By the Shores of Silver Lake; by Laura Ingllas Wilder
This one turned out long, so I decided to look at it on its own.
By the Shores of Silver Lake picks up in Plum Creek, some time has passed since that Hopeful Christmas Eve were we left the Ingalls.
Baby sister Grace was born, but despite that happy occurrence, everyone is a bit sadder. The family came down with scarlet fever, and it's has left Mary blind and weakened.
Laura has become Mary's eyes, painting word pictures for her sister. This task and the fact that she has had to take over things that Mary will not be able to do, or has not recovered enough to do yet, has made her more mature, and patient.
Money is tight, with the grasshopper years not far behind them and doctor bills to be paid.
This understandably gloomy mood is interrupted when Laura's aunt Docia, Charles's sister, comes riding up to their door. She has a job offer for Pa. She and her husband are running a railroad camp in the Dakota Territory, and they need a bookkeeper and storekeeper. The pay is good and, Charles and Caroline decide that it is too good an opportunity to pass up. Mary isn't strong enough to travel, so, it is decided that Caroline and the girls will follow when she is well enough.
Off Charles goes, and a few months later the rest of the family boards a train. Their first time traveling this way.
Since I read these backwards, I also believe this is the first time the book mentions something that makes this daughter of a nurse twitch.
The communal drinking cup/dipper
It's one thing to have a cup shared between Mary and Laura, or having a family dipper for water ( you do what you can with what you have) but *one vessel * for a bunch of strangers to drink out of? I know, I know, knowledge of the transmission of sickness was different back then, but all I could think was ACK! That thing is made of TB and influenza!
Anyway, they all get to Dakota Territory where they interact with more people than they had in the first four books. Not just talking with people, but being around them. it's odd, because the reader is so use to having the Ingalls family being in open spaces, them being in a crowd seems closterphobic somehow, and is a sign of changing times.
Soon Pa comes for them and they head to the railroad camp on Silver Lake.
On the way there, the wagon is followed by a menacing man on horse back, Caroline is nervous, but then another man tall, in a red shirt and riding bareback, shows up and Pa assures them all that they will be okay, because that is Big Jerry, a good man who is half Native American. Sure enough Big Jerry keeps the potential trouble man away from the family. As with even positive potrayls of indigenous people, Big Jerry's introduction is problematic, because along with having Pa's seal of approval Big Jerry is also decribed thusly: as a gambler and poossible horse thief, a wild man, and also as moving with his horse "as if they were one animal." I get what is trying to be conveyed, Big Jerry is in sync with his horse, he knows his horse and his horse knows him, making riding effortless. But the word choice made me wince. I would have simply dropped the word "animal" but...
This passage is also difficult for me because the descriptions of landscape are great, and also, after Big Jerry rides off, there is a piece of writing that not only shows Laura's commitment to paint a beautiful world for Mary, but also how the two girls differ in personality.
"Laura let out her breath. 'Oh, Mary! The snow-white horse and the tall, brown man, with such a black head and a bright red shirt! The brown prairie all around—and they rode right into the sun as it was going down. They’ll go on in the sun around the world.'
Mary thought a moment. Then she said, 'Laura, you know he couldn’t ride into the sun. He’s just riding along on the ground like anybody.'
But Laura did not feel that she had told a lie. What she had said was true too. Somehow that moment when the beautiful, free pony and the wild man rode into the sun would last forever" (Pg 62, Kindle edition).
Mary is very practical, very concrete in her imagination. Laura on the other hand is all feeling. Neither one is better than the other but I feel like it is good character development to show how these two viewpoints clash at times and cause annoyance to both girls.
The family gets to the camp and are met by Docia's family that includes cousins, as well as a surprise for Caroline, her brother Henry.
What follows is Laura and her cousin Lena having a lot of fun, riding Ponies, singing. There is a lot of fascination around the building of the railroads and seeing it done. Here the subtext is heavy.
Pa tells an excited Laura that the camp is a small one, and, one would guess, start to describe how they work together, but Ma stops him with the slightest shake of her head. Pa gets it and tells the girls (looking right at Laura) to steer clear of the workers.
Later, after Laura continues to be fascinated by how the building works, Pa says that he will take her to see.
Ma takes Laura aside and tells her to go if she must, but not to speak with any of the men in the camp, and not to take her cousin Lena, who while a good girl, was "boisterous ".
