On the Road Again

Once again, Laura and her family travel back east to help run the Burr Oak House hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa. Unfortunately, their home is right next door to a saloon that catches on fire and is always full of drunk cowboys. But, on the bright side, Laura's fourth sister, Grace, was born, and Pa was packing up the wagon to move back to Walnut Grove. I could tell that Laura was happy in the prairie; running in the tall, warm grass, watching the clouds roll above the endless hills, and swimming in the rivers during Summer that she couldn't leave.
Once they were back in Walnut Grove in 1877, Pa opened a butcher shop for the town while the three older girls went to school. Laura loved to play with the boys and would always beat them in recess games. During the summer, Laura earned money at the Walnut Grove hotel by washing dishes and cleaning tables.
Then came the life- changing event for Mary in 1879. It started out with a headache that created a fever so high that Ma had to cut off her beautiful hair. " Brain Fever" was what the doctors called it and each day, Mary saw less and less. The last thing she saw before slipping into darkness was Grace's blue eyes. Pa told Laura that she would have to be Mary's eyes and see for her. This solemn day left a hole in Laura's heart because now Mary would never again see the waving prairie grass at her feet.
Pa took a job in Dakota Territory to manage the expenses for the railroad company at their camp. After several months, he invited his family to live there with him. On the train, Laura looked out and said good bye to Walnut Grove and all the memories she shared with it. They were on the road again. " No one, who has not pioneered, can understand the fascination of it."
- Laura Ingalls Wilder