller to assist him with his crop. Meanwhile, Laura is offered a teaching job at a faraway school.
Almanzo's dreams of building a home do not go as planned, forcing him to postpone the wedding. Laura has a way for them to earn some money, but his rejection of her idea starts a feud between them.
Jonathan and Andy Garvey move to Sleepy Eye in a quest to rebuild their lives. Jonathan decides to become a deputy sheriff to clean up the town of crime, but his job is a dangerous one that ultimately threatens his young son.
A former football star settles back into his childhood town of Walnut Grove with his wife and son. His zealous coaching is in conflict with Laura's schooling, and his interest in Albert's talent alienates his own son.
The orphanage in Sleepy Eye faces a difficult situation when two young brothers meet with a potential adoptive family. The younger child refuses to speak and shows symptoms of emotional trauma, so the family is only interested in taking the older child. Rather than be separated, the boys run away to the nearby blind school, where the kindly Houston agrees to help. Although the aging Houston would love to adopt them himself, it creates problems that he cannot handle by himself, so Charles and Jonathan must intervene.
16-year-old Annie Crane is a rising artist in Walnut Grove, where she lives with her adoptive parents. When her talent lands her an exhibition in the city, the advertisement draws the attention of her biological mother.
Newlyweds Laura and Almanzo have been bickering more than usual lately, and it escalates when Laura suspects Manly of unfaithfulness.
Albert tries to impress a penpal he figures he'll never see.
Charles and Almanzo expand their business by delivering goods to Sleepy Eye. After arguing about the quickest way to get there, they decide to make it a race.
An accident restores Adam's eyesight.
With his vision restored, Adam is eager to fulfill his dream of becoming an attorney. Meanwhile, Mary is divided in her enthusiasm about his prospects.
A female activist arrives in Walnut Grove to encourage the men to share equal property rights with their wives. After getting into a huge fight about it with her husband, Harriet Oleson goes to live at the hotel. Caroline decides to follow Harriet's lead.
When Percival's parents, Benjamin and Edna, arrive for a visit, Harriet and Benjamin clash miserably over their grandchild's religious upbringing.
Almanzo gets suckered into watching his brother Royal's two bratty boys.
Former boxer Joe Kagan moves to Sleepy Eye to help with the maintenance of the blind school while Adam and Houston are out of town. Joe is still in love with Hester Sue, but she is being courted by another man.
Laura resigns from her teaching position when she is forced to integrate French and art appreciation into the curriculum. Mrs. Oleson takes over the position.
Albert's budding romance with a young girl is complicated when it is discovered that she is expecting.
Albert's girlfriend's pregnancy brings chaos into both their lives.
Adam is officially a lawyer, but his client prospects are slim.
When Laura announces her pregnancy, Caroline believes that she herself is also expecting—until Doc Baker confirms it is menopause.
While making an out-of-town delivery, Albert and Charles meet and travel with the Cooper family. An accident occurs en route with the parents, leaving Charles in charge of their two children.
The Cooper children go home with Charles, but as they're adjusting, a set of adoptive parents arrive.
Percival and Nellie go to New York so that Percival can run the family business now that his father has died. Mrs. Oleson gets very depressed because of Nellie leaving. The Olesons decide to adopt a girl to take the place of Nellie. While they are in Sleepy Eye, they find a girl that looks almost exactly like Nellie when she was young.
Nancy turns out to be worse than Nellie ever was. She even locks another girl in the ice house. The students devise a plan to teach Nancy a lesson. They trick her into being the star in a dunking tank. Also during this episode, Adam and Mary move to New York so that they can earn a living and Hester Sue comes to Walnut Grove to work at the restaurant.
James is trying to be more like Albert. He even wants to shave like Albert has to. While James is shaving, he breaks Albert's razor. James steals a razor from the mercantile hoping Albert wouldn't notice the difference. When the truth is found out about the razor, James runs away. Albert takes off after him. When Albert finds James, it takes a lot of convincing before James decides to come back home with him.
Dr. Baker posts an ad for another doctor, to relieve his workload (and Mrs. Oleson's constant pestering). He hires Dr. Caleb Ledoux, but doesn't count on him being black. The Ingalls are among the very few to accept Dr. Ledoux, as others are outright hateful and racist. Even Dr. Baker struggles with his prejudice and, to show his spite, gives the young doctor minor cases. In the end, Dr. Ledoux is the only doctor available to call on a pregnant woman who is having labor complications. The woman's husband won't allow the doctor in the house (because he's black), and can only get to her when Charles knocks the man aside. Ledoux performs a successful surgery and delivers a son to the couple. A stunned and shaken Dr. Baker witnesses the surgery and concedes that only Caleb's and his superior training could have saved the woman's life. Dr. Ledoux later angrily tells his wife he plans to leave Walnut Grove. But only Dr. Baker's emotional speech at church convinces the good doctor to stay.