All of this comes on the heels of Laura meeting a woman who's 13 year old daughter had just gotten married.
WhT is being said without being said is that Caroline is understandably nervous. She has four daughters in the middle of a camp of men. Mary likes to stay home, but Laura is outgoing, curious, and brought up to be nice. Where Laura goes Carrie might want to follow. And cousin Lena is even more outgoing than Laura and Docia has not "curbed her as much as she might." (Pg. 95, Kindle edition).
She's afraid that someone might take advantage of the girls, either though convincing them that they wanted to marry them, or through force. If I imagine this part of the book from Caroline's perspective, it's a nightmare.
And continues to be honestly. At one point, all the workers revolt, because they are not getting their full month's pay at one time. Since Charles is the book and storekeeper they start to go after him. This is averted, but Caroline and the girls have a tense time of it.
The winter is cozy and relaxing, not least because the family has the whole camp town to themselves.
They spend the winter, after the camp is packed up, in The Surveyor's house with a stocked pantry, Pa finds the land that he wants to put a claim on, Reverend Alden from Walnut Grove comes by, tells the Ingalls about a college for the blind in Iowa, they make friends with Mr. Boast and his new wife.
And then what happens is the equivalent of when you open the door for one person and the entire building decides to evacuate and you happen to be the doorman.
The family is settling down after a busy holiday season with house guests when a wagon full of inexperienced men pull into De Smet and is on their way to another town, Heron. Charles is worried that if they don’t let them stay they will get lost and freeze to death. So they feed and let the group stay the night.
And so begins another Nightmare for Caroline.
The people keep coming through, and eventually the Ingalls start charging for people to eat and stay. Meanwhile, the girls are pressed into kitchen duty and have to be locked in their room upstairs at night until Ma sounds the all clear. They do make a good chunk of money to go toward sending Mary to college.
Honestly, the rest of the book, save the the last few chapters, weren't all that interesting to me. Pa gets the claim, they move out if town and away from the steady stream of borders.
The most exciting thing that happens is that while planting trees on the claim, little Grace goes missing. After a frantic search, Laura finds her in a deep depression in the Prarie surrounded by violets.
Pa tells Laura that it was an old buffalo wallow. With the Buffalo mostly gone, their wallows have grown over with grass and given a good place for the flowers to grow.
The family settles into their claim shanty and they are finally home.
This book is very uneven for me. On the one hand, there is a lot to unpack. The building of the railroads calling people west simply because of the need for workers, coupled with the tantalizing promise of comparably cheap land, the challenges that presented. Ma's anxiety always just under the surface, and the new found hope for Mary that came from a visit from an old friend.
There is a tension in this book, between the family's desire to be self sufficient, interacting with the community on their terms, and the continuing settlement of the west making this a harder and harder thing to do.
This is symbolized by the dwindling population of Buffalo and Buffalo wolves. Pioneer Girl does talk a lot about this time, but it was all very similar to what was in the book.
The part that stood out to me was that Laura and cousin Lena use to sing when they milked the cows, after Lena and her family left Laura didn't feel like singing. Ma complained that she wasn't getting as much milk as usual. She then says that she pe4fored an experiment. Singing while she milked and then not singing. She found that the cows gave more milk when she sang. She says wryly that she had discovered this fifty years before an agricultural experiment station had figured it out. I enjoy it when Laura let's that kind of humor out.
All in all, there's a lot of stuff happening in this book, but it's not the best one.
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The State of Cursed Coins
A light pitter patter of rain sounded as it bounced off windows, the dreary grey of the sky not helping time to whittle by. While Belkas has stepped away from all but two jobs, there were some duties and obligations he could not shirk, especially when it came to the matter of cursed items. So from the insistent ticking of a distant clock, his gaze would pull from the window to the carefully sealed wooden box.
The Djinn sealed away in a coin.
The more he stared at it, the more the whispering temptations in the mind grew that he was fortunate his tiredness as of late overruled everything else.
Then, one hour after the allocated time there was a knock at his office door which caused his green gaze to lift. About damn time.
Rising from his seat, he crossed the threshold to open the door and immediately got smacked with the scent of his clients perfume as she waltzed by him.
