Dakota Territory

Laura Ingalls rejoined her father in Dakota Territory at the Big Sioux railroad camp in 1879. Pa shows her what his job is while they stay there for a couple of weeks before moving to another camp called De Smet; named after a Catholic Priest called Father Pierre Jean De Smet. This town was close to a lake that Ma named Silver Lake from the way the moonlight shone on it. They lived in the Surveyor's House for the winter and were snug and cozy with a pantry to last them months.
Some newcomers came to live with them and paid rent to use some of their extra space. While Pa went hunting, he also saw many new farms and claim shanties around Silver Lake that told him a town was about to form. One day, Pa came home from Brookings and told his family that he purchased a lot of 160 acres near the lake. His face looked so jolly that you could tell he found the perfect place to live. In the spring of 1880, the Ingalls moved to their homestead claim when Laura was 13 and immediately knew that this was their permanent home in the Dakota prairie.
The new homestead owners were glad that they had found the perfect home, but experienced some rough times in the first year. Blizzards hit them on October 5, 1880, forcing them to move to a house in town, and the food supply in De Smet gave out during winter and everyone either left or went hungry; " The wind shrieked and howled like nothing under heaven but a blizzard
wind. " -Laura Ingalls Wilder. But after the snow melted, the Ingalls returned to their farm and decided on sending Mary to school for the blind. Laura worked hard to help earn Mary her college money by sewing in the dry goods store. She felt so eager and happy that nothing stood in her way. After earning a good $9.00, Mary went off to school in Vinton. Laura went back to school in De Smet and made friends such as Mary Power, Minnie Johnson, and Ida Brown. During the summers, she spent most of her time reading. Now Pa got his wish of living in the west.