Laura goes to visit Eliza Jane because of a literature seminar that is going on in town. Laura has to find a part-time job to pay for meals and other stuff. She ends up hating the job. There is a person who Laura met on the train who begins to like Eliza Jane. Eliza Jane in turn begins to like the professor teaching the seminar and the professor likes Laura. The professor tells Laura that her writing is bad when Laura tells him she is happily married. The man on the train eventually defends Laura's writing. It only takes one punch by the man to get the professor to take off and leave.
In an episode about hero worship, Charles and Nels share deep concerns over an aging circus performer's influence on the children of Walnut Grove. Particularly since some of them - Albert and Willie in particular - have tried some of the daredevil's more dangerous stunts, with mixed results.
Nels is kidnapped by two crooks. The crooks try to get Mrs. Oleson to pay ransom for her husband, but she refuses to. This makes Mr. Oleson upset and causes him to help the crooks. The kidnappers aren't very lucky. After kidnapping several different people, the crooks decide that they need to try another line of work. They leave without hurting any of the kidnapped people.
Charles travels to Chicago to comfort a deeply grieving Mr. Edwards, whose son John Jr. had died in a tragic accident. But that grief soon gives way to rage when it becomes apparent John Jr.'s death was no accident. Charles and Mr. Edwards enlist the aid of the editor of the newspaper where John Jr. worked to uncover the truth.
An overweight boy comes to school at Walnut Grove. The schoolkids pick on him because he is so heavy. Nancy persuades the boy to bully the other school children. The jokes of the school children get so bad that the obese boy decides to quit school. The school children then decide that enough is enough. They go over and apologize to him.
Mrs. Oleson changes the restaurant into a franchise restaurant, She has a hard time living up to the agreement of the franchise. Charles and Nels get together and decide to open up a restaurant of their own, right across the street. The new restaurant forces Mrs. Oleson's restaurant out of business. The town is now back to normal, or at least as normal as it can be.
Mary, Adam, Hester Sue, the Wilders, and the Ingalls are all together for Christmas. The snow begins falling and soon they are snowed in by a blizzard. To pass time, several of them tell stories. Laura talks about the Christmas in Kansas when Mr. Edwards came.
James makes friends with Gideon Hale, a young boy who stutters. However, the budding friendship is damaged when Gideon overhears James making fun of him. A wolf that follows James and Charles on a delivery trip may hold the key for bringing Gideon out of his shell.
Laura finds that balancing her teaching duties at school and managing Almonzo's orchard, while he and Charles are gone on a delivery trip to Arizona, too much to handle. Her heart-to-heart talk with a maturing Willie may hold the key to both their futures in this coming-of-age story.
Charles beings making tables so that he could pass on a legacy. While he is at this, Albert begins taking care of the farm. Charles gets very upset when someone steals his design and starts producing the tables in large quantities. Charles soon realizes that memories of his family is a lot more important.
An elderly relative of James and Cassandra tries to get custody away from Charles. He ends up being unsuccessful in the lawsuit, which means that Charles kept custody of the children.
Hester Sue's ex-husband, Sam, comes to town. He tells Hester Sue that he was no longer a drinker and a gambler. Hester Sue believes he has changed and soon decides to marry him. Hester Sue learns the truth about Sam when his wife and kids come and warn Hester Sue that Sam is still a drinker and gambler.
The Wilders' budding marriage is put to its first major test when Almonzo, soon after recovering from an illness, is felled by a stroke.
Almonzo, bitter at his apparent life-crippling illness, nearly gives up on life, despite the birth of little Rose. His attitude nearly drives Laura to consider leaving her husband. A tornado that destroys the farmstead may hold the key to both of their futures.
Mr. Edwards' alcoholism, fueled by John Jr.'s violent death, ruins his marriage, and he travels back to Walnut Grove to see solace with his old friends. However, those long-standing friendships are put to the test when an accident, caused by a drunken Mr. Edwards, nearly costs Albert his life.
A longtime friend of Caroline writes to her and asks for help. Her friend is pregnant and lives at a gold prospector's camp where there is an outbreak of influenza. Caroline finds out that her friend's husband doesn't like her wife. In fact, he wants his wife's baby to die. Caroline's friend dies during childbirth, but the child survives. In another tent, a mother's child dies while be born. Caroline decides to give the baby to the other mother since she knows that the baby will be taken care of properly.
While Mr. Edwards, Charles, and James are in Sleepy Eye, James gets shot during a bank robbery. James, who is in a coma, is taken to the hospital. While James is in the hospital, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Ingalls, and Albert look for the bank robbers. They find them and bring them to justice. Charles continues to believe that James will get better.
