Laura Ingalls Wilder

De Smet Street Map Church Ingalls Claim Wilder Claim Clancy's Dry Goods Livery Surveyors' House Depot One Room School

At the livery stable people who did not own a horse could rent one. Buggies, wagons and sleighs could be rented, too. Visitors could leave their horses at the livery stable while staying in town. The Ingalls family had a stable behind their store building in De Smet for their horses, Sam and David, and their cow, Ellen, and her heifer calf. Laura remembered the livery stable as the last building the family had to pass before heading southeast to their claim.

The Anita Livery Barn

Men often gathered at the livery stable to talk. It was a place where they relaxed, told stories or exchanged information. What do you think the men are doing in this photograph? Why are no women present?

The Menzer Blacksmith Shop in Lone Tree, Iowa

Across the street from the livery stable in De Smet was a blacksmith shop. John and Frank Menzer began operating their blacksmith shop in Lone Tree, Iowa, in 1891. They are standing in the doorway of their shop that was lit with kerosene lamps. A steam boiler supplied power for their machinery. Why was a blacksmith shop an important part of a pioneer town?