“Good afternoon Docia” Saying blankly he closed the door as he watched her sit on the edge of his desk. Belkas however was quick to move back and snag the box before her fingers could grab it. “Not for you, not yet, there has been a change of situation”
“Let me guess, you dug into the history of that little coin, found out so many people died when handling it and now you are getting cold feet…Isn’t that right little Bell?” She raised a brow at him, one leg crossing over the other.
“Don’t call me that. To you my name is Belkas” He was going to offer a drink but now that she started to speak to him in such a way, he only got himself one. Though, he stayed by the cabinet as he would not be comfortable sitting in his office chair with how she claimed his desk as her own personal lounge.
“Oohh, someone is very touchy today! But come on, I paid for your services, I know the risks and you only need the right wish to avoid death”
“No. I can’t give this coin to you, there is more to it than simple curses…It contains a Djinn and if it doesn’t kill you or others around you, it will pose a huge danger should it get freedom. I am not staking what's left of our reputation on this. As I said on the linkpearl, they are petty tricksters where no wish is perfect” Sighing he placed a hand on the box “I don’t expect the rest of the payment, what I expect is for you to make a good decision. Let me destroy it without a fuss and get you a replica for your sake, or end the contract between us”
She scoffed, pushing herself off the desk so she could stride over, but before she could even try and hook a finger under the shorter elezens chin, her hand was batted away. “You really haven’t twigged that your flirting doesn’t work on me huh?” Now it was her turn to get irritated. He did have truth in his words. This was no small job, so they have been working together for a while and every single time she was rebuffed. “Tch, your to uncivilized for my tastes anyway…So I want the coin and my time to stop being wasted because I hardly see a difference between a curse and Djinn when it's trapped in there”
“Alright then sweetheart, consider the contract over -” When she tried to make a swipe for it, she succeeded in grabbing hold of the box and knocking Belkas’ glass of whiskey clean out of his hand. A shatter of glass between their feet as Belkas bit the inside of his cheek on purpose.
Stay calm.
However, Docia’s victory was short lived because the moment she opened the box and touched her finger to the surface of the coin it would react to her. Just like how it burned Belkas in the past, it burned her too, causing her to yelp and for the box to slip from her fingers in fright and surprise. “Now are you starting to get the picture?” He questioned once more, striding back over to his desk to procure a gil pouch.
As he held it out, dangling it by its strings, Docia watched for a moment, hand clutched to her chest and eyebrows knitted together. The burn was a lot worse than what Belkas experienced, after all she didn’t have the same advantages as he did, so her fingertips were raw. “Fuck you Qinric!” Swiping the gil pouch with her hand that was uninjured, she decided to forfeit the coin. What was the point of such power when she couldn’t even use it?
The door would loudly slam as she stormed out, which left Belkas breathing deep and childishly flipping the door off as he was once more left to clean up a mess.
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1880s Names
A
Boys
Abel, Abraham, Adam, Addison, Adelbert, Alexander, Alfred, Aloysius, Alphonse, Ambrose, Amos, Anderson, Andrew, Angus, Anthony, Anton, Archibald, Art, Arthur, Aubrey, August, Augustine, Augustus, Avery
Girls