When Charles refuses to admit that James will likely never recover from his gunshot wound, he leaves Walnut Grove with his adopted son. He builds an altar in the woods and hopes that God will bring a miracle.
The Ingalls are forced to sell their house to the Carters and leave Walnut Grove to find a more promising life. Mrs. Carter begins printing a newspaper for Walnut Grove. Etta Plum becomes the teacher in Walnut Grove when Laura decides she wants to spend more time with Rose. Almanzo's brother, Royal, comes to Walnut Grove with his daughter, Jenny.
Royal has a very bad heart and asks Laura and Almanzo to take care of his daughter since he was going to die soon. Jenny is devastated by her father's death. After talking to Reverend Alden about heaven, she tries to commit suicide by drowning so that she could be with her father again. Jeb Carter is able to save Jenny although he can't swim. Laura convinces Jenny that she should do what would make her parents proud.
Harriet finds a bearer bond from Walnut Grove. She uses this to try to get people to follow her suggestions. She tells the town council that if she doesn't get her way, she will cash in the bond which would force the town to pay Mrs. Oleson over $10,000.
Mr. Stark has gotten himself so far in debt that he has lost his mind. He goes home and shoots his wife and daughter. Then he goes off and ends up at Laura's house. He mistakes Laura and Jenny for his wife and daughter, but when he sees Rose, he thinks that his daughter has had a baby.
A tiny circus performer, Lou, decides to look for work in Walnut Grove after his wife dies while giving birth to his baby girl. A prejudice Mrs. Oleson uses her power to make sure that the dwarf doesn't find work. She even threatens Mr. Anderson that she would close her account at the bank if he hired Lou. To keep the infant alive, the dwarf must steal food. Mrs. Oleson decides to press charges when she finds out who stole the food. When Nancy falls in a well, Lou risks his life to save the girl. That's when Mrs. Oleson decides that being small has its advantages and decides to drop all charges.
A traveling side-show comes to Walnut Grove. The main attraction is a wild boy. The wild boy escapes and becomes friends with the Wilders. The boy turns out to be Matthew Roger and the reason he acts wild is become he is given morphine.
Mr. Edwards keeps Matthew at his place, but Nancy Oleson tells on him. A judge comes and rules that Matthew be placed in an institution. Then Mr. Edwards makes a statement that everyone is crazy sometime. He convinces the judge to allow the boy to stay with Mr. Edwards.
Nellie returns to Walnut Grove and discovers that Nancy is a lot worse than she ever was. When Nancy isn't the center of attention, she runs away. Nels and Nellie search until they find her. Just when they think Nancy has learned a valuable lesson, she proves that she really hasn't.
The people of Walnut Grove are at first excited when the railroad wants to build through the town. This excitement doesn't last long. The railroad tells several people that they must leave their houses. The people make a stand at the Carter's place. This delay in building convinces the railroad to find a different route.
Laura's childhood friend, Jane Canfield, comes back to Walnut Grove. Although she is blind, she falls in love with Mr. Edwards, a person who was old enough to be her father. Jane then undergoes an operation which allows her to see again. After a lot of soul searching, Mr. Edwards tells Jane that she should go out and find herself a better life. At the end of the show, we see Mr. Edwards in the distance watching Jane leave on the stagecoach.
A minister that is passing through Walnut Grove arouses the suspicions of Reverend Alden and Mr. Edwards. Reverend Alden believes that he will lose his congregation to the other reverend. Mr. Edwards notices that this minister spends a lot of time with Mrs. Carter and Laura, which causes him to suspect the worse.
Jenny looses a necklace in a pond and almost drowns trying to get it. After the incident, she has partial brain damage and has to retrain herself to talk and walk. Jenny's friend, a retired doctor, helps Jenny to force herself to get better. Thanks to him, Jenny makes a complete recovery.
When Mrs. Carter's mother dies, Sarah Carter's father comes to town. He tries to get the Carters to come with home back to New York. He wants the Carters to have a better life. The Carters tell him that home sweet home is in Walnut Grove. After a while, Sarah's father begins to understand while the Carters feel this way.
The Older Brothers is a gang that used to have a notorious reputation. First they hold up Mr. Edwards but end up losing the money. Then they try to get ransom money for Mr. Edwards but that doesn't go very well.
Laura writes a book for a book writing contest. Her book is chosen. She travels to Minneapolis to work out a deal with the publisher. However, when the publisher wants her to change some parts in her book, she withdraws from the contest and goes back home.
When Albert continually breaks the law, Charles takes him out of the big city and back to Walnut Grove. Albert doesn't change in Walnut Grove because he is addicted to morphine. Charles finally forces Albert to stop using morphine. He stays with Albert while he goes through withdrawal. Thanks to Charles, Albert is no longer addicted to morphine. We find out at the end of the show that Albert will become Dr. Albert Ingalls.
