While many fans of the Little House series associate Laura Ingalls Wilder with the Big Woods of Wisconsin, Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and De Smet, South Dakota, it may surprise some to learn that Laura spent most of her adult life in Mansfield, Missouri. Her final home, Rocky Ridge Farm, located just outside of Mansfield, became the place where she and Almanzo Wilder finally found stability after years of hardship—and where Laura eventually wrote the Little House books.
So what led the Wilders to leave De Smet and relocate to Missouri? The answer lies in a combination of personal hardship, health struggles, financial failure, and a hope for new opportunity in what was then marketed as the land of promise.
Hardships in De Smet
After their marriage in 1885, Laura and Almanzo faced a string of devastating challenges in De Smet:
Almanzo contracted diphtheria in 1888, which left him partially paralyzed and permanently weakened.
They lost their infant son in 1889, a tragedy that deeply affected both of them.
Their home burned down, destroying their belongings and savings.
Several crop failures made it impossible to recover financially.
Almanzo, physically unable to perform heavy farm labor, could no longer support a family through traditional homesteading. The couple realized that their dream of building a life in De Smet was slipping further out of reach.
A Short-Lived Move to Florida
In an attempt to improve Almanzo’s health, the Wilders moved briefly to Westville, Florida, in 1891, settling in the small town of New Hope, near Laura’s cousin Peter Ingalls. The climate was warmer, and they hoped it would help Almanzo recover. However, the extreme humidity and unfamiliar environment didn’t suit Laura, and they returned to De Smet less than a year later.
Why Missouri?
By 1894, the Wilders were still searching for a place where they could start over. They had heard and read about Missouri’s Ozark region through land advertisements, which claimed it was the “Land of the Big Red Apples”—a place with fertile soil, moderate climate, and farming opportunities that were more forgiving than those on the harsh Dakota plains.
The Wilders were intrigued. With very little money, they set out on a 600-mile journey by covered wagon, which Laura documented in her travel diary later published as On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894. Though the title is sometimes misunderstood—many readers assumed it referred to leaving home—Laura meant it literally: Missouri would become their true and lasting home.
Rocky Ridge Farm and a New Life
Once they arrived in Mansfield, Missouri, the Wilders bought 40 acres of land just outside of town and named it Rocky Ridge Farm. At first, they lived in a small cabin while slowly building a home and establishing a diversified farm.
They applied the hard lessons they had learned in De Smet:
They diversified their crops and income, raising chickens, dairy cows, apples, and vegetables.
They took advantage of local markets and engaged in community life.
They accepted help from Almanzo’s parents, who later deeded them a small rental home in town during their early years of rebuilding.
Eventually, their perseverance paid off. The farm grew, and so did Laura’s reputation as a thoughtful writer and agricultural columnist. It was at Rocky Ridge Farm that she wrote her Little House books, beginning in the early 1930s, inspired by her memories of childhood.