Ada, Adelaide, Adele, Adeline, Agatha, Agnes, Alice, Alma, Almeda, Alta, Anastasia, Angeline, Anna, Annabelle, Anne, Arizona, Augusta, Augustine, Aurelia, Aurora
B
Boys
Barney, Benjamin, Bennett, Bernard, Bishop, Bradford
Girls
Beatrice, Bernadette, Bess, Bessie, Beulah, Birdie
C
Boys
Carlton, Carson, Casper, Cassius, Cecil, Charles, Chauncey, Chester, Christian, Christopher, Clarence, Claude, Clement, Clifford, Coleman, Conrad, Cornelius, Curtis
Girls
Camille, Caroline, Catherine, Cecilia, Celestia, Celestine, Celia, Charity, Charlotte, Christine, Claire, Clara, Clarice, Claudia, Clementine, Conception, Constance, Corda, Cordelia, Cornelia
D
Boys
Dallas, Daniel, Darius, David, Dennis, Dewitt, Dorsey, Douglas, Dudley, Dwight
Girls
Daisy, Delia, Della, Delphia, Docia, Dollie, Dolly, Dolores, Dora, Dorcas, Doris, Dorothy, Dove, Dovie, Drucilla
E
Boys
Early, Edmond, Edward, Edwin, Eldridge, Eli, Elias, Elijah, Elliott, Ellis, Ellsworth, Elmer, Elton, Elwood, Emerson, Emery, Emil, Emmett, Enoch, Ephraim, Erasmus, Erastus ,Eric, Ernest, Ervin, Erwin, Eugene, Everett, Ezra
Girls
Edith, Edmonia, Effie, Elaine, Elda, Eldora, Eleanor, Elise, Eliza, Elizabeth, Ella, Elma, Elnora, Eloise, Elsa, Elsie, Emily, Emma, Emmaline, Era, Erma, Erna, Ernestine, Essie, Esta, Estella, Estelle, Esther, Ethel, Ethelyn, Etta, Eudora, Eugenia, Eula, Eulalia, Eunice, Euphemia
F
Boys
Felix, Ferdinand, Francis, Franklin, Frederick, Fredrick
Girls
Fanny, Fay, Felicia, Fern, Fidelia, Flora, Florence, Florida, Francis
G
Boys
Gabriel, Garrett, General, George, Gideon, Giles, Golden, Gregory
Girls
Geneva, Genevieve, Georgia, Georgie, Goldie, Grace, Gwendolyn
H
Boys
Harmon, Harold, Harris, Harrison, Henry, Hollis, Homer, Horace, Howard, Howard, Howell, Hugo
Girls
Harriett, Hattie, Henrietta, Hester, Honora, Hope, Hortense
I
Boys
Irving
Girls
Imogene, Indiana, Iona, Iris, Isadora
J
Boys
Jack, Jackson, Jacob, James, Jasper, Jeremiah, John, Jonathan, Joseph, Josiah, Judson, Jules, Julian, Junius
Girls
Jane, Josephine, Judith, Julia, Julie, Juliet, June
K
Boys
Kenneth
Girls
Kathleen
L
Boys
Lawrence, Lawson, Leander, Leonard, Lewis, Lionel, Logan, Lucien, Lucius, Luther, Lyman
Girls
Lacy, Lillian, Lilly, Louise, Lucia, Lucille, Lucinda, Lucretia, Lucy
M
Boys
Major, Malcolm, Marcus, Marshall, Martin, Mason, Mathias, Matthew, Maurice, Maxwell, Michael, Miles, Milo, Milton, Monroe, Morgan, Mortimer
Girls
Mabel, Madeline, Magnolia, Marie, Mary, Matilda, Maude, May, Melinda, Mildred, Millicent, Millie, Minerva, Minnie, Miriam, Missouri, Mollie, Mona
N
Boys
Nathan, Nathaniel, Neil, Nelson, Newton, Nicholas, Noah, Noel, Norman, Norris
Girls
Netta, Nettie, Nevada, Nona, Nora, Norah, Norma
O
Boys
Oliver, Oren, Orson, Otis, Otto, Owen
Girls
Odelia, Odessa, Ola, Olive, Ona, Opal, Ophelia, Ora, Orpha, Ottilie
P
Boys
Patrick, Percival, Percy, Peter, Phillip, Pierce, Pleasant
Girls
Pansy, Parthenia, Patience, Pearl, Penelope, Permelia, Philomena, Phoebe, Polly, Priscilla, Prudence
Q
Boys
Quincy
R
Boys
Raymond, Richard, Richmond, Robert, Rodney, Roger, Ross
Girls
Rita, Rosalie, Rose, Rowena, Ruby, Ruth
S
Boys
Samuel, Seymore, Sidney, Silas, Simon, Solomon, Stanley, Stephan, Sterling, Stewart, Sylvester
Girls
Samantha, Sophronia
T
Boys
Thaddeus, Theodore, Thomas, Thorton, Tillman, Timothy, Tobias, Truman
Girls
Tennessee, Thelma, Theodora, Theodosia, Theresa, Tillie
U
Boys
Ulysses
Girls
Una
V
Boys
Valentine, Vernon, Victor, Vincent, Virgil
Girls
Vera, Verona, Vesta, Victoria, Viola, Violet, Virginia, Vivian
W
Boys
Walker, Wallace, Walter, Warren, Watson, Webster, Wesley, Wilber, Wilbert, Wilbur, Wiley, Wilfred, Willam, Willard, William, Wilson, Winfield
Girls
Wilda, Wilhelmina, Wilma, Winifred, Winnifred, Winona
Z
Girls
Zella, Zora
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