Laura gives birth to a baby boy. The baby is fine and healthy for a while. Then for no apparent reason the baby dies. To ease her mind of the death, she blames Doc Baker for what happened to her baby. Doc's reputation declines so much that he must leave town to find work. Just before Doc Baker leaves, Rose comes down with small pox. Doc must stay quarantined with the Wilders for two weeks. Watching the Doc save Rose's life causes Laura to rethink her attitude about Doc Baker. Laura and the rest of the town convince him to stay on.
Jason Carter starts working for an old lady. Jason becomes great friends of the lady. However, Jason's mom believes the lady is being too nice. Jason is forbidden to work for the old lady until Sarah finds out that the lady will soon die.
Mr. Edwards and the residents of Walnut Grove make friends with an orangutan. But the friendship and the fun-loving primate's life may be short-lived when Nancy and Mrs. Olesen cause trouble.
No longer a mama's boy, Willie announces his engagement and plans to marry his sweetheart. All this upsets his mother greatly, who makes several attempts to get her way.
Mr. Montague stays at the Wilder boarding house while he is at Walnut Grove researching for a book that he is writing. Matthew Roger has a hard decision to make when his biological father shows up. Matthew decides to leave Mr. Edwards and go with his father. Mr. Edwards moves into the boarding house so he wouldn't be lonely anymore.
TV Movie - Series Pilot. Charles and Caroline Ingalls move with their three young daughters, Mary, Laura, and Carrie from the big woods of Wisconsin to the open prairies of Kansas. Their closest neighbor, Isaiah Edwards, helps them settle on the prairie as they encounter fierce storms, destructive fires, and hostile Native American tribes. Ultimately, the government forces the family off the land in Kansas.
Charles is making a business trip from his hometown of Burr Oak, Iowa to Minnesota, and since he will be passing through Walnut Grove, he invites Albert to join him. Father and son pay a visit to college-bound Albert's ideal school for becoming a doctor, and although the tuition is high, it appears that Albert has a chance at a full scholarship. Later, while revisiting the hometown in which he grew up, Albert--who loves being back in his beloved childhood town--takes an interest in a beautiful girl named Michelle. Little Jason Carter longs to lock lips with classmate Amy Bryant, and the town faces crop-related financial issues, prompting Charles to offer his help. Through all the good and the bad, it all gets thrown into perspective when Albert, who has been fatigued and having frequent nosebleeds, visits a specialist and receives some absolutely devastating news that can either make or break the Walnut Grove community as it is known.
When Charles receives a 4-week paid vacation from his employer, he and Caroline decide to leave the younger children with an aunt and travel back to their beloved Walnut Grove for a visit. They are both delighted to reunite with Laura, her family and their friends, and they even get an opportunity to stay in their old house while John and Sarah Carter are out of town. Unfortunately, what begins as a joyously nostalgic trip down memory lane becomes an unimaginable battle when the Walnut Grove community learns that another man has legal ownership of the land. The coldhearted Mr. Lassiter is willing to let the current residents keep their homes and jobs, but only if they agree to work under his control--a compromise that nobody is about to accept. Armed with rifles, anger, and unprecedented determination, the townspeople take the fight as far as they can, but when Mr. Lassiter uses his upper hand in the matter to force them all out, they reach a unanimous, yet devastating solution to even the score.
A trip to Mankato for some Christmas shopping flares into a nightmare when Laura and Almanzo's 2-year-old daughter Rose is kidnapped by Elsa Norris, an emotionally unstable young woman who is grieving the loss of her baby. Elsa brings the little girl home to her husband, and they care for her as their own. Laura, Almanzo, and Mr. Edwards search frantically for Rose and, along the way, are joined by young Samuel, an orphaned runaway who is searching for a family to call his own. Back in Walnut Grove, with his wife away for the time being, Nels jumps at the opportunity to teach his greedy daughter Nancy some important lessons about the true meaning of the season. Jason Carter will stop at nothing to afford a Christmas present for his mother, and John and Sarah do their best to make the holiday special for their boys, who may not have much to open on Christmas morning this year. Lastly, Mr. Montague--who is initially disgusted by the commercialism of Christmas--comes through for his friends when they need it most.
Based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder and following the trials of the Ingalls family as they face the hardship of living on the American frontier in the late 1800s, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE remains one of the most beloved television series of all time. This special volume collects two of the series' best Christmas episodes: "Christmas at Plum Creek" from season one, in which the family celebrates their first Christmas in their new home of Plum Creek; and "A Christmas They Never Forgot" from season eight, in which the family rides out a fierce snowstorm on Christmas Eve by exchanging favorite holiday memories.
